Reign of terror in UP as Yogi govt brutally crushes anti-CAA protests: Fact-finding team

News Network
December 26, 2019

New Delhi, Dec 26: There is a "reign of terror" in Uttar Pradesh where the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government is trying to crush the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by "brazenly" targeting minorities, agitators and activists to suppress all kinds of dissent, a fact-finding team said on Thursday.

The report by the 'Ham Bharat ke Log: National Action Against CAA', which is an umbrella body of around 70 organisations, said there was "little doubt" that all this is happening under Adityanath's "personal direction, sanction and supervision".

"He (Adityanath) publicly announced a doctrine of revenge against the protesters. In a shocking audio tape in wide circulation, a senior police official can be heard saying that he has the Chief Minister's instructions and full immunity to beat the violent protesters to pulp so as to teach everyone a lesson. Sadly, none other than the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has openly supported this wanton cruelty and breakdown of law and order," it said.

The fact-finding team, which consisted of activists Yogendra Yadav, Kavita Krishnan, Harsh Mander and Nadeem Khan, demanded that the state government must stop the "state-sponsored attack" on protesters, release innocent detainees and quash FIRs with large number of anonymous accused. It also demanded among others a probe by Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) to unravel the "truth about protests, violence, police action and killings".

Releasing the report along with other members, Swaraj India's Yadav said, "there is a reign of terror in UP and the instructions come directly from the Chief Minister himself. It was the Chief Minister himself spoke about revenge. Not a single law in the country allows police to seek revenge. But this is the message given to police."

Activist Mander said the BJP-RSS is wedded to a different idea of India, a divisive India, which is against the spirit of what Mahatma Gandhi propagated. Speaking about those killed in police firing in Meerut, AIPWA's Krishnan said false cases were being foisted upon the victims and their families.

"One of the young victims was an e-rickshaw driver. He was staying in Delhi in his teenage and had identification papers from Delhi. He stayed with his parents in Meerut for so many years but after he was shot dead, police now accuse him of being a mastermind who brought outsiders from Delhi. Everyone in the neighbourhood told us that he was very well in Meerut working and that he was not involved," she said.

Khan of the United Against Hate said that there is a competition among police officers about who is filing more FIRs against protesters.

"The situation in UP is that many people have left their homes. Kanpur alone has an FIR against 22,500 unknown. People there says there has never been such a huge protest in Kanpur," he said adding families of victims of police firing are unable to get post mortem reports. He also claimed that FIRs were also filed against family members of victims so that they keep silence.

The report said, "media persons, human rights activists and even lawyers have been detained for trying to find out about the detainees. Opposition leaders have been prevented from visiting the places affected by police attrocities. Therefore, we still do not quite know the extent of police repression."

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News Network
June 4,2020

Jun 4: Belur Mutt, the global headquarters of Ramakrishna Mutt and Ramakrishna Mission, has decided to throw open its gates to the devotees from June 15 after putting in place all safety measures required to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The gates of the sprawling premises of the mutt set up by Swami Vivekananada at Belur near here was closed since the lockdown was announced in March by the Centre. The Mutt has devotees from across the globe.

The secretary of Belur Mutt Ramakrishna Mutt and Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Suvirananda said in a statement that as the easing down of lockdown measures announced by the Centre and the state did not indicate the threat caused by COVID-19 pandemic is over, the authorities thought it prudent to put in place all the measures required before opening the gates of the Mutt and all RKM centres in the country for the scores of devotees.

The statement was issued on June 1, the day religious places of worship were thrown open by the West Bengal government.

"We had to think about both aspects - the issue of public health and also the wish of our devotees for having a darshan of the shrines of Swami Vivekananda, Sri Sarada Maa and Ramamrishna Paramahansa. But we believe spirituality and sceintific temparament must go hand in hand," he told reporters on Thursday.

"Therefore it is imperative for us to consult experts and put in place adequate arrangement and infrastructure" before opening the (Belur Mutt) gates," he said.

The senior monk said the timing of the opening and closure of the shrine and all other details conforming the health protocol and guidelines will be announced before opening date.

The Mutt complex had become totally out of bound for visitors from March 24 when the lockdown was clamped. There was restricted entry to it since May 16.

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News Network
February 15,2020

Mangaluru, Feb 15: Dense fog formation and poor visibility at the runway forced to delay and diversions of some flights arriving and take off at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) on Saturday.

Flights take off and landings were suspended from 0700 hours am to 1030 hours.

Many flights to land in the morning were diverted.

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News Network
March 15,2020

Mysuru, Mar 15: The renowned Mysore Palace will remain closed for tourists for a week from March 15 to 22, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Mysore Palace committee said on Saturday.

The Karnataka government has ordered shutting down for a week all places and activities where people gather in large number including swimming pools, shopping malls, schools, colleges and cinema halls, state Health Minister B Sriramulu said amid the coronavirus threat.

This comes after Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa chaired an emergency meeting with ministers and senior officials on Friday to discuss the situation.

Earlier, schools in the state had announced early summer vacation for their students this academic year as a precautionary measure. Other public places have been shut down in the state amid the coronavirus scare.

The central government had on Thursday said that the death of the 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi in Karnataka was confirmed to be caused due to co-morbidity while he was also tested positive for COVID-19. The man visited Saudi Arabia on January 29 and returned to India a month later on February 29.

Till date, India has reported two deaths and 84 confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. The virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year has spread to more than 100 countries worldwide, infecting over 1,30,000 people.

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