4 killed as violence erupts in parts of India over SC/ST Act ruling

Agencies
April 2, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 2: Four people were killed today in Madhya Pradesh as violence broke out in several parts of the country due to anger over a Supreme Court ruling on atrocities against Dalit.

A 'Bharat Bandh' called by several organisations today, and supported by some political parties, saw security forces clashing with protesters with reports of vandalism, stone-pelting and firing by police in not just Madhya Pradesh but also in the states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

Even as protests began to spiral out of control in some states, the BJP-led Centre filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its order last month, which barred automatic arrests on complaints filed under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

However, the Chief Justice of India declined to hear the urgent plea on the ruling. In its petition, the Centre sought the restoration of the earlier status by which any offence under the SC/ST Act was made a cognizable non-bailable offence.

The Centre, Dalit activists as well as several opposition parties - including the Congress and the RJD - came out against the SC's ruling, which they said dilutes the SC/ST Act and might lead to an increase in violence against Dalits.

Amid all this, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and the BJP criticised each other over today over how their respective governments treat the issue of the welfare of the Dalits.

"We have filed a review petition in the Supreme Court. I appeal to all political parties and groups to maintain peace and not incite violence," said Union home minister Rajnath Singh, even as Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "humbly that we don't agree with the SC's reasoning behind the order."

In clashes in Madhya Pradesh's Morena, four persons were killed as protesters blocked a railway crossing and set fire to some public property. Some nine people injured in Gwalior of whom two were in critical condition. Elsewhere in the state, protesters threw stones in Bhind, and tangled with law enforcement in Sagar. In three of those four places the local administrations imposed a curfew and/or Section 144, which prohibits an assembly or more than four people. In Gwalior, Internet service was blocked until 6:00 am tomorrow.

In Uttarakhand's Dehradun, shops were forcibly shut by protesters. In Rajasthan's Jaipur shops were vandalised by unknown perpetrators, and protesters blocked railway tracks and stopped trains; in Barmar, cars and other vehicles and some public property was damaged. A ban was imposed on Internet services, bulk SMSes and MMSes in Barmer until 8 pm tomorrow. Internet services were also ordered banned in Alwar from 2.30 pm onward today.

In the NCR region, protesters squatted on tracks in several places outside Delhi, stopping trains, including the Dehradun Express and the Ranchi Rajdhani, to enforce an all India shutdown. Services were disrupted by a mob at the Ghaziabad railyard. Many trains, including the Saptakranti Express, Utkal Express, the Bhubaneswar and Ranchi Rajdhanis and the Kanpur Shatabdi were stopped ahead of Ghaziabad in Meerut and Modinagar, officials said. A mob of about 2,000 people stopped trains at the Hapur station as well, disrupting the movement of many goods trains, they added.

In Punjab, protests were witnessed in Ambala, and in Haryana in Rohtak; protests also rocked the states' common capital Chandigarh. The CBSE postponed the class 12 and the class 10 examinations scheduled to be held today in Punjab at the request of the state government in view of the 'Bharat Bandh'. The state government decided to keep all schools shut for the day, the CBSE said.

In Patna, MLAs from opposition parties, as well as some from the ruling side, demanded a resolution be passed by the House urging the Centre to take adequate measures to undo the recent Supreme Court order on arrests under the SC/ST Act. Protesters stormed the Patna Junction where they forced closure of the ticket booking counters and squatted on railway tracks disrupting movement of a number of trains.

Normal life was partially affected in several parts of Odisha as well after activists of 'Adivasi Dalit Sena' staged a rail roko at Khetrajpur station in Sambalpur which caused delay in the running of some trains, officials said. In the state capital of Bhubaneswar, activists of different Dalit organisations put up road blockade near Vani Vihar, Jayadev Vihar and Acharya Vihar areas

In Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, protesters were beaten by police personnel. And in Jharkhand's Ranchi, a clash between police and protesters led to several people being injured.

Earlier today, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and the BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad slugged it out on the issue of the welfare of Dalits.

Rahul said that the "oppression of Dalits is in the RSS's and BJP's DNA".

"Keeping Dalits at the lowest rung of Indian society is in the DNA of the RSS/BJP. Whoever dares challenge this position is suppressed with violence," tweeted Rahul, even as a 'Bharat Bandh' is under way in the country to protest a ruling by the Supreme Court, which some say dilutes a law to protect Dalits.

The BJP's Prasad then hit back, accusing the Congress of "playing politics with BR Ambedkar", a Dalit icon and the father of the Indian Constitution.

"The Modi government and the BJP want to make one thing clear, that Dalit and Adivasi welfare is what we want, but some people are playing politics with Ambedkar," said the BJP's Prasad, targeting the Congress for staking claim to the Dalit icon's memory.

"I want to ask the Congress - which is making all this noise - one question. 'When did Ambedkar get the Bharat Ratna?' I'll tell you when he did. He got it during VP Singh's time when BJP supported that government. Ambedkar died in 1956 and Congress was ruling for decades after that (with no Bharat Ratna for Ambedkar) and the Congress asks us questions?" said Prasad.

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News Network
January 19,2020

Shirdi, Jan 19: Shirdi in Maharashtra will remain closed for an indefinite period from today in the wake of state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's decision to develop Pathri town in Parbhani district as Sai Baba's birthplace.

However, Deepak Madukar Muglikar, Chief Executive Officer of Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, has said that Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi will remain open today and will not be impacted by the closure of the city.

"There are some reports in media that Sai Temple in Shirdi will remain closed on January 19. I want to clarify that it is just a rumor. Temple will remain open on January 19," Mr Muglikar said.

A call has been given for indefinite closure of Shirdi after Mr Thackeray's reported comment terming Pathri in Parbhani as Sai Baba's birthplace.

"Devotees will not face any difficulty if they come to Shirdi," said B Wakchaure, member of Saibaba Sansthan Trust.

Uddhav Thackeray has recently announced that Pathri will be developed as the birthplace of Sai Baba for religious tourism and also took a review meeting of the development plans in the Parbhani district.

One of the most popular religious destinations in the country, Saibaba Temple in Shirdi witnesses lakh of devotees visiting the holy site every year.

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News Network
January 1,2020

New Delhi, Jan 1: Newly-appointed Chief of the Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said the armed forces stay away from politics and work as per the directives of the government of the day, remarks that come amid allegations that the forces were being politicised.

Gen Rawat also said that his focus as CDS will be to integrate the efforts of the three services and to work as a team.

"We keep ourselves away from politics. We act according to the directives of the government of the day," he said.

Gen Rawat said his focus will be to ensure best and optimal use of resources allocated to the three services.

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Agencies
July 2,2020

Mumbai, Jul 2: The Shiv Sena on Thursday termed the ban on 59 Chinese apps by the Indian government as a "digital strike" and asked if these apps were a threat to the national security, how did they operate for so many years.

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' sought to know when did the Centre realise these apps were a threat to the national security.

By banning the Chinese apps, Prime Minister Narendra Modi protected the interests of Indian internet users and his courage has be lauded, the Marathi publication said.

India on Monday banned 59 apps with Chinese links, including TikTok, UC Browser, SHAREit and WeChat, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.

"If these apps were a threat to national security, how is it that these apps were functioning without any hurdles for so many years. If the opposition says the government neglected national security,then what will the Centre's stand be?" the Shiv Sena asked.

It said questions should be raised on all the previous governments for "allowing national data to go out of the country".

China has expressed displeasure over the Indian government's decision, the Marathi daily said, adding that Chinese soldiers are "still not ready to leave the Galwan Valley (in Ladakh)".

The Sena said it took the sacrifices of 20 soldiers for the government to realise Indian data was being illegally taken out of the country.

"The government took revenge by a digital strike," it stated.

There have been complaints earlier that users' data on Chinese apps was illegally sent out of the country, and apps like TikTok were "promoting vulgarity", it said.

"Many TikTok stars had reportedly joined the BJP," the Sena claimed. "What will happen to them?" it asked.

There is a need to break China economically, but that will not happen by banning its apps. The issue is about trade and investment between the two countries, it said.

"The largest Chinese investment is in Gujarat.

Chinese company Huawei has got the contract to set up 5G network in India. This company having keys to India's digital economy is akin to the Chinese Communist Party owning the Indian economy in future," it said.

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