June 2019 - Page 2 of 17

Protests in several cities against lynching of Muslim man in Jharkhand; Narendra Modi says he is ‘pained’

Source: firstpost.com

New Delhi: Protests were held in several Indian cities on Wednesday following the lynching of a Muslim man last week by a Hindu mob that suspected he was a thief.

Increasing anger about the killing in Jharkhand prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make his first comments on the matter on Wednesday, telling the upper house of parliament he was “pained” to hear about it and calling for “the strictest possible punishment to the accused”.

Cellphone videos shared on local television channels showed 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari tied to a pole and begging for mercy as some men beat him with sticks and forced him to chant his devotion to Hindu gods.

Ansari was caught by a mob of villagers who suspected he was a thief in the Seraikela-Kharsawan area of Jharkhand on June 18, said Avinash Kumar, a deputy superintendent of police in the area.

Eleven villagers have been arrested and a special investigation team set up to probe the matter, Kumar said.

Villagers called the police and lodged a case against Ansari, and police took him to the hospital, but Ansari succumbed to his injuries while in custody four days later, Kumar said. Two police officers from the area have been suspended, police told local media.

Dozens of people gathered in New Delhi carrying placards calling for justice for Ansari’s killing. In Gujarat and West Bengal, hundreds took to the streets carrying posters that read ‘No more lynching in the name of religion.’

Protests were planned in about 50 cities. It wasn’t immediately clear how many took place.

Hate crimes against minorities have spiked in India since Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014. Dozens of Muslim men have been attacked or lynched by Hindu mobs since then, many on suspicion of slaughtering cows, which are considered holy in the Hindu religion.

Two days after Ansari’s killing, a Muslim religious school teacher in West Bengal’s Kolkata alleged he’d been pushed off a moving train when he refused to chant his devotion to Hindu gods as some Hindu men in the train demanded.

Many people took to social media to condemn the BJP-led government in Jharkhand state, where civil society groups have recorded at least 13 lynchings of minorities, mainly Muslims, in the past three years.

The United States last week released an annual report on international religious freedoms that said religious intolerance was increasing in India and extremist narratives had “facilitated an egregious and ongoing campaign of violence, intimidation, and harassment against non-Hindu and lower-caste Hindu minorities.”

India rejected the report saying it saw “no locus standi for a foreign government to pronounce on the state of our citizens’ constitutionally protected rights.”

“Because he was a Muslim he was beaten so brutally,” Ansari’s wife Shaishta Ansari told the television channel NDTV.

“My husband was my only support. Who will I live for now? I want justice.”

Why Bihar was right in defeating Tejashwi Yadav and RJD in Lok Sabha polls | Opinion

Source: indiatoday.in

When results of an election are announced, they decide two important roles–who will govern and who will be in the opposition to keep a check on what the new government does. For maintaining a polity’s democratic health, the second role is somewhat more important than the first.

This is because governments exist even in non-democratic regimes. But it is the presence of a responsible opposition that makes a robust democracy distinct. How effectively the Opposition is able to conduct itself, in many ways determines how cautious, sensitive and responsible the government will be while taking policy decisions and responding to unforeseen emergencies.

These are basics taught in social science classes at the senior secondary level and not necessarily part of a grand theory or sophisticated sacred knowledge.

But when it comes to the political spectrum of Bihar, the Leader of Opposition, Tejashwi Yadav, appears to have conscientiously chosen to be oblivious about this.

Bihar is currently witnessing its worst medical emergencies in recent times with more than 110 children dead due to encephalitis in Muzaffarpur district alone. The epidemic has exposed glaring faultlines in the public heath infrastructure of Bihar–be it availability of doctors, hospital infrastructure, nutrition level (which is worse than most African countries), among others.

These are exactly the times when people look up to their leaders (both in the ruling government and the Opposition) to stand with and for them to brave the calamity. Political ideologies, colours and partisan interests ought to diffuse in the face of such widespread human sufferings.

But what has been Tejashwi Yadav’s response to the Muzaffarpur tragedy? Two words can describe it: Silence and absence. This is not only unprecedented but also unbecoming and uncharacteristic.

Ever since the encephalitis outbreak hit Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly who is also the de-facto head of the single largest party in the state–Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)–has been silent.

Not only is he yet to utter a single word, not many, even within his own party, seem to be even aware of his whereabouts. Senior RJD have been clueless when asked where their leader is. Some said he might be in the United Kingdom to watch the Cricket World Cup.

Is Tejashwi Yadav on a holiday? Is he unwell? Is he under a spell of unending introspection? How does he and his party plan to help the state overcome tragedies like the one in Muzaffarpur? He is a public figure, the Leader of Opposition in an honourable state assembly. The people have every right to know his whereabouts and where he stands in these dark hours.

This is the same Tejashwi Yadav who two months ago would not miss even a minuscule opportunity to hit out at the NDA governments at the state and national level; the same Tejashwi Yadav who on May 17 (the last day for campaigning for Lok Sabha polls) took a jibe at Nitish Kumar, daring him to at least release his party manifesto on the last day; the same Tejashwi Yadav would be active on Twitter to share visuals from his rallies and regularly question the government and launch scathing attacks on it throughout the polls.

But all this was during the election seasona season when promises are served like hot pakodas; when people’s dreams are colonised by political colours of all hues in the buzzing atmosphere characterised by one-upmanship.

Now with the poll season is over, have things suddenly changed for Tejashwi Yadavthe politician whose Facebook cover image screams the words “Pratham pratigya, Pratham pyar, sukhi samridh sarvottam Bihar (My first pledge and first love is to see a happy and prosperous Bihar)”.

Is the strength of his pledge and love so weak that it could be rattled by a humiliating electoral defeat?

No doubt that when results of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were declared on May 23, they came as a nightmare for Tejashwi Yadav and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

The party founded and nurtured by Tejashwi’s father Lalu Yadav, who is in jail, was routed and failed to win any of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. This was its worst performance and came despite an aggressive posturing, and an even more aggressive campaign led by Tejashwi Yadav against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

But Tejashwi should have known that defeat is also a time that tests your character and leadership. It is easy to be a leader in victory because the tide is in your favour. But it takes political and moral courage to accept defeat, work for the future, and shoulder one’s responsibility as an opposition leader.

If silence and complete absence from public life is the kind of leadership that Tejashwi Yadav had to offer the people of Bihar in times of a catastrophe like the one in Muzaffarpur, it is for good that most people in the state chose to vote against his party in the Lok Sabha elections.

Defeat, just like victory, is part of a political journey. If a de-facto party president and Leader of Opposition cannot see beyond the humiliating results of a general election, it is better that the people chose not to repose faith in his leadership. One wonders if Tejashwi Yadav is naive to understand the basics that a political party’s socio-political responsibilities do not cease to exist in the post-election season.

Being a responsible opposition leader does not mean that he necessarily has to militate against the ruling government at all cost. In times of crisis, maturity commands that the opposition and the government work as a unit and support each other to tackle the situation.

But for this, our politicians need to look beyond the optics of electoral politics. And this is where Tejashwi Yadav has failed miserably.

He may be a popular politician in Bihar, but the larger question is: Is he a leader?

Mindtree CEO Rostow Ravanan likely to resign in coming weeks as L&T becomes majority shareholder in IT fiRM

Source: firstpost.com

New Delhi: Mindtree Chief Executive Officer Rostow Ravanan is likely to resign in the coming weeks with infrastructure major L&T becoming a majority shareholder in the mid-sized IT company, according to sources.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) had initiated a hostile takeover of Mindtree Ltd in March and has since then expanded its shareholding to a majority stake with large investors, like Nalanda, selling their shares in the ongoing open offer.

Mindtree founders had resisted the bid and had tried rallying support from Singapore-based Nalanda Capital and others.

One of the sources said Mindtree founders had supported Ravanan’s continuation to ensure business continuity but given the developments over the past few weeks, Ravanan will be expected to step down from his role in the coming weeks.

E-mails sent to Mindtree did not elicit any response.

Another source said the founders, which include Subroto Bagchi, NS Parthasarathy and Krishnakumar Natarajan (who together hold about 13 percent), may look at selling their shares as well in the open offer that concludes on 28 June.

Interestingly, L&T has recently secured three board positions at Mindtree that has eight members on the board (of which four were independent directors).

Mindtree co-founder Subroto Bagchi did not offer being considered for re-appointment to the board. The IT firm remained silent on how it plans to accommodate the three new L&T representatives.

In March, L&T had said it will buy 20.32 percent stake in Mindtree from VG Siddhartha and his coffee enterprise for over Rs 3,000 crore, marking India’s first-ever hostile takeover bid in the IT space.

Since then, L&T has steadily increased its holding in the Bengaluru-based tech firm to about 30 percent. L&T is currently in the process of an open offer to buy an additional 31 percent stake.

The open offer, with an offer price of Rs 980 per share, opened on 17 June and is slated to close on June 28. If the offer of 5.13 crore shares is subscribed fully, the engineering behemoth will end up with a 66.32 percent holding in Mindtree.

As of 26 June, L&T’s open offer had received bids for 4.83 crore shares or 94.16 percent of the offer.

Jharkhand blood donors oppose card fiat

Source: telegraphindia.com

The state government’s decision to abolish the system of issuing blood against donor cards will adversely impact the smooth system of donations, voluntary outfits of the steel city feel.

Blood banks in Jamshedpur, which received the letter from Jharkhand State Aids Control Society (JSACS) on Sunday, have already implemented the May 30 directive issued by M.K. Baranwal, project director of JSACS and member-secretary of State Blood Transfusion Council.

At present, Indian Red Cross Society, Voluntary Blood Donors Association (VBDA) and others contribute 75 per cent of the annual requirement of Jamshedpur Blood Bank. These organisations have been working towards increasing their contribution to 100 per cent.

But the directive is expected to impact the number of donation camps and lead to a decline in stocks in blood banks.

Members of the Red Cross society and donor associations are scheduled to meet JSACS officials in Ranchi on Thursday.

The government directive states, “… the system of issuing donor cards for supply of blood without replacement to the blood donor or another person on behalf of the blood donor should not be practised by any blood bank.”

Henceforth, donors would not get identity cards from blood banks. The cards come with a serial number, donor’s name, blood group and telephone number. These cards helped blood bank maintain records and check on the number of donations.

Experts believe that not issuing donor cards would lead to severe consequences. With donations coming down, cancer and thalassemia patients, in need of regular blood transfusion, would be at risk.

Usually organisations get donor cards for half the number of blood units collected at a camp. “If donors cannot help someone in need, why will they donate? Those who donate blood or organise donation camps don’t expect anything in return. In fact, organisers of camps hand over donation cards to cancer or thalassemia patients or accident victims,” said Bijay Kumar Singh, the secretary of Indian Red Cross Society.

On an average, Jamshedpur city collects 54,000 units of blood a year, catering to the Kolhan region and cancer patients who come from neighbouring Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar.

“We have been working very hard since 1985 to step up blood donations by raising awareness levels and holding camps. The steel city has now developed its own system and we will not let anyone destroy it. We have, however, already told donors to not expect donor cards,” said association president Sunil Mukherjee.

Kalpavriksha Foundation felt the directive would be meaningful only when the government could boast of a perfect healthcare system with state-of-the-art blood banks in every city, district and block.

“We only have Jamshedpur Blood Bank catering to so many patients. Even then there is shortage in summers. We are writing to governor Droupadi Murmu to withdraw the directive,” said foundation director Arun Singh.

Blazing India: Bihar’s poor slog and suffer the most

Source: downtoearth.org.in

Droughts, heatwaves and weak monsoons come and go every year. Some survive it and some don’t. But those who always bear the brunt of rising temperatures are the poor. Thousands of daily wage labourers in Bihar step out every day to be able to earn a meagre amount but the scorching sun is not letting them do that either. Unable to beat the heat, they work late hours and earn less.

The rising temperatures killed 78 people within 48 hours in Bihar’s Aurangabad, Gaya and Nawada districts, which are also facing a water crisis.

After hundreds of deaths, district magistrates of five Bihar districts, including the worst-hit Gaya, invoked Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to ban public activities during daytime.

While rains did lash Bihar last week, it could only provide temporary relief. Temperatures again rose to 41 to 42 degrees Celsius with high humidity. The India Meteorological Department’s Patna office again issued a heat wave alert.

“I was earning Rs 500-600 a day to dig up soil on contract basis, carry sand, bricks or stone chips. But the intense heat has forced us to reduce our working hours and got our earnings down to Rs 300-400 a day,” said Rajdeo Yadav, a daily wage labourer in Patna.

The hostile climate is forcing the poor to not take the risk of working during in the afternoon. “We have to take regular intervals to rest and escape the Sun. We don’t work between 12.30 pm and 3.30 pm,” added Yadav.

Farmers too are finding it tough to irrigate land. Manish Singh, a marginal farmer in drought-hit Jehanabad district, said rising mercury and no pre-monsoon showers have together left no moisture in the land to start the process of cultivation for Kharif season.

“We have not even begun preparing our land for paddy as the soil is rock-like owing to lack of moisture,” he said adding that the fear of another drought is haunting them all.

In the state capital Patna too, where temperatures are above 45°C, roadside vendors are severely hit.

“No customer shows up in the afternoon. There’s no sale, no business. We are totally dependent on the evening after the Sun sets,” said Nagender Kumar, a garment vendor who sits near Patna railway station.

The IMD recorded 45.8°C on June 15, the hottest day in the past 53 years.

Manoj Kumar, executive director of the state health society, said Bihar government issued an advisory asking people to avoid going out in the day and keep themselves hydrated.

It is an alarming sign that temperatures are rising and rainfall is decreasing every year, said Ranjeev, an environmental activist. “The heat is slowly putting more and more stress on farmers. They are dependent on water, but the prolonged heatwave has dried water bodies,” he said.

Modi stuns Congress in Parliament, does what they least expected him to do

Source: financialexpress.com

Expect the unexpected when the man in question is Narendra Modi. Known to spring up surprises more often than not, there was anticipation ahead of Prime Minister’s maiden address in Parliament after returning to power with a stronger mandate. A day earlier, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had drawn a “gandi naali” analogy to target PM Modi. Contrary to expectations that Modi would shred the Congress leader in his speech over the lowly attack, the PM chose otherwise.

Of course, that did not deter him from launching an all-out attack against the Opposition, particularly the Congress, over a number of other issues. In his over 65-minute-long address, PM Modi did not spare the Congress for ignoring the contribution of former PMs like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh. He took repeated digs at the Gandhi-Nehru family for its sense of entitlement and absolute disconnect with roots and also took a shot at Rahul Gandhi’s foreign jaunt immediately after the elections were over. “Even we wanted to relax after running around during elections for so long. But we do not think that way.”

The PM also reminded the Congress of the Emergency over how it crushed India’s soul on the day 44 years ago. Responding to a question by Chowdhury a day earlier on why Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were not in jail, when, as per the PM’s own claims, they are neck-deep in corruption, the PM said: “There is no Emergency in the country. Enjoy if you are out on bail.” The Prime Minister also pointed out how the Congress leadership had lost its connection with the masses, and in its lust for power even refused to acknowledge or appreciate the contribution of its own leaders outside the Gandhi family.

Yet, when Congress leaders emerged from the Parliament after the session, they claimed a moral victory. For, at the end of his address, the PM did what the Congress would never have expected him to do. Concluding his speech in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Modi quoted India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the Congress has scored a “great victory” as it had compelled Modi to quote Pandit Nehru’s words in his speech.

“I think we have scored a great success that at least the Prime Minister, who used to previously remain reluctant to recognise any Congress leader, was compelled to quote Nehru at the fag end of his speech. So, I think this was our great victory,” IANS quoted him as saying.

On Tuesday, Modi quoted an extract from a speech made by Nehru in 1951 at the release of the Congress manifesto for the first Lok Sabha polls in the country. “The biggest lesson to the world from India is that here, duties come first. From these duties emerge the rights. In today’s world, everyone talks about their rights and conveniences. Hardly anyone talks about duties. This is the reason for the friction in the world. It is true that we fight for our rights, but if we forget our duties, these rights will also not remain with us,” the Prime Minister told the Lok Sabha, taking his time to reveal that the “mahapurush” whom he had quoted was none other than Jawaharlal Nehru, urging members to understand his wish and see if it can be taken forward.

Congress has good reason to be surprised though one may doubt its contributions in “compelling” the Prime Minister to quote Nehru. The Prime Minister and the BJP are seen to be promoting the contributions of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi towards nation-building more than Nehru. The government’s push to honour all Prime Ministers at the Nehru Memorial has been a bone of contention between the BJP and the Congress. The grand old party has also often accused Modi of being opposed to the idea of pluralism and inclusivity that Nehru stood for, besides blaming the former of destroying institutions that Nehru built. Of course, praise for Nehru from arguably his biggest critic, is bound to delight them.

While the Congress is playing it smart by claiming victory for Modi’s choice of words, the Prime Minister has displayed that he is staying true to his promise of taking the Opposition along. There are some bills that still need the Opposition’s support to pass muster in the Rajya Sabha and the PM’s praise of Nehru could be an olive branch to the Congress. Also, by praising Nehru, the Congress’ tallest leader, could also puncture the Opposition’s charge of disrespecting their icons. In either case, it is Modi who has emerged as the smarter politician yet again.

Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das cracks whip on co-op housing societies, orders probe into land deals

Source: hindustantimes.com

Chief minister Raghubar Das on Tuesday asked land and revenue department to set up probe against all housing cooperative societies allegedly involved in murky land deals and immediately dissolve New AG Office Employees Cooperative House Construction Society Limited (NAGOECHCSL) at Kadru in Ranchi.

Das also asked the department to lodge FIR against its secretary Kapildeo Giri charged with defrauding people in land deals.

Following the chief minister’s order here , Registrar, Jharkhand Cooperative Societies, issued a letter on Tuesday evening dissolving the management committee of NAGOECHCSL.

The registrar also appointed Sanjeet Kumar, cooperative extension officer, as administrator to look after daily routine works of NAGOECHCSL for next three months.

Das passed the order while hearing people’s complaints during Sidhi Baat programme at chief minister public hearing centre.

The matter relates to a complaint lodged by one Hansraj Jaiswal, a resident of New AG Colony, Ranchi.

Jaiswal, a retired employee of the State Bank of India, knocked the CM’s door for registration of an AG Colony’s land plot which he had purchased from his relative way back in 2003.

During a direct interaction with the chief minister on Tuesday, Jaiswal informed that secretary Giri was playing fraud with him and not cooperating to

get the land registration done. He said, “I have been living in the house constructed on the said land since long back but I don’t have the land registration document, which validates the owner’s legal right over the land.”

He alleged that Giri was an employee of the accountant general’s office and had earned huge assets worth hundreds of crore through land deals linked with NAGOECHCSL.

Jaiswal further informed that he had lodged several complaints with the Registrar, Jharkhand Cooperative Societies, but to no avail.

He urged the chief minister to

set up an inquiry into the matter and take necessary action to get his land registration done.

Top government officials including CM’s principal secretary Sunil Burnwal drew his attention towards many earlier complaints they had come across against Giri.

Taking serious note of the matter, the chief minister ordered an enquiry against all housing cooperative societies and immediate dissolution of the NAGOECHCSL.

He said, “The officers of the cooperative department connive with builders and people like Giri in dubious land deals to cheat people.”

OPINION | RIP, Indian Civil Service

Source: deccanherald.com

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man of India — for whom the country recently erected a massive statue — described the Indian civil service as the steel frame of the country. Tragically, as the Iron Man’s statue watches benignly, his steel frame is…

An attack on the civil service has begun. The attack will simultaneously make two of India’s institutions effectively ineffective, not only destroying the civil service but also damaging the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

If there is one examination in the country that has for decades been fool-proof, ensuring that only the meritorious and the most deserving get through, it is the civil services examinations. And the credit for that goes to the UPSC, which conducts the yearly examination. Nearly a million aspirants apply for the examination every year, of which about 7-8 lakh go on to write it. Of these, finally about 1,200 are selected for the various services, with the top 70 or so selected to the IAS and the next 60 for the IPS and so on.

The UPSC, established in 1926, has been holding these examinations without leaks or other malpractices. Which is why only the most deserving and meritorious get through the exam. Only the best among those writing the exam in any year can get through the back door.

You could be the son of the cabinet secretary, or the daughter of the most powerful cabinet minister, but you can make it only if you write your examination better than the others. Else, how could I, coming from a very ordinary family and from the farthest corner of India, and both a linguistic and a religious minority, have made it to the IAS? Else, how could ordinary, uninfluential youngsters from Odisha and Bihar and UP get into the civil services every year?

Even in the United Nations, where I worked for 20 years, the entry is based on a compromised system of quotas and influence and a ‘you take my boy in your department, and I’ll take your boy in mine’ system. Indeed, there are few parallels to the merit identification system of civil service selection that the UPSC implements.

But that is all set to change. The government is planning a massive back-door entry at the top levels of the civil service. It began tentatively last year when about a dozen joint secretaries (JS) were inducted into the Government of India through the back door. It was lovingly labelled lateral entry.

Joint secretaries are the linchpins around which the government functions. Lateral entry of joint secretaries on a massive scale could lead to a system collapse; for, if you break the linchpin in a wheel, the vehicle collapses.

Alarmingly, however, the government is now proposing to expand the lateral entry to cover 50% of all the JS posts. What would make this most sinister is, if as is being reported, the lateral entry selection is not to be handled by the UPSC but by the Niti Aayog.

It sure would not be easy to compromise the UPSC, whose members hold tenured postings and whose systems cannot be easily bent to accommodate the party in power. So, it seems, the selection of the lateral entrants would be handed over to the Niti Aayog, a pliable organisation whose vice chairman and members owe their positions to the government in power and some of whose allegiance to the ruling party is well-known.

The Niti Aayog is a planning body, not a body with expertise in the selection of officials. It does not have functional expertise or experience in human resource selection at any level, let alone of higher civil servants. That is a nearly 100-year expertise that the UPSC has gathered.

Training, field experience

After selection, the young UPSC selectees undergo an intensive and varied two-year training before they are posted. Thereafter, during the first 15-20 years of their postings, they work in sub-divisions, districts, divisions and in state governments,all of which is on-the-job training that prepares them for policy-making in Delhi.

The middle-aged lateral entrants will not be coming in with any such long training and understanding of the varied Indian polity and systems.

One of the advantages that the All India Services bring into the central ministries is the field experience that they get working in rural, semi-urban and urban India. That is a diverse experience of India, of its people and their aspirations and the differing systems in place across the country that is brought to bear on governance in Delhi.

On the other hand, the lateral entrants would largely be managers with narrow specialities and likely to have little clue of the larger India, its people and systems.

Doubtless, the sectarian interests of those in power will largely determine the lateral entry selection. There is then little chance of a brilliant youth from rural Bihar to make it through the back door as a JS. Merit, as established on record through a fool-proof examination, will soon get an indecent burial.

Rest in Peace, Indian Civil Service.

Sardar Patel, whom the BJP now worships as one of its own, must be turning in his grave today, seeing his steel frame being destroyed by the very people who swear by his name. The Sardar’s heart in that massive statue in Gujarat must be melting.

For he, who knitted India’s many little kingdoms and principalities together into the nation we know today, knew that if the country’s steel frame was destroyed, it could not hold together for long.

2 women assaulted, tonsured for resisting rape bid by councillor in Bihar

Source: hindustantimes.com

A 48-year-old woman and her newly married 19-year-old daughter were ‘punished’ in Vaishali’s Bihari village for protesting against a rape bid by a local ward councillor. The police said that ward councillor Mohammad Khurshid and his henchmen assaulted the women, shaved their head and paraded them across the village. The ward councillor, a barber and three others were arrested by the police on Thursday, after a video of the incident went viral on social media.

Sanjay Kumar, station house officer (SHO) of the Bhagwanpur police station confirmed the incident and said that the matter is under investigation. He said that half a dozen people barged into the victims’ house and attempted to rape the daughter. After the mother tried to rescue her daughter, the accused physically assaulted the two women.

One of the accused beat them with wooden sticks, dragged them outside their house and held a ‘panchayat’. Khurshid called a barber and ordered him to shave the women’s heads, and paraded them across the village.“Around 6.30 pm, half a dozen armed men forcibly entered my house and attempted to rape me. When my mother tried to save me, they started beating us,” the one of the victims told the police.

Eyewitnesses said that Khurshid alleged that the duo was involved in a flesh trade racket.

A case has been registered against seven people under sections 376 (punishment for rape), 511 (punishment for attempting

Why do terrorists from Bengal find a safe haven in Bengaluru and Kerala

Source: oneindia.com

New Delhi, June 26: In less than one year, the National Investigation Agency has picked up a terrorist of Bengal origin from Bengaluru, Karnataka.

On Tuesday, an absconding accused in the Burdwan blast case was arrested by the NIA from Doddaballapur near Bengaluru. In August 2018 the NIA had arrested one Mohammad Jahidul Islam alias Kausar from Ramnagara near Bengaluru in connection with the Bodhgaya blasts case.

Both of them belong to the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh or JMB, a group which is extremely active and also has its roots in West Bengal. It may also be recalled that in January 19 2018, two more persons Abdul Karim and Mustafizur Rehman were arrested from the labour camp of Bengali speaking persons in Mallapuram in Kerala. Both were also of Bengal origin and were wanted in connection with the Bodhgaya case.

When Islam was arrested, the NIA found some electronic devices besides traces of explosives. He is a top leader of JMB in India and is wanted in Burdwan blast case and in many other cases in Bangladesh also. He is the master mind of the Bodhgaya case, the NIA had said.

Tuesday’s arrest from Karnataka is connection with the Burdwan case. The case pertains to a major bomb factory in Burdwan which was busted following an accidental blast. The NIA learnt during the investigation that terrorists of the JMB were preparing bombs in large numbers and had planned on smuggling them into Bangladesh and carry out a series of blasts. The NIA has been probing the case since late 2014 and there are still many absconding accused yet to be arrested.
The accused, Habibur Rehman was arrested from Bengaluru by the NIA.

Rehman was charged in this case for his direct involvement in the conspiracy of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to wage war against Government of India and Bangladesh.

Rehman was a close associate of senior JMB leader Jahidul Islam alias Kausar. He was also associated with other JMB leaders like Rahamatullah and Moulana Yusuf. He was an active member of JMB, Bolpur Module in West Bengal. He had attended a number of training camps conducted by JMB.

Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that this is not for the first time that terrorists have come down South to hide. There have been several such instances reported in Kerala and Hyderabad as well. They tend to mix with the migrant population including the Rohingyas and continue to stay on in states such as Telangana, Kerala and Karnataka.

In Mallapuram, the members of the JMB were staying at a camp for a long time which was set up for Bengali speaking people. Even in Karnataka, their activities go unchecked as they tend to mingle with those who have migrated in search of work. There is also a concern with regard to the Rohingyas who have moved to various parts of the country in large numbers, including Karnataka. These terrorists often use such persons as a shield and use such states as a safe haven.

The Bengal-Bengaluru connection is not restricted to terror alone. There has been a dedicated route between these two states which has been busted by the NIA which probing a case relating to fake currency.

The NIA’s Hyderabad wing had in March 2018 arrested Saddam Hussain, a resident of Bengaluru who was found in possession of fake currency to the tune of Rs 26,000.

The NIA team also recovered two demonetised currency notes of the value Rs 1,000. The accused was allegedly circulating fake currency in various parts of his country after obtaining it from his contacts in Mada, West Bengal.

During investigation it was revealed that accused Saddam had travelled to Malda from Bangaluru on the instructions of Amirul Hoque and collected High Quality FICN from Roustam on four occasions.