Kargil marty's father slams Modi's slogan 'Yeh Dil Mange More’

April 29, 2014
Palampur/Mandi, April 29: BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Tuesday made a passionate appeal to voters to ensure his party's victory on 300 Lok Sabha seats, but his use of Kargil hero Vikram Batra's off-quoted phrase "Ye dil maange more" sparked a controversy with Batra's parents raising objections. vikram

Modi used the more than once during his three rallies in Himachal Pradesh to stir up the sentiments of the people of the hill state, where a large chunk of population comprises serving and retired servicemen.

Batra's septuagenarian father G.L. Batra, whose wife Kamal Kant is in the fray for the first time as an Aam Aadmi Party candidate from the Hamirpur seat, took strong offence to use of "Yeh dil maange more" slogan for soliciting votes.

"The BJP is just trying to take credit in politics at this point in time by politically using the slogan of a martyr," said Mr Batra.

Challenging Modi, he said: "If he is so indebted to the martyrs he must withdraw his party's candidate against my wife."

An emotional Kamal Kant clarified that they never approached the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for contesting the election.

"The AAP has honoured us by fielding me. We have never referred Vikram's name or slogan in the election campaign, then who is the BJP to do it? It has never thought about the martyr earlier," she added.

The mother of Kargil hero, who was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra - India's highest war-time gallantry award, has been fielded by Arvind Kejriwal's AAP against sitting MP Anurag Thakur of the BJP.

But state BJP chief Satpal Satti clarified that Modi used this slogan in the context of winning more seats to have in place a stable government in the centre.

"We have a lot of respect for the soldiers and the martyrs. Even Modiji in his speeches highlighted the plight of families of the martyrs," he added.

Modi, at his first election rally in Palampur town of Kangra district, the hometown of Capt Batra, said: "When we take the name of Maj. Somnath Sharma (the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, awarded posthumously for his bravery in the November 1947 Kashmir operations) and Vikram Batra, we feel proud. Our mind says: 'Yeh Dil Mange More."

In his Mandi rally, Modi said: "Today, I ask you to make the lotus win with 300 seats because 'Ye dil mange more' just like Vikram Batra, who gave his life for the country in the Kargil war, using the same line.

Donning a Himachali cap, Modi appealed to the voters to "give us 300 lotuses and we will give India a strong government".

Appealing to voters in the age of 18 to 28, he promised: "We will fulfil your dreams ... broken in the last decade."

"You have given 60 years to the rulers in the country, you give just 60 months to this worker. Yeh dil mange 60 months."

"The PM (prime minister) says money does not grow on trees, but in the orchard of one man not apples but money grew. We need to free nation from corruption," he said in an attack on state Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh without naming him.

Praising the contribution of Himachalis, he said: "Today, if there is any terrorist activity in the country, be it a Maoist attack or a bomb blast, I can proudly claim that there must be at least one army man from Himachal, who would be there, fighting for the country."

In his last rally in Solan town, Modi assured the fruit growers, mainly apple, that they would get remunerative prices if the BJP government comes to power in the centre. "The government will take steps to check flooding of imported apples."

A total of 38 candidates are in the fray for the four Lok Sabha seats from the state that will go to polls May 7.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Kottayam, Aug 7: A trial court in Kottayam on Friday granted bail to Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun in Kerala, with stringent conditions and directed him to be present on the dates of hearing of the case.

The Additional Sessions Court had cancelled the bail granted to the Bishop on July 13 for failing to appear for the trial and issued a Non Bailable Warrant against him.

Mulakkal was present in the Court on Friday when it considered the matter.

Granting bail, the court directed him not to leave the state till the chargesheet is read out to him on August 13 and to be present in court on the dates of hearing of the case.

The Court also directed him to offer fresh sureties and bail bonds.

On July 13, Mulakkal’s counsel had informed the court that his client could not appear as he had been in self quarantine due to his primary contact with a COVID-19 infected person.

The next day, the former Jalandhar Bishop had tested positive for coronavirus.

The prosecution informed the Court that Mulakkal had not produced the COVID negative certificate, to which the Court observed that the state Health Department can take necessary action on this issue.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday had directed Mulakkal to face trial as it dismissed his plea seeking discharge in the rape case lodged against him by the nun belonging to a congregation under Jalandhar diocese, saying there was no merit in his petition.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde, A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian had told the counsel for Bishop that the court is not saying anything on merit, but is dismissing the plea on the issue of discharge from the case.

Mulakkal, in his plea had challenged the July 7 Kerala High Court order, dismissing his discharge plea in the rape case filed by the nun.

The High Court had asked the deposed Bishop of Jalandhar diocese to stand for trial in the rape case, which was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by the nun.

The senior priest of the Roman Catholic Church had filed the revision petition following the dismissal of his discharge plea by a trial court in March this year.

The rape case against the Bishop was registered by police in Kottayam district.

In her complaint to the police in June, 2018, the nun had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by the bishop during the period between 2014 and 2016.

The bishop, who was arrested by the Special Investigation team, which probed the case, charged him with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.

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News Network
April 4,2020

Kochi, Apr 4: France on Saturday evacuated 112

French citizens stranded in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in a special Air India flight, official sources said here.

The Embassy of France had made a request to the Kerala government to facilitate the journey of the French citizens stranded due to the lockdown announced by the central government to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

The French citizens, mostly tourists and those who came for Ayurvedic treatment, were brought here by the state tourism department 24 days ahead of their trip.

They underwent a medical examination before boarding the flight for Paris from Cochin International Airport at 08.13 am on Saturday, officials said.

The Air India flight was chartered by the French government for evacuating its citizens in various cities in India including Kochi, Bengaluru and Mumbai.

On Friday, Gulf nation Oman had evacuated its 46 citizens stranded in Kochi in an Oman Air flight.

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News Network
June 30,2020

Srinagar, Jun 30: On the deadly attack at Karachi Stock Exchange on Monday morning, a Kashmiri social activist and journalist warned that the incident is a stark reminder to all those in Pakistan supporting Jihad and attacked Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan for ignoring development agenda in Balochistan.

Yana Mir, the editor-in-chief of The Real Kashmir News, said, "Karachi Stock Exchange attack is a reminder to all those in Pakistan supporting Jihad. Remember @imrankhan that Youth is restless and they want development agenda. These young boys of BLA are also looking for a life which is settled and peaceful. Wake up Imran Khan and you Kashmiris also. Pakistan is going to finish you. Open your eyes."
Four heavily armed terrorists attacked the busy Pakistan Stock Exchange building in Karachi with grenades today, killing four security guards and a police officer before being shot dead in an exchange of fire, authorities said.

The terrorists, who arrived in a car, stormed the Karachi Stock Exchange building by firing indiscriminately and lobbed grenades at the main gate of the multi-storey building situated in the city's high-security commercial hub.

Balochistan is a well-known region rich in natural resources but the Balochis have always been deprived of basic facilities. No hospitals are available in Balochistan. If there are some then medical facilities and equipment are not available in hospitals. The education system is pathetic and similar is the case with the infrastructure: the roads, water system, agriculture and almost all fields of life.

It is pertinent to mention that enforced disappearances and abductions by the Pakistani military establishment have also been carried out regularly and for innumerable times in Balochistan. Leaders, activists, and vocal members of various student organizations have been detained by the security forces and kept in confinement. While others have been shot dead.

This crime against humanity has been going on for so long and so systematically in Balochistan that it has come to be considered as a normal state of affairs in the province. Many social and human rights activists have flagged the issue of oppression by the Pakistani establishment before the United Nations and other international agencies.

According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, an entity established by the Pakistani government, about 5,000 cases of enforced disappearances have been registered since 2014. Most of them are still unresolved.

Independent local and international human rights organisations put the numbers much higher. Around 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 2,500 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture.

Before being elected as Prime Minister, Imran Khan had admitted in multiple interviews about the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in enforced disappearances as well as extrajudicial killings and vowed to resign if he was unable to put an end to the practice, holding those involved responsible. But times have passed and only reports are available to narrate the true story.

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