Kerala CM attacks Amit Shah over Sabarimala Temple remark

Agencies
October 29, 2018

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 29: Coming down heavily on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the BJP chief's "strength" won't be enough to pull down the Communist Party of India (Marxist) led Kerala government.

Addressing at the Left Democratic Front (LDF) rally on Sunday in Palakkad, the Kerala Chief Minister said, "BJP workers' godfather Amit Shah made a declaration in Kerala that they would topple the incumbent state government. I don't think that his body (Shah) has the strength to do that. His (Shah) physique, which is made up of only water, won't be enough to do that. You do not have any place here. It is best if you (Shah) do all this in Gujarat."

Vijayan further said that despite trying all tricks, the BJP chief had failed to get a grip over Kerala. "You came with huge expectations and conducted a yatra here, but in the end, you had to run away. You people have no place on this (Kerala) land," he added.

Continuing his tirade, Vijayan said, "Who are you trying to threaten the Supreme Court? Your intention to threat the Supreme Court was evident. The Supreme Court is going to hear the Babri Masjid case. You want the Supreme Court to pronounce its verdict according to your direction."

Addressing party workers in Kannur on Saturday, the BJP chief had criticised the Supreme Court verdict allowing entry of women of all ages inside Kerala's Sabarimala shrine and advised the state governments and courts to give only those orders, which can be followed.

"Are these the words that should come from the chief of the country's ruling party? Can a leader of the ruling party adopt such an undemocratic stand," Kerala Chief Minister questioned.
During a press conference on October 27, Vijayan termed Shah's comments against the constitution and law of the land.

"Amit Shah's statements (on Sabarimala issue) in Kannur are against constitution and law of the land. It's a clear intention of their agenda not to guarantee the fundamental rights. This shows the agenda of the RSS and Sangh Parivar," he had added.

Calling the row over Sabarimala as a communist conspiracy, the BJP president had also given a stern warning to the Kerala Chief Minister to stop suppression of Lord Ayyappa devotees.

On September 28, a five-member constitutional bench headed by then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had lifted the ban on the entry of women falling in the age group of 10 to 50 years in the temple, citing the practice "irrational and arbitrary".

Earlier, women of menstruating age were barred from entering the Sabarimala Temple by its officials, who argued that the temple deity Lord Ayyappa had taken a vow of celibacy.

Meanwhile, the apex court on Tuesday agreed to hear the review petitions challenging its order, and listed the matter for hearing on November 13.

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News Network
May 11,2020

New Delhi, May 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a fresh round of consultation with chief ministers on ways to strengthen the COVID-19 containment strategy and stepping up of economic activities in a calibrated manner as the 54-day nationwide lockdown nears an end.

Large-scale movement of migrant workers from urban to rural India and the problems their return to home states may cause in restarting the economy will also be among the focus areas during the fifth virtual interaction between the prime minister and chief ministers since the outbreak of the deadly virus in the country.

There will be an effort to ensure that all participating chief ministers get an opportunity to air their views during the interaction, as some of the CMs had complaint that they were not allowed to put forth their views during the last interaction on April 27.

At a meeting on Sunday with Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, state chief secretaries told him that "while protection is required from COVID-19, economic activities also need to be stepped up in a calibrated manner", according to an official statement.       

With thousands of migrant workers taking special trains to go back to their home states, the restarting of industrial activities will prove to be a challenge for states though several relaxations have been made in labour laws to increase factory output.    

The meet is also likely to discuss efforts to convert 'red' zones with high COVID-19 case load into 'orange' or 'green' zones.       The prime minister interacted with the chief ministers last on April 27. Days after the meeting, the central government had extended the lockdown by two more weeks till May 17 to arrest the spread of the virus, but gave several relaxations in economic activities and movement of people.

The nationwide lockdown has been in force since March 25 to contain the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 2200 people, and afflicted more than 67,000 in the country.

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News Network
April 15,2020

New Delhi, Apr 15: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of COVID-19 lockdown till May 3, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday issued consolidated revised guidelines on measures to be taken by Ministries and Departments of Government of India, state and Union Territory governments and authorities for the containment of COVID-19.

As per the guidelines, all domestic and international air travel of passengers (except for security purposes), passenger movement by trains (except for security purposes), buses for public transport, metro rail services will remain prohibited.

It stated that all educational, training, coaching institutions etc. shall remain closed. Inter-district and inter-state movement of individuals except for medical reasons or for activities permitted under guidelines shall remain prohibited.

Taxis (including auto-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws) and services of cab aggregators to remain prohibited until May 3.

Also, all cinema halls, malls, shopping complexes, gymnasiums, sports complexes, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places shall remain closed.

All social/political/sports/entertainment/academic/cultural/religious functions/other gatherings will also not be allowed.

"All religious places or places of worship shall be closed for public. Religious congregations are strictly prohibited. In the case of funerals, a congregation of more than 20 persons will not be permitted," the guidelines stated.

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News Network
April 2,2020

Chandigarh, April 2: A 59-year-old woman and her 10-month-old granddaughter have tested positive for novel coronavirus in Chandigarh on Thursday.

According to the Chandigarh Health Department, they are family contacts of the NRI couple that tested positive for COVID-19 earlier.
With this, the total cases in the Union Territory rose to 18.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to 1,965 on Thursday, after as many as 328 new cases were reported, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. So far, at least 50 people have lost their lives due to the virus.

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