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A fact-finding report on murder by communal elements in Dadri

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Akhlaq's daughter and sister at his residence in Bisara village, in Dadri. (Photo: IE by Gajendra Yadav)

Akhlaq’s daughter and sister at his residence in Bisara village, in Dadri. (Photo: IE by Gajendra Yadav)

by National Committee, IFTU

New Delhi: Those employees of Denso India Limited (situated in NOIDA) who lived in Dadri learnt in the early hours of 29th September that the brother of one of their workers had been beaten to death late the previous night by a mob in his village Bishada situated 4 kms. north of Dadri. The son of the dead man had also been severely beaten and was fighting for life in a nearby hospital where had been admitted by the police.

Led by Com. Radheyshyam, Member of the National Committee of Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) and also ex-General Secretary of the Shramik Sangh along with Shri Vinod Bhati ex-President of Shramik Sangh and other workmen associated with the Shramik Sangh, a team of employees of Denso India Ltd. went to Bishada to console the workman Jan Mohammed and his family on 29th September, 2015. There they learnt the details of the horrible circumstances concerning these killings.

This village is the native village of Jan Mohammed (family has lived here for generations) who himself lives in Dadri and works as a technician in Denso India Ltd. His brother, Ikhlaq Ahmed (who was killed) worked as a blacksmith and was a living in the village. Of his other brothers, the eldest, Zamir Ahmed, works in a private company in Delhi and lives in Loni, the second, Afzal Ahmed, is an employee of Indian Railways and lives next door in village Bishada itself where he is constructing another house. Ikhlaq himself was living in the village and earlier had been a temporary employee in Denso India Ltd. Jan Mohd. is the youngest.

Late Ikhlaq Ahmed’s elder son is in the Indian Air Force and is posted in Chennai. His younger son, Danish, is lying injured. Ikhlaq also has a daughter. In the village of 9500 voters and 2500 families, the houses of the two brothers are at a distance from that of 32 other Muslim families who live beyond the temple. The village is Thakur dominated (part of satta or seven Thakur dominated villages); there are some scheduled caste families besides. One person from among them is also a permanent employee of Denso India Ltd. The nearest thana is at Jarcha, 1-2 km. from the village. It was apparent that the brothers had worked hard, managed to educate the children and had average lifestyle as well.

The team learnt that activity of the BJP had started recently in this village itself, the area MP is Mahesh Sharma, an important functionary of the BJP. The youth of the village were in contact with Central BJP functionaries and some have started roaming in streets wearing shirts imprinted with Hindu religious symbols. Many of these youth take alcohol and are very rude and arrogant. Three months earlier, a priest had been appointed to the local temple which did not have a priest earlier. The temple itself has a public address system with four loudspeakers whose sound reaches the entire village. According to Jan Mohd. the family (both the houses) had not done any sacrifice on Bakr-id on September 25. Goat meat of sacrifice was sent by late Ikhlaq’s married daughter, and same was cooked and some stored in the fridge. Some other people of the village from other community, known to late Ikhlaq and who were non-vegetarians, also ate the meat.

Around 8 PM some photos of beef being found in a utensil and being confiscated by the police were uploaded in the social media. The name of this village was written below the photos though nobody has said till date that such an incident had occurred in this village. After 9 PM, three or four youth went to the temple and the priest says he was forced to announce that everyone should assemble as cow was lying slaughtered in the village. Around 1500 people or more started collecting, and the family said that around 100 entered the narrow gali in front of the house, broke open the gate, scaled the wall, shouting abuses. The daughter of late Ikhlaq told the workers’ team that some youth beat her grandmother, some of them went to the first floor where Ikhlaq and his son Danish were sitting. The youth were armed with lathis. A sawing machine is also kept in the room. They beat up bother father and son, battered them with machine, left the son there but dragged Ikhlaq’s body into the gali and left it there about 150 yards from the house. By then the PCR arrived. Ikhlaq’s daughter has been able to name ten youth among the killers as they were neighbours whom she could identify.

IFTU National Committee has received this report and is releasing the same. We strongly condemn the ghastly incident which was clearly executed with prior planning and in organized fashion. Ikhlaq’s brother’s house and the family next door was left untouched. We are amazed that BJP MP, Mr. Mahesh Sharma, attributes the incident to ‘misunderstanding’ and wonder how naïve the Modi Govt. and the RSS think people are. We express our condolences and sympathies with the family. We commend the workmen of Denso for their intervention and call on the workmen of Denso India and other industries to join us in ensuring justice to their colleague’s brother. We demand that the UP Govt. arrest the guilty immediately, ensure security to the family and expose the political elements who planned and executed this murder.

The RSS and BJP are systematically communally polarizing areas where people of both the communities have lived side by side for generations. We call upon the working class to expose communal conspiracies of RSS-BJP to divide the fighting strength of the people on their democratic demands, and to defeat their conspiracies.

Mumbai: Church demands ban on play for hurting religious sentiments

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agnes-of-god

Mumbai: Catholic Church in India has demanded ban on the play ‘Agnes of God’, an adaptation of American playwright John Pielmeier’s drama about a nun giving birth to a dead child, alleging it is a “wrongful portrayal” of priests and nuns committed to a life of celibacy and hurts the sentiments of the Christians.

According to the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the play “is the wrongful portrayal of the character of lakhs of clergy, who are committed to a life of celibacy”.

“We have written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and also other Chief Ministers to ban the play as it hurts religious sentiments,” Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) general secretary Joseph Dias told PTI here today.

He, however, said the CSF has no plan to obstruct the upcoming performance of the play in Mumbai.

“There is no question of halting that performance as it is to be staged before an invited audience at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA, though it was originally planned at Sophia hall,” Dias said.

“The play has been made by a group whose earlier work was ‘Vagina Monologues’. They are not Christians and they did not involve or consult the Church. The play questions the sacrifice of nuns. Now, they will sell the tickets for hundreds of rupees,” Dias said.

The CBCI, the body of Catholic bishops in the country, has written to Union Home Ministry seeking a countrywide ban on the play holding that it was “misrepresentation of the religious belief of the Christian community”.

“The reason why the Catholic Church is against such a play is that it is the wrongful portrayal of the character of lakhs of our clergy, who are committed to a life of celibacy,” the CBCI letter said.

Director of the play, Kaizaad Kotwal, has approached police to pursue his plea seeking protection for himself and the lead cast including thespian actor Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal.

The play is an adaptation of a 1982 Broadway production by Pielmeier, reportedly based on a true incident in the US, narrating the story of a novice nun who gives birth and insists that the child was the result of a virgin conception.

(PTI)

Goa: Ramnathi villagers seek ban on Sanatan Sanstha

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Sanatan Sanstha

Panaji: Locals of Ramnathi in North Goa district where the Sanatan Sanstha is headquartered, have demanded a ban on the right-wing outfit and urged the state government to ensure that its ashram is shifted out of their village failing which they would intensify their agitation against them and their ‘sadhaks’ (seekers).

The villagers have given the state government a week’s time to ban the Sanstha or shift the ashram at Ramnathi saying that they would organise a rally and a public meeting at Ponda (taluka) bus stand if their demands are not met.

This is not the first time that the villagers have protested against the Sanstha based in Ramnathi in Ponda, known for a cluster of popular temples.

They had earlier done so after the 2009 bomb blasts when mastermind Gonda Patil and accomplice Yogesh Naik, both full-time members of the Sanstha, died while ferrying IEDs on their scooter to a Diwali gathering in Margao, located 35 km from Panaji.

Village sarpanch Shamila Lotlikar claimed that she has been approached by several locals with a demand that the ashram be shifted from Ramnathi following which she has appealed to the Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar to do so immediately.

Ramnathi Yuva Sangh President Saurabh Lotlikar also sought to free the village from the “menace of Sanstha” after its members came under the scanner for alleged involvement in the murder of veteran communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare in Maharashtra.

Sameer Gaikwad, a full-time seeker of the Sanstha, has been arrested in the Pansare murder case.

The Special Investigating Team (SIT), probing the murder of Pansare, suspects role of two more Sanstha members Rudra Patil and Sarang Akolkar alias Kulkarni, who are absconding in connection with the 2009 blast, in the case.

Rudra along with Sarang have been declared absconders by National Investigation Agency (NIA) since the Goa blasts.

Pansare was shot along with his wife near his residence in Kolhapur in Maharashtra on February 16. He succumbed to injuries four days later in Mumbai.

(PTI)

Indrani’s condition stable, will remain in hospital for 3 days

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Indrani Mukherjea

Mumbai: Former media magnate Indrani Mukerjea, prime accused in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case, is in a semi conscious state and will have to remain for next three days in hospital where she was rushed after suspected drug overdose, a senior doctor said today.

“Indrani is in a semi conscious state and will be under treatment and observation at the hospital for three more days,” T P Lahane, Dean of JJ hospital told PTI this morning.

“Necessary blood and urine tests were carried out and a team of CBI officials was also briefed on her medical condition,” another doctor at the hospital said.

Indrani was rushed to JJ hospital from Arthur-road jail yesterday afternoon in an unconscious condition after she allegedly overdosed on anti-epileptic pills.

Lahane said Indrani’s stomach wash has been collected and will be sent for forensic analysis to conclusively determine if she consumed the drugs.

It is suspected that Indrani went into depression after learning about the demise of her mother in Guwahati on Tuesday.

JJ hospital doctors were given prison records that showed Indrani was taking anti-epilepsy medicines since September 11. “There is a possibility that she collected the pills and consumed them all at once. She came to us in an unconscious state. She has also developed respiratory distress,” the doctor said.

Indrani has been admitted to the critical care unit on the second floor of the hospital.
Indrani, wife of media baron Peter Mukerjea, was arrested by Khar police on August 25 for her alleged role in the murder of Sheena, her daughter from an earlier marriage, in 2012.

Sheena, 24, was allegedly kidnapped from outside National College in Bandra and strangled to death in a car by Indrani, her former second husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyamvar Rai.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered an inquiry into the incident. The probe will cover all angles, including from where she get hold of the pills, a senior official said.

(Agencies)

KSRTC launches buses that will run on bio-diesel

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bio-diesel

Bengaluru: In an initiative taken by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), the organization launched as many as 10 eco-friendly bio-diesel buses on October 2 Friday.

The buses were flagged off by CM Siddaramaiah at the Vidhana Soudha premises in the presence of Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee. The buses will begin operating soon in the city.

The KSRTC aims at having nearly 107 such buses that will run on 20% bio-diesel and 80% petro-diesel (a combination of petroleum oil and diesel). Sources say that there were about 8,200 KSRTC buses operating in the state capital and if the buses were run on bio-diesel, the KSRTC could save up to Rs 5 per liter.

It is said that the bio-diesel that would be used in the buses was a clean burning renewable fuel made of natural vegetable oils and fats that significantly reduce fuel emission. The fuel is prepared through a chemical process that converts oils and fats of natural origin into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). This product could be used as a replacement for petroleum diesel fuel or could also be blended with petroleum diesel fuel in any proportion.

Experts say that the product was environmental friendly and will also encourage farmers in planting vegetable crops and palm trees together with regular food crops in a multi-cropping pattern and will also provide them with additional income. For this barren and waste lands can also be used and will in turn help farmers overcome loss due to irregular rains at least a certain extent.

The KSRTC had begun testing the edible oils such as groundnut, sesame, sunflower, castor oil and non-edible oils such as pongamia for engines since July 2003. Now, the corporation has adopted a 10% blend made of vegetable oil after checking for its fuel efficiency and smoke emission reduction.

Back in August 2005, the Doddaballapur Depot was officially converted to a bio-fuel depot and had 76 buses running with fuel made of 10% vegetable oil.

The state road transport undertakings in the country together operate about 1.50 lakh buses prviding service to nearly seven crore passengers on a daily basis which is three times higher than the Indian Railways. Studies have estimated that 300 crore litres of diesel was being consumed each year with about 35% spent on fuel cost.

(Agencies)

NRHM scam: CBI questions Mayawati

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mayawati

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday, questioned former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati here, in connection with the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam.

Sources said a team of CBI sleuths questioned Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati for over two hours at her residence in Central Delhi in connection with embezzlement of funds in implementation of the health mission. Mayawati was at the helm of affairs in Uttar Pradesh from 2007 to 2012 when the scam occurred.

“Mayawati was questioned here in connection with the NRHM scam of about Rs.10,000 crore,” said sources, adding that the agency had summoned Mayawati last month.

“Mayawati was asked to clarify the funding of some projects under NRHM in which some top officials, including the then Principal Secretary, Health, Pradeep Shukla has been charged by the agency,” sources said.

Many politicians, government officials and private people were involved in the scam. Babu Singh Kushwaha, a former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister during the BSP rule, was arrested on March 3, 2012 and is still languishing in jail.

Kushwaha recently moved the apex court seeking bail but his plea was dismissed on February 13, with the court saying the allegations against him were very serious and it was a “good case for dismissal”.

The agency had filed 74 cases related to the scam and has filed chargesheets in 48 cases.

As many as six people had died or were allegedly murdered in an attempt to cover up the large-scale irregularities in the case.

The issue of financial irregularities in NRHM funds came to light when the murders of two chief medical officers of family welfare — V. K. Arya in 2010 and B.P. Singh in 2011 – surfaced and deputy chief medical officer Y.S. Sachan was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the district jail of Lucknow.

The NRHM funds, to the tune of about Rs.10,000 crore, were allocated to Uttar Pradesh for 2005 to 2011 by the union health ministry. The funds were spent through 72 chief medical officers in Uttar Pradesh and other nodal offices across the state under the various schemes approved by the central government involving a large number of beneficiaries.

A number of these works have been executed through several state PSUs and a large number of contractors and firms.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court in 2011 directed the CBI to probe the murder of Sachan and investigate the irregularities in implementation of the NRHM.

A Special Investigation Team comprising 26 investigating officers including five superintendents of police under the overall supervision of additional director, joint director and two DIGs are probing the scam.

The investigation team is also assisted by experts from banking, accountancy, engineering works and computer forensics and officers dealing with the NRHM scheme in the union health ministry.

(IANS)

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan only ‘showbaazi’: Kejriwal

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Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he has witnessed only “showbaazi” and not any real action in the Swachh Bharat campaign, even as he announced construction of over 750 new toilets in the national capital.

Without naming Narendra Modi, Kejriwal, on the first anniversary of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, said, “Nothing has happened in the last one year. On this day, last year, Swachch Bharat campaign was launched and I along with the citizens of the country had participated in it. There was a hope that perhaps now India will become clean.”

“In the last one year, I haven’t seen any action apart from advertisements or showbaazi. I can’t see any street which has become clean. I want to say that we all should work on this. Let us all talk less and work more,” he added.

“1 yr of swach bharat. Which streets got cleaned as a result of “this campaign”? How much budget spent on it? Time to question symbolism? (sic),” he tweeted.

Kejriwal also said the state government will construct more than 750 new toilets in the national capital.

“Delhi Government has also taken a pledge to build toilets across the slums of Delhi by March 31. The existing toilets in the slums will also be cleaned and water supply will be provided,” Kejriwal said while inaugurating a toilet block in Majnu Ka Tila area.

“Today, AAP govt has added 350 new toilet seats across Delhi in 10 new toilet blocks. In the last six months, 750 toilet seats have been added,” he added.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched last year on the 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The campaign aims at making India a clean country by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

(PTI)

Unfortunate that Modi was born in Gandhi’s land: CM Siddaramaiah

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siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said it was unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been born in the land of Mahatma Gandhi.

Speaking after inaugurating a function organised at the KPCC headquarters to mark Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri’s birth anniversary, he said people should be cautious about BJP leaders.

The communal BJP always pursues hidden agenda and Congress members should be doubly careful about BJP leaders and always be ready to counter their agenda, he added.

He came down heavily on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat over his recent statement calling for review of the reservation policy, and said the system would continue as long as the country had the caste system.

The caste system can go only when there is change in people’s mindset and that can happen only when there is social and economic equality in society, he added.

“Modi is dreaming of smart cities. It is not a mistake. We, too, support it. But villages must also become smart along with cities. Only then will Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of gram swaraj come true,” said the chief minister.

Speaking later at a function to give away the Gandhi Grama Puraskara awards, Siddaramaiah said care should be taken to ensure people in rural areas do not migrate in large numbers to urban areas while developing smart cities.

“A large section of people are still living in rural areas. So importance should be given on the development of villages,” he said.

KPCC president G Parameshwara also attacked Modi at the KPCC function, saying it was unbecoming of a prime minister to speak lightly of Opposition parties abroad.

No prime minister in the past, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, had spoken ill of the Opposition when travelling abroad, he added.

Dadri lynching: Arvind Kejriwal stopped from visiting village

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Dadri

Greater Noida: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today claimed he was stopped from visiting Bishada village in Dadri where a mob killed a man over rumours that he had eaten beef.

The AAP leader questioned why he was stopped from meeting the family when leaders like Asaduddin Owaisi and Mahesh Sharma were allowed.

Kejriwal, who was accompanied by AAP leaders Kumar Vishwas and Sanjay Singh, said he was was stopped outside the village after locals protested against visitors to the village.

“We r stopped by police n admn. Mahesh Sharma n Owaisi not stopped yest. Then y me? I am most peace loving. Want 2 jst meet Ikhlak’s family,” he tweeted.

Yesterday, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi had visited Bishada village to console victim Mohammed Iqlakh’s family and had questioned the Prime Minister’s silence on the “pre-planned murder”.

Owaisi had rubbished claims that Iqlakh’s family was attacked because of rumours that it had eaten beef and alleged he was done to death because of his religious persuasion.

“This attack was not because of meat. The SP government, instead of arresting the murderers, is getting a forensic test done on the meat found at the victim’s home. Their mind, which is full of poison, should be examined first. They are treating the victim as accused,” he had said.

Mahesh Sharma, the local BJP MP, had also visited the bereaved family yesterday. He stated that the killing was an “accident” which should not be given a communal colour and over which no politics should be done as it may prove to be “dangerous”.

There were also reports that a group of women had driven out mediapersons and other visitors from the village.

Contingents of Provincial Armed Constabulary and state police have been deployed across the village where prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more people continued to be in force.

District Magistrate M P Singh had claimed that the situation was under control and reasoned that the incident should be treated as a “solitary case” and not a communal clash as no other Muslim family was affected.

 

(Agencies)

Akhilesh targets PM, dares him to ban beef exports

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Akhilesh-Yadav

Lucknow: Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said those who spoke against “pink revolution” should ban beef exports as they were now in power and alleged that they wanted to disturb the “secular” ethos of the country by raising such issues.

Amid the outrage over lynching of a man in the state’s Dadri town after villagers accused him and his family of consuming beef, the Chief Minister today broke his silence saying that “our religion and our country” allow people to live the way they want and respect their rights.

“A rumour does not have anything in it but a lot can happen because of it. Our Constitution is based on secularism. Our schemes are all based on this principle but some forces want to vitiate the atmosphere.

“They want to rake up such issues. These forces talked about pink revolution. We will say today – you are in government now, so ban beef exports. You should build support for banning their export,” Yadav said in an apparent reference to Modi, who had in the run-up to last Lok Sabha elections attacked the then UPA government over meat exports, saying it was encouraging “pink revolution”.

Without naming Modi, Yadav said that those who are marketing the country abroad should consider what kind of food is eaten by the people there.

“The world where you are roaming, marketing and promoting your country, just think once what kind of food they eat from dawn to dusk. That’s why we should not interfere in each other’s way of life,” he said at a function here.

A blame game has erupted between BJP and ruling SP in the state over the killing of the 50-year-old man following rumours that he and his family had eaten beef.

Iqlakh was beaten to death and his 22-year-old son Danish was critically injured by a 200-strong mob which barged into their house on Monday night following rumours that the family had consumed beef. Cow slaughter is banned in Uttar Pradesh.

Samajwadi Party has accused BJP of deliberately inciting violence ahead of 2017 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh as part of efforts to polarise people while BJP has termed it a failure of the state government to maintain law and order.

(Agencies)

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