Shankaracharya of the Jyotirmath Peeth in Uttarakhand Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati

Haridwar: Shankaracharya of the Jyotirmath Peeth in Uttarakhand Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati on Sunday criticised RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his “politically convenient” position on restoring temples.

Avimukteshwaranand said a list of temples destroyed in the past by invaders be prepared and archaeological surveys of the structures be carried out to “restore Hindu pride”.

“When he wanted power, he went around speaking about temples. Now that he has power, he is advising not to look for temples,” he said on Bhagwat’s remarks.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Bhagwat recently said that it was not acceptable that new temple-mosque disputes are raked up after the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The seer said a lot of atrocities have been committed against the Hindus and their religious places have been destroyed in the past. “If now, the Hindu society wants to restore and preserve its temples, then what is wrong in it?”

The Shankaracharya also criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement on BR Ambedkar in Parliament that has triggered a huge row between the ruling BJP and the Opposition.

Defending Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Avimukteshwaranand said the scuffle outside Parliament was due to Shah’s remarks on Ambedkar.

He said that there are a lot of people who support Ambedkar’s ideology so everyone is using his name for their politics.

Shah has been under fire from several opposition parties since Tuesday over a comment he made referring to Ambedkar during a debate on the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha.

The next day, the BJP leader held a press conference and accused Congress of twisting facts and distorting his comments.

The seer also condemned alleged atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh and said that the central government should take strict action on the matter. He said that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh living in India should be sent back. He slammed the central government accusing it of lack of action on the matter.

Bhagwat has recently expressed concern over the resurgence of new temple-mosque disputes and asserted that certain individuals, after the construction of Ayodhya’s Ram Temple, seem to believe they can become “leaders of Hindus” by raking up such issues.

Ajoy Kumar

Jamshedpur (Jharkhand): Amid ongoing protests over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on B R Ambedkar, senior Congress leader Ajoy Kumar alleged that the BJP, which “adheres to the principles of Manusmriti”, has always “insulted” Dalits.

The AICC executive committee member, in a statement issued here on Sunday, said that the “true character of the BJP, which practices Manusmriti, was exposed” with Shah’s comments in the Rajya Sabha.

“BJP leaders’ mindset has always been anti-Dalit, which often gets reflected in their statements intentionally or unintentionally,” Kumar alleged.

Shah’s remark on Ambedkar was not only an ‘insult to him but also to crores of Dalits of the country who consider him God”, Kumar, the AICC in-charge of Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, claimed. The Congress leader alleged that the “BJP was against caste-based census because of its anti-Dalit approach”.

“This was not the first time when the BJP’s anti-Dalit character came to the fore… there are many past instances,” Kumar, who lost to BJP’s Purnima Das Sahu in Jamshedpur East seat in the recent Jharkhand assembly elections, claimed

“It was Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru’s Congress which has always given respect to Dalits,” Kumar said.

He demanded that Shah apologise publicly to the nation.

During a debate on the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha last week, Shah had said, “Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai – Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar Bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. If they had taken God’s name so many times, they would have attained heaven for seven lifetimes).”

On Wednesday, Shah held a press conference in which he accused the Congress of twisting facts and distorting his comments in the Rajya Sabha.

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed constant protests from treasury benches and opposition members over the alleged insult of Ambedkar until both the houses were adjourned sine die on Friday.

Thane : Police have arrested eight Bangladeshi nationals, including a woman, for illegally staying in Maharashtra’s Thane district, officials said on Monday.

Based on a tip and a complaint, the police carried out raids on Saturday and Sunday at Kalher and Kongaon in Bhiwandi town, they said.

The eight persons, in the age group of 22 to 42 years, could not provide any valid documents for stay in India.

Three of them worked as scrap sellers, two as labourers, one worked as a mason and another as a plumber, the police said.

They were arrested and booked under provisions of the Foreign Nationals Act and the Indian Passport Act, the police added.

New Delhi: Delhiites woke up to a drizzle and fog on Monday morning with the minimum temperature settling at 8.6 degrees Celsius, a notch below the seasonal average, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

At 8.30 am, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 402, in the ‘severe’ category, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.

The rain is expected to improve the air quality in the coming hours.

Thane: A 22-year-old man accused in a murder case hurled a slipper at a judge during the hearing in a sessions court in Maharashtra’s Thane district, police said on Monday.

The slipper did not hit the judge and instead hit a wooden frame in front of his desk and fell by the side of the bench clerk, they said.

The incident took place on Saturday afternoon at the court in Kalyan town and a First Information Report (FIR) was subsequently registered against the accused.

The accused, Kiran Santosh Bharam, was produced before District and Additional Sessions Judge R G Waghmare for a hearing in the murder case against him, an official from Mahatma Fule police station said.

At that time, the accused made a request to the judge to assign his case to another court. The judge asked the accused to make an application for the same through his lawyer, the official said.

The name of his lawyer was then called out, but he was not around and did not appear in the court. Hence, the accused was asked to give the name of another lawyer to represent him and was given a fresh date by the court, he said.

The accused then bent down, pulled out his slipper and hurled it in the judge’s direction, taking everyone present in the court by surprise, the official said.

An FIR was subsequently registered against the accused under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), the police added.

Ahmedabad : A tremor of 3.7 magnitude jolted Gujarat’s Kutch district on Monday morning, the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) said.

There was no report of any casualty or damage to property, the district administration said.

The tremor was recorded at 10.44 am with its epicentre 76 kilometres north-north east of Lakhpat, the Gandhinagar-based ISR said.

This is the second seismic activity of more than 3 magnitude this month in the district.

On December 7, a tremor of 3.2 magnitude was recorded in the district, according to the ISR.

Last month, Kutch recorded an earthquake of 4 magnitude on November 18.

Earlier, on November 15, Patan in north Gujarat was jolted by an earthquake of 4.2 magnitude, as per the ISR data.

Gujarat is a high earthquake-risk area.

It suffered nine major earthquakes in the past 200 years, according to data of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA).

The earthquake in Kutch on January 26, 2001 was the third largest and second most destructive in India over the last two centuries, according to the GSDMA.

A large number of towns and villages in the district had suffered almost complete destruction in the earthquake, which killed nearly 13,800 persons and left 1.67 lakh others injured.

Bengaluru : The driver of the truck involved in the accident in Nelamangala which killed six people, claimed on Monday that there was a car ahead of his vehicle and to prevent collision, he turned the steering wheel towards the road divider which led to the accident.

Police, however, refused to share details about the investigation, claiming it will hamper their probe.

According to police, a Deputy Superintendent of Police rank officer is investigating the case and said a detailed investigation is being carried out to ascertain the cause of the accident. The CCTV cameras installed in and around the area of the accident site are also being verified as part of the probe.

“A DYSP rank officer is investigating the case. We are also doing a case study, keeping in mind the road safety aspects as well. At this stage, we do not want to reveal any details which would further hamper the probe,” a senior police officer said.

Speaking to reporters, the Jharkhand-based truck driver, Arif, who was hospitalised with injuries sustained during the accident, claimed that there was a car ahead of his truck, and that he was going at 40 kmph.

“The car driver applied sudden brakes and I lost control of my vehicle. To save the car, I turned the steering wheels towards the road divider on the right. But then I saw another car, and took a left again. Due to this, the container which was loaded with steel fell,” he added.

The truck driver was unaware that a SUV car got crushed beneath his vehicle and that it led to the death of six of the family, police said.

The accident occurred at Nelamangala near Talekere on the Bengaluru outskirts last Saturday. The family was on the way to Vijayapura.