RSS hints at another ‘mass agitation’ for Ram temple

Building further pressure on the government, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Friday hinted at a fresh “mass agitation” akin to 1992 for constructing a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

“We are confident that the Ram Mandir will be built soon… We have already waited too long for it and cannot wait indefinitely… If necessary, we shall launch a ‘jan andolan’ (mass agitation),” declared RSS General Secretary (Sarakaryavyah) Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi.

He urged the courts to take up sensitive cases like the Ram temple on priority and expressed confidence that all legal hurdles would be removed soon in this regard.

Joshi reiterated the RSS demand that the government should consider enacting a law or promulgating an ordinance to pave the way for constructing the temple.

His remarks came at the end of a three-day long RSS Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal conclave held near Uttan Beach of Bhayander town.

IANS

Alleging French defence major Dassault Aviation of paying “kickback” to secure the Rafale deal, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not survive if the “huge corruption” in the purchase was probed.

“If an inquiry starts on this (Rafale deal), Modi is not going to survive it, guaranteed,” Gandhi said at a press conference at the party headquarters here.

Citing two reasons for his claims, he said: “One, because of corruption. Two, because it is very clear who the decision maker was… Nobody would be able to say that some general in the Air Force or the Defence Minister or some bureaucrat from the Defence Ministry. It was a deal done by Narendra Modi to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore,” he said.

Gandhi also said that if there was nothing to hide, Modi would have ordered an inquiry into the decision to purchase the fighter jets from France.

“If the Prime Minister was not involved, he would have said ‘let there be an enquiry by the CBI or the Supreme Court’. But he is silent. He has lost his sleep because of tension because he knows he will be caught.”

Referring to Dassault Aviation investing Rs 284 crore in a “loss making” Indian company, Gandhi said it was the “first instalment of kickback” that was paid by the French defence major to secure the deal.

“Dassault CEO (Eric Trappier) had claimed his company chose Reliance as its offsets partner because it had land available next to an airport. But now it has been revealed that the land was bought by the money that was invested by Dassault.

“The CEO is lying. The big question is why a firm would invest Rs 284 crore in a company with a capital of just over Rs 8 lakh and is loss making? It is clear cut that this (investment) is the first instalment of kickback given by Dassault,” said Gandhi.

The Congress President alleged that Trappier was “lying” to save Modi who in April 2015 had announced the inter-governmental deal to buy 36 Rafale jets in “complete violation” of defence procurement policies.

He also alleged that Central Bureau of Investigation Director Alok Kumar Verma was “removed” because he was looking into documents pertaining to the deal that could nail the Prime Minister.

“The CBI chief was looking into all these papers it is obvious that there is enough material in public domain to nail Modi,” said Gandhi, alleging that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s recent visit to France was a part of a cover-up which the Modi government was indulging in to prevent the truth from coming out.

While asserting that his party would continue demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the deal, Gandhi said: “Modi is terrified and will never agree for a JPC.”

Reiterating that French President Emmanuel Macron had told him that there was no secrecy clause about the price factor in the Rafale deal, Gandhi said: “Pricing cannot be part of the secrecy clause.

IANS

Suspected separatist gunmen shot dead five people they singled out in northeastern India’s Assam state where ethnic tensions are simmering over the government’s plans to amend a law on citizenship.

Authorities said they suspected a faction of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) of carrying out the killings on Thursday, as well as a bomb attack in the state’s largest city, Guwahati, last month.

ULFA rebels, who want a breakaway homeland for ethnic Assamese people, have threatened attacks over proposed amendments to India’s citizenship law that would grant citizenship to Bengali-speaking Hindus.

Gunmen in military fatigues entered the village in Tinsukia district and ordered ethnic Bengalis out of their home, officials said.

Four people were killed on the spot and a fifth died in hospital, they said.

ULFA chief Paresh Baruah recently threatened Bengalis who wanted to stage a rally in support of the citizenship amendment bill being pushed in parliament by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The bill aims to give citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Christian minorities from India’s neighbouring countries who arrived in the country before 2015.

Activists and opposition leaders say the bill discriminates against Muslims and violates the secular constitution of India.

In protest against the brutal killings in Assam @AITCofficial will organise protest rallies tomorrow ( Fri Nov 2) in different parts of north and south Bengal including Siliguri and Kolkata

Political and social groups in Assam have accused the BJP of seeking to use the law to naturalise citizenship of Bengali-origin Hindus to get their votes.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said “strong action” would be taken against the killers, but he also appealed for calm.

Assam’s migrants question
The state of Assam has been rocked by protests over undocumented immigration from Bangladesh for decades.

India this year published a provisional list of people in Assam eligible for citizenship, called the National Register of Citizens (NRC), in a bid to identify undocumented migrants from Bangladesh.

The draft list effectively stripped nearly four million people of the 32 million in Assam of their citizenship.

Voices From Assam: India’s Four Million Unwanted
Those who proved they came to the state by March 24, 1971 – the cut off date to be eligible for Indian citizenship – were included on the NRC.

The people whose names were not included on the NRC have been allowed to file their claims and objections by December 15.

Experts, meanwhile, say it will take several years to produce a final version of the list.

Bengali Muslims still fear they could be deported while rights groups have said there could be attacks on Assam’s ethnic minorities.

In February 1983, more than 2,000 Bengali-speaking people were killed in Nellie in central Assam. In recent years, hundreds of people have been thrown in detention camps in the border state.

Aljazeera

Strongly condemning the gunning down of five people in Assam’s Tinsukia district, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday demaned the punishment of the perpetrators at the earliest.

Banerjee also announced that the Trinamool Congress would organise protests rallies in her state on Friday.

Wondering whether the killings were the outocome of the recent “NRC (Natoional Register of citizens) development”, Banerjee said she had “no words to express” her sorrow.

“Terrible news coming out of Assam. We strongly condemn the brutal attack in Tinsukia”, Banerjee wrote on twitter.

“Is this the outcome of recent NRC development?” she asked.

“We have no words to express our deep sorrow to the grieving families. The perpetrators must be punished at the very earliest,” Banerjee posted on twitter.

“In protest against the brutal killings in Assam @AITCofficial will organise protest rallies tomorrow (Friday, November 2) in different parts of north and south Bengal including Siliguri and Kolkata,” she said.

The killings took place when militants fired indiscriminately at a group of people on Thursday evening. The incident took place at a remote location called Kherbari under Dhola Police Station in the district that borders Arunachal Pradesh in eastern Assam, the police said.

Locals said four-five armed militants came in Army fatigue and started firing at the people who were playing Ludo in front of a Dhaba.

The police suspect the hand of anti-talk action of ULFA militants behind the incident.

Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 182-metre high statue of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, BSP chief Mayawati sought an apology from the BJP for its comments in the past against installation of statues of Dalit icons.

In a statement, the former Chief Minister said it was unfortunate that when she got parks, monuments and idols installed of B.R. Aambedkar and other Dalit icons, she was badgered by the RSS and BJP for splurging public money.

But now the BJP and RSS were gloating over a Rs 2,000-plus crore statue of Patel in Gujarat.

She said the Bharatiya Janata Party should not only apologize for defaming her but also tell people why it chose an English name, “Statue of Unity”, for Patel, who was every bit an Indian.

The English name made it clear how much of this event was devotion to Patel and how much was it a political game plan, she said.

IANS