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Ashamed that as a country we let down our Muslims and Adivasis; I am with them: Senthil writes to Amit Shah

coastaldigest.com news network
December 10, 2019

Mangaluru, Dec 10: Former Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada, S Sashikanth Senthil, who resigned from the civil services recently, has taken on Home Minister Amit Shah over his “ideology of hatred”.

In a strongly worded letter to Mr Shah, the former IAS officer stated that the “tabling of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Parliament and the approval of it marks the darkest day in the history of modern India.” 

Senthil wrote, “Your vehement defence of the bill on the floor of the house revealed a lot about the core ideology of hatred that drives your government. I feel completely ashamed that as a country that we have let down our Muslim and Adivasi brothers and sisters and have not succeeded in assuaging their fears about the secular ethos of the country.”

“The passing of this bill in the Lok Sabha has left a deep scar in the belief of already marginalized people and along with the NRC is surely an attempt to profile Muslims and Adivasis akin to the Asiatic Registration Act in South Africa and the Nuremberg laws of Germany,” he added.

Openly calling for a civil disobedience against the “communal bill” and NRC (National Register of Citizens), Mr Senthil made it clear that he will not accept the NRC and will not submit “the requisite documents to prove my citizenship” and will “accept the action taken by the Indian State” for his disobedience.

Mr Senthil called upon fellow citizens to follow the path that Mahatma Gandhi did in South Africa protesting the Asiatic Registration Act. The Act was passed in 1906 and required every Asian male to register himself to get a thumb-printed certificate for identification.

“As a former civil servant, I would advise you to increase the capacity of your detention centers, as many of us would fill it up before you succeed in your agenda. In the coming days you would realize that this country is the making of people who would stand up for one another and would fight every attempt by any authority to divide us,” Senthil said.

“I refuse to accept the process of enumeration in NRC by not submitting the requisite documents to prove my citizenship and is willing to accept the action taken by the India state against my disobedience. If the state chooses to declare me as a non-citizen, I would also be happy to fill up the many detention centers that you are building all over the country. I would accept the incarceration with all humbleness than to wait at the sidelines as a mute spectator to the communal profiling and disenfranchising of my fellow humans,” Senthil stated.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill meanwhile was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Bill excludes Muslims and aims to provide citizenship to refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Specifically, it outlines refugees belonging to six religions — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians.

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News Network
August 4,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 4: Police barricades, yellow banners, walls with a fresh coat of paint and the sounds of bhajan mark parts of Ayodhya as the city awaits its big day Wednesday, when the first brick will be laid for the Ram temple.

Ayodhya is decked up for the bhoomi pujan that will be attended at the Ram Janmabhoomi by 175 people, who figure in a select guest list of seers and politicians topped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Concerned over the spread of coronavirus, the authorities are encouraging others not to come to the temple town, asking them to mark the occasion by celebrating at their homes. The groundbreaking ceremony will be telecast live.

Roads leading to Ayodhya display hoardings with the picture of the proposed Ram temple and of Ram Lalla, the infant Ram, the deity now housed in a makeshift temple.

Around the town’s Hanumangarhi area – named after a well-known temple which Modi will visit on Wednesday – both police sirens and ‘bhajans’ in praise of Ram are heard.

Most of the shops in the locality wear a new look, with their fronts painted in bright yellow. A large number of policemen were deployed there on Tuesday. Some sat in the sweet shops, waiting for their next instructions.

Roads leading into the area are barricaded. Yards of yellow cloth and marigold garlands were being hung on poles.

Even on the day before the event, security checks on vehicles heading to Ayodhya begin from adjoining Barabanki district itself on the Lucknow-Ayodhya road. Policemen take down details, including mobile numbers of the travellers.

Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar said the focus of the force is on maintaining the Covid-19 protocol.

“So we are not going to allow any outsider to enter Ayodhya city,” he said. Prohibitory orders are also in force and not more than four people will be allowed to gather.

“The markets and shops will remain open but with strict adherence to the Covid protocol,” he said. Outsiders will be stopped from entering the city, but Ayodhya residents will be allowed in if they produce any identification document.

“We are also carrying out random checks on people living in Ayodhya to ensure that no outsiders are staying here,” he said.

The city’s temples and mosques will remain open, but no other religious event – except for the bhoomi pujan – will take place on Wednesday.

Pickets have been set up at sensitive points in the city.

Sub-inspector Ram Chandra Yadav and constables Avnish Kumar and Ankit Chaudhary man the Terhi Bazar Chauraha picket near the Ram Janmabhoomi site.

"We are here for the past some days, and were on duty on the Rakshabandhan day. Duty comes first and only after that come other things in life, like festivals," Yadav said.

Mayank Gupta, who runs a restaurant, was handing out food packets to policemen, his customers.

"For the last two months, I have been providing tiffin to them twice a day. There are around 100 policemen to whom I supply tiffin," Gupta said.

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News Network
June 7,2020

New Delhi, Jun 7: The Karnataka government has asked the railways to make announcements at originating stations that it was compulsory for passengers travelling to the state to register themselves on the ‘Seva Sindhu’ portal through which they can be tracked.

In a letter to Chairman Railway Board on Saturday, Chief Secretary of the state T M Vijay Bhaskar said many passengers are not aware of this mandatory rule of the southern state.

He said thousands of passengers are coming to Karnataka from New Delhi, Bihar, Maharashtra and other states through trains everyday, but most of them are not registered under the Seva Sindhu portal of the Government of Kamataka.

"If passengers are not registered under Seva Sindhu, the state will not be able to track them. Therefore, it is necessary to create awareness among the passengers regarding registration under the portal.

"Hence, it is requested to give instructions to origin railway stations to make announcements that ‘It is compulsory for all passengers travelling to Karnataka to register in Seva Sindhu portal. Otherwise they will not be allowed for home quarantine’, and also to give passengers awareness (about this) at the time of booking tickets,” Bhaskar said in his letter to the national transporter.

Seva Sindhu portal, under the control of the Karnataka government, provides various online services to the citizens of the state.

Currently, this portal is playing an important role in helping those stranded amid the COVID-19 pandemic to fill online registration forms for availing e-passes.

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News Network
March 29,2020

Kannur, Mar 29: A non-resident Keralite (NRK)

under home quarantine here since he returned from Sharjah recently died on Sunday, officials said.

According to health authorities, Abdul Khader (65), a resident of Kannariparamba, was kept under home quarantine after he returned from abroad on March 21.

Police said the man had no symptoms of coronavirus but was under isolation as per Covid-19 protocol for persons returning from abroad and other states.

"The relatives of the deceased took him to hospital after seeing him unconscious in his room. However he died before reaching the hospital," police said.

Quoting medical college authorities, the Mayyil police said he died of cardiac arrest.

However, the health officials said they will test his blood sample to ascertain whether he was affected with novel coronavirus.

The body has been kept at the Kannur medical college and will be handed over to his kin only if the result of his blood test is negative, sources said.

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