Supreme Court to hear Centre's plea after violent Dalit protests

News Network
April 3, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 3: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will hear the Centre's plea for the recall of its judgement holding that arrest on a complaint under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was not mandatory.

Directing the listing of the matter at 2pm, before a bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the hearing will be in open court.

Lok Sabha adjourned till noon

The Lok Sabha was disrupted once again today amid protests, with Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourning the House till noon within minutes of meeting.

As soon as the House met, AIADMK members started protesting near the Speaker's podium, demanding the setting up of the Cauvery Management Board.

Members of opposition parties were seen standing on their seats.

Speaker Mahajan tried to run the Question Hour, but as protests continued, she adjourned the House.

9 dead, thousands arrested as protests turn violent

Nine persons were killed and dozens injured as Dalit protests during a day-long nation-wide shutdown on Monday turned violent in India amid anger against a Supreme Court order that dilutes a law aimed at preventing atrocities against Dalits and Tribes.

The government, in a bid to pacify the agitated activists, said it had filed a petition in the apex court seeking a review of its March 20 order that bars automatic arrest and registration of cases for alleged harassment of Dalits and others. But the top court denied an urgent hearing of the matter.

Protesters clashed with police in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha -- states where normal life was paralysed in varying degrees amid incidences of violence and arson.

The central government rushed 800 anti-riot policemen to violence-hit Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

A Home Ministry official in Delhi said two companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) were sent to Meerut and one company each to Agra and Hapur in Uttar Pradesh.

Clashes turned deadly in Madhya Pradesh where six persons were killed and dozens injured, forcing officials to impose curfew in Morena, Gwalior and Bhind districts. Protests were also held Bhopal as agitators blocked roads in the state capital.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made a passionate appeal for peace.

 Police said two were killed in Bhind and one in Morena while three died in Gwalior. The dead in Morena was identified as Rahul Pathak, a student leader.

Gwalior District Magistrate Rahul Jain said that at least 65 persons have been injured in violence, including policemen, and the condition of a few injured is said to be serious.

"Three people have been conformed dead in Gwalior," he said.

A man identified as Pawan Kumar was killed in Rajasthan's Alwar as violence was also reported from other parts of the state including Jaipur, Ajmer. Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur and Udaipur.

Punjab and Haryana also saw widespread protests.

Shops, educational institutions and other establishments remained closed and Class 10 and 12 examinations were deferred in Punjab, which has the highest concentration of Scheduled Castes, constituting nearly 32 per cent its 2.8 crore population.

Hundreds of protesters carrying swords, sticks, baseball bats and flags forced shopkeepers and other establishments in Jalandhar, Amritsar and Bathinda too shut down.

Protests also took place in Rohtak and other towns of neighbouring Haryana.

In Bihar, activists disrupted rail and road traffic. Mobs shut down markets and shops as well as educational institutions, police said.

Supporters of the Bhim Army and other Dalit outfits halted over three dozen long-distance and local trains, stranding thousands of passengers.

Violence was reported from Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Nawada, Patna and Bhagalpur when protestors clashed with police.

One person was killed and over 100 were injured as violence also erupted in parts of Uttar Pradesh as protesters attacked shops, looted some and pelted stones at police in Hapur, Agra, Meerut, Saharanpur and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi.

Maximum violence in the state was reported from western Uttar Pradesh, where the protesters took to the streets and went on rampage. Two persons were critically injured in police firing in Muzaffaranagar, one of whom later succumbed.

More than 450 people, including a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator, have been arrested.

Many cars were targeted and their window panes smashed. At some places, government property was targeted.

Some people reportedly fired at a police team in Meerut while a passenger bus was set on fire.

Also in Meerut, over 500 Dalit youths targeted the media and broke their cameras as they were trying to photograph the protests.

 Gujarat's major towns and cities also saw protests by Dalits amid reports of vandalism from Ahmedabad and Jamnagar.

Amid widespread anger and violence, the Modi government filed a review petition in the Supreme Court to seek recall of its judgment that ruled that there would be no automatic arrest of an accused following a complaint moved under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The Supreme Court had held on March 20 that police will hold an inquiry to ascertain the veracity of the complaint filed under the act before acting on it.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government "with due respect, does not agree with the reasoning given by the apex court".

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News Network
February 26,2020

Feb 26: In a midnight hearing, the Delhi High Court directed police to ensure safe passage to government hospitals and emergency treatment for those injured in the communal violence erupted in northeast Delhi over the amended citizenship law.

The court held a special hearing, which started at 12:30 am, at the residence of Justice S Muralidhar after receiving a call from an advocate explaining the dire circumstances under which the victims were unable to be removed from a small hospital to the GTB Hospital.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Anup J Bhambhani directed the Delhi Police to ensure safe passage of the injured victims by deploying all resources at its command and on the strength of this order as well as to make sure they receive immediate emergency treatment if not at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital then at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) or Maulana Azad or any other hospital.

The bench also called for a status report of compliance, including information about the injured victims and the treatment offered to them, and the matter will be heard during the day at 2:15 pm.

It said the order be communicated to the medical superintendents of the GTB and the LNJP Hospitals.

The urgent hearing was conducted after advocate Suroor Mander called the judge and sought urgent orders for safe passage of ambulances for the injured.

The Delhi Police and the government were represented through additional standing counsel Sanjoy Ghose.

During the hearing, the bench spoke over phone to doctor Anwar of the Al-hind Hospital in New Mustafabad who told the court that there were two bodies and 22 injured persons there and he had been trying to seek police assistance since 4 pm on Tuesday without success.

The court then directed the senior officials to reach to the hospital forthwith, following which they started the process of evacuating the injured to the nearest hospitals.

It also said this order be brought to the knowledge of the Delhi Police Commissioner.

Communal violence over the amended citizenship law in northeast Delhi claimed at least 18 lives till Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the violence escalated in northeast Delhi as police struggled to check the rioters who ran amok on streets, burning and looting shops, pelting stones and thrashing people.

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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted the Indian Coast Guard on its raising day, appreciating its efforts to keep the country's coasts safe.

The Coast Guard came into being in 1977.

"Greetings to the Indian Coast Guard on their foundation day. Our Coast Guard has made a mark due to their remarkable efforts to keep our coasts safe," Modi tweeted.

The prime minister said the force's "concern towards the marine ecosystem is also noteworthy".

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News Network
April 2,2020

Mumbai, Apr 2: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday

urged Muslims to observe Shab-e-Barat staying inside their homes, and also suggested that the birth anniversary celebrations of Dalit icon Dr B R Ambedkar be postponed in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

Pawar said Ram Navami, being observed on Thursday, is celebrated with fervour every year across the country.

"Unfortunately, there is this threat of coronavirus this year and we have to observe some restrictions...but I am sure people must be remembering Lord Ram staying inside their homes," he said in his address via Facebook.

Shab-e-Barat, also known as the night of forgiveness,will be observed on April 8.

Members of the Muslim community visit graveyards to remember their relatives who are no more, Pawar said, and called for taking precautions to avoid gathering of people given the coronavirus crisis.

Pawar said congregation such as the one held last month in Delhi's Nizamuddin area by Tablighi Jamaat could have been avoided, and urged people to ensure there is no repeat of such meetings on Shab-e-Barat.

"The meeting should have been avoided, but it was notand others may have to pay for it," Pawar said referring to the religious meeting in the national capital.

He said the "possibility of some people who attended the meeting carrying the disease cannot be ruled out" and pressed for maintaining discipline given the situation caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

"Shab-e-Barat is on April 8. Muslims remember their relatives, who are not more, by visiting kabrastan (graveyard). It should be observed inside home. Precaution should be taken to see there is no repeat of the Nizamuddin meeting-like episode," he said.

The birth anniversary of Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, is observed on April 14.

Pawar said people should also think about postponing Ambedkar's birth anniversary celebrations.

"We normally celebrate it (the anniversary) for two or so months. We should think whether we should really observe the programme at this juncture (given the coronavirus threat).

If we come together, we may have to face health issues," the former Union minister said.

He said in general, 90 per cent people have been observing the lockdown, but 10 per cent are not doing so.

The Centre and the Maharashtra government may have to extend the lockdown period if discipline is not observed till April 14 (till when the lockdown is in force), he said, urging people to toe the line in the interest of each other.

Pawar also praised Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the state administration and police for working round-the- clock, and asked people to cooperate with them by staying at home.

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