PDP leader Surinder Choudhary underscored the need for releasing the incarcerated political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir.

JAMMU: The PDP reiterated its demand for the release of Jammu and Kashmir’s political leaders on Sunday while asserting that the prevalent situation in the region was undermining the very idea of democracy.

It also said the current situation was bringing back the memories of the Emergency days.

“For peace to prevail, the government has to shun its proverbial ostrich approach and ascertain the situation, which is grim and worrisome,” People’s Democratic Party (PDP) general secretary and former MLC Surinder Choudhary said.

Addressing a meeting at the party head office here, he underscored the need for releasing the incarcerated political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting discussed the prevailing political situation in Jammu and Kashmir and also took stock of the arrangements being made to commemorate the fourth death anniversary of party founder and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Choudhary also urged the government to provide immediate relief to the farmers in Jammu as well as in Kashmir, who suffered massive losses due to an unprecedented snowfall and heavy rains early this winter.

He urged the government to adopt a long-term strategy to cope with the agrarian crisis looming large, with those associated with the farming sector bearing the brunt.

Stating that the bunkers built by the government for the people in the frontier regions were inadequate and did not have basic facilities, the PDP leader requested the government to review the process afresh so that in times of hostilities between India and Pakistan, poor people were not exposed to hardships.

The SP leader claimed that if the BJP MLAs were taken into confidence, it would emerge that 300 MLAs were angry with the chief minister.

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of trying to save his chair by doing “injustice” to Muslims in the garb of action taken against people protesting the contentious citizenship law and the NRC.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Yadav said: “Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath knows that 200 BJP MLAs had staged a sit-in against him inside the UP Assembly. To save his chair, he is doing injustice on Muslims.”

The SP leader claimed that if the BJP MLAs were taken into confidence, it would emerge that 300 MLAs were angry with the chief minister.

“He (Adityanath) is afraid of this and getting injustice done by the police to save his chair,” Yadav said.

At least 19 people were killed across the state in widespread clashes during protests against the amended Citizenship Act and proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Yadav said the truth would come out if a probe by a retired high court or Supreme Court judge was conducted into the violence.

“It will also become clear that the people who died in the violence were killed by police bullets. What is the truth that the government wants to hide?” Yadav asked.

This banning step has been attributed to the recent cases where the enemy had targeted the naval personnel using these sites and social media network and had tried to elicit operational information.

New Delhi: Indian Navy has issued orders to ban the use of social media site Facebook. The order was issued on December 27. This banning order comes on the heels of December 20 arrest of 8 persons, Seven Navy personnel from Vishakhapatnam and a Hawala operator from Mumbai.

The Andhra Pradesh Intelligence Department launched an operation in association with Central Intelligence Agencies and Naval Intelligence and had busted an espionage racket having links with Pakistan.

Apart from banning the use of Facebook, the order bans use of smartphones within the naval areas like all the bases and even onboard ships forthwith.

The ban has been extended to the messaging apps and social networking sites as well. Further, the ban on Facebook is being seen as a ban on all other Facebook-owned sites as well. WhatsApp and Instagram are Facebook-owned. 

This banning step has been attributed to the recent cases where the enemy had targeted the naval personnel using these sites and social media network and had tried to elicit operational information.

The total number of personnel serving in the Indian Navy is 67252. The bigger worry faced by the service will be of a large number of civilian staff working in the harbours and naval dockyard as they do not come under the naval rules and act. 

The swearing-in will take place at 1 pm in the Vidhan Bhavan (state legislature) premises where a total of 36 ministers are likely to take oath, they said.

MUMBAI: Ten Congress MLAs, including former chief minister Ashok Chavan, will join the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra council of ministers during its expansion on Monday, party sources said.

The swearing-in will take place at 1 pm in the Vidhan Bhavan (state legislature) premises where a total of 36 ministers are likely to take oath, they said.

From the Congress’ side, Ashok Chavan, K C Padvi, Vijay Wadettiwar, Amit Deshmukh, Sunil Kadar, Yashomati Thakur, Varsha Gaikwad and Aslam Sheikh will take oath as Cabinet ministers, the sources said.

Besides, Satej Patil and Vishwajit Kadam of the Congress will be sworn in as ministers of state, they added.

The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray was formed on November 28.

The state Cabinet currently has six ministers, besides the chief minister.

Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut of the Congress, Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai of the Shiv Sena and Jayant Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal of the NCP took oath along with Thackeray on November 28.

Maharashtra can have a maximum of 43 ministers.

The size of council of ministers cannot exceed 15 per cent of the total number of MLAs, which is 288 in the state.

The Shiv Sena last month joined hands with the Congress and NCP, its traditional adversaries, after its alliance with the BJP collapsed over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.

As per the power-sharing formula decided by the three MVA allies, the Sena will get 15 ministerial berths, excluding the CM’s post, the NCP will also get 15 and the Congress 12.

The Shiv Sena has 56 MLAs, the NCP-54 and the Congress-44 in the 288-member House.

Markets as well residential areas in Muslim-dominated localities of the town, the headquarters of Aravalli district, wore a deserted look.

MODASA: To protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Muslim community in Modasa town in north Gujarat observed a self-imposed “Janta curfew” on Friday.

Markets as well residential areas in Muslim-dominated localities of the town, the headquarters of Arvalli district, wore a deserted look.

The Aravalli Muslim Co-ordination Committee had given a call for a bandh (shut-down) as well as a “Janta curfew”.

Its impact was felt in Old City area, Vegetable Market, Kasba, Suka Bajar, College Road and some other areas.

But the bandh call did not receive much response in non-Muslim areas.

“Not a single Muslim came out of house today. All our shops and businesses remained shut. We had given the call for bandh and janta curfew to register our protest in a peaceful yet effective way,” said Maulana Mohsin Sahab of the Coordination Committee.

“We strongly oppose both CAA and NRC as they are against the spirit of our Constitution. We want the government to think over them again and withdraw these draconian measures,” said the cleric.

Kalbe Jawwad lauded the Lucknow police for controlling the situation which arose after the anti-CAA protests and said that action should also be taken against anti-social elements.

LUCKNOW: Shia cleric Kalbe Jawwad met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on Saturday and demanded the release of people arrested in “fake” cases related to anti-CAA violence.

He also demanded that students arrested from a Shia Madarsa in Muzaffarnagar should also be released and the action should be taken against erring officials.

The cleric lauded the Lucknow police for controlling the situation which arose after the anti-CAA protests and said that action should also be taken against anti-social elements who instigated the violence.

In a memorandum, Jawwad stated: “The honourable Chief Minister has said that those who have been involved in violence will be brought to book but UP police is arresting innocent people from their homes.”

More than 15 people have died in alleged police firing in UP as unverified videos have surfaced that purportedly show UP police using excessive force against the protesters.

The Shia community which has been reluctant to join the anti-CAA agitation, eventually joined it this week as the religious leaders made a u-turn following a backlash in the Muslim community.

 The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) inquiry into the protests that took a violent turn in Mangaluru on December 19, began on Friday.

MANGALURU: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) inquiry into the protests that took a violent turn in Mangaluru on December 19, began on Friday. Two people were killed in police firing that took place during the protests.

Sources said the five-member team, led by CID SP Rahul Shahpura, which arrived at the police commissioner’s office in the morning, went to Bunder area where the firing happened, for inspection.

Later, they collected details of the incident from the local police and went through the videos and photos related to the incident.

However, sources said the CID has not yet taken over the investigation from the Mangaluru city police which has already started their investigation.

The local police will continue the investigation and the CID will take over the case only after finishing the groundwork. Once they take over the case, the CID will look into whether the investigation conducted by the local police so far, is proper.

Since the government has also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident, Udupi Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha is expected to visit Mangaluru on Saturday to start the investigation into the incident.

The government has ordered to complete the investigation in three months and submit a report.