‘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
June 5,2020

Jodhpur, Jun 5: A video has gone viral on social media showing what could be called Jodhpur's George Floyd moment with a twist, showing cops throwing a person on the ground and pressing his neck with their knees for roaming around without a mask.

However, unlike the unfortunate incident in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the cops in Jodhpur reportedly acted after the person, said to be mentally challenged, turned violent after being confronted by the police.

Dumb TV media is playing the initial part of this video as 'India's George Flyod moment'. Doesn't matter to them that the same video shows the man beating the cops back badly pic.twitter.com/vGSaON6oii

— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) June 5, 2020

George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after being arrested by the police outside a shop in Minneapolis in the US on May 25. Footage showed a white officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Floyd's neck for several minutes while he was pinned to the floor. He was pronounced dead later in the hospital, triggering widespread protests across the US.

However, in the Jodhpur incident, the man, identifed as Mukesh Kumar Prajapat, did not die but instead started fighting with the policemen.

Jodhpur police officers confirmed that the video was shot in the city on Thursday after the police wanted to issue a challan against the man for roaming on the streets without wearing a mask before he started manhandling the police.

The video shows a cop pressing his neck with his knee while two other cops held the young man's legs. A huge crowd gathered when the scuffle broke out.

Meanwhile, the SHO of Dev Nagar police station, Somkaran, said that the police were issuing a challan to Prajapat when he attacked them and tore their uniform. An FIR has been lodged against Prajapat on a complaint lodged by the Pratap Nagar police station. He will be produced in the court later in the day.

Prajapat is said to be mentally challenged and had damaged his father's eye earlier for which a case was registered against him, the poice said. Action is being initiated against Prajapat under the Epidemic Act, they added.

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Agencies
January 8,2020

New Delhi, Jan 8: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) President Aishe Ghosh has filed a complaint over the violence that took place at the varsity campus on Sunday.

"I am filing this complaint for the incident in which a mob conspired and acted with common intention to assault, intimidate and attempt to murder me, and request you to register an FIR and apprehend culprits at the earliest," the complaint read.

She said that on January 5, in the afternoon, she received information from students in the campus that some students affiliated to ABVP along with other unidentified men and women had gathered with weapons like rods, sledgehammers and lathis near Ganga Bus Stop.

"I along with Nikhil Mathew (MA Labour Studies) who was also present there, were surrounded by a group of persons of that mob most of whom were wearing masks. The mob of 20-30 persons dragged me behind a car standing near the 24*7 and surrounded me and despite my pleading did not let me go and attacked me with rods while I had fallen down. I remember that one of the people was of medium height wearing a brownish-red sweatshirt with UCLA written on it. I saw his face as he was facing me and did not have a mask on and can identify him if I see him," Ghosh wrote in her complaint.

"I was attacked by the above-mentioned persons collectively and was hit on the head multiple times with iron rods. I fell to the ground and my head started bleeding, and some of them kicked me and hit me with the rod on my hand and rest of the body including my head, chest and back."

"I am attaching with this complaint a copy of the MLC which details my injuries. Nikhil Mathew tried to save me but was also hit with an iron hammer and other weapons on his head and arms. The intention of the group of men and their acts was definitely to murder me and other persons associated with me," she said.

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News Network
May 27,2020

Muzaffarpur, May 27: A toddler's vain attempt to wake up his dead mother from eternal sleep on a railway platform in Bihar's Muzaffarpur on Wednesday presented the most poignant picture of the massive migrant tragedy unfolding across several states.

A video tweeted by Sanjay Yadav, an aide to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, shows the child walking unsteadily up to his mother's body, tugging at the blanket placed over her, and when failing to wake her up, covering his own head with it.

As the mother still lay still, he wobbles away from her, announcements continuing in the background about the arrival and departure of trains that would bring in tens of thousands of people in a rush to get away from hunger and hardship they face in large cities that could sustain them no more.

"This small child doesn't know that the bedsheet with which he is playing is the shroud of his mother who has gone into eternal sleep. This mother died of hunger and thirst after being on a train for four days. Who is responsible for these deaths on trains? Shouldn't the opposition ask uncomfortable questions?" tweeted Yadav.

However, police had a different story to tell.

Ramakant Upadhyay, the Dy SP of the Government Railway Police in Muzaffarpur, said the incident occurred on May 25 when the migrant woman was on way to Muzaffarpur from Ahmedabad by a Shramik Special train.

He told reporters the woman, who was accompanied by her sister and brother-in-law, had died on the Madhubani bound train.

"My sister-in-law died suddenly on the train. We did not face any problem getting food or water," the officer said, quoting the deceased's brother-in-law who he did not name.

He said on getting information, poice brought down the body and sent it for postmortem.

Citing the brother-in-law of the deceased, Upadhyay said she was aged 35 years and was undergoing treatment for "some disease" for the last one year in Ahmedabad. "She was also mentally unstable," he said.

When persistently queried about the cause of death, he said,"Only doctors can tell".

A massive exodus of migrant workers is on in several parts of the country, unprecedented in magnitude since Partition.

The humanitarian crisis still unfolding on highways and railway platforms has shone light on disturbing tales of entire families walking hundreds of kilometres with little children on foot in a seemingly endless march to escape hunger.

People have been found travelling on trucks and in the hollow of concrete mixing plants, and in many cases, dying from hunger and exhaustion before reaching their destinations.

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