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D K Shivakumar meets Congress leaders in Mandya

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Worried over the active participation of the Congress leaders and workers at the yesterday’s Cine Actor, Sumalatha’s election meeting, ‘trouble shooter’ in the JD(S)-Congress government’s coalition government D K Shivakumar, met some of the Congress leaders in Mandya on Thursday and tried to prepare the party leaders to support JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy.
The Congress leader met former MLAs Cheluvanarayana Swamy, Ravindra Srikantaiah, Aathmananda and others and tried to explain the political compulsions, which had forced the Congress party to concede the Mandya Lok Sabha seat to its coalition partner JD(S), where it had a sitting LS member.
The local Congress leaders, assured to follow the coalition-dharma, and work for the success of the JD(S) in April-18 Lok Sabha elections in Mandya, Mr Shivakumar claimed with the newsmen at Mandya.
Meanwhile, Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, has denied that JD(S) leaders had ignored the Local Congress leaders in Mandya or in Hassan, the two seats held by the party.
Informing that JD(S) leaders, had met personally several Congress leaders including Aathmananda, Cheluvanarayana Swamy, G Madegowda and others, he said that “One should understand that there are no permanent friends and foes in the politics”.
He also informed that the his son and JD(S)-Congress combine candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy will file his nomination papers to contest the Mandya Lok Sabha seat on Monday.
A public meeting also will be held immediately after filing the nomination papers by the JD(S) candidate, he said.

Agencies

Why India & world should learn from NZ’s Ardern

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In India, we have seen hatred towards Muslims being fuelled and sustained by words and deeds.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Size does not matter. A small country can outshine big ones by moral clarity and strategic vision in the leadership stakes, as New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has shown.

Ms Ardern’s exemplary words and actions after a terrorist shot dead 50 Muslims in two mosques in Christchurch unequivocally signals that New Zealand, a country of about five million people, is pluralistic, and that it will ferociously push back against the ideological infrastructure which nourishes majoritarian visions. Ms Ardern could have chosen to express shock, horror and stop at condemning the terror attack. But she went way beyond. Her first response, even before all the details were known, leaped out to millions across the world. She said: “They have chosen to make this their home. They are us.”

By this simple statement, Ms Ardern had bridged the “us and them” divide that stalks natives and those of immigrant stock, and minority populations everywhere. What she said was to affirm a simple but much-needed message — the terrorist who had come from Australia killed Muslims who were not “they” but “us” New Zealanders.

Ms Ardern has been covering her head while meeting families of the victims — a mark of cultural sensitivity. She has also shown her astuteness by declaring that she would never take the name of the terrorist, thereby denying him, and people like him, the notoriety they seek. She asks people to remember the victims by name instead. This is not just symbolism. The conscious de-personalisation of the terrorist shows an astute way to deal with extremism and terrorism. Concretely, Ms Ardern has followed up with plans to overhaul New Zealand’s gun laws.

If Jacinda Ardern’s words and deeds were mealy-mouthed platitudes, they would not have resonated with so many people across the world. They resonate, including with this writer, and many others in India, because they are the powerful signals we are looking for in an increasingly polarised society where the “us and them” divide is leading to rising stigmatisation and violence.

It is as important to neutralise and counter the ideological infrastructure that pushes people to become terrorists as to catch the terrorists and their allies. At a time when anti-minority rhetoric threatens to rip apart social cohesion in democracies across the world, Ms Ardern matters, because she is explicitly telling people who are visibly or culturally different from the “majority” that they are part of the same family, not outsiders. This is intended to make them feel secure when they are at their most fragile. Crucially, Ms Ardern did not resort to what-aboutery in the hour of crisis.

This should make us in India introspect deeply. Our multi-cultural fabric is being ripped apart by an ideology that is gaining traction and that privileges the sentiments of the most bigoted members of the majority community. One of the most worrying trends on the social media, which is playing an increasingly important role in shaping public opinion in this country, is the tendency to conflate two very different things — radical Islamic terrorist groups and ordinary Muslims. It is dangerous what-aboutery to start talking about Islamic terrorist groups each time Muslims are targeted by terrorists simply because they are Muslims, though they have nothing to do with terrorism. The Christchurch attack was an act of terror by a white supremacist who unapologetically hates Muslims and every other minority group.

In India, we have seen hatred towards Muslims being fuelled and sustained by words and deeds. Take the most recent example of the attacks on Kashmiri students and shopkeepers in different parts of the country when an Islamist terrorist linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed attacked a CRPF bus in Pulwama, killing over 40 jawans.

What would have helped is an immediate, unambiguous signal, which went beyond just expressing grief, anguish or condemnation. Like an immediate, unequivocal statement from the Prime Minister that while terrorists and their minders will be dealt with severely, ordinary Kashmiris were “us” and attacks on them of any kind is an attack on us. He needed to make it very clear at once that the ideological infrastructure that equates every Kashmiri and every Muslim with all that is bad will not be tolerated.

These statements were made, but they were weak, and they came late. Nor was this identification with victims of terror demonstrably shown each time an ordinary Muslim was lynched, whether in the name of protecting the cow or anything else. Instead, what we have seen are immediate and provocative statements by other lawmakers. Take just one example: Bharatiya Janata Party MP Vinay Katiyar was quoted in the media as saying, while replying to questions on mob lynching: “When such incidents happen, people from the other community should also think about it. They shouldn’t touch cows when they know Hindus get aggressive over it. They shouldn’t kill cows.” This emboldens extremist peddlers of hate and leads to hate crimes.

Here is some data. “The Observer Research Foundation in March 2018 released a study based on a statistical mapping of hate speech and counter-speech on the social media pages active in India. The study, a first of its kind, revealed that religion and ‘religio-cultural’ practices related to food and dress, were the most explicit basis for hate as expressed in Indian social media: they accounted for a rise from 19 to 30 per cent of the incidents over the one-year timeframe of the study,” points out Maya Mirchandani in a August 2018 paper titled “Digital hatred, real violence: Majoritarian radicalisation and social media in India”. She wrote: “The data was gathered from public pages in two separate month-long time periods spread over 12 months starting from July 2016. Most of the comments incited bodily harm or violence against people belonging to India’s Muslim community who comprise about 180 million of the country’s 1.2-billion-strong population… Subjects that evoked hate speech ranged from opposition to inter-faith marriage between Hindus and Muslims, positions on universal human rights, and the contentious issues of cow protection and beef consumption.”

There is a moral as well as a business case for social cohesion. No country or society can realise its potential if specific groups of people are made to feel they don’t belong and made to cower in fear of physical and psychological attacks. Jacinda Ardern understands this. India’s political leaders, from the top to the bottom, could learn a lot from her.

Agencies

ELECTION-KARNATAKA-LS-EXTERMINATE

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LS Polls: 31 Criminals recommended for exterminating from Mysuru-Kodagu LS constituency
As many as 31 Criminals had been recommended for extermination, as precautionary measure before polling to Mysuru-Kodagu Lok Sabha seat slated for April 18.
?These persons had been involved in various criminal cases in the district and the proposal for their extermination had been submitted to the Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Shankar, who is also the District Election Officer and the Returning Officer,? according to a press release from the Superintendent of Police here on Thursday.
The Deputy Commissioner subsequently issued notices to these persons and summoned them to appear before him March 30.
Meanwhile Video Surveillance Teams (VSTs) had been deployed for monitoring poll-related activities and 33 of them were deployed in the Mysuru district, said Mr Shankar
The Department of Excise has also deployed its teams to crack down on illegal liquor activities.Thirteen teams conducting raids and seizing illicit liquor.
According to the election authorities, 20,185 litres of liquor had been seized during raids and the value of the seized liquor is Rs 1.07 crore so far. During excise raids, 28 vehicles, including three cars, 23 two wheelers and two three-wheelers, had been seized. The total value of the seized vehicles was Rs. 14.76 lakh. Around 68.04 litres of liquor was seized during raids conducted by police teams.
A note from the DEO said 203 FIRs had been lodged for the violation of Excise Laws and 17 FIRs had been lodged in connection with police cases. One FIR had been lodged with regard to election expenditure case.

Former Karnataka Minister and senior Congress leader Malaka Reddy to join BJP

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Senior Congress leader from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region and former Karnataka Minister A B Malaka Reddy is expected to join the BJP by quitting Congress.
Opposition Leader in the Legislative Assembly B S Yeddyurappa, who is also BJP State President, told newsmen here on Thursday that Malaka Reddy, who represents Yadagir in Hyderabad-Karnataka area, met him and expressed his desire to join the party.
The decision of Malaka Reddy to cross over to BJP is significant as Yeddyurappa had faced a huge humiliation when he tried to lure the JD(S) MLA Naganagouda Kandakur, and the alleged conversation which took place between Yeddyurappa and Kandakur’s son was recorded and released to the media by the Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy
recently.
Congress leader Malaka Reddy got defeated by the JD(S) candidate Naganagouda Kandakur in the 2018 Assembly elections.
Replying to a question, Yeddyurappa denied media reports that the release of list of BJP candidates for the Lok Sabha elections was delayed due to serious differences
within the party, he said that “It is not correct. The Central leadership will release the list this afternoon and there is no discontent among the party leaders on the issue”.
According to party sources, the BJP will field its candidates for all the 28 Lok Sabha seats, including at Mandya, where the film star turned politician Sumalatha is contesting as independent candidate against JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

Agencies

CRPF trooper kills three colleagues, shoots self

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Jammu, March 21 (Nasheman News) A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper shot dead three colleagues and then shot and seriously wounded himself in Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Thursday.

CRPF Constable Ajit Singh fired shot dead the three colleagues inside a camp in Battal Ballian area on Wednesday night after a heated exchange of words, a police officer said.

The incident occurred around 10.40 p.m. 

Ajit Singh belongs to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The deceased were identified as Head Constables Umeed Singh of Rewari (Haryana), Yogendra Sharma (Delhi) and Pokarmal of Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan).

This is the first fratricidal incident of this year in Jammu and Kashmir.

Security forces have in the past engaged counsellors to address the problem which have been attributed to long duty hours in hostile environment, separation from families, lack of recreational activities and a weak command and control structure.

Better command and control, frequent leave facilities to join families and adequate recreational facilities are some of the remedial measures suggested by counsellors to address the problem.


POLITICS-CONG-SIBAL SAMJHAUTA VERDICT

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Congress slams verdict of Samjhauta blasts case

Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Thursday slammed the verdict of the Samjhauta Express Bomb Blast case in which all the accused were acquitted.
In a post on social media, Sibal said, ”Samjhauta Express Bomb Blast- 68 killed, NIA charged 8 accused, Verdict : No one knows who killed the 68 victims. Must be a proud day for our criminal justice system !”
All four accused in the case, including Swami Aseemanand, were acquitted by the NIA court on Wednesday.

Agencies

It’s going to be 20 out of 20 in Kerala: Congress

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[Nasheman news] Kasargode (Kerala) The Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Thursday denied the CPI-M’s charge of an “unholy nexus” between the Congress and the BJP and asserted that it was going to win all 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media that CPI-M state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had made the statement after knowing the “stark reality” as to what would happen to the Left Front in the polls.

“They have now realised that it’s going to be pretty tough for them as it’s going to be 20 out of 20 for the UDF. Balakrishnan’s statement is nothing but taking anticipatory bail,” said Chennithala.

Kerala goes to the polls on April 23 to elect 20 Lok Sabha members. The Congress-led UDF won 12 seats in 2014 and the CPI-M-led LDF eight.

On Wednesday, Balakrishnan alleged that an “unholy alliance” between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had surfaced and that the BJP was contemplating putting up weak candidates in five Lok Sabha constituencies to favour the Congress.

“None who takes rice as the staple food in Kerala is going to buy this theory of the CPI-M. Across the country, it’s the Congress which is taking on the BJP/RSS combine and the CPI-M says we are hand in glove. It’s an absurd theory,” added Chennithala.

“The whole of India knows that the fight is between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi and the people here realise that every vote for the CPI-M in Kerala is going to help Modi.”

Mayawati not to fight LS poll but open to role at Centre

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[Nasheman news]New Delhi Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Wednesday announced that she will not contest Lok Sabha elections so as to be able to campaign effectively across the country but also indicated that her decision did not mean she was ruling herself out of the post-poll Prime Ministerial sweepstakes.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, asking her party workers not to be disheartened, said that she had decided not to contest the Lok Sabha election as it will better serve the interests of the party, the movement, the people and the country.

Her BSP, Samjwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal are fighting the Lok Sabha polls together in Uttar Pradesh.

During a joint press conference with Mayawati earlier this year, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav had indicated his support to her for a role at the Centre, saying he will be “happy if another Prime Minister comes from the state.”

Analysts said that Mayawati’s decision could be guided by an assessment that the Bharatiya Janata Party will put a strong candidate against her in the seat she contests from so that she is forced to campaign hard there.

Though Mayawati explained reasons for her not contesting in a detailed press release Wednesday afternoon, there was an apprehension that the party rank and file, who want to see her as Prime Minister and play a role in the formation of next government, may get demoralised.

The BSP issued another release in the evening which asked party workers “not to feel even slight demoralisation” because of her decision not to fight the polls as “she was more concerned about the party, movement and the samaj”.

“Don’t get disheartened at all from my decision not to contest Lok Sabha elections for now,” she said.

Mayawati, who is a four-time Lok Sabha MP and four-time Chief Minister, said it is “well-known that she can fight from any seat in the state and the workers of BSP will ensure her victory”.

“But if the workers leave their constituencies out of affections despite my telling them not to, it can impact prospects of the candidates on other seats. The candidates of the alliance should not face any problem.

“It is more important to win every Lok Sabha seat in the state which will empower our mission of social change and economic liberty,” she said.

The party’s first letter hoped that that workers of the party will understand her “missonary decision” and work with full force for the victory of alliance candidates.

“I have full faith that they will as earlier respect the far-sightedness and sacrifice of their behneji (sister),” she said.

The second press release reminded workers that when she became Chief Minister in 1995 for the first time, she was not a member of legislative assembly or council.

“Similarly, there is provision at the Centre where a person has to a member of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha within six months of holding office of a minister/prime minister,” the release emphasised.

BSP spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria told IANS that Mayawati was party’s main campaigner and has to campaign not only in Uttar Pradesh but outside the state also where BSP has put up candidates and where party has alliances.

“If she contests, time will go into that. Time is very limited,” he said.

He also said that party workers were “not at all” demoralised by Mayawati’s decision.

“Don’t use places of worship for propaganda” – Election Commission.

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New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday asked political parties and religious leaders to refrain from using places of worship for propaganda during the Lok Sabha polls and also not indulge in activities that may cause tensions between different castes and communities.

The poll body’s directions come days after the BJP requested it to appoint special observers at mosques to prevent attempts to “polarise voters on religious lines” during the elections. “As per the Model Code of Conduct, the use of caste and religion during the election campaign is strictly prohibited,” a statement issued by Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer said.

It said no political and religious leader or any other person is “allowed to indulge in any activity that aggravates existing differences or cause tension between different caste or communities, religious or linguistic”. The Election Commission had on March 11 warned parties in Kerala against using the Sabarimala temple matter in their campaigns, saying “citing or invoking” religious propaganda on the issue is a clear violation of the model code of conduct.

In January 2017, the Supreme Court had outlawed seeking votes in the name of religion, caste, race, community or language. The Lok Sabha elections will begin on April 11 and continue till May 19 across seven phases. The Model Code of Conduct is in place since March 10 when the Election Commission announced the Lok Sabha poll schedule.

PTI

BJP to put up candidates in all 28 seats – says K S Eshwarappa BJP will trounce JDS-Congress combine in Karnataka.

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MARCH 20 : Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to put up candidate in all the 28 in Karnataka.
Disclosing this at a media conference here today former Deputy CM and State BJP core committee member, Sri K. S. Eshwarappa said the party would put up candidates in all constituencies including Mandya.

To a query he said the question of supporting independent candidate Sumalatha Ambarish would not arise as the party itself would put up candidate in the segment. Party leaders from Karnataka had detailed discussion with the Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi and BJP President Sri Amit Shah in Delhi yesterday. He was also part of the deliberations and the impression he had got was that the party would field candidates in all seats.

Asked why the announcement of party candidates was being delayed he said it was for the strategic reason and the party’s central election committee would announce the list in a day or two.

Referring the pro Modi slogans in Rahul Gandhi’s meeting at Manyatha Tech Park on Monday, senior BJP leader said, they were not party workers but IT professionals sympathising with the party. The Congress-JDS government in Karnataka tried to silence them using police force, which is condemnable he said and asked “is it wrong to raise pro-Modi slogans?”

There has been groundswell all over the country in favour of Sri Narendra Modi and people especially youths themselves are fighting the elections on behalf of him. The party would win minimum 25 seats in Karnataka, he asserted.

BJP has inducted former Minister Sri. A. Manju into party and is fielding him in Hassan constituency. There may be dissatisfaction here and there but disciplined party workers would abide by the collective decision of the party.

On the Congress president Sri Rahul Gandhi’s possible contesting in one of the segments from the State Sri Eshwarappa quipped “forget him, let his grandma Indiraji come from the heaven, the people of Karnataka wouldn’t be swayed away.

The existential question brought JDS and Congress come together but BJP would trounce this opportunistic alliance. When the people of the country is with Sri Narendra Modi, no one can stop him from becoming Prime Minister again.

MLC Sri Lehar Singh, State party co-spokespersons, Sri. A H Anand, Sri Anwar Manappadi, former Deputy Mayor S. Harish were present.

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