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Lynching a man to death is small issue, says cop-turned-BJP MP

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Satyapal Singh

New Delhi: Police officer turned BJP MP Satyapal Singh today kicked up a row with his remarks calling Dadri lynching a “small incident”, evoking strong reactions from Opposition parties, which said it was a reflection of the party’s “polarisation” strategy.

“As far as a small incident like Dadri is concerned, our country’s democratic atmosphere is fully competent to handle. Our country is full competent to handle such incidents,” said Singh, who is the former Police Commissioner of Mumbai.

The BJP MP from Baghpat also said Government needs to take a view on the plight of Muslims as well as followers of other religion.

Reacting sharply to Singh’s comments on Dadri, Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said it is a reflection of what the BJP was trying to do.

“I am absolutely dismayed at the remarks of the BJP MP, who was also a former Police Commissioner of Mumbai,” he said, alleging that such remarks reflect the “strategy” of BJP to “usurp” power by “polarising” communities.

SP leader Rajiv Rai demanded an apology from the BJP and alleged that it was aiming at “communal polarisation”, which would be seen more as Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled in 2017 comes closer.

He wondered if Dadri is a minor incident, what else is a big incident. “They should apologise. I am disgusted that this statement comes from an MP, who was a former police commissioner.”

50-year-old Iqlakh was dragged out of his home by a 200-strong mob and beaten to death after a public announcement from the local temple that the family had slaughtered a calf and eaten its meat in Uttar Pradesh’s Bishada village in Dadri.

The Uttar Pradesh government has submitted a report to the Centre on the issue.

Concerned over communal incidents in Dadri and other places, the Centre had last week asked all states to take strictest action against those who attempt to weaken the secular fabric by exploiting religious emotions.

The incident has triggered a nationwide outrage with a number of eminent authors deciding to return their awards.

(Agencies)

“Ye Modi kya kya karwayega”: Haryana minister on PM Modi’s Clean India Mission

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Krishan Kumar Bedi

Chandigarh: In an embarrassment to ruling BJP in Haryana, state Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi was caught on tape while allegedly mocking the Prime Minister’s pet ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign, prompting the opposition to take a swipe at the state government over “lack of seriousness”.

“Don’t know what all Modi will make us do,” Bedi, who is Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, is purportedly heard saying in TV footage as he held a broom in his hand while cleaning a ground in Fatehabad.

After the Minister’s remarks, other officials present at the spot with him burst into laughter. When Bedi noticed that his comments may have been captured by media present at the spot, he asked them, “I hope you are not recording it. Don’t make me land in any trouble”.

The video has since gone viral on the social media.

Bedi along with senior officials of the Fatehabad district administration was cleaning the ground at Panchayat Bhawan in Haryana’s Fatehabad on Sunday on the conclusion of a sanitation campaign there.

When reporters later sought clarification from Bedi about his remarks, the Minister, who was attending another function in Kaithal, said: “We are committed to the Swachh Bharat campaign. We want that entire Haryana should not only be clean, but healthy too”.

“Someone had brought to my notice that some officials are not taking the campaign seriously. I was telling the officials that some people are trying to publicise the fact that they (officials) are being forced to pick up the broom because of (PM) Modi.”

“I was bringing this fact to their notice that such an impression should not go out (that officials were not willingly picking up the broom to clean). Now, if someone has done some (video) recording and linked with my comment in this manner, then it is not right. I was only apprising the officials and the whole issue was in that context only and not anything else”.

Haryana Congress president Ashok Tanwar said BJP ministers “are not keen on real service and tackling real issues, but they just believe in tokenism”.

State’s main opposition INLD’s senior leader Abhay Chautala said: “This shows how serious the government and its ministers are about campaigns launched by (PM) Modi”.

The incident has caused embarrassment to the Manohar Lal Khattar Government in Haryana, which will complete one year in office this month.

However, this is not the first time when Khattar’s Ministers have courted controversy. In January this year, Bedi was in the midst of another controversy when Kurukshetra’s Civil Surgeon Vandana Bhatia had complained that Bedi had allegedly misbehaved with her over telephone, a charge which had been trashed by the Minister then.

Congress leader Ashok Tanwar said the Minister’s remarks also show “that people feel suffocated in the BJP”.

“There is authoritarian attitude of top leadership of the BJP because of which sentiments in this manner are coming out in public,” he said.

Abhay Chautala, who is Leader of Opposition, said before polls, BJP made tall promises to the people and when they allegedly failed to deliver, their Ministers make such statements to divert the attention of the people.

Earlier this year, Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma had landed stoked a controversy by allegedly using objectionable language against Jawaharlal Nehru. Later on, the senior Minister had apologised, saying he did not mean to be disrespectful or to hurt anyone’s sentiments.

Haryana’s Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar had also drawn flak for his remarks on farmers committing suicide.

(Agencies)

Anti-beef rioter Sangeet Som is founder of ‘halal’ beef exporting company

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Sangeet Som

Meerut: BJP MLA Sangeet Singh Som, who is at the forefront of the frenzied anti-beef protests, is in fact a co-founder of one of India’s “halal” meat export companies, which exports beef along with other meat.

The company, Al-Dua Food Processing Private Ltd, was founded by Mr. Som, along with Moinuddin Qureshi and a third partner, to deal in meat and meat products in 2005. According to Al-Dua’s website, the company is now a “leading producer and exporter of halal meat from India.”

Mr. Som’s role in promoting the company is at variance with the BJP’s campaign, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who during the Lok Sabha polls, called the growing meat exports the “pink revolution.” Mr. Modi and others have said that the growing meat exports were a cover for slaughter of cows.

When a national daily confronted Mr. Som with the evidence, he flatly denied having anything to do with meat business.

“There was nothing about meat. I am a pure Hindu and would do nothing to hurt Hindu sentiment. You would be surprised to know that despite being a Thakur I don’t eat even egg and start my day with a havan,” said Mr Som, who is also an accused in Muzaffarnagar communal riots.

According to the Memorandum of Association of Al-Dua Food Processing, filed on December 19, 2005, the company, which exports halal meat to Arab countries, was started “to carry on the business of (sic) manufacturers, producers, processors, buyers, sellers of and dealers in meat, meat products…”

Official documents show that in 2005-06, all three promoters of Al-Dua, one of India’s leading halal meat exporting companies Mr. Som co-founded, also advanced unsecured loans to the company. Mr. Som gave Rs. 4 lakh, Moinuddin Qureshi Rs. 7.60 lakh and Yogesh Rawat Rs. 4 lakh. The company also received unsecured loans from two other companies totalling Rs. 10 lakh.

Official filings with the Registrar of Company Affairs show that the company purchased a piece of land for Rs. 30,78,000 in 2005-06.

On March 27, 2008, Mr. Som ceased to be a director in the company. He transferred his 20,000 shares in the company to Nasira Begum at Rs. 10 a share. There is no evidence of Mr. Som receiving back the unsecured loan he gave the company, or of him charging any premium for the shares in the company.

Al-Dua was not the only business dealing between Mr. Som and Mr. Qureshi, one of India’s leading meat exporters. Mr. Som has also been involved as an additional director in Al-Anam Agro Foods Pvt. Ltd. with Mr. Qureshi.

A day after telling Hindustan Times that he was unaware of being appointed a director in the company and that his involvement was only in purchasing a plot in Aligarh for a meat processing plant, Mr. Som took a different line when The Hindu confronted him with the evidence. The BJP MLA from Sardhana constituency in Meerut, admitted that he was a director of Al-Dua for about two years because he had invested about Rs. 9 lakh in the property.

“Being one-third stakeholder of the land I was a director in Al-Dua. In fact, I only asked them to make me one of the directors. But just two years after that we sold the land to somebody so it ended my relationship with Al-Dua,” he said.

Mr. Som insisted that Al-Dua was just a piece of land when Mr. Qureshi along with Mr. Rawat, whom he kept on addressing as “Delhiwale pandit ji,” bought it.

“The Al-Dua Food Processing has the best processing facilities and is an established name and has a reputation for which our products are most sought after in all exotic markets. Al Dua Food Processing are specialists in the export of quality halal buffalo, sheep/lamb, goat meat and hides,” the company’s website claims.

(Agencies)

BJP’s strategy is to make Hindus, Muslims fight each other: Rahul Gandhi

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Rahul Gandhi

Mandya: Launching a direct attack on Prime Minister and BJP in the wake of Dadri beef lynching, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that they have a “strategy” to polarise the country by pitting Hindus and Muslims against each other as he remarked that Narendra Modi has a “history”.

“The BJP and the Prime Minister have a strategy of polarising this country. They have a strategy of making Hindus and Muslims fight against each other.

“You can see that in every election, polarisation taking place, riots taking place. There were BJP people involved in the Dadri incident,” the Congress vice president alleged while talking to reporters here.

Dismissing the Prime Minister’s pitch yesterday for communal harmony, he said that while it was very nice of Modi to make such comments, “the Prime Minister has a history and the PM has a party that is behaving in a completely different way, which he doesn’t seem to want to stop”.

Modi had yesterday pitched for communal harmony, saying Hindus and Muslims should not fight each other but together fight poverty.

Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit of party-ruled state during which he will meet farmers affected by drought and other agricultural problems, also accused the Centre of neglecting farmers’ interests.

“The central government does not think that agriculture or the farmer is important. Whether it is the issue of Minimum Support Price (MSP) or crops being destroyed by bad weather, the government does not seem to have a strategy. It does not give priority to farmers,” he said.

Ruing that farmers are committing suicide in large numbers, he insisted the central government needs to do something about it.

“The Prime Minister has to take a look at it and help the farmers of the country,” he said.

Contrasting the functioning of the previous UPA government with that of the present dispensation, Gandhi said the Congress-led government had given a loan waiver of Rs 70,000 crore to the farmers.

He will also undertake a ‘padyatra’ tomorrow and hold interactions with farmers, students and women workers in Haveri district.

(Agencies)

Dadri lynching: Meat in Akhlaq’s fridge not beef, but mutton

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Akhlaq's daughter and sister at his residence in Bisara village, in Dadri. (Photo: IE by Gajendra Yadav)

Akhlaq’s daughter and sister at his residence in Bisara village, in Dadri. (Photo: IE by Gajendra Yadav)

New Delhi: A forensic test has proved that the meat which was found in Akhlaq’s fridge was mutton, and not beef.

Police had sent a sample of the meat from Akhlaq’s fridge for forensic testing.

Initial tests had suggested that it was mutton. However, the police had further sent the sample to another lab for a conclusive report.

The conclusive tests also showed that it was mutton and not beef, official sources said.

The police, however, is being criticized for sending the meat sample for a forensic test because whether it was mutton or beef had little bearing on the crime.

On September 28, Akhlaq was allegedly beaten to death and his son left injured by a 200-strong mob following a rumour that his family was involved in cow slaughter.

(Agencies)

Muslim MLA attacked by BJP legislators for hosting beef party

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bjp-kashmir-beef

Srinagar: Independent MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid was today thrashed by some BJP legislators in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for throwing a beef party here, triggering an uproar from the opposition which staged a walkout.

The manhandling of the MLA, who had thrown a beef party at the MLA hostel here yesterday, came on a day the Assembly is scheduled to take up a bill on the ban on the meat.

As BJP MLAs assaulted him, several NC and Congress MLAs rushed to save him.

The assault on the floor of the House triggered an angry reaction from the opposition with National Conference leader Omar Abdullah saying it was impossible to digest the incident.

“What happened today is impossible to digest. An honourable member being assaulted in the house. It seems that they wanted to murder him (Rashid). If he had done anything that was objectionable that should have been put on record,” the former Chief Minister said.

On the beef ban issue, Omar said, “Our sentiments are also attached to this issue… We don’t force our religion on you. My religion prohibits consumption of alcohol and pork… Do I assault everyone who eats pork or alcohol,” he said, demanding that the Chief Minister make a statement on the issue.

Condemning the assault, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said sentiments should be kept under check. “I condemn this incident. The House has good tradition ….sentiments should be kept under control. I ask Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh to apologise for the misconduct of his party MLAs,” he said.

Singh on his part said, “We do not approve of what happened in the Assembly today. But what happened in the MLAs hostel yesterday was also wrong,” he said, referring to yesterday’s beef party.

The Deputy Chief Minister stopped short of apologising for the incident following which the entire opposition staged a walkout. BJP MLA Ravinder Raina said Rashid had hurt the sentiments of Hindus.

“It was not a case of physical manhandling. He has hurt the sentiments of Hindus. I did not beat him,” he said. “Engineer Rashid hosted a beef party last night, It hurt my sentiments. I conveyed the message to the Chief Minister and called SHO but no action was taken against him” he said.

Rashid, the legislator from Langate, had yesterday hosted the beef party in the lawns of MLA hostel here, with the guests being served beef kebabs, ‘ristas’ (meat balls) and beef patties.

Rashid had claimed that he did not want to offend anyone but wanted to send a message that “no court or legislature can prevent the people from eating what they want”.

The step was “just to give them (legislators) a clear message that it hardly makes any difference whether you accept or reject the bill… religious matters cannot be kept subservient to courts and assembly,” the MLA had said. “Nobody on earth, no assembly, no court and no institution can stop us from having what we want to have,” he added.

The beef row erupted after a division bench of High Court in Jammu directed the state to strictly implement the ban in the state as per the law.

The order had evoked strong resentment from various quarters with many separatist and religious organisations terming it as “interference in religious affairs” and sought revocation of the law, besides pressing for implementation of ban on liquor in the state. The issue is now before the Supreme Court.

(Agencies)

Kerala students condemn Dadri incident; Hold beef fests in campus

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kerala-students-beef-protest

New Delhi: Students in Kerala have come up with an innovative idea to protest lynching of Akhlaq over rumors that he had consumed beef. The students staged a stir by holding beef festivals in college campuses in the state.

The event saw students sharing a hearty meal of beef curry and bread. Invitations were also extended to those present in and around the campus.

The first such event was initiated by the CPI-M’s student wing SFI and was held at Sree Kerala Varma College in Thrissur on Oct 1. However, the event later ran into trouble after the ABVP activists reached the scene.

Six students were suspended by the college management as the institution has a long-standing rule against non-veg food inside the campus – the college is managed by the Cochin Devaswom Board.

But, not to be disheartened by the turn of events the cause was taken up by students of Ernakulam’s Maharaja’s College and this time it was Congress’ student wing KSU that took the lead.

The event witnessed happy faces eating beef as a mark of protest. A bunch of girls was even seen clicking selfies with plates of beef curry in their hand.

KSU leader Mohammed Rafi said, “KSU has conducted a beef festival…it is to protest against growing fascist elements in our country.”

Referring to the killing of Akhlaq, he added that fascist elements are active not just in northern parts of the country but also in Kerala.

He also slammed the management of Thrissur’s Sree Kerala Varma College for suspending students who held a ‘secular’ beef festival.

(Agencies)

Karnataka mulls scrapping cattle protection panel constituted by BJP government

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cow

Bengaluru: The State government is planning to dissolve the Goseva Ayoga or Cattle Conservation Commission constituted by the BJP regime in 2012.

The panel was set up as part of the State BJP manifesto promise made ahead of the 2009 Assembly polls for a strict ban on cow slaughter. The 16-member commission has the authority to ensure protection of cattle.

Along with the 16-member commission, the government is planning to repeal the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Prevention (Constitution of Goseva Ayoga) rules, 2012.

The rules provided that all institutions engaged in cattle welfare, including goshalas (cow shelters), have to register and subject themselves to inspections. The commission has nine official and seven non-official members. According to official sources in the Animal Husbandry Department, as soon as the Siddaramaiah government came to power, the non-official members were removed. The members challenged the decision of the government in the High Court and got a stay. The stay was recently vacated, sources said.

Sources in the government said the Animal Welfare Board was already entrusted with the task of protecting cattle and there was no need for having another separate commission. It not only meant duplication of work but also a financial burden on the State exchequer, they said.

The Cabinet is likely to take a decision on dissolving the commission and repealing the rules at its meeting on Tuesday.

The commission has been given the mandate to ensure proper management of cattle at welfare centres, provide financial assistance to them and ensure timely implementation of programmes of the State government under the various cattle development schemes.

Other functions included taking custody of agricultural cattle seized under the 1964 anti-cow slaughter legislation and entrusting them to the nearest goshala or cattle protection institution. The present dispensation, last year, had also repealed the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill 2012 passed during the BJP regime. The 2012 bill sought to ban the slaughter of cows and bulls. It also provided stringent punishment for violators, making the offence cognizable and non-bailable.

(Agencies)

Dadri like incidents hurt country’s image: Arun Jaitley

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arun jaitley

New York: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has condemned the lynching of a man over beef eating rumour in UP, saying such incidents hurt the country’s image.

“India is a mature society. We need to rise above these kinds of incidents because they certainly don’t give a good name as far as the country is concerned,” he told reporters here after a lecture at Columbia University yesterday.

He was responding when asked to comment on the lynching incident in Dadri which has happened at a time when the government was wooing foreign investors.

“I have also said they can amount to policy diversions in that context so it is the responsibility of every Indian in his actions or comments to stay clear of unfortunate and condemnable instances like this,” the senior BJP leader said.

A 50-year-old man was lynched and his son was critically injured by a mob in Dadri on last Monday after rumours that they had consumed beef.

(Agencies)

Dadri lynching: BJP leader Sangeet Som continues to unleash communal hatred

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Sangeet Som

Dadri: Stirring the political cauldron, controversial BJP MLA Sangeet Som today visted Dadri where he attacked Samajwadi Party government, alleging it was appeasing the minority community and innocent people were being framed for lynching of a man over beef eating rumour.

Som, who was accused of making inflammatory speeches during the 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal riots, alleged that state government was acting in a biased manner like it did during violence in western Uttar Pradesh two years ago and was shielding those who had “slaughtered cow”.

“Like they had taken the accused in Muzaffarnagar riots in a plane, they have taken those who have slaughtered cow in a plane. Even when a person is killed, they have different set of rules. Sanjay Rahul Yadav was shot in the incident, but is anyone aware. Did the government help him,” Som told reporters as the victim Ikhlaq’s family met Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow today.

The UP lawmaker’s remarks came even as BJP leader and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the incident should not be given communal colour or politicised.

Som questioned why the state government had allowed AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi to visit the village and spread “communal frenzy”.

“A person like Owaisi was allowed to come here from Hyderabad. Is the Samajwadi Party government colluding with him? A person from Hyderabad comes and is able to make such statements. Is it not the weakness of the government? This government is trying to appease a particular community,” the MLA said.

Questioning the arrests in the lynching case, he said, “We don’t want that those guilty of murder should not be tried but the government should stop framing the innocent.

“Murder cases are on the rise in the state but is the government acting in the same manner in those cases. Are terrorists living here? Police should make arrests only after completing the investigation,” the MLA said.

Iqlakh, 50, was dragged out of his home and stoned to death on a village street after a public announcement from the local temple that the family had slaughtered a calf and eaten its meat.

While Iqlakh died, his 22-year-old son Danish is battling for life at a hospital following two brain surgeries.

Police have arrested eight persons and detained a Home Guard for questioning after the local temple priest alleged that he forced him to make the announcement.

Police had yesterday two persons — Vishal and Shivam. One of them was reported to be the son of a local BJP leader. However, BJP leader Harish Thakur denied that the father of the accused was a BJP office bearer and said he may be a BJP supporter.

Meanwhile, Congress attacked the BJP and its government at the Centre over the incident and said all progressive thinking people should stand up against it.

“This is a politco-ideological murder. There are some people who are trying to change the narrative of the country. They want that the minority should be second grade citizens.

“The Government wants to dictate as to what people should eat, what people should wear, how people should talk. So this is an issue on which all progressive, liberal and right thinking need to stand together,” Congress leader Manish Tewari said.

(Agencies)

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