Mamata opposing Operation Sindoor to appease minorities, says Amit Shah

The Hindu

2 days ago

Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (June 1, 2025) launched a blistering attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of 'stooping low' by opposing Operation Sindoor and the Waqf Amendment Act to appease the Muslim vote bank, and alleged that the Murshidabad riots were 'State-sponsored'.
Addressing party leaders and workers in Kolkata, Mr. Shah gave a clarion call to uproot the TMC government from power in the 2026 assembly elections.
'The tenure of Mamata Banerjee as the CM will end in 2026. The BJP will uproot this TMC government in the next elections. To appease the Muslim vote bank, Mamata didi opposed Operation Sindoor. By doing so, she is insulting the mothers and sisters of this country. You have not only opposed the military operation, but you have also played with the lives of crores of mothers and sisters,' Mr. Shah claimed.
The Home Minister said he has come to Bengal to 'appeal to the women of the State and explain the value of sindoor [vermilion] to those who are against Operation Sindoor'. Mr. Shah claimed the mothers and sisters of Bengal would teach Banerjee and her party a lesson in 2026 for opposing the military strike, launched in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack in April that left several tourists, including some from Bengal, dead.
Ms. Banerjee had recently accused the Centre of politicising Operation Sindoor for electoral gains.
Responding to the allegation, Mr. Shah said, 'During previous regimes in which Mamata didi was also a minister, no steps were taken to deal firmly with terror attacks. But our PM Narendra Modi took firm measures against terror attacks. But Mamata didi has a problem with it.' For the sake of her vote bank, Mamata didi has 'crossed all limits of stooping low', he alleged.
'Pakistan-backed terrorists killed our innocent citizens in front of their families after asking them about their religion. Operation Sindoor was carried out to punish these terrorists. The headquarters of the terrorists were destroyed by entering Pakistan. However, Mamata didi was pained over the death of these terrorists. She opposed Operation Sindoor by issuing a cheap political statement,' he claimed.
Mr. Shah asserted that the Centre had launched a 'deep strike 100 km into Pakistan, targeting terrorist headquarters. 'Numerous terrorists were killed, but this seems to trouble Mamata ji. By doing so, you are not only opposed to the mission but also disregard the sentiments and emotions of the women of our country,' he alleged.
Bangladesh tribunal indicts former Prime Minister Hasina on mass murder charges
Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal on Sunday (June 1, 2025) indicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two others on several charges, including mass murder, for their alleged role in the violent crackdown on student-led protests last year.
Sunday's proceedings marked the start of Ms. Hasina's trial in absentia nearly 10 months after the ouster of her government following the protests.
'We do hereby take into cognizance the charges,' the three-judge ICT bench said after a prosecution team formally accused them of attempting to tame the protests using brutal force.
The tribunal simultaneously issued a fresh arrest warrant against Ms. Hasina and then Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.
The third accused, the then inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, is in custody to stand trial in person.
The prosecution charged Hasina with exercising absolute authority to ruthlessly suppress the uprising. The two others were accused of provocation, complicity, abatement, instigation and facilitation.
All three were accused of superior command responsibility for the crimes.
Explosions caused 2 bridges in western Russia to collapse, officials say, 7 people were killed
Explosions caused two bridges to collapse and derailed two trains in western Russia overnight, officials said on Sunday (June 1, 2025), without saying what had caused the blasts. In one of the incidents, seven people were killed and dozens were injured.
The first bridge, in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, collapsed on top of a passenger train on Saturday, causing the casualties. The train's driver was among those killed, state-run Russian Railways said.
Hours later, officials said a second train derailed when the bridge beneath it collapsed in the nearby Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine.
In that collapse, a freight train was thrown off its rails onto the road below as the explosion collapsed the bridge, local acting Gov. Alexander Khinshtein said Sunday. The crash sparked a fire, but there were no casualties, he said.
Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, said in a statement that explosions had caused the two bridges to collapse, but did not give further details. It said that it would be investigating the incidents as potential acts of terrorism.
Rescue workers cleared debris from both sites, while some of those injured were transported to Moscow for treatment. Photos posted by government agencies in Bryansk appeared to show train carriages ripped apart and lying amid fallen concrete from the collapsed bridge. Other footage on social media was apparently taken from inside vehicles on the road that had managed to avoid driving onto the bridge before it collapsed.
Damage to railway tracks was also found Sunday by inspectors working on the line elsewhere in the Bryansk region, Moscow Railways said in a statement. It did not say whether the damage was linked to the collapsed bridges.
Air India CEO says airline looking to replace tie-up with Turkish aircraft maintenance company
Amid continuing military tensions with Pakistan, Air India is exploring alternatives to replace Turkiye-based aircraft maintenance provider, Turkish Technic, following boycott calls sparked by Ankara's support for Pakistan during last month's cross-border strikes. Simultaneously, the airline has requested the government for $600 million annual subsidy to counter losses from flight disruptions triggered by Pakistan's airspace closure since April.
'We are cognisant of the [public] opinion. As we can find alternatives, we'll try direct aircraft there. It's not an overnight or easy solution.' Air India CEO Campbell Wilson told The Hindu in response to a question on whether the airline would revisit its agreement with Turkish Technic amidst calls for boycott.
The airline sends its Boeing 777, legacy as well as those leased from Delta Airlines and Etihad post privatisation, to Turkiye for maintenance operations. The airline is already grappling with a delay in the retrofit of its legacy narrowbody and widebody aircraft, and a complete retrofit or refurnishing of its 13 legacy Boeing 777 now stands postponed with the aircraft set to undergo a limited 'heavy refresh' next year that involves new carpets and seat covers.
'We've got a number of widebody aircraft that require maintenance, including the refit. There isn't the capacity in India to do that for wide-body aircraft and we've had to farm aircraft out to AIESL [Air India Engineering Services Limited- a government-owned MRO]. Obviously, they can't do all of it. We've sent some to Abu Dhabi, some to Singapore, and indeed some to Turkish,' Mr Wilson explained.
Air India's low-cost arm, Air India Express, too has an agreement with the Turkish company for component support and solution needs of 190 Boeing 737 aircraft, that include services such as component pooling, repair, overhaul, modification, and logistics services of Turkish Technic.
Recently, the DGCA also said that IndiGo has until August 30 to terminate its agreement for leasing two widebody Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines which the former has been using since 2023 to provide flights to Istanbul from Delhi and Mumbai after technical challenges in using its own narrow- body Airbus A320 and A321 that had to either take a mid-way fuel stop or carry less than the full load of passengers. The government has also revoked Turkish ground-handling company Celebi's security clearance across airports.
But the impact of the military tensions on Indo-Pak border for two of the biggest airlines in India don't end here. Air India has also sought $600 million subsidy from the Indian government for every year Pakistan's airspace remains shut for Indian aircraft as it is forced to re-route its flights to Europe and North America and take a fuel-stop in Vienna for flights to Toronto, Washington DC, Chicago resulting in upto three hours of additional flight duration for some.
'At the time, that was our assessment of what the cost would be,' Mr Wilson said in response to a question. The demand was made after the government asked airlines to share their assessment of the impact of the airspace closure.
Air India's flights are also grappling with an impact on passenger and cargo capacity in some cases.
'In order to operate non-stop with a longer flight route, we can't fill all of the seats or all of the cargo capacity,' the airline CEO said. As many as 20-30 seats have to be flown without passengers on some flights.
'We're getting better at optimising the flight route and mitigate the impact on our customers, operations and finances,' Campbell added.
In Brief:
Ukraine destroyed more than 40 military aircraft in drone attack deep inside Russia: official
A Ukrainian drone attack has destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep in Russia's territory, a Ukrainian security official told The Associated Press on Sunday (June 1, 2025), while Russia pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones a day before the two sides meet for a new round of direct talks in Istanbul. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose operational details, said the attack took over 1 1/2-year to execute and was personally supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The operation saw drones transported in containers carried by trucks deep into Russian territory, he said. The drones reportedly hit 41 bombers stationed at several airfields on Sunday afternoon, including the Belaya air base in Russia's Irkutsk region, more than 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) from Ukraine.
Scolding does not amount to provoking someone to take own life: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has discharged a man who was accused of driving a student to suicide by scolding him. The accused, in charge of a school and a hostel, had scolded the deceased following a complaint by another student. After the incident, the student killed himself. A Bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra stated that no ordinary person could have imagined that a scolding would result in such a tragedy. The top court set aside an order of the Madras High Court, which had refused to discharge the teacher for the offence of abetment to suicide under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.