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Good alliance in Vajpayee's regime, suffered in Modi's time says Mehbooba

Agencies
July 30, 2018

Jammu and Kashmir, July 30: Reminiscing "golden times" under former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti on Monday asserted that she "suffered" by joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the current Narendra Modi-led central government.

Addressing party workers and supporters at the 19th Foundation Day celebration of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mehbooba stepped up her pitch in an attempt to regain the lost ground. She spoke about the struggles and difficulties she had to encounter as a chief minister while leading a coalition government with the BJP in the state.

Since the state prospered under the patronage of Vajpayee-led central government despite the fact that the PDP-Congress were alliance partners in the state, Mehbooba said, "Mufti Sahab (Mufti Mohammed Sayeed) agreed to join hands with BJP again (in 2015) because we had a good understanding during Vajpayee ji's reign. But this time, it was a difficult decision. Forming an alliance with the BJP was like drinking poison. I suffered during the two years and two months of the alliance."

The state went to assembly polls in 2014 end. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed became the chief minister in March 2015 by joining hands with the BJP. His party, PDP, won 28 seats and the BJP bagged 25 in a house of 87 members. Mufti did not even rule for a year, when he passed away in January 2016. For three months, Mehbooba stayed away from taking charge. Finally on April 4, 2016 she took oath as the first woman chief minister of the trouble-torn state.

Recollecting the days of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed during Vajpayee's time, Mehbooba said: "Mufti Sahab and his time in the government was the golden time for the state. The state developed and prospered during that time. The militant activities were in control and there was peace in the state. There was ceasefire on the border. We constructed roads, colleges and universities."

However, she added, "The moment the alliance ended and the government changed, all the work for peace came undone." In the 2002 assembly elections, PDP and Congress formed the government in the state and Mufti became the chief minister. However, there was an understanding between the PDP and the Congress that the chief minister would be on a rotational basis. So, in a six-year term of the state assembly, Mufti was the chief minister for the first three years from 2002-2005. After that Congress senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad became the chief minister. Subsequently there were strains in the alliance.

Talking about the growth of her party, Mehbooba said, "There was a clear vision in the mind of the Mufti Sahab. He had no confusion about the country and state." She further talked about the work she did during her time as the chief minister of the state.

She said, "I did everything I could in the two years I had. I did not discriminate between Jammu and Kashmir. We opened same number of colleges for both the states. There was no corruption in government jobs." She tried to clarify her party's stand since there were allegations that Jammu was getting discriminated in infrastructure and developments.

She also addressed the Kathua rape case and said, "A rapist has no religion. The people who gave it a communal colour do not remember the valour of brave Dogra community." She emphasised that she did not compromise anything when it came to the development of the state.

"We went through a lot of difficulties during the two years of alliance. I never spoke about it but today, I will not hold back," said Mehbooba while talking about her time in the government.

Clearing the misgivings about her tenure, she further said, "I did not give up on anyone and stayed to work for the state. Even though the alliance ended, we are not sad about it because we did not form the alliance just to come in power. We had a bigger motive, the development of the state."

On Saturday, Mehbooba urged the Centre to seize the opportunity by extending a hand of friendship with Pakistan's Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan so that issues between the two countries could be resolved.

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News Network
August 7,2020

Idukki, Aug 7: Several people lost their lives and dozens of tea estate workers are feared trapped under soil in Kerala’s Munnar after torrential rains triggered a massive landslide on today. 

As many as five bodies have been recovered and rescue workers are fighting inclement weather to remove the debris.

According to rescue workers, four lanes of quarters and a church are buried under mud and around 80 people are feared trapped.

Seven people have been rescued so far and shifted to the hospital.

Sources said a portion of Pettimudi came crashing down on the workers colony with a deafening roar in the wee hours of Friday.

As people were sleeping in the quarters, there was little time to escape.

Further, with the Periyavara bridge being washed away, it became all the more difficult for rescue workers to reach the spot.

The construction of a new temporary Periyavara bridge however, is underway.

The bridge was previously destructed during the deluge of August 2018. Later during the north west monsoons and the south west monsoon of 2019, it suffered damage again.

The present bridge, which got damaged on Thursday after Kannimala river levels rose, was constructed under the leadership of Coir fed.

Although a new concrete bridge has been constructed near the temporary bridge in Periyavara, vehicle  movement has not been possible because the authorities are yet to build its approach via road.

The new bridge is to be constructed at a cost of Rs 4.75 crore from Devikulam MLA S Rajendran's fund.

The entire area has been cut off from outside world and communication networks have also crashed.

Teams of Fire and Rescue personnel, NDRF, revenue officials, estate workers and police are struggling to conduct rescue operations.

Meanwhile, District collector H Dhineshan said a team of rescue personnel was sent to Pettymudy after he was briefed about the mishap and search operations to locate and rescue people are underway.

Facilities have been arranged at the hospitals nearby to provide necessary treatment facilities to the people being rescued.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

Microsoft's Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella on Monday voiced concern over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying what is happening is "sad" and he would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant create the next unicorn in India.

His comments came while speaking to editors at a Microsoft event in Manhattan where he was asked about the contentious issue of CAA which grants citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

"I think what is happening is sad... It's just bad.... I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India or becomes the next CEO of Infosys," Nadella was quoted as saying by Ben Smith, the Editor-in-Chief of New York-based BuzzFeed News.

In a statement issued by Microsoft India, Nadella said: "Every country will and should define its borders, protect national security and set immigration policy accordingly. And in democracies, that is something that the people and their governments will debate and define within those bounds.

"I’m shaped by my Indian heritage, growing up in a multicultural India and my immigrant experience in the United States. My hope is for an India where an immigrant can aspire to found a prosperous start-up or lead a multinational corporation benefitting Indian society and the economy at large".

The Centre last week issued a gazette notification announcing that the CAA has come into effect from January 10, 2020.

The CAA was passed by Parliament on December 11.

According to the legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

There have been widespread protests against the Act in different parts of the country.

In Uttar Pradesh, at least 19 persons were killed in anti-CAA protests.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: Veteran Urdu poet Anand Mohan Zutshi 'Gulzar' Dehlvi passed away on Friday afternoon, five days after he recovered from COVID-19.

He died at his Noida home, and was a month shy of turning 94.

"His corona test came negative on June 7 and we brought him home. Today he had lunch and at around 2.30pm he passed away," his son Anoop Zutshi told PTI.

"He was quite old, and the infection had left him very weak. So doctors are thinking it was possible a cardiac arrest," he added.

A freedom fighter and a premier 'inquilabi' poet, Dehlvi was admitted to a private hospital on June 1 after testing positive for coronavirus.

Born in old Delhi's Gali Kashmeerian in 1926, he was also the editor of 'Science ki Duniya', the first Urdu science magazine published by the Government of India in 1975.

Remembering her fond memories of Dehlvi, historian-writer Rana Safvi recalled seeing the poet at most 'mushairas' in Delhi.

"I cannot express how big a loss it is. We used to see him at every 'mushaira' in Delhi. It's a big loss to Delhi and the world of poetry," Safvi said.

She also took to Twitter to express her condolences.

"Sad to hear about Gulzar Dehlvi saheb's demise. He was the quintessential Dilli waala. May he rest in peace," she tweeted.

According to Delhi-based poet and lawyer Saif Mahmood, Dehlvi was "the presiding bard of Delhi", following in the footsteps of iconic poets like Mirza Ghalib, and Mir Taqi Mir.

His death is the "end of an era", he said.

"No one knew the nooks and crannies of Mir and Ghalib's Delhi like him. Gulzar saheb claimed that his father, Allama Pandit Tribhuvan Nath Zutshi 'Zaar Dehlvi', was a disciple of the renowned poet Daagh Dehlvi," he said, while reminiscing his meeting with Dehlvi three years back.

The poet had recited a still unpublished 'sher' (couplet) then, Mahmood said, which seems more relevant now in the aftermath of his demise.

"Mere baad aane waalon, meri baat yaad rakhna/ mere naqsh-e-pa se behtar, koi raasta nahin hai". (Those who come after, remember what I say/ there’s no better way than to follow my footprints).

"He was a true exemplar of not just the Urdu language but also of the Urdu culture. In fact he was a living and breathing form of Urdu tehzeeb," Mahmood said.

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