‘Modi govt will not tolerate this’: HRD minister to universities against CAA

News Network
December 30, 2019

Kolkata, Dec 30: As anti-citizenship law protests in various universities showed no signs of let up, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Sunday said the central government will not tolerate educational institutions turning into hubs of politicking “at any cost”.

He said that anyone is free to engage in political activities, but colleges and universities should be kept out of it, as many students come to study from far-off places.

“The Narendra Modi government is not going to tolerate this at any cost,” he asserted.

Scores of students from universities across the country, including Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi University, Jadavpur University and Presidency University, have been protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Pokhriyal accused the opposition parties of deliberately spreading misinformation over the CAA. “It is the Congress, which is responsible for the country’s division on religious grounds, that is spreading misinformation about CAA,” he said.

Taking a swipe at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for opposing the citizenship law, the minister said the TMC supremo was the one to protest against illegal immigration in the state in 2005 when she was an MP.

 “She had vociferously demanded the Citizenship Amendment Bill back then,” he said.

On the new education policy that is under works, Pokhriyal said it would be connected with the values of the country.

 “The new education policy, which will be brought out after a gap of 33 years, will be India-centric and connected with the country’s values,” he said.

Pokhriyal said the country’s education will advance through knowledge, science and investigation.

He sought to justify the Centre’s decision to grant citizenship to religious minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, contending that these countries are “not secular”.

The minister said that during Partition, religious minorities -- including Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and Christians -- accounted for “over 23 per cent” of Pakistan’s population, but the figure stands at “around 3 per cent” at present.

 “I want to ask Mamataji, where have these people gone and the Congress should also give an answer as to whether they were forced to change religion or killed or forced to flee?” he said.

Pokhriyal claimed that the Muslim population in India has grown from “9 per cent during Independence to 14 per cent at present”.

“The opposition is referring to Article 14 of the Constitution, but the Constitution is for the citizens of the country and it is not a charity house for the whole world,” he said, asserting that there is equality for every citizen irrespective of religion.

Pokhriyal said there is “no bigger” a well-wisher of Muslims of the country than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Asked about the protests against West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at universities, he said it is the failure of the state government and an indication that law and order situation is “slipping out of the hands” of the administration.

Comments

Paul
 - 
Tuesday, 31 Dec 2019

Division an all round standing ovation!!  Stoke the masses cause divide and confused beliefs-amongst the citizens - students; bring in harsh measures at ...Quote ..." at any cost" implement changes of laws etc etc. It's like reading the ABC (Alternating Beurocratic  Crap) of simpletons.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

Microsoft's Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella on Monday voiced concern over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying what is happening is "sad" and he would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant create the next unicorn in India.

His comments came while speaking to editors at a Microsoft event in Manhattan where he was asked about the contentious issue of CAA which grants citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

"I think what is happening is sad... It's just bad.... I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India or becomes the next CEO of Infosys," Nadella was quoted as saying by Ben Smith, the Editor-in-Chief of New York-based BuzzFeed News.

In a statement issued by Microsoft India, Nadella said: "Every country will and should define its borders, protect national security and set immigration policy accordingly. And in democracies, that is something that the people and their governments will debate and define within those bounds.

"I’m shaped by my Indian heritage, growing up in a multicultural India and my immigrant experience in the United States. My hope is for an India where an immigrant can aspire to found a prosperous start-up or lead a multinational corporation benefitting Indian society and the economy at large".

The Centre last week issued a gazette notification announcing that the CAA has come into effect from January 10, 2020.

The CAA was passed by Parliament on December 11.

According to the legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

There have been widespread protests against the Act in different parts of the country.

In Uttar Pradesh, at least 19 persons were killed in anti-CAA protests.

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News Network
May 26,2020

New Delhi. May 26: 6,535 more coronavirus cases have been reported in India in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 1,45,380, informed Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.

Out of the total, at present, there are 80,722 active cases in the country. So far, 60,490 people have been cured/discharged and 4167 have died due to the lethal infection.

According to the data compiled by the Centre, Maharashtra has so far recorded the maximum number of cases of COVID-19 across the country with 52,667 people.

The tally of cases in Tamil Nadu has risen to 17,082. While Gujarat has recorded 14,460 cases of the infection so far.

There are 14,073 cases of coronavirus in the national capital.

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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: Activist Sharjeel Imam's mobile phone and laptop along with some anti-CAA posters have been seized from his house in Bihar's Jehanabad and rented flat in Vasant Kunj, police said on Friday.

Imam was arrested by the Delhi Police's Crime Branch from Jehanabad in a sedition case and he is being questioned by police for his alleged inflammatory speeches in Aligarh and at the Jamia Millia Islamia University here.

During investigation, a laptop and a desktop belonging to Imam were recovered from his rented flat at Vasant Kunj, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said.

His mobile phone was recovered from his house at his native place in Jehanabad's Kako area on the instance of his brother, he said.

Imam had prepared anti-CAA and anti-NRC pamphlets with "misleading and intimidating facts" and then distributed them in various mosques, the copy of which have been recovered, police said.

The shop from where he made photocopies of the pamphlets has also been identified, they added.

Imam was arrested on Tuesday. He was brought to Delhi on Wednesday and produced at the residence of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Purushottam Pathak in the evening amid tight security after which police were granted his five-day custody.

The PhD scholar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies has been booked for sedition and other charges in several states after videos of his alleged inflammatory speeches, made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), were circulated on the social media.

An FIR was registered against Imam by the Delhi Police on January 25 under IPC sections 124A (sedition) and 153A (promoting or attempting to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever) among others.

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