Suryanelli case: Chandy defends Kurien

February 2, 2013
Chandy_defends_Kurien

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 2: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Saturday ruled out a re-investigation into the Suryanelli gang-rape case, saying top courts had cleared the allegations raised against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson P.J. Kurien.
The allegation levelled by the victim was not new and it had been investigated and cleared by courts including the Supreme Court, Mr. Chandy said.
Terming the attack against Mr. Kurien as “unfortunate”, he said the media was highlighting the victim’s statement as something new.
She had raised this allegation 17 years ago and it had been found untrue by three probe teams, he said, adding that the Kerala High Court and the apex court had allowed Mr. Kurien’s discharge petition.
On the CPI(M)-led LDF attack against Mr. Kurien on the issue, Mr. Chandy said, “Some are trying to trigger a controversy over a matter which had been raised 17 years ago.”
Asked if the government intended to order a re-probe as the victim was sticking to her allegation against Mr. Kurien, Mr. Chandy said the LDF ruled the State for ten years after this incident and they could not do anything to prove the charge.
“Not only that, government can proceed only in accordance with law. Opposition is trying to create smokescreen on the issue.” Mr. Chandy said the LDF-led opposition was trying to politicise the matter by targeting a person and this would only help the real culprits escape. “This is very unfortunate,” he added.
The victim had on January 29 sent a letter to her advocate in the Supreme Court to explore the possibility of a review of the apex court order quashing all charges against Mr. Kurien.
Meanwhile, a member of the Special Investigation Team that probed the case in 1996 said Mr. Kurien’s itinerary on the day when she alleged that she was sexually exploited was not fully investigated.
K.K. Joshua, a team member, claimed that SIT chief Siby Mathews had not made any attempt to collect the itinerary details of Mr. Kurien, who was then Union Minister and travelled without escort between 5 p.m. and 10.30 p.m..
The victim had always been consistent in her statements and mentioned the names of 42 people who had exploited her, Joshua told TV channels.

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News Network
January 29,2020

Aurangabad, Jan 29: Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of creating a conflict between Hindu and Muslim communities in the country, former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar has said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was adding fuel to the fire.

He was speaking at a rally held on Tuesday at Pathri in Parbhani district of Maharashtra against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). It was organised by NCP MLC Abdullah Durrani.

"Modi and Shah used to create conflicts between Hindus and Muslims during the Gujarat elections. Now they are adopting the same strategy in the country," Kumar alleged.

Citizens should keep the religious conflicts aside and question the present government about unemployment and the poor state of the economy, he said.

"Through the CAA, the government is adding fuel to the fire, which is already raging in the country," he alleged.

When anyone questions the government about the problems existing in the country, it in turn asks him about his citizenship, the former JNUSU leader alleged.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Bharuch, Mar 5: Vijay Kumar, a resident of the Tamil Nadu has sought help from his friend Abdulkhuda Mohd Hanif Shaikh who is residing in Gujarat to build a temple in his village.

Abdulkhuda Mohd Hanif Shaikh, who also belongs to Tamil Nadu's Paraipatti village and has been residing in Gujarat' Bharuch for a decade has collected Rs 3 lakh from his friends as a donation to build the temple in Paraipatti village in Dindigul district.

"They'd told me 4 months ago and came to me 10 days back. From Vapi to Mehsana, there are several Madrasis, even here in the village too. I personally went to them and collected around Rs 3 Lakh," Shaikh said.

Vijay Kumar said that he stayed in Gujarat for ten days and collected Rs 3 Lakh with him.

"I had sought help from him. I stayed here in Gujarat for 10 days, and went with him from people to people and collected Rs 3 Lakh. No one lives like Hindus or Muslims in our village, everyone lives like friends," he said.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

New Delhi, Feb 5: Days after a gunman opened fire in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of anti-CAA movement, YouTuber Gunja Kapoor was detained at the protest site on Wednesday after she was caught covertly filming the protests in a burqa.

Kapoor runs the channel ‘Right Narrative’ on YouTube and her pinned tweet on Twitter says she is followed on the microblogging site by PM Narendra Modi.

According to police, the protesters turned suspicious after Kapoor asked them "too many questions". She was caught by some of the women protesters after they identified her as the popular YouTuber. The incident led to a commotion at Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a senior police official said.

She was taken to Sarita Vihar police station where her identity was ascertained, police said.

The incident sparked outrage on social media. Many took to Twitter to question why Kapoor was at the protest in disguise. Others expressed concern about her motives at secretly filming the protests.

Meanwhile, praises flew in for the women of Shaheen Bagh who can be seen defending Kapoor from angry protesters after she was caught.

This is not the first time that a right wing social media activist has landed in trouble in Shaheen Bagh where residents and other women and children have been sitting in protest for nearly two months since the passing of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 in December last year.

In January, Deepa Sharma had posted videos online about the "traumatic" experience she had when she was allegedly heckled and harassed by Shaheen Bagh protesters. While the woman's claim could never be verified, other pieces of rampant fake news aimed at delegitimising and villainising protesters has taken social media by storm.

From doctored videos of women protesters allegedly accepting they were paid Rs 500 to attend protests to alleged fights over biriyani and anti-India sloganeering, trolls on social media seem to be working overtime to taint the ongoing protests.

The latter, however, show no signs of giving up. In fact, as Delhi nears elections on February 8, protesters have arranged for music performances by eminent artists, including pop celebrity Prateek Kuhad, till February 7.

Sit in protests take place 24x7 with women showing up in thousands to spend the night and sing songs of protest. And with polls around the corner, the protests have become an active part of political discourse with Aam Aadmi Party's Manish Sisodia expressing his support for the protesters at a recent press conference.

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