Meet Zubair from Puttur who fought off Lashkar-e-Taiba militants in Kashmir

Mangaluru, May 7: Thousands of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, led by Congress leader Mithun Rai, staged a protest here on Wednesday demanding that they be allowed to return to their native places.

The workers started a protest demonstration opposite Mangaluru City Corporation office in the city. Police dispersed the crowd for violating social distancing norms.

The workers said they have nowhere to go and nothing to eat. Therefore, they are demanding to be sent back to their states. They however, had crowded together without following the social distance norm. 

In the wake of protest, prohibitory orders under section 144(3) were imposed in Dakshina Kannada district between 7pm and 7 am till May 17 to check the spread of Covid-19.

Bengaluru, Jun 23: Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday demanded that Bengaluru should be put under lockdown for 20 days to contain the spread of coronavirus, the cases of which have risen sharply recently.

 “Stop playing with people's lives. There’s no use in sealing off only some areas. If the people of Bengaluru must live, then a lockdown of at least 20 days is needed. Otherwise, Bengaluru will become another Brazil,” Kumaraswamy said in a tweet. “People’s health is more important, not economy.”

The JD(S) leader was reacting to the BJP government's decision to impose an area-wide lockdown in Chickpet, KR Market, Kalasipalyam and Chamarajpet while streets will be sealed off in VV Puram, Siddapura, Yelahanka, Vidyaranyapura and Chickpet.

Bengaluru has witnessed a huge spike in its Covid-19 tally; the city currently has at least 919 active cases. This has sparked off fears that the contagion might have reached the community.

Kumaraswamy has also demanded welfare measures for the poor. “The poor and the labourers should be given ration immediately. The state’s 50 lakh working class should get ₹5,000 each. The aid already announced by the government hasn’t reached drivers, weavers, Madiwalas and other communities,” he said, adding that mere announcements of a package won’t be enough and “it has to be implemented.”

Kozhikode, Jan 18: A "fifth-generation dynast" Rahul Gandhi has no chance in Indian politics against a "hard-working and self-made" Narendra Modi, and Kerala did a disastrous thing by electing the the Congress leader to Parliament, historian Ramachandra Guha said here on Friday.

Guha said the reduction of the Congress from a "great party" during the freedom movement to a "pathetic family firm" now is one of the reasons for the ascendency of Hindutva and jingoism in India.

"I have nothing against Rahul Gandhi personally. He is a decent fellow, very well-mannered. But young India does not want a fifth-generation dynast. If you Malyalis make the mistake of re-electing Rahul Gandhi in 2024 too, you are merely handing over an advantage to Narendra Modi," said Guha on the second day of the ongoing Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) during his talk, "Patriotism Vs Jingoism".

Addressing the crowd, full of Keralites, he said, "Kerala, you have done many wonderful things for India, but one of the disastrous thing you did was to elect Rahul Gandhi to Parliament."

"Narendra Modi's great advantage is that he is not Rahul Gandhi. He is self-made. He has run a state for 15 years, he has an administrative experience, he is incredibly hard working and he never takes holidays in Europe. Believe me I am saying all this in all seriousness," he said.

But, even if Rahul Gandhi was "much more intelligent, more hard-working, never took a holiday in Europe, as a fifth generation dynast he still will be at a disadvantage against a self-made person", the 61-year-old author said.

He took on Congress president Sonia Gandhi too who, he said, reminded him of the "late Mughal dynasty" and how aloof they were of the state of their kingdom.

"India is becoming more democratic and less feudal, and the Gandhis just don't realise this. You (Sonia) are in Delhi, your kingdom is shrinking more and more but still your chamchas (sycophants) are telling you that you are still the badshah," he said.

Further, he quoted his teacher and noted Indian sociologist Andre Beteille to describe the story of Nehru-Gandhi family as a classic "reversal of the famous Biblical injunction": the sins of the father will be visited upon seven successive generations.

"In the Nehru's case, it is the sins of the seven successive generations have been re-visited upon Nehru... look at the national debate today. Why is Nehru evoked everytime? Why does Modi always say Nehru ne Kashmir mein yeh kiya, China mein yeh kiya, Triple Talaq mein yeh kiye ... because Rahul Gandhi is there.

"Now if Rahul Gandhi disappears, Modi has to talk about his own policies and why they failed," he said.

According to Guha, "Hypocrisy of the Indian Left -- the fact that they loved other nations more than India", "rise of aggressive nationalism worldwide" and "the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in neighbouring countries" are some other reasons behind the evident leap of Hindutva in India in the recent times.

Historian William Dalrymple, novelists like Benyamin, Namita Gokhale, Chetan Bhagat and journalists Karan Thapar and Rajdeep Sardesai are among the many other writers who will be attending the four-day festival.

The focus theme of KLF 2020 is environment and climate change.