Saharanpur: Curfew relaxed for 2 hours, Muslims offer Eid prayers

July 29, 2014

Saharanpu eid

Saharanpur, Jul 29: It was a quiet gathering of around 5,000 that offered prayers at the main Idgah in Saharanpur under the hawk eye of the top administrators in the riot-torn city.

Curfew was relaxed in parts of the district from 7am to 11am on the occasion of Eid. However, curfew will be in place on Ambala Road, the main access route to the Idgah, where rioters torched dozens of shops, vehicles, and even a fire station.

Authorities will allow people to come out again between 3pm and7pm.

After offering Eid's namaz, people went back in silence as the administration didn't allow anyone to stay there for long.

District authorities decided late on Monday to disallow people in large numbers to congregate at the Idgah, because of tension in the area following communal riots on Saturday.

Local Muslims were keen on praying at the Idgah despite an uneasy calm in the area after the bloody clashes between Sikhs and Muslims last week left three people dead and several injured.

In peaceful times, more than a lakh namazis come at the Idgah to offer Eid prayers, with the roads leading to the Idgah packed with people.

"By allowing us to offer prayer at the Idgah, the administration has done the right thing. It will help the city to return to normalcy soon," said Shahzad Hussain.

Riots have proved to be a real dampener for children who will have to remain cooped in their houses as the city administration allowed relaxation of curfew only between 7 and 11 in the morning.

"Eid is for kids and women and they have been the most quiet this time," said Mohammad Hussain who lives near the Idgah.

Three-year-old Abu Bakar came with his father Bilal Ahmad to offer prayers at the Idgah.

"Kheer is waiting for me at home," said the child who is yet to understand the complexities of the situation.

Top city administrators lead by commissioner Tanvir Ali Zafar were present at the Idgah ground to keep an eye on the proceedings.

"The peaceful Eid namaz will go a long way to help the city return towards normalcy. We wanted to ensure that no provocative message should come out from the Idgah," said Zafar.

Zafar said once the curfew is lifted from the city, the administration will sit with elders of Sikh and Muslim community to find a lasting solution to the land dispute near the gurdwara which started it all.

Curfew was relaxed from 10am to 2pm in the new city and from 3pm to 7pm in the old town areas on Monday.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday assured a Shiromani Akali Dal delegation that his government was committed to provide security and justice to everyone in the state and compensation would be paid to the victims of the communal clashes.

The delegation of Punjab’s ruling party that met the CM in Lucknow urged him to provide adequate compensation to Sikhs who became victims of the violence.

While the Congress is blaming the ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the violence, SP has accused BJP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of colluding to create unrest.

BJP, on the other hand, says the real culprit is the Akhilesh Yadav government.

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News Network
July 20,2020

Aligarh, Jul 20: The son of a motor mechanic in Aligarh, who had received a scholarship, topped at his high school in the United States.

Mohammad Shadab, son of the motor mechanic, told ANI, "Last year, I received the Kennedy-Lugar youth exchange scholarship worth Rs 20 lakh from the US government. Following this, I went to the States to pursue my high school education."

Out of 800 students, Shadab was also selected Student of the Month at his school. On his achievement, he said, "It was an achievement for me to be awarded this tag."

"I have worked really hard to top the high school," Shabad said.

Shadab said, "The condition at home was not good and it is still not that good. I want to support my parents and make them feel proud."
He also thanked the Indian government. "I am thankful to the Indian government for making me the flag-bearer in another county and choosing me for this scholarship."

Shabad's father, Arshad Noor, who is working as a motor mechanic for the past 25 years, said, "We had sent him to the US for his education and I am happy that he topped at the school."
On being asked about his son, Arshad said, "I want my son to become an IAS officer and serve the country."

But Shadab expressed the desire to work at the United Nations as a human rights officer.

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Agencies
July 23,2020

Expressing concern over the ban imposed on TikTok by the government of India, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly called the development in the south Asian country “worrisome”.

TikTok was amongst the 59 Chinese apps that were banned in India but why it hogs the maximum limelight because TikTok had the second-largest user base in India with over 200 million users.

As per The Verge writer Casey Newton, Zuckerberg was worried about TikTok’s India ban. Although it soon cashed into the opportunity and released a TikTok clone “Reels”, the government’s reason behind banning the app in India wasn’t received well by Mark Zuckerberg. 

He had said that if India can ban a platform with over 200 million users in India without citing concrete reasons, it can also ban Facebook if something goes amiss on the security and privacy front.

Why Mark finds it particularly worrisome because Facebook is already involved in a lot tussle with the governments across the world involving national security concerns. 

“Facebook already faces fights around the world from governments on both the left and the right related to issues that fit under the broad umbrella of national security: election interference, influence campaigns, hate speech, and even just plain-old democratic speech. Zuckerberg knows that the leap from banning TikTok on national security grounds to banning Facebook on national security grounds is more of a short hop,” the report by Casey read.

Facebook till now has not faced any kind of issue in India but considering the debacle with the other governments, it is not entirely wrong to worry about its future in India if any national security issue arises. Back in 2016, Facebook’s Free Basics service, which means a free but restricted internet service, was banned in India by the telecom regulators. 

The TRAI had said that the Free Basic services were banned in India because it violated the principles of net neutrality. With Free Basics services, Facebook had planned to bring more unconnected users online. But since 2016, there has been no major tussle between the Indian government and Zuckerberg due to national security issues.

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News Network
March 13,2020

Bhopal, Mar 13: The Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Thursday decided to verify facts afresh in a complaint against former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and his family, in which they are accused of falsifying a property document while selling land.

The development came after Mr Scindia quit the Congress and joined the BJP on Wednesday. 22 MLAs who belong to his camp also resigned, threatening the survival of the Kamal Nath government in the state.

"Yes, an order has been given for re-verification of facts in the complaint filed by Surendra Shrivastava," an Economic Offences Wing official told PTI.

An EOW release said Mr Shrivastava on Thursday filed a new complaint against Mr Scindia and his family, alleging that by falsifying a registry document, they sold him a piece of land at Mahalgaon which was smaller by 6,000 sq feet than the original agreement in 2009.

He had lodged the complaint first on March 26, 2014. But it was investigated and closed in 2018, the EOW official said. "As he again petitioned us today, we will re-verify the facts," the officer said.

Jyotiraditya Scindia's close aide Pankaj Chaturvedi alleged that it was political vendetta.

"The case had been closed for want of evidence. Now for vengeance, it is being reopened. We have full faith in the Constitution and law. We will get justice and Kamal Nath government a befitting reply," Mr Chaturvedi said.

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