Patna An FIR was filed by an Urdu daily journalist here after he was threatened with death for a social media post that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would seek votes in the 2019 general elections in the name of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a police official said on Friday.

Seemab Akhtar, who works at ‘Farooqui Tanzeem’ published from Patna, was repeatedly threatened by an unidentified man for his social media post in Hindi: “Dekh lena agle chunao mein Modi Atal ki tasveer lekar roenge, aur bolenge bhai-behno inke naam pe dedo vote unka sapna pura karna hai… (in the next elections, Modi will carry Atal’s picture and shed tears asking for votes to fulfil the former PM’s dream).

According to Akhtar, he received threat calls and was asked not to post anything against the Bharatiya Janata Party on the social media. “I was threatened with death if I continued to write against the BJP.”

Bajpatti police station incharge Kanchan Bhaskar said that an FIR had been filed.

Sanjay Kumar, a Professor at Motihari Central University in east Champaran district, was beaten up by a group of people last Friday for his comments on the social media that appeared to criticise Vajpayee. A seriously injured Kumar was first admitted in Patna hospital, but later shifted to AIIMS in Delhi.

Berlin, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the BJP and RSS were weakening the country “by causing divisions and spreading hatred.”

Addressing an event organised by the Indian Overseas Congress on Thursday, Gandhi said the Congress differed with the way the Narendra Modi Government functions. “Our work is to bring the people together, to take the country forward and we have done it,” Gandhi said.

Gandhi said he derives his thinking from the teachings of Guru Nanak.

Referring to his conversation during a visit to the German parliament about their “unity in diversity” experience in Europe, Gandhi said this thinking had been there in India from the time of Guru Nanak.

He said all religions have the same philosophy to help the most disadvantaged. The concept of ‘langar’ in Sikhism also means that howsoever weak a person may be, he should remain empty stomach, he added.

“The work that Guru Nanakji did, we work by that vision. He was not alone. The same work was done by others in different states to bring people together. The Congress is for everyone, it works for everyone. Today the government in India works in a different way,” Gandhi said.

He said India’s population is young, but the government is able to generate only 450 jobs in 24 hours against 50,000 jobs generated by China in the same hours.

“Hatred is being spread, farmers continue to commit suicide and the youth are unable to see a way forward,” Gandhi said.

He thanked the overseas Indian community, particularly people from Punjab, for working towards party’s victory in the 2017 assembly polls in the state.

New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday arrived in Uttar Pradesh to attend late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s “Asthi Kalash Yatra” (ashes immersion journey) and a tribute meeting.

“Heading to Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh). Shall attend Atalji’s ‘Asthi Kalash Yatra’ and ‘Shraddhanjali Sabha’ today (Thursday),” Rajnath Singh had tweeted earlier in the day.

The urn carrying the ashes of Vajpayee, who died in New Delhi on August 16, will be sent to 16 prominent rivers of the state on Friday.

The Uttar Pradesh government and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s office-bearers will participate in the journey.

Hamburg (Germany), Aug 23 (IANS) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday made a strong attack on the Narendra Modi government by referring to incidents of lynching and attacks on Dalits, saying people in India were angry and the ruling alliance was weakening support structures meant for the weaker sections.

Speaking at the Bucerius Summer School here in Germany, Gandhi also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over attacks on women, “lack of jobs,” demonetisation and “flawed” implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and said corporates were being favoured over the rights of the marginalised communities.

Gandhi, who later took questions from the audience, also referred to his hugging the prime minister during the debate in parliament on the no-confidence motion, saying certain “hateful remarks” made against him by Modi prompted him to do so but “he (Modi) didn’t like and was upset by it”.

Gandhi is in Germany as part of reach out to the NRI community ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections. He will also go to the United Kingdom.

The Congress leader accused Modi government of not being keen on benefiting all sections from transformation taking place due to urbanisation.

“They do not feel that every single person in India should have access to fruits of transformation. They feel that tribal communities, poor farmers, Dalit, should not get the same benefits as the elite of the country gets. We feel everybody took the risk, everybody should get the reward,” Gandhi said.

“The other thing they have done is they have started attacking the support structures that were designed to help certain groups of people,” he added.

Gandhi said welfare measures of UPA government such as the right to food and the right to guaranteed employment had been weakened and money going into these schemes “is going into the hands of very few people, the largest corporates in the country.”

Gandhi alleged that demonetisation carried out by Modi had taken away lakhs of jobs as it had destroyed cash flow of small and medium businesses.

“China produces 50,000 jobs every 24 hours, India only 450,” Gandhi said, adding that bad implementation of GST had let to closure of thousands of businesses.

“These things are what has made people in India angry. That is what you get to read in the newspaper. When you hear about lynchings in India, when you hear about attacks on Dalits in India, when you hear about attacks on minorities in India, that is the reason for it,” Gandhi said.

He said the transition that is shaping the world requires certain protection for people. “That protection is being taken away and India is reacting to that. It is very dangerous in 21st century to exclude people. If you do not give people a vision in the 21st century, somebody else will which is not going to be good. That is the real risk of excluding large number of people from our development processes,” he said.

Gandhi said hate is a dangerous thing in a connected world and it is a choice. “I can fight you, take you on. I can compete with you but hating you is something I have to actively chose to do.”

Gandhi said his main complaint with Modi is that India has jobs problem but he does not say it and asked how it will be fixed if it is not even acknowledged.

Gandhi said level of violence is increasing in India and “women were getting a huge share of it.” He called for a change in the attitude of Indian men at the way they treated women.

He said non-violence in India was a foundational philosophy of India’s nationhood and noted violence can only be fought by non-violence.

Referring to assassinations of his grandmother Indira Gandhi and his father Rajiv Gandhi, he said the only way to move forward after violence is forgiveness.

Answering a question on the US and China, Gandhi said India’s role will be to balance like that of Europe.

He said India’s actions will be guided by self-interest and noted that it is closer to the US than to China.

Referring to Modi coming to power in India and “certain style” of leaders coming to power in the US and some European countries, he said the reason was failure of jobs, particularly to non-white collar persons.

“We are outcompeted by Chinese. That is creating a lot of anger,” he said.

He also said India was not in a race with China but was wanted to develop according to its values.

Sabarimala (Kerala)The Sabarimala temple in Kerala will remain closed to the public until further notice due to the overflowing Pamba river, authorities said on Thursday.

The temple was closed on August 13 following massive floods.

According to the temple authorities, the floods have caused damage worth Rs 100 crore to its infrastructure.

A Padmakumar, President of the Travancore Devasom Board which manages the Sabarimala temple, told the media that they had no other option but to close it down.

The sluice gates of two dams that forms a part of the Sabarigiri project, was opened after heavy rains and subsequent floods ravaged places in and around the temple town.

However, all the religious rituals of the temple will be conducted.

Following the decision, several pilgrims from Tamil Nadu who had planned for a pilgrimage have cancelled their trip.

The temple is open only during from the middle of November till the middle of January, but for several years now, it is kept open for a few days at the start of every Malayalam month which falls during the middle of every month.

New delhi President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday condoled the death of veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar, remembering his “strong stand” against the Emergency, public service and commitment to a better India.

Nayar breathed his last at the Escorts Hospital here at 12.30 a.m. He was 95.

“Sad to hear of the passing of Kuldip Nayar, veteran editor and writer, diplomat and parliamentarian, and a determined champion of democracy during the Emergency. His readers will miss him. Condolences to his family and associates,” the President tweeted.

Expressing his condolence, Modi tweeted: “Kuldip Nayar was an intellectual giant of our times. Frank and fearless in his views, his work spanned across many decades.

“His strong stand against the emergency, public service and commitment to a better India will always remembered. Saddened by his demise. My condolences.”

Nayar started his career with a Urdu newspaper and was the author of 15 books including “Beyond the Lines”, “India after Nehru” and “Emergency Retold”.

Nayar’s cremation will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.

new delhi Senior journalist, author and human rights activist Kuldip Nayar died at a hospital here. He was 95, his family said on Thursday.

Nayar breathed his last at the Escorts Hospital at 12.30 a.m. The cremation will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.

Born on August 14, 1923, in Sialkot (Pakistan), Nayar was among the country’s first syndicated columnists and wrote several books.

He was appointed High Commissioner to the UK in 1990 and nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1997.

Nayar started his journalistic career with the Urdu daily “Anjam” in 1948. He worked in the Press Information Bureau as a Press Officer to then Home Ministers Govind Ballabh Pant and Lal Bahadur Shastri.

He was the editor and General Manager of United News of India (UNI) and also the editor of The Statesman. He also worked with the Indian Express, The Times, The Spectator and the Evening Star.

He was also the author of 15 books including “Beyond the Lines”, “India after Nehru” and “Emergency Retold”.

Senior journalist H.K. Dua, who knew Nayar for 54 years, described him as a “good friend”, a “great journalist” and said his death was a loss to the profession.

“Till the last, he was working. At the age of 94, he kept his interest alive in the news world. He was a great chaser of news and broke many stories in his life. He knew much more of what was happening behind the news than many other journalists and got lots of inside information. Essentially, he remained a thorough journalist,” Dua told IANS.

He said Nayar also made efforts for peace between India and Pakistan and organised candle-light demonstrations.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind were among leaders who condoled Nayar’s death.

Modi termed him an intellectual giant and recalled his role as a staunch opponent of the Emergency.

“Kuldip Nayar was an intellectual giant of our times. Frank and fearless in his views, his work spanned across many decades. His strong stand against the Emergency, public service and commitment to a better India will always be remembered. Saddened by his demise. My condolences,” Modi said in a tweet.

Kovind described him as a determined champion of democracy.

“Sad to hear of the passing of Kuldip Nayar, veteran editor and writer, diplomat and parliamentarian, and a determined champion of democracy during the Emergency. His readers will miss him. Condolences to his family and associates,” he said in a tweet.