Amit Shah likens BJP to Lord Shiva, says no compromise on Kashmir

By Our Representative
BJP president and right-hand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Amit Shah has raked up yet another controversy by likening his party, BJP, with Lord Shiva. Speaking on political situation in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), Shah told party workers in Ahmedabad that people had blessed BJP "like Lord Shiva and given us very big responsibility", hence it would not "compromise on the national interest."
The statement invoking the BJP's role as Lord Shiva comes amidst raging controversy on the J&K alleged pro-separatist stance, as reflected in release of Masarat Alam by the government in which the BJP is a partner.
Shah went so far as to tell the party workers that the BJP would "end" its alliance with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in J&K if the "Kashmir issue" was not solved. He was speaking before BJP workers in the his constituency, Naranpura, Ahmedabad, on Tuesday.
Shah said, the J&K government had been formed "only to solve the Kashmir issue, and I have full trust that we will find a solution", adding, "If the solution of Kashmir issue does not come about, then nobody can stop our party workers from leaving the coalition government."
Shah's "statement" is being seen more as an effort to appease the BJP workers, many of whom are said to be of the view that the alliance with the PDP was "eroding" the party's base in the majority community.
Shah said, BJP workers should "go to the people" in order to "spread the message that the party would not compromise on national interest". Interestingly, he did not clarify what these "national interests" were and how these would be implemented.
Suspecting that Shah's statement might might create ripple, with the possibility that the partner, PDP, might retaliate, the BJP fielded a Gujarat spokesperson to tell newspersons that "Shah merely said that national interest is the party's priority" but wasn't "categorical" about breaking the BJP's alliance with the PDP.
"Shah just said that national interest is our priority and BJP will not allow any anti-national activities on the soil of Jammu and Kashmir," the spokesman said.
Already, the PDP's release of the separatist leader Alam has invited opposition ire. J&K government has so far slapped the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) against Alam 17 times since 1990. Alam is widely regarded as the "instigator" of the 2010 protests in the valley in which over 120 boys were killed.
Shah's statement comes close on the heels of the J&K alliance partners PDP backing the move of a group of MLAs who are insisting on handing over the remains of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru to his Kashmir-based family.
The PDP MLAs in a joint statement said that "PDP has always maintained that late Afzal Guru's hanging was travesty of justice and constitutional requirements/process was not followed in hanging him out of turn."

Comments

#MeToo moment in Hyderabad Urdu varsity? Two girl students seek action against authorities

Counterview Desk
Has the #MeToo movement reached Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MAANU)? It would seem so if a recent letter by newly-appointed chancellor Firoz Bakht Ahmed to MAANU vice-chancellor Dr Aslam Parvaiz is any indication. Seeking reinstatement of two girl victims of “sexual harassment and humiliation”, the letter specifically names head of the department of the Media Centre for Journalism, suspecting, the problem could be much deeper.
Text of the letter: It is a matter of utmost perturbation for me to receive the two representations from the girls studying in the MCJ (Media Center for Journalism) regarding their sexual and subsequently, mental and social harassment at the hands of Prof Ehtesham Ahmad Khan, the HOD, MCJ.
We do not know, how many girls have been exploited by him and preferred to be silent for saving their family’s honour; however, there are two brave girls who stood to the depraved advances and misuse by Prof Ehtesham and came up with written complai…

Gujarat BJP MLAs, youth leader "incited" attack on North Indians: Cong releases video

Counterview Desk
Senior Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil, currently in charge of Bihar and national spokesperson, All-India Congress Committee, has sent a legal notice to chief minister Vijay Rupani threatening criminal case and civil defamation suit for accusing him with "baseless statement" that he was responsible for attacks on north Indians in Gujarat.

"Ineligible" funding of Sardar Statue in Gujarat: CAG tells Central PSUs, it's not a heritage CSR activity

By Our Representative
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its recent report on Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE), has qualified public sector undertakings’ (PSUs') funding the 182-metre world’s highest Sardar Statue, currently being constructed in the Narmada river downstream of the Sardar Sarovar dam as an “ineligible” corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity.

29th "NRC-related" suicide in Assam, as Nirod Baran Das takes his life by hanging on a fan

By Our Representative
Reporting 29th case of National Register of Citizens (NRC)-driven suicide in Assam, one of India’s human rights campaign sites has said that, on October 20, tragedy struck Kharupetia town in Darrang district of Assam, when a retired school teacher and advocate Nirod Baran Das “took his life by hanging himself to a fan in his home.” The report adds, “The NRC process has so far claimed over two dozen such lives in the past four months alone.”

"Highly irregular" for PSUs to fund Sardar Statue under Corporate Social Responsibility

Counterview Desk
In a letter to I Srinivas, secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, former secretary (economic affairs), Ministry of Finance, EAS Sarma, has raised questions on the funding of the Sardar Patel statue in South Gujarat by Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSUs) relying on the Comptroller and Auditor General report (No 18/2018).

Post-MJ Akbar resignation: #MeToo movement and fears of backlash

By Sheshu Babu*
For the last few days, #MeToo movement has picked up momentum and many women are coming out with horrific tales of severe harassment in their past lives. They are not afraid anymore to expose famous persons including those at ministerial levels. As a senior journalist Neeraja Chowdhury opined (“An exit, a beginning”, October 18, 2018, indianexpress.com), "The #MeToo revelations are like the eruption of a volcano which was imminent, given the journey working women have covered. It was not easy to make public what they had gone through,and take on powerful men.”

Bank account frozen, raid on Amnesty office: Govt of India "treating" human rights NGOs like criminal enterprises

By Abhirr VP*
Amnesty India’s bank accounts have been frozen by the Enforcement Directorate, effectively stopping its work. Amnesty India is thus the latest target of the government’s assault on civil society in the country. The accounts of Greenpeace India were frozen earlier this month.

J&K Governor's rule: BJP's "failure" to go ahead with 44-plus strategy

By Syed Mujtaba Hussian*
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) continues to witness cataclysm of events ever since the killing of editor-in-chief of “Rising Kashmir”, Shujaat Bukhari, followed by the BJP’s deliberated parting of ways with its coalition partner, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and imposition of Governor rule.

Murder of Tamil Nadu teenage Dalit girl: "Stoic silence" despite #MeToo movement

Counterview Desk
Brinelle D'souza, who is with the Centre for Health and Mental Health, School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, has prepared a strong statement to protest the brutal murder of 13-year-old Rajalakshmi. "Other than a few media reports, this gruesome killing has not caught national attention despite a very vibrant #MeToo campaign currently underway", regrets D'souza.

NTPC's "poor" track record on workers' safety, whether permanent or on contract

Counterview Desk
A recent report, “The Dark Side of NTPC: A Critical Look at the Social and Environmental Footprints of NTPC”, traces the performance of one of the four Navaratnas which also happens to be a Fortune 500 company, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), pointing out that, while it has played, for over four decades, “pivotal role” in India’s quest for development, this development was energy intensive and has caused “a plethora of negative impacts to people, environment and sustainability over the years.”

Counterview

Search This Blog