A section of a foot overbridge here caved in over the Western Railway (WR) tracks during Tuesday morning’s peak hours following incessant rain, leaving five persons injured, and creating a scare among the commuters, an official said.

The crash has affected Mumbai’s lifeline — the suburban train services, which ferries around eight million commuters daily.

The injured, who include one woman, have been admitted to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s R.N. Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle, a BMC official said. One of them is critical.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Heavy overnight rains and waterlogging in many areas is suspected to be the cause of the crash of the structure, known as the Gokhale Bridge, on S.V. Road, which connects Andheri East and Andheri West.

There were no immediate confirmation whether the injured were commuters or pedestrians. Rescue operations continued to save those believed to be trapped under the debris.

Work was also on to remove the debris from the WR tracks which blocked services in both directions, hitting hard the Mumbai commuters bound for their offices.

According to WR spokesperson C.N.K. David, the portion of the bridge crashed at around 7.30 a.m. on the the southern-end of the Andheri platform numbers 7-8.

The falling bridge damaged a portion of the platform roof, blocked the railway lines and damaged the high-tension electric wires and overhead power equipments, he added.

“The restoration work is in full swing and we hope to resume normal train services in the next few hours,” David said.

The WR said trains were being operated between Goregaon-Virar on the northern side and Bandra-Churchgate in the southern direction, besides Harbour Line from Bandra-CST, and several long-distance trains were rescheduled.

The Commissioner of Railway Safety will investigate the incident which has triggered a blame-game between the WR and the BMC.

While the WR said the bridge belongs to the BMC, the latter said the crash took place on the railway portion which was the WR’s responsibility for repairs and maintenance.

With several lakhs of commuters stranded all over the network, the civic transport body BEST deployed 40 additional bus services between Goregaon-Bandra to clear the rush.

The cascading effect was also seen on the Western Express Highway, the main S.V. Road, Link Road and other arterial roads with traffic jams all over.

As a precautionary measure, Mumbai police have stopped all traffic above and below the bridge till the green signal from the railway authorities.

Mumbai’s Dabbawalas have suspended all their tiffin box deliveries on Tuesday on the Western Railway routes but would continue on other routes.

A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper on Tuesday foiled a weapon snatching attempt here, police said.

Three persons using chilli powder attempted to snatch away the weapon from the CRPF trooper in Humhama area near the Srinagar International Airport, a police officer said.

“After their attempt failed, they escaped,” the officer added.

Accusing Congress President Rahul Gandhi of playing caste politics and ignoring the aspirations of senior leaders, veteran Gujarat Congress MLA and prominent Koli community leader Kunwarji Bawalia on Tuesday quit as a legislator to join the ruling BJP. He will be sworn in as a minister in the evening.

A four-time MLA from Jasdan and former Lok Sabha member from Rajkot in 2009, Bawalia handed over his resignation to Speaker Rajendra Trivedi. He subsequently went to the BJP’s “Shree Kamalam” state headquarters and met the party’s state President Jitu Vaghani and two other cabinet ministers to join the party.

The Koli community leader, who has been sulking ever since the December 2017 elections for being ignored for any key party position, said: “Gandhi has been playing caste politics at the cost of the aspirations of senior party men and even the state Congress leadership was doing the same.”

“This has been playing on my mind for some time since I was unable to carry out public welfare works without interruption because of internal politicking in the party.

“On the other hand, I had been watching how Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national level and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani at the state level has been working for public good,” he told reporters after joining the BJP.

Welcoming Bawalia, State BJP chief Jitubhai Vaghani said: “Such a senior leader from the Koli community, he is president of the All-India Koli Samaj, would be big a asset for the party.

“This is why Chief Minister Rupani has decided to induct him as a minister today (Tuesday).”

“He will be sworn in at 4 p.m.,” Vaghani added.

Bawalia said: “Narendra Modi had sentimental relations with me and often told me that the BJP was on the lookout for sincere leaders like me. And the way he is running the government at the national level, he is wedded to development of the country. Ditto Vijay Rupani in Gujarat.”

His resignation comes days after another leader from Rajkot, former legislator Indranil Rajyaguru, quit alleging that the Congress leadership ignored the aspirations of several party seniors.

Rajyaguru had unsuccessfully contested Gujarat Assembly elections in December 2017, against Vijay Rupani.

The richest MLA from Gujarat, Rajyaguru had vacated his safe Rajkot East constituency to taken on the chief minister.

A portion of a foot overbridge crashed on the Western Railway tracks, hitting the suburban train services here during Tuesday morning peak hours, an official said.

Heavy overnight rains and waterlogging in many areas is suspected to be the cause of the crash of the structure, known as the Gokhale Bridge, on S.V. Road.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties as search operations were launched by the Fire Brigade and other rescue agencies.

Work was on to remove the debris from the WR tracks which blocked services in both directions, hitting hard the Mumbai commuters bound for their offices.

Mumbai’s Dabbawalas have suspended all their tiffin box deliveries on Tuesday on the WR routes, but would continue on other routes.

Srinagar, India-administered Kashmir – A few yards away from Srinagar city’s famous clock tower in India-administered Kashmir are the ruins of Palladium, once a famous film theatre.

All that remains of what used to be a thriving hangout in the strife-torn city are its faded yellow walls. That desolate look is the tale of Kashmir’s film theatres, which closed down after an armed rebellion against India’s rule in the region began in the late 1980s.

As protests demanding “azaadi” (freedom) on the streets of Kashmir grew in 1989, screening of movies became a major casualty. Soon, the arrival of Indian army in the valley saw some theatres turn into military garrisons. Others have turned into hotels, hospitals, shopping complexes, or remain abandoned.

Worse, the Kashmiri rebel fighters declared screening of films in “movie halls” or “talkies”, as they are commonly called in India, as un-Islamic.

Today, the deserted theatres only evoke nostalgia, especially among the older Kashmiris.

Arif Shafi’s family owned Naaz cinema, located in Srinagar’s famous Lal Chowk. He was 12 when the theatre closed.

“I used to spend time with my father at Naaz. I remember a huge rush when a major film was screened. Four to five shows happened in a day. There used to be separate cabins for families,” says Shafi.

Shafi has little hope of a revival of Kashmir’s cinema culture. “The political situation of Kashmir doesn’t allow the re-opening of cinema halls.”

Shah cinema is situated in Qamarwari area of Srinagar and was housing Central Reserve Police force after being closed down in late 80’s. It is in a dilapidated condition now and has been abandoned.
Failed revival
Almost 10 years later, in 1998, the government provided financial assistance of over $40,000 to encourage theatre owners to renovate and reopen.

Of the nine theatres in Srinagar, three theatres – Regal, Neelam and Broadway – defied the threat of the rebels and began screening films. Other theatres in the city could not reopen because they were situated in downtown Srinagar and more vulnerable to separatist attacks.

However, on the day Regal reopened in September 1999, a bomb was hurled inside the theatre, killing a man and injuring many others.

The Regal attack succeeded in dissuading other theatre owners from reopening. Soon, Broadway was also closed and later taken over by a telecom company.

Neelam continued to screen films for a while, but the stringent security measures took the fun out of watching movies, resulting in fewer people turning up for shows.

Neelam didn’t have a long run either. The lime green building now houses the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers and is caged by barbed wire and bunkers. The sight of CRPF soldiers pointing their guns towards the street from the building makes its unique architecture look more fearsome.

Like Neelam, Sheraz cinema in downtown Srinagar was also occupied by Indian security forces after it was closed in the early 1990s. Another theatre named “Khayyam” has been turned into a hospital.

In November last year, the Kashmir World Film Festival had raked up a debate on the missing cinema culture in Kashmir. Speaking at the event, the then-Jammu and Kashmir minister Naeem Akhtar had assured of government support in reviving the closed theatres.

But little has happened on the ground so far.

Sites of nostalgia
However, memories of once thriving cinema halls are still afresh among the locals, who turn nostalgic while regaling stories of days gone by when cinema halls were packed all day long.

Bashir Ahmad Shah, 50, had worked for more than 20 years in Nishat talkies in Anantnag as an operator. He says people used to come in flocks to watch films.

“People used to watch movies with their families and friends. The prolonged conflict changed everything. There was bloodshed everywhere. After cinemas were closed down, I toiled day and night to feed my family,” Shah.

Khayam cinema, now Khyber Hospital, is situated in Khayam area of Srinagar
Shah, whose colleagues are no longer alive, says that if at all cinemas reopen, he would “love to work again”.

“I remember buying tickets in black (illegally), as it was almost impossible to buy a ticket from the counters of these theatres,” Ghulam Nabi, a shopkeeper from Anantnag in south Kashmir.

Nabi says he used to steal money from his father’s shop to catch the latest film. “We used to bunk school to watch a movie and end up getting beaten up at home.”

A generation left out
The absent cinema culture in Kashmir has resulted in a generation deprived of the pleasure of watching a film on the big screen.

Muneeb Ahmed is 27 and has not seen a single film in a theatre.

“As a child, I used to wait for the weekend to watch movies on DD National (India’s public broadcaster) despite the blurred picture quality. Mobile phones or laptops have come as a blessing, allowing us to watch good quality movies, although pirated,” he told press.

Before internet arrived, people in Kashmir would get pirated CDs and DVDs of movies and watch them on their computers or televisions.

“Now, it’s easy to download a movie from internet, and watch them after a hard day’s work,” Ahmad said.

Hussien Khan, a filmmaker from Kashmir, says it’s unfortunate that young men haven’t seen any films in theatres.

“There is a lot of difference in watching a movie in cinemas and watching the same on a TV or mobile phone. But if we can’t have a cinema where Bollywood [the Hindi film industry] or Hollywood films are showcased, our younger generation deserves at least a regional cinema where we can tell our own stories,” Khan told to source.

In the pre-rebellion era, Kashmiri journalist Yusuf Jameel says, he and other journalists wrote about cultural issues and enjoyed watching movies, as well.

“The business model of cinemas here faces the twin challenges of shutdowns and violence. While the government wants to showcase normalcy by opening the film halls, Kashmir’s ground situation portrays a different reality.”

“Today, a Kashmiri journalist’s focus has shifted from covering culture and tourism to counting dead bodies,” says Jameel. “Also, people would not like to be seen as enjoying movies when there is persistent violence on the streets and young boys are losing lives.”

Aljazeera

Despite having low numbers in Parliament and losing power in many states, the Congress is still the only party which enjoys national acceptance and no opposition unity is possible without it, the Shiv Sena said on Monday.

Commenting on the ongoing unity efforts among major opposition parties in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Sena said all the opposition parties were essentially regional forces, unlike the Congress which remains a “national force” by all reckoning.

“The real problem before the opposition parties is whether to accept Rahul Gandhi’s leadership or not as there are many aspirants for the post of Prime Minister among opposition leaders,” the Sena said in edits in its mouthpieces “Saamana” and “Dopahar Ka Saamana”.

Dwelling on the current political scenario, it said the secret of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s success was that it enjoyed a majority in Parliament, had huge wealth at its command, could “buy” anything with the added advantage of disunity in the opposition.

“In spite of all this, BJP’s failures are evident and there is anger among the people. All allies have abandoned it and now it has dawned on BJP that only the regional parties can help it sail through the 2019 elections,” the Sena said.

Asserting that “there is no alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi within the BJP”, which also suffers from a “trust” deficit, the Sena noted that the party had so far benefited only from the disarray in opposition ranks.

“In this scenario, if the BJP’s tally falls by over 100 seats, then will it get MPs from Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump or the UAE?

“In the past four years, people (in India) have gone against the BJP, but it has secured friendship of Putin and Trump… But how will this help in the elections?” the Sena wondered.

Criticising NCP President Sharad Pawar’s observations that an “opposition front may not be possible before the next elections”, the Sena said it appeared a part of “Pawar Pattern” to create scepticism and everyone was left speculating whether the “disciple” was speaking through the “guru” – a reference to Modi’s statement a few years ago in Pune that he considered Pawar his “political guru”.

Among the opposition parties, there were several contenders for the post of Prime Minister — Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav, M.K. Stalin, N. Chandrababu Naidu, Naveen Patnaik, K. Chandrashekhar Rao and even the 85-year old former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda.

“The chariot is ready, and though the wheels are missing, several horses are already in the saddle… It is not even clear yet whether it will be named a Third Front or a Fourth Front,” said the Sena, which has decided to go it alone in all future elections.

However, what they (opposition) cannot ignore is the scare Rahul Gandhi gave to the BJP in both Gujarat and Karnataka Assembly elections. But now all the opposition parties also were in a quandary whether to accept his (Rahul’s) leadership or not.

“A strong opposition is essential for a powerful democracy… In the interest of democracy, the opposition parties must concede as soon as possible to Rahul Gandhi who has scared the BJP… And the BJP is known for breaking the opposition to grab power,” the Sena cautioned.

The CBI has booked three tribal leaders, including an MLA, for the murder of television journalist Santanu Bhowmik in 2017, an official said.

The official said that the three were Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) legislator Dhirendra Debbarma and party leaders Balram Debbarma and Amit Debbarma along with 300-500 IPFT members.

The IPFT is a tribal party and an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It has eight MLAs in the 60-member Tripura Assembly and two Cabinet ministers in the BJP-led ministry led by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.

Miscreants allegedly owing allegiance to the IPFT had on September 20, 2017, murdered Bhowmik at Mandwai, 25 km from Agartala. Santanu, 27, was attacked with sharp weapons while covering a road blockade by the IPFT, which is demanding a separate tribal state.

IPFT Vice President Ananta Debbarma told IANS that the party will comment later.

A newspaper journalist, Sudip Dutta, was also shot dead inside the Tripura State Rifles 2nd Battalion headquarters at Ramchandra Nagar in West Tripura district on November 21.

The then Left Front government had set up two SITs to probe the two killings.

The SIT arrested four TSR personnel — including TSR 2nd Battalion Commandant Tapan Debbarma, who is a senior Tripura Police Service (TPS) officer and was waiting for IPS nomination regarding Dutta’s killing.

The trial in the Dutta murder case started last month in the West Tripura District Additional District and Session Judge’s court but it was stopped following orders by the Tripura High Court.

The BJP-led government told the High Court in May that it had referred the matter to the CBI.

Hyderabad MP and leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Asaduddin Owaisi has lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party BJP over a host of issues, including mob lynching, surgical strikes and the upcoming elections.

The AIMIM leader also threw an open challenge to PM Modi, his party and BJP and its chief Amit Shah to contest from Hyderabad and win that seat.

Everyone want s to snatch the Hyderabad seat from us. I challenge anyone to fight All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen from Hyderabad. I challenge PM Modi or Amit Shah to contest a seat from here.”

The firebrand AIMIM leader also challenged Rahul Gandhi-led Congress to contest from the Hyderabad seat.

”I also challenge Congress to contest from Hyderabad. Even if both these parties contest together, they still won’t be able to defeat us.” Asaduddin Owaisi roared while addressing a massive rally of his supporters in Hyderabad.

Challenge anyone to fight All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen(AIMIM) from Hyderabad. I challenge PM Modi or Amit Shah to contest a seat from here. I also challenge Congress. Even if both these parties contest together, they still won’t be able to defeat us: Asaduddin Owaisi

A video of his speech during which he can be seen challenging the ruling BJP dispensation over a host of issues has also resurfaced on the social media.

Owaisi, who is extremely critical about the Modi government’s functioning, had sometimes back compared the Prime Minister to legendary magician PC Sorcar.

”Soon he (PM Modi) will come on TV and remove a rabbit from his hat. His magic shows on TV would also get good TRPs,” he said taking a dig at the PM.

Owaisi had attacked the BJP, which recently observed a Black Day on June 25 – the day when Emergency was imposed in the country – and said that people should not forget that many earth-shaking events like Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, Babri Masjid demolition, Gujarat riots and anti-Sikh riots all took place in independent India.

The AIMIM leader also dared the PM and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to invite the kith and kin of those (minority community members) killed in several mob lynching incidents across the country to their residence and console them.

The hardline AIMIMM leader also accused the ruling BJP of executing the RSS’ agenda and its alleged discriminatory attitude towards the minority community members.

The Hyderabad MP had earlier attacked the PM for the fast that BJP parliamentarians undertook on April 12.

He asked why the PM didn’t fast for ‘his false promises, atrocities being committed against Dalits or not being able to provide employment.’

“Why doesn’t the Prime Minister sit on a fast to atone for his false promises? Will he sit on fast for farmers who lost their lives, for atrocities on Dalits and for not being able to provide employment?” he had asked.