Munde's death: Second mid-summer tragedy for BJP

June 3, 2014

Mumbai/New Delhi, June 3: Union Minister for Rural Development Gopinath Munde was killed early Tuesday in a road accident in the national capital when he was on way to the airport to catch a flight to Mumbai.Gopinath Munde 3

He was 64 and is survived by his wife Pradnya and three daughters, including Maharashtra legislator Pankaja Munde-Palve.

The news of his death was confirmed by senior cabinet minister Nitin Gadkari to media persons at the AIIMS Hospital where Munde was rushed for treatment.

According to initial reports, Munde suffered serious internal injuries in the head and chest, but later succumbed to a massive heart attack during treatment.

This is the second mega-tragedy for one of Maharashtra top political families comprising the Munde-Mahajan clans.

Barely eight years ago, in April 2006, Munde's brother-in-law and senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan was shot and grievously injured by his brother Pravin, at his Worli home. Munde was married to Pramod's sister Pradnya.

Mahajan, 56, succumbed to the injuries May 3 that year, plunging the BJP in a state of shock at the passing of its charismatic and youthful leader, who also served as a union minister handling different portfolios in the A.B. Vajpayee cabinets.

Following Mahajan's death, Munde was catapulted as the most important BJP leader in the state until the advent of the Gadkari who became the BJP president in 2010 - leading to a tussle for supremacy in state politics.

At the same time, the BJP chose Munde to be the party's deputy leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made him a cabinet minister, handling crucial portfolios.

The late Mahajan's daughter, Poonam Mahajan-Rao was swept to victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North-Central constituency, defeating Congress's Priya Dutt, while her uncle Gopinath Munde was re-elected to parliament from Beed.

Similarly, Munde's daughter Pankaja Munde-Palve is active in state politics and is a state legislator from Parali, a constituency in her native Beed district in Marathwada region.

The other important leaders in the clan are Pandit Anna Munde (Gopinath's brother) and his son Dhananjay (Gopinath's nephew), both of whom quit the BJP to join the Nationalist Congress Party.

Munde's death is also the second big blow to the backward Marathwada region of the state in the past couple of years.

Barely two years ago Aug 14, 2012, the Congress' charismatic union minister and former state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, 67, died following a prolonged illness.

Later that year, Maharashtra was plunged into grief when Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray died Nov 17, 2012.

For the BJP, Munde's death will be deeply felt as he was one of the few grassroots leaders who toured the remotest parts of the state during his political career spanning over four decades.

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Agencies
February 16,2020

Lucknow, Feb 16: Resident doctors at the AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital on Sunday demanded that the charges slapped against Dr Kafeel Khan under the National Security Act be withdrawn.

Dr Khan was arrested by the UP Special Task Force from Mumbai on January 29 in connection with a speech he had delivered during an anti-CAA protest at Aligarh Muslim University on December 12.

The Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) held a protest march on the hospital campus against the slapping of the NSA against the Gorakhpur doctor after he was granted bail in connection with the alleged hate speech.

RDA president Dr Hamza Malik said the move was a "blatant attempt to crush dissent and a violation of the Constitution of india".

He said by targeting the doctor, the UP government had done a great disservice to the entire medical community.

The AMU Students' Coordination Committee also described the decision to charge Dr Kafeel under the NSA a "direct assault" on a member of the medical fraternity who is "known for his upright behaviour and a champion of free speech".

Committee spokesperson and former AMU Students' Union president Faizul Hasan said by charging Dr Kafeel under the NSA even after he got bail was "a direct violation of a Supreme Court ruling on such issues".

Hasan said Dr Kafeel's fate should serve as an eye-opener for the rest of the country regarding the democratic rights in Uttar Pradesh.

The doctor was earlier arrested for his alleged role in the death of over 60 children within an week at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur in August 2017. Short supply of oxygen at the children's ward was blamed at that time for the deaths.

About two years later, a state government probe cleared Khan of all major charges, prompting him to seek an apology from the Yogi Adityanath government.

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News Network
March 9,2020

New Delhi, Mar 9: The Delhi Police Special Cell on Monday arrested a PFI member Danish from UP''s Moradabad for allegedly spreading fake propaganda during anti- CAA protests.

"Danish was the head of the Counter Intelligence Wing of PFI and has been actively participating in the anti-CAA protest across the city," sources in the Delhi Police Special Cell said.

Sources further claimed that his arrest has given clues regarding the Information war by the Popular Front of India (PFI).

The FIR related to the protest was filed by the Crime Branch but since the larger conspiracy regarding the Delhi riots is being probed by the Cell, the matter has been transferred to them.

Delhi Police Special Cell had on Sunday arrested a Kashmiri couple from Okhla for alleged links with Islamic State (IS) Khorasan module.

The couple have been identified as Jahanjeb Sami (husband) and Hinda Bashir Beg (wife). The police have seized some objectionable material from them and were interrogating them.

When asked about the couple, the sources said, "Officers of CERT-In are analysing the Eight Mobile phones and Laptop of the couple to question them further."

The couple being an active member of ISJ&K was operating from the Valley but later shifted their base to Delhi post internet clampdown.

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News Network
January 18,2020

New Delhi, Jan 18: Asha Devi, the mother of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim, on Saturday slammed senior lawyer Indira Jaising for her suggestion that she should forgive her daughter's rapists.

"Who is Indira Jaising to give me such a suggestion? The whole country wants the convicts to be executed. Just because of people like her, justice is not done with rape victims," Asha Devi said here.

"Cannot believe how Indira Jaising even dared to suggest this. I met her many times over the years in Supreme Court, not even once has she asked for my well being and today she is speaking for the convicts. Such people earn their livelihoods by supporting rapists, hence rape incidents do not stop," she added.

Asha Devi further accused Jaising of using "the garb of human rights" to make a living.

'People like her keep earning money under the garb of human rights. I do not need her suggestions... Just because of people who think like her incidents like rape keep happening, she is a disgrace to women," she said.

Earlier yesterday, Indira Jaising, through a tweet, had urged Asha Devi to forgive the perpetrators and had used the example of Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, who had forgiven Nalini, one of the convicts who was given the death penalty by the courts.

"While I fully identify with the pain of Asha Devi I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she did not want the death penalty for her. We are with you but against the death penalty," Jaising's tweet read.

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