Up to Pakistan to prove that terrorists weren't killed in Balakot airstrikes: Nirmala Sitharaman

Agencies
April 17, 2019

New Delhi, Apr 17: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that onus to prove whether a terrorist camp was hit or not during the Balakot air strikes was on Pakistan.

In an exclusive interview to ANI, Sitharaman said that Islamabad was making a mockery of itself by taking defence attaches and selected journalists to a Madarsa which was not even touched by the Indian Air Force on February 26, instead of the terror training centre which was attacked.

"It is for Pakistan to show they have not been hit and that a number of people were not killed. They took 40 days to take a small group of journalists and defence attaches and limited that picnic that they had of these people only to the madrasa. I am telling you the madrasa was at the lower end of the foothill and behind the madrasa, into the dense forest was the training camp. So, Pakistan is making a mockery of itself," she said.

When questioned about the Indian government maintaining silence over the outcome of Balakot airstrike, the Defence Minister said, "Before the attack took place, many Pakistani websites claimed that the targeted terror camp was recruiting youngsters. The world-renowned notorious terrorist who handled many attacks like the 2008 Mumbai terror attack was calling out to young men to join him. Not only this, recruiters of the terrorist outfit were even hiring retired trainers to train future jihadis. If you look into the websites you would know how many people were being trained in the camp. So from there, one can calculate an approximate number," Sitharaman said.

Talking about her experience of handling the Balakot air strike, she said, "You are not concerned that much about the success or failure of the operation. It is your men and their lives which is the major concern. You just hope that everything goes fine. I got a call at 4 `o` clock in the morning saying that everyone was safe and it was only then that I felt relieved."

In the wee hours of February 26, 12 Indian Air Force Mirage-2000 fighter jets entered Pakistani airspace and dropped 1,000-kg laser-guided bombs on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camps across the Line of Control (LoC).In the airstrikes carried out at a massive JeM camp in Balakot in Pakistan`s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, India said a "large number" of terrorists, including top commanders, were eliminated.

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News Network
March 13,2020

New Delhi, Mar 13: Delhi's Tis Hazari Court on Friday sentenced expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and six others to 10 years imprisonment for the death of Unnao rape survivor's father. Sengar is already serving life imprisonment for raping the minor.

While sentencing them, District Judge Dharmesh Sharma said, "There can be no denying that rule of law was broken. Sengar was a public functionary and had to maintain the rule of law. The way the crime has been committed, it does not call for leniency."

Sengar and his brother Atul has been directed to give 10 lakh compensation to family of the victim for loss of their father. "There are four minor children involved, three girls and one boy. They have also been uprooted from native place," the judge said.

Seven people, including Sengar, his brother and two police personnel, were held guilty for culpable homicide and criminal conspiracy, earlier this month.

The case pertains to the death of rape survivor's father in custody on April 9, 2018. It was alleged that he was assaulted following a quarrel with some of the accused in the case.

He was taken to the police station and then framed for allegedly possessing an illegal firearm. Pursuant to this, he was sent to custodial remand, during which he died.

The case was transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the Supreme Court's directions in August last year. Both the death and illegal firearm case was later clubbed by the court.

During the arguments on sentencing on March 12, Sengar had told the court that he should be "hanged and acid poured into his eyes if he has done anything wrong".

The former MLA had also raped the daughter of the deceased in 2017 in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district and was sent to jail for "remainder of his natural biological life", last year.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

Ayodhya, Aug 4: Ramarchan puja begins at Ram Janmabhoomi site ahead of the foundation laying ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Ramarchan Puja is a prayer to invite all major gods and goddesses ahead of Lord Ram's arrival.

Mahesh Bhagchandka, one of the trustees of Ashok Singhal foundation as Yajman in the puja said, "This is being conducted at the temporary seat of Ramlalla. The pooja will be conducted in four phases."

Speaking about the third and fourth phases, he said: "In the third phase, Dashrath, father of Lord Ram with his wives will be worshipped and then all three brothers of Lord Ram - Laxman, Bharat and Shatrughan with their wives. Lord Hanuman ji will too be worshipped. Whereas in the fourth phase, Lord Ram will be worshipped."
Meanwhile, security has been heightened in Ayodhya ahead of the foundation laying ceremony.

Temples across the city is decorated with lights, diyas and flowers ahead of the grand event. Patna's Mahavir Mandir Trust is preparing over 1.25 lakh 'Raghupati Laddoos' for the occasion. Thes laddoos will be distributed as 'prasad' to devotees.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday offered prayers at the Hanuman Garhi temple during his visit to Ayodhya to take stock of the preparations for the 'bhoomi pujan'.
He along with officials also visited 'Ram ki Paudi' to inspect the arrangements ahead of the foundation stone laying ceremony.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on August 5. 

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News Network
January 15,2020

New Delhi, Jan 15: The mother of 23-year-old paramedic student, who was raped and brutally assaulted by six men in December 2012, on Tuesday said she knew that the curative petitions of the convicts will be rejected and is confident that they will be hanged on January 22.

Her remarks came after the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the execution of two of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case while dismissing their curative petitions against their conviction and capital punishment.

"The curative please had to be rejected. This was the third time they had gone to the Supreme Court. Whatever pleas they file, we are ready to face them and we will fight it out. We feel that they will be hanged on January 22. We want that to happen," Nirbhaya's mother told PTI over phone.

The four convicts -- Vinay Sharma (26), Mukesh Kumar (32), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) -- are to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail as a Delhi court issued their death warrants on January 7.

Vinay and Mukesh had filed curative petitions on January 9.

Shortly after the apex court refused to stay the execution of two of them, Mukesh moved a mercy petition before President Ram Nath Kovind.

Mukesh also approached the Delhi High Court for quashing the death warrant. The high court is expected to take up his petition on Wednesday.

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