Symbolic Retreat ceremony at Attari-Wagah, BSF on high alert

November 3, 2014

Attari (Punjab), Nov 3: A symbolic Retreat ceremony for the lowering of national flags and closing of border gates took place Monday at the Attari-Wagah joint check post between India and Pakistan following a deadly suicide bombing near Wagah Sunday which left over 60 people dead.attari

Senior Border Security Force officials said border guards on both sides had agreed, on a request from Pakistan Rangers, that the Retreat ceremony will not be held for three days. However, the Pakistani side disregarded its own request and allowed visitors on their side Monday.

"A brief, truncated version of the ceremony was held today (Monday) evening. No visitors were allowed on the Indian side though a few hundred spectators were strangely present on the Pakistan side," a BSF officer here told media persons.

The visitors on the Pakistan side could be heard shouting pro-Pakistan slogans. On the Indian side, only a few BSF troopers were there to watch the ceremony.

"We are very disappointed to miss the ceremony here. The BSF did not allow people to go near the border gates. We travelled hundreds of kilometres to see this ceremony," said Santosh Kumari, who had come here with her family from Odisha.

Following the blast near Wagah, just 500 metres from the border gates Sunday, the BSF here has been on high alert.

"Our side is completely secure. We are monitoring the situation closely," BSF's Punjab frontier Inspector General Ashok Kumar said Monday.

The BSF has increased vigil at the joint check post and also along the barbed wire fenced international border in Punjab, especially in the Amritsar sector.

"There was a big bang followed by a lot of smoke on the Pakistani side. From our watch towers, we could see a lot of movement there with sirens and flashlights. There was panic all around," a BSF trooper along the border gates said.

"Activity on the Pakistan side of the border gates was normal today (Monday) in the daytime. BSF and Pakistan Rangers commandant-level officers also had a meeting," a BSF official said.

Land border trade between both countries did not take place Monday."We will review the situation on Nov 6," Commissioner for Customs Sunil Kumar said.

Scores of trucks from both countries transport products for trade every day.However, the Samjhauta Express peace train between both the countries arrived here from Lahore.

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News Network
March 12,2020

New Delhi, Mar 12: TMC MP Saugata Roy said Home Minister Amit Shah should resign for "failing" to control the riots in Delhi and demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge.

Participating in a discussion on the violence in Delhi in Lok Sabha, Roy said the Delhi riots happened 72 years after Mahatma Gandhi was killed by a Hindu fanatic.

"Gandhiji has been murdered again in Delhi by, you know who," Roy said while addressing the Chair.

Taking on BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi for defending BJP leaders for their controversial remarks, which he claimed instigated the violence, Roy said he has seldom heard such a communal speech ever.

Dubbing the BJP MP as "Devil's Advocate", Roy said, "She spent five minutes defending the most hated man. May I quote (William) Shakespeare and call her the Devil's Advocate?...She is the best Devil's Advocate possible. She has also been an advocate for the Delhi Police which has shown total inaction and ineptness in this whole riot in Delhi."

Thereafter Roy trained his gun at Shah, who was present in the house while the TMC MP was speaking.

He said that when the riots started on February 24, Home Minister Shah was sitting in the front row at Motera Stadium (in Gujarat) welcoming US President Donald Trump.

"When Mr. Shah should have been in Delhi Police control room, he was welcoming Mr. Trump at Motera. There was no order to the police. Then on 25th, things went out of control. Armed mobs fought with each other on the streets of Delhi," Roy said.

Demanding resignation of Shah, Roy raised questions on NSA Ajit Doval's visit to the riots-affected areas on February 26 and asked what was the Home Minister doing.

"Is it NSA's business to control ordinary law and order situation? Why was the Home Minister absent in action? There is no explanation for the same," he said.

The TMC leader said he feels bad standing face-to-face with Shah.

"He is still young, he has a good future. He should acknowledge responsibility for his failure to control or stop Delhi riots and bring peace in three days. In the name of God, go and do not stay in the Home Minister's position," Roy said, adding he is the man who could not prevent riots in Delhi, at a place 10 kilometres away from the Home Ministry.

Roy demanded a judicial inquiry into the riots by a sitting Supreme Court judge and complete rehabilitation for all the riot victims.

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News Network
January 29,2020

Aurangabad, Jan 29: Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of creating a conflict between Hindu and Muslim communities in the country, former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar has said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was adding fuel to the fire.

He was speaking at a rally held on Tuesday at Pathri in Parbhani district of Maharashtra against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). It was organised by NCP MLC Abdullah Durrani.

"Modi and Shah used to create conflicts between Hindus and Muslims during the Gujarat elections. Now they are adopting the same strategy in the country," Kumar alleged.

Citizens should keep the religious conflicts aside and question the present government about unemployment and the poor state of the economy, he said.

"Through the CAA, the government is adding fuel to the fire, which is already raging in the country," he alleged.

When anyone questions the government about the problems existing in the country, it in turn asks him about his citizenship, the former JNUSU leader alleged.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

New Delhi, Jan 11: Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday met JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) President Aishe Ghosh here at Kerala House on Saturday.

This meeting comes at the backdrop masked mob violence by miscreants who entered the university campus recently and attacked the students and professors with sticks and rods.

"I thank the Kerela government for standing by us and extending solidarity. Its fight Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) shows how standing is standing for its secular ethos. Students Union takes the inspiration from this struggle," said Students' Union President in a statement after meeting Kerala CM.

She also thanked "the youth and comrades of Kerela" and quoted Pinarayi as saying, "go on we will take this fight ahead."

More than 30 students, including Ghosh, were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch investigating the case of violence in JNU had identified and released photographs of nine suspects, including that of Aishe Ghosh.

Earlier on Monday, Kerala CM had said that the "Nazi-style attack" on the students and faculty is an appalling display of intolerance running amok.

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