I forgive Jessica's killer, won’t object to his release: Sister to Tihar

TNN
April 23, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 23: Almost two decades after model Jessica Lall’s murder, her sister Sabrina Lall has “no objection’’ to the release of Siddhartha Vashishta, better known as Manu Sharma, from Tihar Jail where he is serving a lifeterm after being convicted for the brutal crime.

“I am told that in this period he has been doing good work for charity and helping inmates in jail which I feel is a reflection of reform,’’ said Lall. In a letter to the welfare officer, Central Jail No 2, last month, she wrote, “I would like to state I have no objection to his release, owing to the fact that he has spent 15 years in jail."

Confirming that she had sent such a letter, Lall told TOI, “He has served his sentences and I am done with it… In my own mind I have forgiven him." “It will be like a catharsis to forgive and move on. I also need to get on with my life," she said, adding, “I don’t want to hold on to any more anger or hurt. I feel that he has served his sentence. I don’t feel there is any need to hanker about the situation.”

Don’t want to hold on to anger, says Jessica’s sister

Her letter was “in response" to the jail officer’s letter to her regarding “compensation and release of Sidhartha Vahishta s/o Venod Sharma convicted in FIR no 287/1999 under section 302 IPC".

Asserting that she didn’t want to hold on to any more anger or hurt, Lall, who lives in Gurgaon, declined ‘financial assistance from the victim welfare fund’ and wrote to the jail saying, “I do not require it and request you to give the same to others, who are more in need”.

Sharma has been in jail for a cumulative period of 15 years, the last six months in an open prison. He might seek an early release from prison citing “remission" worth five years, for “excellent work, discipline and conduct".

Delhi government rules permit a murder convict undergoing a life sentence to approach a review board to seek ‘premature release’. But such application can be made only after undergoing actual imprisonment for a minimum of 14 years without including remission or 20 years including remission depending on the case. The review board, however, has to consider the circumstances in which the crime was committed and possibility of reclaiming the convict as a useful member of society.

The Delhi high court had in December 2006 reversed a trial court acquittal of February 2006 and sentenced Sharma, whose father is a former Union minister, to life term for the brutal killing in 1999 that had attracted nationwide attention. The Supreme Court had two months later in February 2011 upheld the HC verdict.

Jessica had been bartending on April 29, 1999 at a Delhi restaurant, Tamarind Court, for a private party hosted by its owner, designer Bina Ramani. Sharma was held guilty of shooting her when she refused him a drink.

Prison authorities send a convict to open prison for “good behaviour, work and conduct”. Sharma was initially sent to a “semi-open jail” in August 2015 after completion of 12 and a half years in closed prisons as mandated by the rules.

Last October, he was admitted to an open jail allegedly after reviewing his conduct and work, which included running an NGO that has helped in “education of 700 children of jail inmates" and “post-release rehabilitation of inmates".

Sharma’s work in jail includes ‘Computerization of the jail factory accounts and implementation of the management information system (MIS) done by him’, ‘expanding’ and implementing ISO certification for Tihar Jail’s bakery and factory and taking the turnover of the factory from Rs 1.35 crore in 2006 to Rs 32 crore in 2013, and garden work in open prison.

Over the years, jail superintendents gave him “special remission on 11 occasions". Deputy inspector general (DG) Prisons granted remission five times for “exceptional work and conduct’.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Washington, Mar 11: Pop star Selena Gomez made some revelations about her personal life in a recent interview.

While explaining the lyrics of her song "Rare" on the 'Genius' YouTube channel, the 27-year-old said that there are times when she feels that she will ever be able to find a suitable partner for herself, reported Fox News.

"Some days when I wake up and I am annoyed and I am like, 'I am going to be alone forever.' But after that 15 minutes go away, I say to myself, 'I know that there is someone for everybody," the singer told in the seven-and-a-half minute long video.

However, she remains optimistic as she is still young and "this isn't the end all be all".

Elaborating upon the chorus of her song, Gomez opened up and said, "self-esteem and confidence is a constant struggle".

"It's getting better with time and age, but it will always be something that I'm working on," she added while explaining the lyrics further.

"So what I think is so important about this chorus is that it's acknowledging, 'Hey, I don't have it all. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I do know that I'm special,' and I think that is a humble approach of saying, 'Why don't you see that I am different?'" the singer added as reported by Fox News.

Touching upon her experiences from past relationships, she commented: "In certain relationships, I've heard and I've experienced and whatnot, I think men and women do it -- especially teenagers and young people in love -- is there's this satisfaction out of hurting someone because you know that they care. Purposefully putting someone down because they want to keep them at a level. I've had someone actually say that to me before".

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News Network
April 14,2020

New Delhi, Apr 14: Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar on Tuesday paid tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar on his birth anniversary.

The 90-year-old singer took to Twitter to extend her greetings on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti and also expressed gratitude for being able to get the chance to meet him.

"Namaskar. Bhartiya Savidhan ke janak mahamanav Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar Ji ki Jayanti par main unko koti koti vandan karti hu. (Namaskar. On the birth anniversary of Dr. BR Ambedkar, the father of the great Indian Constitution, I offer him a ceremonial offering)" she tweeted.

"Main unko pratyaksh roop se mil saki ye mera sobhagya hai. (It is my good fortune that I got the chance to meet him)," her tweet further read.
Ambedkar, commonly known as Babasaheb, dedicated his life to working for the upliftment of Dalits, women and the underprivileged.

Born into a poor Dalit family on April 14, 1891, Ambedkar became independent India's first law minister, the principal architect of the Indian Constitution and a founding father of the Republic of India.

He also campaigned against the social discrimination faced by Dalits and inspired the Dalit Buddhist Movement in 1956. Ambedkar was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1990.

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Agencies
January 4,2020

Mumbai, Jan 4: After the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur constituted a panel to decide whether legendary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poem 'Hum Dekhenge' is offensive to Hindu sentiments, filmmaker Shoojit Sircar had a cryptic take on the burning controversy.

"Best time for the rich & small businesses to make money as most of the population are engaged with a revolutionary poet named Faiz," Sircar said in a tweet.

The poem, penned down by the iconic poet in 1979, came into limelight again recently during the protests against CAA and NRC in IIT Kanpur.

Earlier on Thursday, senior lyricist Javed Akhtar rejected the claims about the poem being 'anti-Hindu'.

IIT Kanpur on Thursday had set up a committee to look into the issue.

The move came after a complaint that the students who took out a peaceful march in the campus on December 17 against the Citizenship Amendment Act and in solidarity with Jamia Millia Islamia students, sung it as a mark of protest, which hurt the sentiments of other communities.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians who faced religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

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