After stopping Haj subsidy, BJP offers to send Christians to Jerusalem for free

Times of India
February 14, 2018

New Delhi, Feb 14: Just about a month after canceling government subsidised Haj pilgrimages, the BJP is offering Christians free trips to Jerusalem if elected to power in Nagaland, reported northeastern news outlets.

It's unclear if the BJP is offering this to all of India's Christians, or only to Christians in the northeast, or only to Christians in Nagaland.

The BJP's offer comes in the run-up to elections in three northeastern states - Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura - later this month. In Meghalaya, almost 75 percent of the population is Christian. In Nagaland, 88 percent of the population is Christian.

"The BJP has made an election promise to send Christians to Jerusalem on a free trip, if elected to power in Nagaland," tweeted news outlet WeTheNagas. UNI news agency reported that the free Jerusalem trip has only been offered to Christians in Nagaland.

The BJP's offer, some said, smacked of hypocrisy and opportunism, especially considering the cancellation of Haj subsidies.

"BJP promise to send Christians on a free trip. I was right, BJP continues with subsidy if it suits its electoral needs. This is (what BJP means by) 'India first' ", tweeted AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi.

When announcing the end of haj subsidies last month, Union minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the BJP-led Centre believes in empowering the minority community with dignity and not appeasement.

"We believe in empowerment without appeasement...Development with dignity is what we believe in. The haj subsidy will be used for educating girls," said Naqvi.

After this decision was announced, Left party CPM said that they were in principle opposed to subsidies for all religious pilgrimages, but were not in favour of the government abruptly stopping the haj subsidy, considering the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that it should be phased out over a 10-year period.

AIMIM MP Owaisi said he had always been in favour of ending the haj subsidy but sought parity in norms for pilgrims of all religions. The Hyderabad MP lashed out at the government for its discriminatory decision, ending Haj subsidy but allowing subsidies to continue for Hindu pilgrimages like the Mansarovar Yatra.

The Israeli press was a tad amused by the BJP's offer to send Christians on a free trip to Jerusalem. It called the BJP's announcement a campaign promise and alluded such promises were often overblown.

"Campaign promises around the world are legendary, from 'a roast in every pot,' to 'I'll cut your taxes,' to 'vote for me, and I'll set you free' ", wrote The Jerusalem Post.

It also said many countries have over time sponsored or subsidised trips religious trips for their citizens.

"This would not be the first time that countries have bankrolled pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Nigeria, which for many years financed a trip to Mecca for Muslims, did the same for Christians to Jerusalem, leading to some 42,000 Nigerians visiting the country in 2011," said the Post.

Comments

s
 - 
Thursday, 15 Feb 2018

free trips to hindus and christians to their holy places by the governement. wow appeasement politics?

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 25,2020

New Delhi, Jun 25: After the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) given its approval to manufacture and market the generic version of COVID-19 drug Remdesivir, COVIFOR, Hyderabad-based drugmaker Hetero Limited has delivered the first set of 20,000 vials in two equal lots of 10,000 each across 5 states.

The first batch, which is being marketed under the brand name of COVIFOR, was delivered to Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad. Hetero has set a target to produce one lakh vials of the drug in two-three weeks.

The other lot would be supplied to Kolkata, Indore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Ranchi, Vijayawada, Cochin, Trivandrum and Goa within a week to meet the emergency requirements.

Managing director of Hetero Healthcare M Srinivasa Reddy said “the launch of Covifor in the country is a milestone in addressing public health emergencies. Through Covifor, we hope to reduce the treatment time of a patient in a hospital thereby reducing the increasing pressure on the medical infrastructure overburdened ue to accelerating COVID-19 infection rates," he said as reported by news agency.

"We are closely working with the government and the medical community to make Covifor quickly accessible to both public and private healthcare settings across the country”, Reddy said.

Covifor is a generic brand of Remdesivir which is used for the treatment of COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalised with strong symptoms of the disease. The Health Ministry had, on June 13, recommended the use of anti-viral drug Remdesivir in moderate stage of COVID-19.

Dr Reddys Laboratories and Hetero are among others which have separately entered into non-exclusive licensing agreements with the original drug-maker Gilead Sciences Inc to register, make and sell the investigational drug Remdesivir in India and other countries.

Remdesivir would be made in the company's formulation facility in Hyderabad, which has been approved by global regulatory authorities such as US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and EU, among others, Hetero had earlier said.

The treatment first showed improvement in trials on coronavirus patients and was approved for emergency use in severely ill patients in the United States and South Korea.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 7,2020

Mumbai, Jan 7: Against the backdrop of the attack on JNU students, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging that what they wanted was happening, and said such "brutal politics" was never seen before in the country.

An editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' further alleged that the BJP wanted to see "Hindu-Muslim riots" over the Citizenship Amendment Act, but that did not happen.

Since the BJP has been cornered over the issue of CAA, several things are happening out of "revenge", it said.

Comparing the attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students to the 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes, the Shiv Sena said: "divisive politics" was dangerous for the country.

It said the Union Home Ministry's decision to file cases against "unknown" attackers at JNU was laughable. "Those who entered JNU with masks are not unknown," it claimed.

On Sunday, a mob of masked young people stormed the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in south Delhi and targeted students in three hostels, unleashing mayhem with sticks, stones and iron rods, hitting inmates and breaking windows, furniture and personal belongings.

Nearly 34 people were injured in the violence.

"The fallout of JNU attack is being seen elsewhere in the country...what Modi and Shah want is happening. The country is in danger. Divisive politics is dangerous for the country," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

Terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008, were also masked and the same was seen at JNU. Such elements need to be exposed, it said.

"Allowing blood stains in universities, colleges and beating up of students and indulging in politics over the burning situation...such brutal politics was never seen before," the Marathi publication said while terming the attack on JNU students as a "blot" on the law and order situation.

Lashing out at Amit Shah, the Sena said he his in Delhi and busy distributing official pamphlets door-to-door to promote the Citizenship Amendment Act.

There is "confusion and unrest" in the country over the new citizenship law, it pointed out.

"The BJP wanted to see Hindu-Muslim riots over the issue, but that did not happen. The nationwide protests are not being done by Muslims alone. Hindus will also be affected due to the new Act," the Shiv Sena said.

It said the BJP has been cornered over the CAA issue.

Since the prevailing situation is "BJP versus the rest", hence "out of revenge", several things are happening, the Marathi daily said, adding that "there is room for doubt if the JNU attack was part of the revenge."

The BJP has condemned the violence and said universities should stay away from politics, it noted.

"Who brought violence and politics in universities in the last five years? Who is implementing the policy of destroying those who don't agree with your ideology by use of power?" it asked.

Without taking any name, the Sena said those who call students opposing the CAA as anti-nationals, are themselves anti-national.

"When Amit Shah accuses Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi of inciting violence, he admits that the Gandhi siblings have that much power to create mass awareness against a law brought in by the Centre and bring people to streets," the Sena said.

One cannot say if the Gandhi siblings incited violence, but one thing is sure that the Union Home Minister and his party are forced to distribute pamphlets to "clarify" on the new citizenship law, it said in sarcastic comments.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 12,2020

Kolkata, Jan 12: Strongly defending the new citizenship law, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday the dispute that has arisen over it has made the world aware of persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan.

He, however, deplored that a section of the youth is being “misguided” over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which is aimed at giving and not taking away anybody's citizenship rights.

“CAA is not about taking away citizenship, it is about giving citizenship. Today, on National Youth Day, I would like to tell this to the youngsters of India, West Bengal, North East that this is not an overnight law for giving citizenship.

“We must all know that any person of any religion from any country of the world who believes in India and its Constitution can apply for Indian citizenship through due process. There's no problem in that,” he told a gathering at Belur Math, the headquarters of Ramkrishna Mission.

Modi said even Mahatma Gandhi had favoured Indian citizenship to those fleeing religious persecution and that his government has only delivered on the wishes of the freedom fighters.

Referring to anti-CAA protests in the North-East, Modi vowed to protect the distinct identity and culture of the people of the region, and asserted the new law will not hurt their interests.

“We've only done what Mahatma Gandhi had said decades ago. Should we send these refugees back to die? Are they our responsibility or not? Should we make them our citizens or not?” he said, evoking a thunderous applause by the gathering.

Modi said some people with political interests are deliberately spreading rumours about the new citizenship law, despite “complete clarity” over the CAA.

“Our initiative to amend the citizenship act has created a dispute. It is the result of our initiative that Pakistan will now have to answer why they have been persecuting minorities for the last 70 years. Human rights have been demolished in Pakistan,” he said.

Seeking to assuage the concerns of the people of the North-East, Modi called the region “our pride”. “Their culture, traditions and demography remains untouched by this amended law,” he said.

He said the citizenship law was only “changed a little” for those who were ill-treated in Pakisan after Partition.

“They were having a bitter time living there. Women were in danger of losing their pride,” he said.

“Young people have understood the whole thing but those who want to indulge in politics over it will not,” he said.

Modi said five years ago, there was disappointment among the youth of the country, but the situation has changed now.

“Not just India, the entire world has a lot of expectations from the youth of the country. The youth are not afraid of challenges....they challenge the challenges,” he said at the Belur Math, the abode of Swami Vivekananda for several years until his death in 1902, aged 39 years.

Modi, an ardent devotee of Vivekananda, spent the night at the Math.

He has a long association with the Ramkrishna Mission order founded by Vivekananda in 1897. Inspired by the teachings of Vivekananda, Modi had arrived at the Mission Ashram in Gujarat's Rajkot and expressed desire to join the order.

Swami Atmasthananda, who later went on to become the 15th president of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission, then headed the Rajkot branch and had advised him that sanyas was not for him and that he should work among people.

During those days, Modi used to regularly meet Atmasthananda and sought his spiritual guidance.

Although Modi went back after spending some time there his the relationship with Swami Atmasthananda and the Ramkrishna Mission continued.

Whenever Modi used to visit Kolkata, even during his days as Gujarat chief minister, he would travel to the Math.

In 2013, during his Kolkata visit, he had gone to Belur and sought the blessings from Atmasthananda.

He had in 2015 called on ailing Swami Atmasthananda at Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratisthan, a hospital run by the Mission in south Kolkata and enquired about his health.

After Atmasthananda's death in 2017, Prime Minister Modi had termed it as a “personal loss”.

On Sunday, the prime minister paid tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his birth anniversary, which is celebrated as the National Youth Day, and spent some time in the spiritual leader's room in quietude.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.