Archives for 2024

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal

New Delhi: India on Thursday said it had shared with the Canadian government security-related information regarding members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and other gangs, seeking their arrest, but so far “no action” has been taken by Ottawa.

“They have taken no action so far, which are our core concerns. And, there is a political motive behind it, which you know… No action taken on our security concern,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters.

He said this in response to a query during his weekly briefing here as he fielded a volley of questions on India-Canada ties, a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified before a Commission of Inquiry.

Jaiswal, in response to another query, said “as far as my information is concerned, there are 26 extradition requests (from India) pending with the Canadian side” over the last decade or more.

The MEA spokesperson said the current diplomatic row with Canada has been precipitated by the Trudeau government’s “baseless” allegations, and reiterated that “no evidence” has been shared in support of Ottawa’s charges against New Delhi.

“We will say that as far as the allegations are concerned, PM Trudeau’s own admission yesterday would indicate the value as regards our stance on the allegations. We will naturally reject false imputations against our diplomats,” he said.

Testifying before the public inquiry into foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions, Trudeau on Wednesday acknowledged that he had only intelligence and no “hard evidentiary proof” when he alleged the involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year.

The MEA early on Thursday reacted to this and said what it has heard only “confirms” New Delhi’s consistent stand that Canada has “presented us no evidence” in support of the serious allegations Ottawa chose to level against India and Indian diplomats.

“So far, Canada has not given evidence in support of the very serious allegations levelled against India and Indian diplomats,” Jaiswal said.

The MEA spokesperson’s comments assumes significance given the claims made by Canadian prime minister during the inquiry.

Testifying before the public inquiry, Trudeau claimed the Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians who are in disagreement with the Narendra Modi government and passing it to the highest levels within the Indian government and criminal organisations like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

On a query on extradition requests from India, the MEA spokesperson said that besides the 26 extradition requests, there are several “provisional arrest requests of several criminals, which are also pending with the Canadian side”.

“Some of the notable ones who have been charged with terror and related crimes, I would like to name them. They are, Gurjeet Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Lakhbir Singh Landa and Arshdeep Singh Gill. They are wanted in terror charges, as I told you. And also some related charges,” Jaiswal said.

Provisional arrest information has been sought by India under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

The five criminals (named during the briefing) are fugitives whose extradition “we have sought”, he said.

To a query on whether Nijjar’s name was on the extradition list, Jaiswal clarified that it wasn’t.

He added that New Delhi had shared “security-related information with the Canadian government regarding gang members, including those of Lawrence Bishnoi gang, and requested them to arrest them and/or to take due action as per the law”.

While India had exchanged and given this information, “so far no action has been taken by the Canadian side on our request. This is very serious,” the MEA spokesperson said.

Jaiswal said it is really strange how “the people who we asked to be deported, on whom we asked that action be taken, we are being told that they are the ones…or the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) is blaming the Indian side, that these people are committing crimes in Canada, for which you are to be blamed. So this is a contradiction in terms, which we don’t understand”.

India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.

“On Lawrence Bishnoi gang, other gangs, syndicates, a few years ago and recently too, have told Canada and requested for their provisional arrests. So, far no action has been taken, neither any arrest made,” the MEA spokesperson said.

And, New Delhi has repeatedly said this, these people who are indulging in anti-India activities over there, encouraging separate forces, and strictest of actions should be taken against them, Jaiswal said.

“But, in this matter, they have brought forth the idea of freedom of speech and said, they can’t do anything in this regard. This is baseless from our side,” he added.

During the briefing, he was also asked if India has reached out to its allies including the US, the UK, Australia on this issue, to which he said, “no talks with them yet”.

Asked where he saw this bilateral relationship going, Jaiswal said, “Well, to tell you very frankly, India-Canada economic ties are very strong and vibrant. We have a lot of Canadian pension funds… invested here, we have a large Indian diaspora in Canada, which is a bridge through which we maintain very strong people-to-people links with Canada”.

“We have a large, possibly the largest cohort of international students in Canada as well. This particular crisis has been precipitated by Trudeau government’s baseless allegations,” he said.

And, Canada is a major beneficiary of all these linkage, “strong linkages that we have”, the MEA spokesperson said.

On a query about reports that the Indian high commissioner and five other diplomats were asked to leave Canada, Jaiswal said subsequent to India’s decision to withdraw its envoy and other diplomats, “we saw that there was a communication from the Canadian side, asking them to leave by 11:59 pm on October 19. But, we had withdrawn our diplomats before their decision”.

India on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats and also announced withdrawing its high commissioner from Canada after dismissing Ottawa’s allegations linking the envoy to a probe into the killing of Nijjar.

Nijjar, who was declared a terrorist by India, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18 last year.

Police have arrested a fabricator of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that recently collapsed at a fort in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, triggering a huge political row, an official said on Friday.

Fabricator Parmeshwar Ramnaresh Yadav, who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh, had used substandard material while shaping the 35-foot-tall statue of the Maratha warrior king, he said.

A resident of Mirzapur in UP, Yadav was taken into custody on Thursday after his role in the statue collapse came to light, the official said.

Yadav had been tasked with creating the Shivaji statue by welding separate parts, he said.

Police said the fabricator used inferior material to form the structure and did not join the parts properly through welding.

During a technical analysis, it was found that the collapsed steel statue had rusted in some places, indicating the use of low-quality material, he said.

After his role in the case was established, Yadav was also made an accused and was subsequently placed under arrest on Thursday. He was produced in a court which remanded him in police custody for three days, the official said.

The statue of the 17th-century Maratha empire founder, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil of Sindhudurg district on December 4 (Navy Day) last year, collapsed on August 26 amid strong winds.

The statue’s sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte and consultant Chetan Patil were later arrested.

Salman Khan

Mumbai : The Mumbai traffic police received a threat message demanding Rs 5 crore from Bollywood actor Salman Khan, officials said on Friday.

The Worli police have registered a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for threat and extortion.

The city’s traffic control room on Thursday afternoon received a threat on its WhatsApp helpline, he said.

In the message, the sender threatened the actor and demanded Rs 5 crore from him, he said, adding that a probe is underway.

The superstar had earlier received death threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

Bishnoi gang members had also opened fire outside the actor’s Bandra home in April, he said.

Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai police on Thursday uncovered a plot to kill Khan by the Bishnoi gang in June and arrested one of its shooters, identified as Sukhbir Singh of Haryana’s Panipat, he said.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday hailed the Supreme Court upholding the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, saying it is a message to all that “live and let live” and conserve the culture of a multicultural and plural nation that India is.

In a significant judgement, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act which grants Indian citizenship to immigrants from Bangladesh who entered Assam before March 25, 1971.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices Surya Kant, M M Sundresh, and Manoj Misra further underscored the necessity for more robust policy measures to curb illegal immigration.

In a post on X, Sibal said, “Citizenship Act, 1955, Section 6-A, upheld by Supreme Court. Message to all: ‘Live and let live’. Conserve the culture of a ‘multicultural and plural nation that India is’.

“Bhakts listening? Bajrang Dal listening? Governments listening? Hope so!” Sibal said.

Section 6A was inserted in 1985 into the Citizenship Act of 1955 following the signing of the Assam accord between the then Rajiv Gandhi government at the Centre and the agitating groups led by Prafulla Mahanta, including All Assam Students Union in the state.

The verdict is believed to give a boost to those opposed to grant of Indian citizenship to immigrants who entered Assam after March 25, 1971.

According to the provision, all those who came to Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971, from Bangladesh at the time of commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1985, and since then are residents of Assam, can register for Indian citizenship.

As a result, the provision fixes March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to migrants, particularly those from Bangladesh, residing in Assam.

While the CJI, Justices Kant, Sundresh, and Misra upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A, Justice J B Pardiwala dissented in a minority verdict.

Holding the cut-off date of March 25, 1971 as rational, the CJI, writing for himself, said Section 6A was included with the objective of reducing the influx of migrants to India and dealing with those who had already migrated.

CJI Chandrachud said Section 6A was not violative of Articles 6 and 7 of the Constitution, which stipulates a cut-off date for conferring citizenship to migrants from east and west Pakistan at the commencement of the Constitution”.

“The Assam Accord was a political solution to the issue of growing migration and Section 6A was a legislative solution. Section 6A must not be read detached from the previous legislation enacted by Parliament to deal with the problem of influx of migrants of Indian origin… Section 6A is one more statutory intervention in the long list of legislation that balances the humanitarian needs of migrants of Indian origin and the impact of such migration on economic and cultural needs of Indian states,” he wrote.

Justice Surya Kant, writing for himself and Justices Sundresh and Misra, said, Section 6A falls within the bounds of the Constitution and does not contravene the foundational principles of fraternity.

Davangere: A case has been registered against BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal following his allegations that a leader had collected Rs 1,000 crore with the intent to topple the Congress government in the state.

The FIR was filed at the Gandhinagar police station based on a complaint by KPCC General Secretary S. Manohar.

Yatnal had claimed that leaders from his party had amassed Rs 1,000 crore and were plotting to use the money to bring down the state government and install themselves as chief ministers. He further alleged that the money was meant to bribe Congress MLAs.

Nasheman news

Jaipur: An Indigo flight from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday made an emergency landing here following a bomb threat, an airport official said.

The flight took off from Dammam airport in Saudi Arabia and was scheduled to land at Lucknow airport. It was diverted to Jaipur for emergency landing, the official said.

The plane is at its isolation bay. Further details are awaited, the official added.