Archives for 2022

BENGALURU: Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was brought to Bengaluru on Thursday by the special cell, Delhi police to recover his mobile phone and laptop, which he used for posting on Twitter in 2018 as part of investigation in the case.

A four-member team of the Intelligence, Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) Special Cell of Delhi Police landed at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), Bengaluru in the forenoon and drove Zubair to his residence from where they recovered his electronic gadgets.

They were provided local assistance by Bengaluru City police. “The electronic gadgets will be sent for forensic examination to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Rohini,to retrieve old and deleted files,” said sources.

The team has left for Delhi with Zubair, they added. Zubair was arrested on June 27 on charges of allegedly hurting religious sentiments following a complaint by a social media user who referred to the former’s tweet from 2018. The police had registered an FIR against Zubair in connection with the complaint under Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 295-A (malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code. Meanwhile, the Twitter handle, which had flagged Zubair’s tweet, has been deleted.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has said his elevation to the top post is due to the masterstroke by BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis.

“”People thought that the BJP was desperate for power. But truly, this is a masterstroke by Devendra ji. To hand over power to another person despite having larger numbers (of MLAs) requires a big heart.”

“”With his decision, the people of the state and the country got to see a new example of this large-heartedness,” Shinde said after he and Fadnavis were sworn in as CM and Deputy CM respectively at Raj Bhavan Thursday evening. The party with the most numbers has the claim to the chief minister’s post. But in this case, I would like to thank PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, J P Nadda and especially Devendra Fadnavis, who showed a big heart and gave this chance to a Shiv Sainik,”” Shinde told a TV channel.

Shinde said the previous stint of Fadnavis as chief minister will come in handy as he leads the state.

“Fadnavis joined this ministry due to the directives of his (party) seniors.

“I am happy for this because his experience will come in handy in speeding up developmental works in the state,”” Shinde said.

Shinde was given a warm welcome by the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs and other legislators in the wee hours of Friday when he returned to a luxury hotel near here, where they are staying, after taking oath for the top post.

Shinde flew to Goa from Mumbai and arrived at the hotel located at Dona Paula near here around 1.30 am.

The Maharashtra legislators have been camping at the hotel since Wednesday night after their arrival from Guwahati.

While Shinde had arrived with them, he went to Mumbai on Thursday and was sworn in as the 20th chief minister of Maharashtra, while BJP stalwart Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the deputy chief minister.

When Shinde returned to the hotel after the swearing-in ceremony, the rebel Sena MLAs and independent legislators were seen hugging him and raising slogans in his support.

They also raised slogans hailing Sena founder Bal Thackeray and late party leader Anand Dighe.

A few women legislators, who are also part of the faction, welcomed him with traditional rituals.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who was also at the hotel when Shinde arrived, offered a bouquet of flowers to congratulate the latter.

A video of the welcome given by the MLAs also went viral on social media.

Ever since the news of Shinde’s appointment as the new Maharashtra chief minister broke, the MLAs were in a jubilant mood.

They broke into a dance in the lobby of the hotel on Thursday when they heard that Shinde was going to be the next CM.

A video showed rebel MLAs dancing to the tune of Marathi songs.

Shinde’s swearing-in ceremony was screened live on a big screen at the hotel on Thursday evening.

Sources said that after his arrival, Shinde held an informal meeting with the MLAs.

Referring to her apology for the Prophet remarks, the apex court also said that it was too late and her comment led to unfortunate incidents.

“These people don’t have respect for other religions,” the court said on the suspended BJP leader’s plea to club FIRs against her for Prophet remarks.

“Remark against Prophet were made either for cheap publicity, political agenda or for some nefarious activities,” it said further.

The court also refused to entertain her plea to club FIRs in various states for her remark and allowed her to withdraw the petition.

“What has Delhi police done? Don’t make us open our mouth? What was the TV debate for? Only fan an agenda? Why did they choose a sub judice topic?,” said Justice Surya Kant.

“There must be a red carpet for you there,” the apex court bench remarked when Sharma’s lawyer informed it that she is joining the investigation and not running away.

MUMBAI: Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra have contributed Rs 51 lakh for the flood relief wok in Assam, where they have been camping since the last week, their spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The Sena legislators, led by senior minister Eknath Shinde, have raised the banner of revolt against their party.

These MLAs had first come to Guwahati on June 22 and subsequently in several batches from Gujarat’s Surat in chartered flights.

Amid criticism that the Sena dissidents were staying at a luxury hotel in Guwahati even as parts of Assam were grappling with severe floods, Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson of the rebel MLAs told PTI, “Shinde has donated Rs 51 lakh to the Assam Chief Minister’s Relief Fund as our contribution to their ongoing rescue work. We cannot ignore the plight of people here.”

Kesarkar added that with Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari asking the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to face a floor test on Thursday, the rebel MLAs have decided to move out of Guwahati and shift to a place near Mumbai.

A close aide of Shinde, however, said the group will be staying in a Goa-based hotel and reach Mumbai by 9.30 am on Thursday.

Kesarkar said, “We will be staying at a place that is one hour air distance from Mumbai, so that that we can comfortably reach the state capital for the floor test. The decision (of floor test) will be what we have been demanding for a long time from our leadership.” Expressing disappointment with Shiv Sena president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, he said the party MLAs had been asking him to move away from the NCP and Congress (allies in the government), but he never listened to them.

“As majority of Shiv Sena MLAs decided to go away from these two parties, the remaining Sena legislators with him (Thackeray) will have to abide by our whip at the time of the floor test,” Kesarkar said.

Thackeray can definitely issue some instructions, but when we are in the House, we are bound by the Constitution of the country, he said.

Shinde said on Wednesday that he will return to Mumbai on Thursday for the floor test against the beleaguered Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena-NCP-Congress government.

AHMEDABAD:  The Congress in Gujarat wants a probe against the Surat hotel where the Maharashtra rebels stayed before flying to Guwahati. The party has sought an FIR against the hotel for sheltering the Shiv Sena rebels.

“The conspiracy to overthrow our government in Maharashtra has been hatched in this hotel. Otherwise, how can so many MLAs reach the same hotel? The fact that they all came here together means the venue had already been decided and local BJP leaders were present to welcome them when they arrived at the hotel,” said Surat city Congress president Hasmukh Desai. He also alleged that the MLAs were served liquor at the hotel and demanded probe into how they got alcohol.

‘Form SIT to look into conspiracy’

In a memorandum submitted to Surat police commissioner, the Gujarat Congress has demanded the formation of a Special Investigation Team to investigate the role of the hotel in the conspiracy of sheltering the Shiv Sena rebel MLAs. 

NEW DELHI:  The biggest reform of reorganising the Indian Armed Forces into theater command is moving ahead with the studies commissioned to individual services reaching the advanced stages. The Indian Air Chief has confirmed “definite progress” in the process.

Sources in the defence establishment confirmed that the “the studies being done by the Army and the Navy are complete.” As reported in media, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Sunday said, “The process of theaterisation of the Indian Armed forces is at a deliberation stage.

There are a few issues which are being discussed and definite progress has been made in this aspect,” he said. “Therefore, the joint structures that we may form shall be specific to our environment, adequately deliberated and war-gamed to clearly enunciate tasks and roles of each service,” he said.

As reported earlier, one of the main differences that have protracted the finalisation of the process is the IAF’s reluctance over distribution of resources. It has highlighted that of the 42 combat squadrons sanctioned, the IAF operates with just about 30.

Speaking on the issues Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari on Sunday said that the three services are on the “same page” on the issues of formulation of joint structures. “The IAF remains fully committed to integration that brings about transformation and enhancement of the comprehensive national combat power,” he said.

The Commands of the three services were entrusted with the responsibility of carrying out independent studies on the organisation and structures. Initial plan was to hold presentations in the months of February, March and April with the final presentation due in May had the things gone as per the plan.

While, in the case of the Army South Western Command and Central Command have carried out the study. Central Command of the Air Force and Eastern Command of the Navy have carried out the studies. The theaterisation process was initiated by CDS General Rawat who was killed in an unfortunate accident in December 2021. This led to delay in the process. 

The war fighting structure of the Armed Forces (Army, Air Force and Navy) is being reorganised into theatre commands with an aim to have the assets of all three forces under one commander responsible for all operations under his theatre.

NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India and the Press Club of India on Tuesday described the arrest of Alt News co-founder Muhammad Zubair on charges of hurting religious sentiments as “extremely disturbing” and demanded his immediate release.

Both the media bodies pointed out that the action against Zubair came on a day when India joined G7 and four other countries to protect free speech, “online and offline”.

“It is apparent that Alt News’ alert vigilance was resented by those who use disinformation as a tool to polarise society and rake nationalist sentiments,” the guild said in a statement here.

Zubair was arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Monday on charges of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and deliberate acts to outrage religious feelings.

“Zubair has been arrested under sections 153 and 295 of the Indian Penal Code.

This is extremely disturbing because Zubair and his website Alt News have done some exemplary work over the past few years in identifying fake news and countering disinformation campaigns, in a very objective and factual manner,” the guild said.

It demanded that the Delhi Police release Zubair immediately.

“This is necessary to buttress the commitments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the G7 meet in Germany to ensure a resilient democracy by protecting online and offline content,” the guild said.

The Press Club of India said: “The action by the Delhi Police in hastily arresting Muhammad Zubair showed the blatant violation of the country’s commitment on the global platform given by none other than the prime minister himself.”

Earlier, a body of digital media organisations had condemned Zubair’s arrest and asked the Delhi Police to withdraw the case against him immediately.

In a democracy, where every individual possesses the right to exercise the freedom of speech and expression, it is unjustifiable that such stringent laws are used as tools against journalists, who have been accorded the role of playing a watchdog against the misuse of the institutions of the State, a statement issued by the DIGIPUB said.

“The use of such stringent laws as tools against journalists who are considered the fourth pillar of democracy must be stopped. We stand with Zubair,” it added.

Prominent Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Tuesday termed the arrest “discriminatory” and demanded that the government take “fair action” in the matter respecting the country’s reputation at the international level.

Jamiat president Maulana Mahmood Madani also wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah saying “the discriminatory nature” of the functioning of law enforcement agencies is condemnable.

“On one hand, people who openly deliver hate speeches and make genocide calls are roaming free, while on the other hand journalists who are tirelessly working in exposing such hate-mongers are being systematically harassed and intimidated,” Madani said.

“There is no doubt that the people accused of hurting religious sentiments of other people’s faith, their holy saints and holy books with the intention to cause communal disturbance must be dealt with firmly as per the provision of the law.

However, there must not be any discrimination in dealing with such people on the basis of their particular faith,” the Jamiat chief said.

In the case against Zubair, Madani alleged “discrimination and religious persecution”.

“We solemnly appeal to you as the guardian of the law enforcement to kindly make sure that absolute equality and impartiality is exercised by the law enforcement agencies in dealing with the hate mongers irrespective of their faith,” Madani said in his letter.

“We demand that the government take fair action respecting the country’s reputation at the international level,” he said.

RANCHI:  A Special MP/MLA Court in Ranchi on Tuesday rejected a petition filed by Chief Minister Hemant Soren seeking exemption from physical appearance in a case related to violation of the model code of conduct during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. javascript:false

A case was registered against Soren at Argora Police Station in Ranchi during the LS elections after he was spotted wearing his party’s scarf with a symbol of bow and arrow printed over it while exercising his franchise at the polling booth. Soren was scheduled to appear before the Court on Tuesday, but now, the case will be heard on July 15.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Maharashtra Legislature Secretary to hold a floor test of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government on Thursday at 11 am.

Immediately after the Governor’s demand to prove the majority, Shiv Sena approached Supreme Court claiming his request is illegal.

BELAGAVI:  The political crisis in neighbouring Maharashtra and the imminent change of guard in the state is unlikely to have a major impact on Karnataka as far as inter-state issues like boundary dispute and sharing of river waters are concerned. However, the exit of Shiv Sena from the seat of power may weaken Maharashtra’s stand on the long-drawn boundary row. Even as the governments which came to power in Maharashtra in the last two decades did not take the boundary case seriously, the coalition government headed by Uddhav Thackeray had adopted several stringent measures to expedite the case through legal and political means.

Thackeray had bolstered the Maharashtra legal teams in the Supreme Court to stake claim on several areas on Karnataka border including Belagavi, Bidar, Karwar and Nipani. Besides appointing a minister in-charge of the boundary dispute, Thackeray had taken personal interest in the issue and even tweeted, “All Marathi-majority areas of Karnataka should be merged with Maharashtra”.

Despite coming under fire for his tweet last year, the CM had gone a step further releasing a controversial book ‘Maharashtra-Karnataka Seemavad: Sangharsh Ani Sankalp’ (Maharashtra-Karnataka Boundary Row: Struggle and Resolve) at a programme held in Mumbai on January 27 last year. The book was brought out by the government headed by Uddhav Thackeray.

Advantage K’taka if MVA falls, feel experts

The series of measures over the boundary dispute initiated by the Thackeray government at a time when the case is pending before the Supreme Court had drawn flak from Karnataka.Political observers feel the imminent exit of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government would weaken Maharashtra’s stand on the dispute. “It will be an advantage for Karnataka as the Shiv Sena had taken the issue seriously. The ‘Marathi politics’ and attempts to get all Marathi people onboard on the border issue by Shiv Sena will not be the same with a change in guard. A government headed by the BJP which is likely to come back to power in Maharashtra may soften its stand and put the boundary issue on the backburner,’’ said noted activist Ashok Chandargi.

As far as the issue of sharing of Krishna waters between the two states is concerned, Chandargi said several governments which came to power in both states did not take the issue seriously. The previous three governments in Karnataka — headed by H D Kumaraswamy, B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai — could not find a concrete solution on ensuring release of 4 TMCft water from Maharashtra to Krishna every summer, said Chandargi, adding that a proposal of Maharashtra government to have an MoU between the two states on exchange of release of 4 TMCft of Krishna water every year also failed to yield results.