To protest is our democratic right, but keep emotions under control: Shahi Imam

News Network
December 18, 2019

New Delhi, Dec 18: Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari has called on the people of the country to exercise restraint and keep their emotions under control while demonstrating.

"To protest is the democratic right of the people of India. No one can stop us from doing so. However, it is important that it is controlled. Keeping our emotions in control is the most important part," he said while addressing a gathering here on Tuesday.

Bukhari urged the people, including the youth, to not be provoked by nefarious elements.

He also explained the difference between the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), saying they are two different things.

"The CAA is for those people who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before December 31, 2014. They will be granted citizenship and it will not affect the Muslims living in India. The Muslim refugees who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh will not get Indian citizenship. It has nothing to do with the Muslims living in India," Bukhari said.

"While the CAA has become a law, NRC has been only announced. It has not become a law yet," he further said.

His comments came in the backdrop of an anti-CAA protest which turned violent in northeast Delhi's Seelampur area, forcing police to use tear gas shells to disperse the protesters, who torched two buses on Tuesday.

The police also stopped vehicular movement on the road, which connects Seelampur with Jafrabad, due to the demonstration.

The protest in Seelampur came days after the clashes between police and protesters in Jamia Millia Islamia over the citizenship law.

The CAA grants citizenship to non-Muslims of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who fled religious persecution and arrived in India until December 31, 2014.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have appealed to the people to maintain peace and tranquillity.

Comments

zakir
 - 
Wednesday, 18 Dec 2019

Shahi Imam sahab if you can not motivate Muslims then do not demotivate them..... please keep quite as usual you guys did,

abdullah
 - 
Wednesday, 18 Dec 2019

Shahi Iman should know that itention of bjp + sangh parivar behind CAA is not yet disclosed.   They are trying to dig the basement of muslims keeping the buiding in tight for the time being.   None should be optimistic that nothing will happen.    Their next target is to implement NRC and harass muslims.    CAA is just a start up.  Shahi Iman should support the agitators who are fighting agaisnt CAA + NRC.    Its strange that he did not condemn brutuality of delhi police on jamia students.   I dont know why the so called muslim leaders are not showing any interest in the agitation and instead of supporting they students they are asking them to refrain.   I think they are watching for water cross our head.    Shahi Iman sahab, din me khwab dekhna bhool jawo.   BJP hamari qabr khod rahe hain aur aap leaders kah rahe hain ke musalmanon ko ghabrane ki zaroorat nahin.    Sharm aati hai musalmano ke leaders par jo ab bhi so rahe hain.  

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News Network
February 10,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 10: The Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday conducted a route march (Pathsanchalan) in Ramanagara to express solidarity with the anti-Christian forces protesting against a project to install 114-feet tall Jesus Christ statue atop Kapalabetta in Harobele town in Kanakapura taluk in Ramanagara district.

Hindutva ideologue Kalladka Prabhakara Bhat, who had led a rally in Kanakapura last month against the project, also led the Sunday’s route march and addressed a public meeting following the march.

“The district name is Ramanagara, but they have not nurtured the culture of Ram here. They have developed a strong culture of Ravana, which we pledged to dislodge,” Bhat told the gathering.

He said the Sangh Parivar will never allow the statue to come up as he said it would foment religious conversion that is rampant in Harobele.

“The so called Kapalabetta is of stones, which are revered as Lord Muneswara by the Hindus. This hillock must be named as Muneswara Betta,” he added.

Referring to the ongoing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Bhat said the law was brought in to protect the Hindu minority in Pakistan and Bangla Desh.

“The Muslims living in India hail Pakistan. But when we ask them to go to Pakistan, they will never go,” he took a jibe at the minority community.

Reacting to the RSS route march, senior Congress functionary DK Shivakunar, who represents Kanakapura assembly seat, said the Sangah Parivar is trying to disturb the communal harmony in the district and they will never succeed in it.

“The BJP is operating through the Sangh Parivar in the Ramanagara district. The party has won as may as 26 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, still they are doing all these things to keep their support base. People of Ramanagara will never back them,” said Shivakumar.

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Agencies
February 16,2020

New Delhi, Feb 16: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal was on Sunday sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Delhi for the third time in a row at Ramlila Maidan here, after his party registered a massive victory in the recently concluded Delhi Assembly polls.

Kejriwal was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.

The sprawling Ramlila Maidan reverberated with sounds of thousands of people cheering for the AAP leader.

Kejriwal who received a hero's welcome here had extended an invitation to the people of Delhi urging them to attend the swearing-in ceremony to witness "the son of Delhi" taking oath today.

The AAP nearly repeated its 2015 performance in the elections, sweeping the Assembly polls winning 62 seats in the 70-member Assembly, in the face of a high-voltage campaign by the BJP, which fielded a battery of Union Ministers and Chief Ministers in its electioneering spearheaded by Home Minister Amit Shah. 

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Agencies
May 19,2020

Ahmedabad, Nay 19: Over 2,200 Indian nationals stranded in the UK due to the coronavirus related international travel restrictions have been flown back home during the first phase of India's biggest ever repatriation exercise, according to official figures.

Since the first special Air India flight took off from London’s Heathrow Airport for Mumbai on May 8, there have been eight routes to different Indian cities from the UK for Indian students and tourists.

Indian nationals were flown home to the cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

“We have facilitated repatriation of 2,288 Indians stranded in the UK through eight Air India flights till 17 May. Vande Bharat Mission continues to get Indians home,” said the Indian High Commission in London.

The Vande Bharat Mission is India’s biggest ever repatriation exercise to bring back Indians from abroad who are unable to travel home due to COVID-19 related international travel restrictions.

As the second phase of the repatriation process gets underway, retired Indian High Commissioner to the UK Ruchi Ghanashyam will be among the Indians flying back to New Delhi on Thursday.

“It has been such a hectic period, but I hope to return to the UK to say goodbyes in person sometime in the future,” Ghanashyam said during a virtual farewell organised by the Indian Journalists’ Association (IJA UK) on Monday.

As the packed flights take off daily, there are some still desperately waiting their turn, including those wanting to fly to some cities that are yet to be scheduled, including Kolkata.

“I have two young daughters, elderly parents, and a wife back at home. There is no way to return to Kolkata. I am worried for my parents,” says Suvendu, who came to the UK for work but recently lost his job.

“I am really surprised there are no Kolkata flights yet, but I am hoping they will be announced in the future,” adds Dr Arpita Ray, whose father needs to fly back home.

Another group waiting their turn to return home to their families in India includes students in the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) category, which remains suspended in India’s extended COVID-19 lockdown.

According to the regulations issued by the Indian government last month and updated last week, visas of foreign nationals and OCI cards, that provide visa-free travel privileges to the people of Indian-origin, have been suspended as part of the new international travel restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our plight is no different from the struggles being faced by Indian students who hold Indian passports – India is home for all us,” says Tridip, an undergraduate at SOAS University of London.

“Yes, air travel at this point of time may be a risk but we are of course ready to take all precautionary measures and undergo the mandatory quarantine period upon arrival in India," adds the 18-year-old.

“Having lived in India for the greater part of my life, India is home to me as much as it is to an Indian citizen, and just as any Indian citizen wishes for the comfort of home and family, so do I. I can only hope that the government reviews its policy on OCI holders and appeal to them to include us in their repatriation plans," says Atulit, an under-graduate student at Imperial College London.

Bianta, a student at Bangor University in Wales, adds: “Along with all of the mental stress, financially the UK is too expensive. In the coming weeks my rental agreement will expire, after which I will have nowhere to go.

“I cannot continue funding myself here in the UK as I only planned to be here till May marking the end of my course. Please help us get home. The colour of my passport does not define where my home is."

As all commercial international flights continue to be grounded, the second phase of the Vande Bharat Mission with a total of 149 flights is aimed at bringing back Indians from 40 countries. On landing in India, these travellers have a 14-day quarantine requirement at venues organised by the respective state governments. 

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