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‘Mardaani 2’ actor Rani Mukerji urges more women to join the police force

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Rani told the female officers of Maharashtra Police at a special screening, “We wanted to show it to you first. I am happy that all of you could come to watch this film.”

Bollywood actor Rani Mukerji poses with police women during promotion of the film Mardaani 2 at Nariman Point in Mumbai Wednesday Dec 11 2019.

MUMBAI: Actress Rani Mukerji, who plays a cop in “Mardaani 2”, has urged women of the country to join the police force in large numbers.

“I want more and more girls and women of our country to choose the police department as their profession because personally as a citizen of this country, I feel that there aren’t better police officers than female police officers,” said Rani, at a special screening of “Mardaani 2” for female officers of Maharashtra Police in Mumbai.

The film is a sequel to the 2014 film “Mardaani” with Rani reprising her role of Superintendent of  Police Shivani Roy. The new film is set in Kota, Rajasthan, and it revolves around Shivani trying to nab a 21-year-old villain played by Vishal Jethwa.

About the screening, Rani told the female officers: “The film releases on 13th December but we wanted to show it to you first. I am happy that all of you could come to watch this film and give me your feedback. I will try to do more films like this in future.”

The trailer of “Mardaani 2” has received over 10 million views on YouTube since its release. Asked what kind of response she expects from the audience, Rani said: “Now they (the female police officers) have watched the film and we have got good feedback from them. This has increased my confidence. I now pray that once the film releases on Friday, everyone will react in the same as these police officers.”

While Rani plays the fearless cop Shivani Roy in “Mardaani 2”, her old friend and co-star of several films, Salman Khan, will hit the theatres a week later as the maverick Inspector Chubul Pandey in “Dabangg 3”.

“Chulbul Pandey is a male officer and Shivani Roy is a female officer. Both of them work for the police. Shivani Roy is a superintendent of police, so I am his (Chulbul Pandey) senior. He still has two stars (sub-inspector rank). That’s the only difference,a Rani quipped.

“Mardaani 2” is directed by Gopi Puthran and produced by Rani’s husband Aditya Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films.

India firm favourites going into first ODI against West Indies

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Indian player Rohit Sharma during a practice session ahead of the first One Day International ODI cricket match against West Indies at MAC Stadium in Chennai. (EPS| Ashwin prasath)

CHENNAI: India will have their tails up whey they play West Indies in the first One-day International of the three-match rubber here on Sunday, seeking a 10th straight bilateral ODI series win against the side from the Caribbean.

Both teams will have an eye on the weather after rains in the last 24 hours.

The home team will miss the services of seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is out with a groin problem and Shikhar Dhawan, who is yet to recover from the injury he suffered during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament.

Mumbai’s Shardul Thakur, who plays for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, has been called up as the replacement for the injured Bhuvneshwar.

Virat Kohli’s men have the momentum after winning the T20 series with a splendid batting performance in Mumbai where Rohit Sharma and K L Rahul, who is expected to continue as the opener in the absence of Dhawan, and the captain himself displayed terrific form.

It remains to be seen if the team decides to hand Mayank Agarwal a debut after he was drafted in as replacement for Dhawan.

The Karnataka batsman has been in top form in the Tests and has joined the national team after featuring in the Ranji game against Tamil Nadu in Dindigul.

Shreyas Iyer has done well in the opportunities he has received and is likely to be slotted at No.4.

Former captain Anil Kumble, too, has favoured the Mumbai player batting at No.4 in the ODI series against the West Indies.

The position has been in the spotlight for a while now with several players being tried, including Ambati Rayudu and Vijay Shankar, and Iyer is in with a chance to make it his own.

The focus will be on wicketkeeper-batsman Rishab Pant, who has been under fire for his unimpressive performances with the bat and the big gloves.

The first ODI could be another chance for him to justify the faith shown by Kohli and the team management.

It will be interesting to see if the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav reunite after last playing together in the World Cup, as the Chepauk surface is expected to aid the slow bowlers.

The experienced Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar will most probably form the pace attack and would face a stern test against the aggressive West Indies batting line-up.

The visitors will be hoping that big-hitting opener Evin Lewis, who suffered an injury while fielding in the Mumbai T20, will be able to play a part in the ODI leg of the tour.

Team officials said he was being assessed ahead of the series opener.

The Windies batsmen have had a lot of success in the T20s thanks to their ultra-aggressive approach but ODIs will be a different ball game and as assistant coach Roddy Estwick stated the batters need to focus on rotating the strike, which they did well in the series against Afghanistan recently.

The onus will be on the WI batsmen to not only go on attack mode first up but also keep wickets in hand to accelerate in the back-end.

Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran have showed their abilities in the shortest format and need to display the same in the 50-overs game too if the West Indies hopes to give India a run in this series.

All-rounder Roston Chase is likely to figure in the XI and could provide some stability to the line-up boasting of several power-hitters.

Skipper Kieron Pollard, who has a rather modest record in the ODIs, will have to lead by example and provide the thrust in the slog overs.

Sheldon Cottrell will lead the Caribbean bowling attack and will need to strike early if the team hopes to restrict a formidable Indian batting unit with Rohit, Kohli and Rahul in ominous form.

The other pacers including former captain Jason Hoder will have to step up as would the spinners.

Leggie Hayden Walsh Jr bowled well in the T20s and has a big task at hand to contain Kohli & Co, known to be adept at tackling spinners.

An intriguing battle is on hand with the Indian team favourite to add the ODI series to the T20 win but the unpredictable West Indies can spring a surprise or two.

Heavy overnight rain meant India’s training session on the eve of the opener was called off.

Teams (from): India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.

West Indies: Kieron Pollard (captain), Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope, Khary Pierre, Roston Chase, Alzarri Joseph, Kieron Pollard (Captain), Sheldon Cottrell, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Keemo Paul, Hayden Walsh Jr.

Fed up with wife’s ‘lavish lifestyle’, Bengaluru techie commits suicide

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Bengaluru:

Rekha reportedly used to harass her husband and also pressurised him to transfer property in her father’s name.

A 39-year-old techie allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself here on Friday at his apartment purportedly because he was fed up with his wife’s ‘extravagance’ and ‘harassment’.

The deceased, identified as Srinad, was employed at a software company and so is his wife Rekha. He reportedly took loans to buy a flat and meet other expenses, however, his wife Rekha used to spend ‘lavishly’ despite him objecting to it, cops said.

Rekha reportedly used to harass her husband and also pressurised him to transfer property in her father’s name.

An FIR has been registered against Rekha and her parents under IPC Section 306 (abetment of suicide) and other relevant sections. Police are investigating the case.

‘Removing Tipu Sultan from books insult to history’

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It is a matter of research and can be studied at the university level.

BENGALURU: It’s a controversy waiting to resurface again. After some BJP legislators demanded the removal of references to erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan from school textbooks, the government constituted a committee to look into the issue. The government is yet to decide on the committee’s recommendation on retaining the lessons.

In an interview to The New Sunday Express, noted Kannada writer Prof Baraguru Ramachandrappa, who headed the Textbooks Revision Committee in 2016-17, said the controversy is unwarranted and taking out references to Tipu from the textbooks is an insult to history. 
Excerpts:

Your views on the controversy?
This is an unwarranted controversy. There is nothing controversial in the school textbooks.

BJP legislators demanded removal of lessons on Tipu as he had committed atrocities against people in Kodagu…
Primary, high school and even pre-university level textbooks are information-oriented. Normally, we do not discuss for and against in those textbooks. Some historians write in favour of what Tipu did in Malabar region and some others write against it. All kings fought wars and they did some good and some bad works. Do we need to inform primary school and high school students about such controversies? Normally, we do not do it in any textbooks.

It is a matter of research and can be studied at the university level. I am not speaking for or against the issue. But within the framework of textbooks, we have not given any controversial information about anyone. If there is anything wrong in the information provided in the textbooks, it can be revised. It is not right to remove the reference to Tipu Sultan or anyone else.

In seventh standard textbook, there is a reference to Veer Savarkar (Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, freedom fighter who formulated the Hindutva ideology) under the title of ‘Prominent Revolutionaries’. If Congress leaders question how he can be called a revolutionary, can we take it out of the textbooks? There is no need for it. Removing references from textbooks is an insult to history as children need to know one aspect of history and as they grow they can always study other aspects, including controversies.

They also say he was not a freedom fighter
There are references to Tipu in 6th, 7th and 10th standards and we have not used the term ‘freedom fighter’. He had fought against Britishers and there is a reference to it. I have my own doubts if we can call him a ‘freedom fighter’ as the concept of freedom movement came much later. During Tipu’s time (late 18th century), over 500 princely states fought against the British.

Were there any such instances in the past?
I have read about such demands in the past in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Unfortunately, such things happen when the governments change and different parties come to power in states. A government is a democratically elected body and it should be above party politics.

‘Bayalatada Bhimanna’, written by me, was a text in Kuvempu University. It was about stories related to villages and it mentioned abuses commonly used in villages. Some BJP MLCs objected and it was discussed in the legislative council. A committee headed by veteran writer Chaduranga was formed to look into it. The committee found that there is nothing wrong as it is was a text for degree students and not for school students. The government accepted the report.

What is your suggestion to the government?
I think it should be left to experts and the government should not decide. I have great belief in (Education Minister ) Suresh Kumar.

Maulvi arrested for raping domestic help

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Koramangala police arrested a 40-year-old moulvi for allegedly raping his 20-year-old domestic help.

BENGALURU: Koramangala police arrested a 40-year-old moulvi for allegedly raping his 20-year-old domestic help. The accused, Rahabare Islam Parvaz, and the woman are both natives of Bihar. According to a complaint, Parvaz burnt parts of her body with iron rods. After neighbours of the accused alerted them about the harassment, police rescued the victim and arrested Parvaz. 

According to a complaint filed by Rifza (name changed), she was brought to Parvaz’s house in Bengaluru in 2014 as her family faced financial difficulties. Her brother and the accused were neighbours in Bihar. Rifza has four siblings and her lorry driver father remarried after her mother’s death, and the couple have three children.  

Apart from doing household chores, she would take care of the two children of Parvaz who runs ‘Parvaz Academy Tutorial Services’. His wife, an engineer at a leading software company in Bengaluru, also teaches at the tutorials during her spare time. Rifza said in her complaint that Parvaz started sexually harassing her from May this year. He raped her when his wife was away at work and threatened that he would kill her if she revealed it to anyone, she said. 

Rifza, who would also clean the tutorial, met a teacher from Bihar who proposed to marry her and take her back to Bihar. Parvaz, who got wind of their conversation on the phone, pulled her into his room, assaulted her, burnt her back, stomach and left hand with a hot iron rod, she said in the complaint. He warned her against going to the doctor and meeting her boyfriend, she said and added that she was confined the house. 

When his family and friends gathered at the house for his son’s birthday on November 26, Parvaz took her to a room and raped her, Rifza said. hile she was talking to her boyfriend two days later, Parvaz forced her into a room, tied her hands and mouth and burnt her thighs, backside and legs with an iron rod and threatened to kill her, she said. The next day, she managed to escape and went in search of her boyfriend who was staying in Bannerghatta. 

Parvaz called her on the phone, threatening to file a false complaint that she stole Rs 5 lakh from his house. When she came back, he assaulted and locked her up in a room, she said in the complaint. 
Based on a tip-off from neighbours, Koramangala police rushed to the house and rescued the woman on Friday. 

Citizenship Act: Escaping religious persecution, the ‘broken’ finally break free

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With no identification papers and sans rights to jobs and livelihood, the religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan lived in shanties and slums all over India.

Hindu refugees from Pakistan were unable to control their emotions and celebrated the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, at Majnu-ka-tilla (MKT), in New Delhi on Thursday.

They had escaped to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to escape religious persecution and indignity, lived decades here but had been refused equality. With no identification papers and sans rights to jobs and livelihood, they lived in shanties and slums all over India.

Their near apocalyptic state, however, turned to hope last week as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act finally helped them ‘break free’. For these thousands of pariah Hindus, India is now home…

In the small 5X4 mud and brick room in a ramshackle shanty- in which people and utensils jostle for space and breath-the small colour TV on a three-legged stool-balanced on one side with old newspapers- had virtually lain besieged the day through. A huge whoopee at 11 pm, broke the reverie. The still, grim-faced crowd of some 13 people, some inside the room, rented by Nanavati-some standing close and outside- finally broke into laughs and guffaws- suddenly spirited. One fetched a brass plate and ‘stole’ the pestle and started hitting it like mad as if it were a temple gong. Others joined. Then emerged the swell of people, crossing over 200 in under 7 minutes. ‘Jaikaras’ followed-‘Hindustan Zindabad,’ the refrain taken up again, and again, and again…   

Majnu ka Tila, hugging the banks of the Yamuna near Kashmere Gate had suddenly come alive. This is where in some hundred–odd clusters of around 10-14 families each-over 750 persons who repatriated themselves from Pakistan have resided for long. The cause for celebration was given by Home Minister Amit Shah when the BJP-led Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 was passed late evening, Wednesday.
“Akhir mein Bharat ke ho gaye (finally I am an Indian), sighed Sita Devi, 29, a Hindu refugee who migrated from Hyderabad province of Pakistan. “I wish to forget the nightmare which assailed us through our existence there. I have erased all memories


“ she says Yahan sab apne hain, sabka haal barabar hai (here we are together-all equal). I don’t regret leaving the land of my birth. I am a Hindu. I belong to Hindustan. Here, I have religious freedom. I can recite the Gita and visit temples,” adds Sita. Nainabati, 27, recollects that her maternal and husband’s family were farmers, owned land and pucca houses in Karachi. “What they lacked was a sense of belonging.”
She adds: “We may have had land, some wealth. But what’s that if there’s no freedom. One day my family took courage, packed bags and made its way to Delhi.”

It’s the first time that the ‘bustee’ (settlement) has seen some cheer. They danced. Somebody procured a few crackers to celebrate. The people here who have survived with odd jobs as labourers, rickshaw-pullers, vegetable sellers in the absence of citizenship papers-just danced and danced into the night.

“We are finally in,” said one.

Though few have any idea about what the Bill means, they “only hope that we will not have to show up at police stations any longer.”Some 350 km out West, thousands in Jodhpur celebrated the passage of the Bill. Amidst shouts of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, they hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, distributed sweets and exchanged garlands to express their happiness.

Hindu Singh Sodha, President of the Seemant Lok Sangathan, working for the Pakistan Hindus in Rajasthan said, “Three years ago the government had issued directives to collectors to mainstream us but nothing happened, lost as it was in the bureaucratic maze. Now it will.”


Wearing dozens of garlands, Sodha said, “It’s like a dream come true. There are 25,000 Pakistan Hindus who crossed over, of whom 18,000 are registered with Foreigners Registration Office (FRO). Most are extremely poor and been waiting years for citizenship.”Many Pakistan migrants belong to SC/ST category. They hope, now they can avail of benefits for such sections. Among them is Deepa, a class XII student in Jodhpur. Earlier she would have had to wait 12 years, while the Bill has cut down the wait to 6 years. “I want to be a doctor. With reservation and special benefits, I hope I can be one and serve the society,” she said.

Ashok Suttar and family came in 2013 but was unable to buy property.

“We finally have a home,” he said, even as Chetan Das Meghwal, a teacher in Pakistan who has waited 19 years is sad that his daughter Devi, who graduated in engineering from Hissar, could not get a job for lack of citizenship and committed suicide out of frustration.

Hem Ji who came from Mirpur Khas five years ago said, “I am not worried about my children anymore. My wife Ganga and five children are now Indians.”

In the desert stretches of Bikaner, Barmer and Jaisalmer, thousands of migrants lighted candles over CAB. In Gangana and Aloksar, Chikha, Kali beri, Aangarwa, Banar and Dali Bai Mandir villages, many of them are engaged as artisans and in the farming, mining and handicraft sectors.

Among them are businessmen who believe they can now expand and commute to Delhi and Mumbai freely for trade.

Noor Ji Bheel at Dali Bai was a qualified doctor in Pakistan but since 2004, when he came in, he has been unable to practice. He was embroiled in a case for practicing and has been unable to resolve it still. His wife and parents are citizens though.

There were similar scenes of joy in the Barak Valley, Hilakandi and Cachar districts in Assam, where Hindu Bangladeshis rejoiced. Nabadwip Das had come during the Bangladesh Liberation War from Bhanugach in Sylhet district.

“I feel the problem will end now and my children will be Indians”, he said.

Biswajit Nath who is from Karimganj said he was born there but neither he nor his family members, figure in the NRC. “We have a new life due to CAB,” he said.

There are many such Hindu and Sikhs who have come in from Pakistan and Afghanistan and are settled in Punjab and Haryana for 10 to 25 years. In Jalandhar, which hosts some 187 families, Ashok Kumar, 45, who works for a sports goods manufacturer, is happy.

“I came with my parents in 1999. We have faced hardships, but it’s over now,” he said.

Sukhbir Singh who works as a scrap dealer had come in 1995.

“I got my sister married in Patiala but every year we have to get permits renewed from Delhi and report to police to extend our stay.”

For the 250 families in Elenabad, Hobli, Haripura, Neemla and Mameran villages of Sirsa in Haryana, the ‘CAB has come as a boon.’

Most had migrated from Pakistan’s Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur areas.

“I came in 1997 from Pakistan’s Punjab. My father died six months back. We do not have bank accounts, Aadhar or any document, which would allow us to work. Hope the nightmare is over,” said Surta Ram.

For 40 families settled in Rohtak’s Bari Banu, Kahnor and Mandina villages and work as menials and labourers, the CAB means they ‘can breathe independence.’ 

“We were lost and tortured souls but have now been found,” said Prakash, who came in 2004.
Surpal Singh Khalsa said. “Only 300 Sikh families reside now in Kabul, Ghazni and Jalalabad and there are only 1,500 such left in all of Afghanistan. Rest migrated to India.”

His family came with 70 other families after his father was killed in a blast in Kabul.

“There, we were called Indians; here we are known as Afghans. That ends now,” he added.

81-year old Nand Kishore, taken to Pakistan by Abdul Qadir-a Muslim landlord of Deoria- at partition time and converted, is happy. He came back to Rudrapur of Udham Singh Nagar in 1974 and has been awaiting citizenship.

“I am an Indian in soul and spirit. I didn’t know what to prove and how to before CAB came,” he said.

The migrants in Uttarakhand, mostly residing in Haridwar, Dehradun and US Nagar have clung to life with odd jobs and with charity.

There are 2,000 such households like Laxman Sharma’s who migrated from Khaira of Sindh and now live in Haridwar. He writes for an Urdu newspaper and does manual labour when not selling vegetables.

“We can now be free of fear and hunger,” he said.

Kavita Sharma left Battagram in Pakistan to avoid forced conversion and marriage after her uncle Jagdish was killed for resisting it. She is happy to be in “my country” to live sans fear of deportation 24/7.

Persecution passé

People in Race Course area of Dehradun like Sanjeev Vij, 52, arrived in 1996. “We were persecuted there and forcibly converted. Hindus were objects, not people In Pakistan. Now we have dignity,” he added.

There are some 20,000 migrants from Pakistan in Indore. Among them is Indira Bai, 70, who came in 2011.

“Now I hope to be a legal Indian citizen,” she said.

BJP MP Shankar Lalwani who has been helping Hindu refugees from Pakistan said, “Now that the bill is passed, the exodus of Hindus from Pakistan to India could intensify to escape the unimaginable persecution there.”

The mood among the ‘bitter’ and broken Pakistani Hindu community throughout India’s towns is of relief and the sense of finally breaking free from darkness and into light. 

Assam Congress leaders file petition in SC against amended Citizenship Act

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Former Union Minister P Chidambaram will also file another petition on the same matter on behalf of former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi speaks during a protest against Citizenship Amendment Bill CAB at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi Friday Dec. 13 2019. (Photo | PTI)

GUWAHATI: Senior Congress leaders of Assam filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the amended Citizenship Act on Saturday, a party spokesperson said here.

Former Union Minister P Chidambaram will also file another petition on the same matter on behalf of former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, the spokesperson told PTI.

In their petition, leader of Opposition in Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia, Barpeta MP Abdul Khaleque and Mariani MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi highlighted the “blatant attempt to nullify the sanctity of Assam Accord, alleged contradictions in the Act with the provisions of Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India”.

They also said about the subjectivity related to the perception of persecuted minorities as stated in the new act.

The petition claimed that the Act is an attempt to impose an ethos which is in violation of the composite culture and age-old liberal values of the Assamese society.

The exclusion of minorities from the ambit of this Act is an attempt by the ruling party to manipulate their majority in Parliament for political gains, it said.

The petition comes at the backdrop of the unrest in Assam following the introduction and subsequent passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in both Houses of Parliament.

Hands Up becomes a sensation

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Nasheman news

The songs of the much awaited multilingual film Avane Srimannarayana is being released. On Thursday, the first song, Hands Up, was launched. It will be followed by three other songs of the film in the following days up to the release of the film on December 27.

The Hands Up song has become an immediate sensation and is creating new milestones having been watched by record number of people online in the last three days.

All the four songs in Kannada are penned by Nagarjun Sharma. Ajaneesh Loknath has scored music for two songs while the other two songs have music by Charan Raj. The score of the film was orchestrated in Greece.
Two of the four songs releasing before the film’s release will be video songs.

The film is names Athade Srimannarayana in Telugu, Avane Srimannarayana in Tamil and Adventures of Srimannarayana in Hindi.

The songs of all the five languages, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi will be released on Thursday. In Telugu the songs are written by Ramajogayya Shastry. Vivek, Yugabharathi and Arunraja Kamaraj have written the Tamil lyrics. The Malayalam lyrics are by Akhil M Bose and Shellee has written the Hindi lyrics. The film is releasing on December 27.

MS Dhoni is best footballer in Indian cricket team, says Rohit Sharma

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The 32-year-old opener from Mumbai named ‘Zinedine Zidane’ as his favourite footballer while his favourite club is Real Madrid. He termed ‘Spain’ as his FIFA World Cup.

India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni (L) plays a game of football during a training session. (Photo | AFP)

MUMBAI: As Rohit Sharma became the first-ever La Liga brand ambassador in India, he termed MS Dhoni as the best football player in the team on Thursday.

“MS Dhoni is the number one football player. There are few guys like Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya they follow football and they do watch all these footballers,” Rohit said during the media briefing.

The 32-year-old opener from Mumbai named ‘Zinedine Zidane’ as his favourite footballer while his favourite club is Real Madrid. He termed ‘Spain’ as his FIFA World Cup.

Talking about the India football he said Indian Super League (ISL) has provided the base for the footballers as like what Indian Premier League (IPL) did in Indian cricket.

“I think it has become competitive. The infrastructure has grown immensely. ISL, in particular, has provided a great platform to all these younger Indian players to come out and display the skills just like IPL has done for Indian cricket. I can only see the Indian football grow from here,” Rohit said.

Expressing his happiness after becoming the La Liga brand ambassador Rohit said it an honour to be part of such a high-profile league.

He further said that he has watched El Clasico many times on television and is excited to witness the clash in the stadium.

“What an honour to be part of such a high-profile league and to be the first-ever ambassador from India gives me great pleasure. As you know India is growing pretty fast in terms of sports especially football now. I will be very very happy to be part of this growth moving forward especially in India and look forward to coming to Spain and watch some games as well,” Rohit said.

“I have seen it so many times on television. There is so much passion just watching it. I can’t even imagine how it is at the stadium so many people sitting and watching El Clasico game between the two best clubs in the world. It is one of the most competitive leagues in the world. La Liga brings out so much skills and passion that when you are watching it from home itself you feel like you are at the stadium,” he added.

The aggressive batsman said his first love was cricket but football remained very close to his heart.

“Cricket was my love to start with. Football was very very close to me. Only because it gives me so much joy to watch all these players when they score a goal they celebrate, they make those moves on the field. Those kinds of things I used to look forward to,” Rohit said.

“I always used to watch football when I was growing up. In India cricket is how football is in Spain. Everybody wants to pick up the bat and play cricket in India,” he added.

Citizenship Act will be implemented in West Bengal, Mamata can’t stop it: BJP

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State unit chief Dilip Ghosh said West Bengal will be the first state where the Act will be implemented.

KOLKATA: West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Friday said the Citizenship Amendment Act will be implemented in the state and neither Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee nor her party, Trinamool Congress, will be able to stop it.

West Bengal will be the first state where the Act will be implemented, he said.

The BJP leader’s remarks came after Banerjee, one of the most vocal opponents of the amended Citizenship Act, said at a press conference that she will not allow the new law to be implemented in her state “under any circumstances”.

“Earlier she had opposed the abrogation of Article 370, demonetisation, but that didn’t stop the Union government from implementing it.

In this case too, the new Citizenship Act would be implemented in the state,” Ghosh said.

“Bengal, for that matter, would be the first state where it would be implemented,” he added.

Ghosh said Banerjee should come clean on why she is opposing it.

“Is it because she is afraid of losing her vote bank in the state? Let us make one thing very clear, the Citizenship Act would be implemented in the state, neither Banerjee nor her party would be able to stop it,” he said.

She is bothered about infiltrators but not about Hindu refugees who have been looking forward to this law for the last several decades, he claimed.

Banerjee had said the BJP will not be able to bulldoze the states to enact the new law.

The chief minister also announced a series of protests next week, saying she would hit the streets seeking revocation of the “draconian” Act.

BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya also attacked Banerjee, accusing her of “fuelling protests” in Bengal against the new Act by spreading misinformation.

“Why is Mamata Banerjee not taking action against the infiltrators who are behind the protests in Bengal? She is instigating masses to take law into their hands.

If she is so concerned about the infiltrators, why doesn’t she say anything about Hindu refugees,” he asked.

Protests demanding immediate revocation of the amended Citizenship Act reached the shores of West Bengal on Friday, with agitators resorting to violence and arson at railway stations and thoroughfares across the state.

According to police sources, people in the minority-dominated districts of rural Howrah, Murshidabad, Birbhum, parts of Burdwan and North Bengal hit the streets this morning, raising slogans against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

In Kolkata, hundreds of protesters gathered at the Park Circus seven-point crossing, seeking the revocation of the law.

They raised anti-government slogans and burnt tyres on the thoroughfare, leading to traffic congestions in the southern and the central parts of the city.

President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday night gave his assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, turning it into an Act.

According to the amended Act, non-Muslim refugees, who escaped religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and moved to India before December 31, 2014, will be granted Indian citizenship.

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