Archives for July 2023

New Delhi: It was a humid May evening as usual in Kozhikode, as India footballer Chinglensana Singh ambled down the ground to enter the dressing room. Once there, he saw a trail of text messages and a barrage of missed calls on his phone.

Worried, he promptly tried returning the calls but to no avail. But soon the centre-back from strife-torn Manipur found out that he had lost almost everything in the violence that broke out in the state on May 3, the same day that he was representing Hyderabad FC in an AFC Cup playoff (Asian continental tournament) match against Mohun Bagan in faraway Kozhikode.

“It has taken away everything from us, everything we earned, everything we had,” the player, hailing from Khumujama Leikai in Churachandpur district, told PTI.

“I heard the news of our house being torched and then the football turf that I built in Churachandpur was burnt. It was really heartbreaking.

“I had the big dream of providing a platform to the youngsters but it was taken away. Fortunately, my family escaped the violence and was shifted to a relief centre,” he added.

After trying for a while, when the 27-year-old finally managed to get in touch with his mother, wailing at the other end amid the sound of gunshots in one of the epicentres of the violence, he immediately decided to go back to his parents.

He couldn’t delay any longer, as the clashes had by then destroyed his house, ravaged his village, and dashed his hopes of giving wings to aspiring footballers’ dreams. Only his family survived.

Relieved at having them around, he is now thinking of ways to overcome the profoundly disturbing experience, and start afresh.

“I always had a big dream of providing a platform to the youngsters in Churachandpur who are talented but they couldn’t afford to enrol in a football school.

“My aim was to provide them a platform, to help them become professional players and then go on and play for the national team… become great players for the country. Then this incident happened, so everything is being robbed. But we will try to start again.”

The violence was sparked by a court ruling in March that granted the majority Meitei scheduled caste status, entitling them to the same economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education as the minority Kuki.

It also allowed Meiteis to buy land in the hills, where the Kukis predominately live, further fuelling fears that their lands, jobs and opportunities would be taken away.

Tension escalated in the northeastern state when a video of May 4 emerged on social media, showing men from one community parading two women naked from the opposing side.

Satyapal Malik, the former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi: In a recent interview with Newsclick, Satyapal Malik, the former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, made explosive remarks against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Malik expressed concerns over PM Modi’s electoral tactics, claiming that the Prime Minister would stop at nothing to secure victory in the upcoming general elections in 2024.

During the interview, Malik alleged that PM Modi had a willingness to resort to extreme measures to ensure electoral success. He voiced his fear that the Prime Minister might even orchestrate the killing of a top BJP leader or cause damage to the revered Ram Mandir to gain an advantage in the elections. Malik cited the Pulwama Attack as an example, suggesting that someone capable of such an incident could go to any extent to achieve political objectives.

The remarks made by the former Governor have sparked controversy and raised questions about the political climate in the country. As a seasoned politician and an individual who has held significant positions in the past, Malik’s statements have garnered attention from both the public and political circles.

Malik, who was governor during the Pulwama terrorist attack of February 2019 and the scrapping of Article 370 in August that year, had earlier in an interview to The Wire had said the prime minister is “ill-informed” and “ignorant” about Kashmir and told him not to speak about the Union home ministry’s lapses which led to the devastating terrorist attack on soldiers in Pulwama in February 2019.

“CRPF people asked for aircrafts to ferry their people because such a big convoy never goes by road. They asked the Home Ministry, Rajnath ji. They refused to give. Had they asked me, I would’ve given them an aircraft, no matter how. They only needed five aircraft, which wasn’t given to them.

“I told it to the Prime Minister in the evening that this has happened due to our fault. Had we given the aircraft, this wouldn’t have happened. To which he told me that I should keep quiet now,” Malik had said in the explosive interview that had sent shockwaves across political circles in the country.

Mumbai: Students have raised the issue of food discrimination at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) after “vegetarians only” posters were put up on the walls of a canteen in one of the hostels here, a student representative said on Sunday.

Posters stating “vegetarians only are allowed to sit here” were put up on the walls of the canteen of hostel 12 at the prestigious institution last week, and a photograph of the same went viral on social media.

An official from the institute claimed that while they had found out about the posters, they did not know who had put them up in the canteen.

There are no fixed seats for people consuming different categories of food and the institute is unaware about who put up the posters, he said.

Representatives of the student collective Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) condemned the incident and tore the posters.

“Though RTIs and emails to the hostel’s general secretary revealed that there is no policy for food segregation at the institute, some individuals have taken it upon themselves to designate certain mess areas as vegetarians only’ and force other students to leave that area,” the AAPSC said.

Following the incident, the hostel’s general secretary sent an email to all students saying, “There is a counter for Jain distribution in the hostels mess, but there is no designated sitting space for those who consume Jain food.”

There have been reports of individuals forcefully designating certain areas of the mess as “Jain sitting space” and not allowing individuals who bring non-vegetarian food to sit in those areas, the general secretary wrote.

“Such behaviour is unacceptable and no student has the right to remove another student from any area of the mess on the grounds that it is reserved for a particular community. If any such incident is repeated, we will be forced to take strict action against those involved,” he stated in the email.

Mumbai: A Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable on Monday shot dead four persons on board a running train near Palghar railway station in Maharashtra, an official said.

Constable Chetan Kumar Choudhary fired from his automatic weapon, killing an RPF Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and three other passengers of the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express shortly after 5 am, the official said.

According to a senior police official, the accused RPF constable was mentally unstable.

Palghar is around 100 km from Mumbai.

The constable opened fire on his escort duty in-charge ASI Tika Ram Meena in the running train, the official said.

After killing his senior, the constable went to another bogie and shot dead three passengers, the official added.

The accused then tried to escape from the train between Mira Road and Dahisar, but was later nabbed by the Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel and his weapon was also seized, he said.

The accused is in the custody of the Mira Road railway police, the official said.

The bodies were taken out of the train at Borivali railway station, he said.

Aizawl: The Mizoram government is still waiting for financial assistance from the Centre for providing shelter to over 12,600 people from ethnic strife-torn Manipur, a senior official said.

Mizoram Home Commissioner and Secretary H Lalengmawia said that Chief Minister Zoramthanga had, in May, sought Rs 10 crore as an immediate relief package for those displaced people.

“We have not received any assistance from the Centre so far. The state government has raised funds on its own to provide relief to internally displaced people from Manipur,” Lalengmawia told PTI on Sunday.

He hoped that the Centre would soon sanction funds for these people, who have taken shelter in Mizoram after the ethnic violence broke out in the neighbouring state on May 3.

Lalengmawia also said the Mizoram administration has solicited donations from legislators, government employees, bankers and others.

“We have completed the collection and I am yet to receive a report of the total collected amount,” he said.

According to the Mizoram home department, altogether 12,611 people from Manipur have taken shelter in the state till Friday.

Of them, 4,440 took shelter in Kolasib district, 4,265 in Aizawl and 2,951 in Saitual, it said.

The remaining 955 are residing in Champhai, Mamit, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Lunglei, Serchhip, Khawzawl and Hnahthial districts.

The government and village authorities have set up 38 relief camps in Aizawl, Kolasib and Saitual.

The state government, NGOs, churches and villagers provided food and other basic items to the displaced people.

Clashes first broke out in early May in Manipur after a Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.

Jaipur: Two teenage sisters were allegedly raped by two co-workers of their father at a brick kiln in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, police said on Monday.

Both the girls are pregnant, they said.

The girls’ father on Friday lodged a complaint in this regard at NEB police station. In the complaint, he alleged that his daughters, aged 15 and 13, were raped by Sappi and Subhan.

The matter came to light when the elder girl complained of abdominal pain and other health problems. Her parents took her to a doctor, who informed them that she was seven-and-a-half months pregnant, the police said.

“When her parents questioned her, the girl told them that Sappi and Subhan had raped her. She disclosed that they had raped her younger sister as well,” the police added.

The victim alleged that the accused had threatened to kill them if they told anyone about the incident.

Superintendent of Police (Alwar) Anand Sharma said an FIR was registered at NEB police station on Friday and the girls’ medical examination conducted. The medical test confirmed that both girls are pregnant.

The younger victim is two-and-a-half months pregnant, the police said.

NEB SHO Anil Jain said the matter is being investigated. No arrests have been made in this regard yet.

The family lives near the brick kiln where the victims’ father works, he said.

In another case, a minor girl was raped by two men in the district’s Bansur area.

Sharma said an FIR was registered in this regard on Friday. The victim alleged that she was abducted by the two accused when she was going to school and raped. The accused also shot a video of the incident and threatened to circulate it on social media if she told anyone about it.

The alleged incident occurred on July 27.

Vidisha: Upset over repeated eve-teasing by a youth, an 18-year-old student of Class 12 allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha district, police said on Monday.

The incident took place in Lateri town, located 90 km from the district headquarters, on Sunday following which the victim’s family and other locals staged a protest till late night.

The Lateri police have arrested the accused, identified as Amir, and registered a case against him under Indian Penal Code section 306 (abetment of suicide), said inspector Rakesh Tiwari, who is the police spokesperson.

He said the victim’s family earlier did not file a complaint of eve-teasing.

Talking to reporters, the victim’s father, Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha, claimed his daughter was disturbed due to eve-teasing by Amir, which forced her to take the extreme step.

She never told the family about the problem she was facing, he further claimed.

Kushwaha said his daughter committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in a room of their house when his wife was out for a medical check-up.

After the incident, the victim’s family and locals staged a protest with the victim’s body till 10.30 pm on Sunday, as per some locals.

Additional Superintendent of Police Samir Yadav and other officials reached the spot and pacified the protesters, they said.

sharad pawar

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has said if his party, the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) decide, they can usher in a change in Maharashtra.

The NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) are constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state.

Pawar also claimed it was difficult to engage with the present state government.

He was speaking on Sunday at a book launch function where he shared the stage with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat.

Pawar recalled how previous governments helped in the preservation of ancient art and culture, literature and history.

“But it is difficult for us to engage with the present state government. But some solution will come out. If we three (MVA constituents) decide, there can be a change,” he asserted.

It was for the first time since July 2, when the NCP split due to the revolt by Ajit Pawar, that leaders of all the three MVA allies shared the stage.

On July 2, Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in the state.

During the book launch event, Sharad Pawar also said the Yeshwantrao Chavan Pratishthan, which he heads, will give Rs 50 lakh to Rajawade Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, the group which published the books.