Never thought 'religion' would be asked before 'name': Gulzar

October 24, 2015

Patna, Oct 24: Expressing disappointment at the current state of communal discord in the nation, critically acclaimed filmmaker and poet Gulzar on Saturday said the atmosphere of 'uncertainty and fear' had never been seen in the country before.

gulzar"What's happening in the country now is sad, but the uncertain fear it creates is also disturbing. We have never seen an atmosphere like this in India before. There never was any fear to freely voice out one's opinions. Never really thought a day would come that someone's religion would be asked before his name, "Gulzar spoke exclusively to ANI.

The renowned poet also defended the Sahitya Akademi over the outrage it was facing by the writers, saying that the fraternity could not be blamed over 'growing intolerance' in the country as the flaw lied clearly in the 'system' or the 'government'.

"Returning the awards is not the solution because the Akademi is an autonomous body. Awards that have been bestowed by the government are the ones that should be returned, that way there is an influence. What will one do when a government official takes control over the Akademi? That fear must always be in mind," Gulzar added.

However, the literary legend also defended the accusations that the writers were trying to 'politicise' their protest.

"How can a writer do politics? He is speaking from the heart. Writers are the 'conscious keepers' of the society. They are simply doing their job," Gulzar added.

In a resolution passed on Friday, the Sahitya Akademi stressed the need to protect India's diverse culture but sidestepped demands from protesters for holding a condolence meet for Kalburgi in Delhi and action against Akademi president Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari for his 'insensitive remarks'. It also steered clear of any mention of the Dadri lynching.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Patna, Aug 3: Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey on Sunday charged that Vinay Tiwari, the IPS officer from Patna who is in Mumbai to probe a case related to Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, has been "forcibly quarantined" by civic authorities in the metropolis.

Tiwari is heading a Bihar Police team which is in Mumbai to investigate an ''abetment to suicide'' case on the basis of a complaint filed by the late actor's father in Patna.

"IPS officer Vinay Tiwari reached Mumbai today from Patna on official duty to lead the police team there but he has been forcibly quarantined by BMC officials at 11 PM today," Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Pandey tweeted.

"He was not provided accommodation in the IPS mess, despite request, and was staying in a Guest House in Goregaon," he said.

Sushant's sister Shweta Singh Kirti has tweeted, " What? Is this even for real? How can an officer sent on duty be quarantined for 14 Days?".

Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his Bandra residence on June 24 last.

Last month, Rajput's father lodged an FIR here of abetment to suicide naming actress Rhea Chakraborty, said to be close to the deceased Patna-born actor, and her family members as accused. Tiwari was posted as the City SP (East) in Patna.

The Mumbai Police, which is also probing the death case, have so far recorded statements of nearly 40 people, including those from Rajput's family, his cook and people from the film industry that include filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali and filmmaker Aditya Chopra.

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News Network
July 22,2020

Mumbai, Jul 22: Actor Sonu Sood on Wednesday launched an app to offer support to workers in finding right job opportunities in various sectors across the country.

Sood, who catapulted to the national spotlight for his work in helping migrants reach their homes amid the Covid-19 pandemic, has come out with a free of cost online platform called 'Pravasi Rojgar', which will provide all the necessary information and right linkages to find jobs.

The 47-year-old actor said while arranging travel for the migrants, their conversations would often revolve around how they were looking for the right work opportunity amid the pandemic.

"Lot of thinking, planning and preparation have gone into designing this initiative over the last few months, in order to ensure that it is holistic and builds on the work already being done in the country.

"Extensive consultations have been held with top organisations that're involved at the grassroots level in skilling and placing the youth below the poverty line, NGOs, philanthropic organisations, government functionaries, strategy consultants, technology start ups and above all the returned migrants whom I have helped," Sood said in a statement.

The initiative will be supported by community outreach in the villages to find the right employment opportunities for migrant workers in different parts of the country.

According to the release, the online platform has over 500 reputed companies related to construction, apparel, healthcare, engineering, BPOs, security, automobile, e-commerce and logistics sectors, offering job opportunities.

'Pravasi Rojgar' will also be offering specific job training programmes like spoken English.

A 24x7 helpline have been set up in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad and Thiruvananthapuram. 

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Agencies
July 29,2020

Patna, Jul 29: BJP MLA Neeraj Kumar Singh Bablu, cousin of Sushant Singh Rajput, on Tuesday said that a huge amount of money has been transferred into the account of actress Rhea Chakraborty from the actor's account.

"An FIR has been filed against actress Rhea Chakraborty by the father of Sushant Singh as a huge amount of money has been transferred into her account and they both have joint accounts for some companies through which cheating has been done from her side," Bablu said.

"This is the issue of probe and police will go there and investigate the matter after that everything will be revealed," he added.

He also said that Karan Johar should also be called in for questioning by the Mumbai Police in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput's death case.

The statement was given in the backdrop of several top film personalities being questioned in connection with the case.

On July 28, an FIR has been registered against actor Rhea Chakraborty under various sections including abetment of suicide on the complaint of Sushant Singh Rajput's father Krishna Kishor Singh, the police said on Tuesday.

It said that a four-member team has been sent to Mumbai following registration of FIR.
"A four-member team has been sent to Mumbai. The team will collect case diary and other important documents from Mumbai Police," Sanjay Singh, Inspector General, Patna Central Zone said.

In the complaint made to Rajeev Nagar police station in-charge, KK Singh alleged that Rhea Chakraborty and her relatives "committed fraud" and "pressurised the actor for financial gains".

Sushant's father alleged that Chakraborty "got in touch with the actor with a motive to establish herself in the film industry using his contacts and she and her relatives started interfering in his affairs".

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