Even a person murdering someone would not inflict such violence, says CPI(M) leader
Speaking at a protest organised at Thirupuvanam here to demand justice for custodial death victim B. Ajith Kumar, he said that when hundreds of gold theft cases happened in Tamil Nadu every day, why unleash violence on a youth who was just suspected of stealing jewels. 'If this has raised doubts, then the IAS officer under question, who is said to have ordered the inquiry, should be brought under law.'
Questioning why the DMK government did not take action against the police officials responsible for the killing of 13 anti-Sterlite protesters even after three years, he said Justice Aruna Jegadeesan Commission report was sitting idle without any action.
Under the guise of a special team, all senior police officials were having goons under their control, he charged.
In order to ensure fair justice to the victim's family, and to prevent distortion of evidence, it should be ensured that the arrested police personnel be kept in prison till the judgment day. 'As eyewitnesses and other evidence are crucial in this case, the State government should protect them from getting tampered with,' Mr. Shanmugam added.

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Economic Times
21 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Free speech stops at the border? ‘Anti-American' scrutiny is raising the bar for immigrants
iStock Immigration authorities in the US are widening the net of discretionary review. New guidance tells officers to treat 'anti-American activity' and antisemitic ideologies as overwhelmingly negative when deciding on visas, work permits, and green cards. At the same time, a new memorandum on 'good moral character' (GMC) has raised the bar for naturalization, requiring applicants to demonstrate active civic commitment rather than simply avoiding crime. Together, these moves show how free speech, while constitutionally protected for citizens, can become a liability for immigrants. International students have already seen their visas abruptly cancelled over alleged ideological sympathies, while naturalization applicants face new uncertainty over how their personal conduct will be judged. The First Amendment protects expression, but many immigration benefits are discretionary and, for those outside the US, largely non-reviewable. The new USCIS guidance and recent moves against international students show how speech-adjacent conduct can negatively affect visas, status extensions, and green-card cases, even when criminal laws are not at issue. 'America's benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies,' USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said. 'Immigration benefits—including to live and work in the United States—remain a privilege, not a right.' A sharper edge to discretion The Good Moral Character (GMC) memorandum issued on August 15, 2025, complements the anti-American activity guidance. It empowers adjudicators to go beyond criminal records, assessing lifestyle choices, online activity, and social affiliations. Rajiv Khanna, writing in The Economic Times, warned that the apparent flexibility masks a tougher standard. 'The fundamental shift appears to be this: it may no longer be enough to simply lack a criminal record. The new policy explicitly states that an absence of 'bad deeds' does not, by itself, equate to good moral character,' he wrote. Khanna noted the deeper implications: 'The clean slate you thought you had may now be viewed as a blank slate—and a blank slate may not be considered good enough.' The 'anti-American' filter By linking discretionary analysis to anti-American and antisemitic activity, USCIS has inserted ideology into adjudication. Expanded social-media vetting is designed to flag such content. What counts as 'anti-American,' however, is left undefined, giving officers wide discretion. Khanna's caution on vagueness applies here too. 'This introduces a dangerously vague and subjective standard,' he wrote of the GMC memo, adding that interpretation is now left to individual officers rather than says officers must consider whether an applicant has 'endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused' views of a terrorist group, or promoted anti-American or antisemitic ideologies, and weigh that strongly against approval in any discretionary analysis. The change also clarifies how discretion applies in EB-5 investor matters involving national-interest threats, fraud, or criminal misuse, and affirms that extensions or changes of F/M student status involve discretion. The update is effective USCIS says it has expanded the set of benefit requests that receive social-media screening, adding reviews for 'anti-American activity.' The agency states this activity will be 'an overwhelmingly negative factor' in discretionary decisions. Student visas as a test case The stakes are already visible in the student visa arena. Reports of mass F-1 cancellations this year illustrate how quickly status can change when protests, associations, or online posts are read as hostile to US values. Some revocations were later rolled back, but the episode highlights the limited protections available to in the year, the White House signaled a harder line: officials said visas of 'Hamas sympathizers' on campuses would be cancelled, and launched broader initiatives to combat antisemitism across schools. These steps form the backdrop to today's USCIS direction that folds perceived ideological activity into case-by-case immigration judgments. For students and professionals, it means that speech that would be lawful for Americans can carry life-changing consequences for their own though the updated USCIS policy does not rewrite the First Amendment, it reframes immigration discretion. For non-citizens who need the government to grant, extend, or convert a status, expression that officials read as anti-American or antisemitic can now carry decisive weight—even if it would be lawful speech for a US citizen. That is why, in practice, free-speech protections often do not shield immigrants from adverse immigration outcomes. (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. How an auto giant trapped global investors in an INR1,000 crore heist Fortis Healthcare still heals portfolios, but valuations are running hot. Swiggy, Tencent backer Prosus gets Rajinikanth fan to script India AI play IndiGo's GIFT City unit: Simple expansion or is there more to it than meets the eye? Stock Radar: Rico Auto stock showing signs of bottoming out after about 40% fall from highs; what should investors do now? 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First Post
21 minutes ago
- First Post
Does Sheikh Hasina's party have office in Kolkata?
India has rejected Dhaka's allegations that members of the 'banned' Awami League are carrying out 'anti-Bangladesh activities' on Indian soil. This came after Bangladesh claimed that 'Awami League-linked offices' were being operated on Indian soil, allegedly by leaders of Sheikh Hasina's party living in exile here. But what is the truth? India has dismissed Dhaka's allegations that members of the 'banned' Awami League are carrying out anti-Bangladesh activities on Indian soil. The Awami League is the party of Sheikh Hasina, who resigned as Prime Minister and fled Bangladesh in August 2024. The development came after the Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry claimed that 'Awami League-linked offices' were being run on Indian soil, allegedly by leaders taking refuge across the border. India has rejected the charge and reiterated its call for 'free, fair and inclusive' elections in Bangladesh. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Let's take a closer look. India rejects Bangladesh's charge India on Wednesday (August 20) responded to Dhaka's accusations that offices linked to the Awami League in Kolkata and New Delhi were involved in 'anti-Bangladesh activities.' The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called Dhaka's allegations 'misplaced,' underlining that no such activity is permitted from Indian soil. 'Many of the senior leaders of the Party, absconding in several criminal cases in Bangladesh on account of grievous crimes committed against humanity, remain in the Indian territory. Earlier, on 21 July 2025 evening, under the garb of an indescript NGO, some of the senior leaders of this banned Party planned to hold a public outreach at the Delhi Press Club and eventually distributed booklets among the attending members of the Press. To date, several reports in Indian media affirm increasing overtures of the Party while being on the Indian soil,' the Bangladesh foreign affairs ministry said in a statement earlier on Wednesday. 'This development also risks upholding the good-neighbourly relations with India driven by mutual trust and mutual respect, and lends serious implications for the political transformation underway in Bangladesh,' the statement read, warning that the issue 'might also trigger public sentiment in Bangladesh, which may in turn impact the ongoing efforts of the two countries in further enhancing the relationship between the two closest neighbours.' 'The government of Bangladesh, therefore, would urge the government of India to take immediate steps to ensure that no anti-Bangladesh activity is undertaken by any Bangladeshi national from being in the Indian soil…,' the statement added. India has rejected Dhaka's accusations, saying it had no knowledge of such activities and would not allow them under any circumstances. 'The Government of India is not aware of any anti-Bangladesh activities by purported members of the Awami League in India or of any action that is contrary to Indian law. The Government does not allow political activities against other countries to be carried out from Indian soil,' the MEA said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Describing Bangladesh's allegation as 'misplaced,' New Delhi reiterated the need for 'free, fair and inclusive elections" at the earliest in the neighbouring country to 'ascertain the will and mandate of the people.' Our response to media queries on the Press Statement issued by the Interim Government of Bangladesh⬇️ 🔗 — Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) August 20, 2025 Does Awami League have offices in India? Bangladesh's allegations come amid some reports in the Bangladeshi press about a 'discreet 'party office' of Bangladesh Awami League' in Kolkata that Indian intelligence agencies are 'aware' of. As per a BBC Bangla report, cited by Bangladesh's The Business Standard, Hasina's party office has been 'operating for months' out of a commercial complex on the outskirts of Kolkata. After student-led protests forced Sheikh Hasina to flee Bangladesh on August 5 last year and come to India, several Awami League and affiliated leaders also reportedly moved here, many of whom settled in and around Kolkata. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Since Hasina's ouster, nearly 1,300 former ministers and the top and middle-level leaders of her party, its youth wing Jubo League, and its students' wing Bangladesh Chhatra League, have been in self-exile in India and other parts of the world, as per ThePrint. Some have shifted to the US, Canada, Australia and other countries. In May this year, Bangladesh banned all activities of the Awami League, including its online presence, under the Anti-Terrorism Act. What do Awami League leaders do in India? The Awami League leaders in India have mostly settled in New Town, a planned satellite city on the outskirts of Kolkata, reported ThePrint. They spend their time in offering namaz, going to gym or morning walks and attending online meetings with other party leaders and workers in Bangladesh and other parts of the world. A former Awami League MP living in New Town told the digital outlet that he regularly meets former Bangladesh home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who he claimed has rented a spacious apartment in the area. As per ThePrint, Khan, his wife and daughter are residing in Kolkata. He goes to Delhi every week for party meetings and to 'meet high-level functionaries of the Indian establishment'. Another former Awami League MP from Cox's Bazar said, 'I wake up at the crack of dawn and offer my Fajr prayers at the 3BHK apartment I share with another Awami League MP. Then we both head to the neighbourhood fitness studio, which is rather impressive. I do weight training while my flatmate has enrolled for Pilates classes.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD During the online evening meetings, the Awami League members share and analyse political news from their homeland and discuss their next move. However, the leaders deny that they have an office in Kolkata. 'Yes, there is space we have rented in New Town where all of us meet. There are almost 1,300 party leaders in Kolkata. We can't possibly meet at the former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal's living room! But to call it an office would be a gross exaggeration,' Mohammad A Arafat, former Bangladesh Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, told ThePrint. With inputs from agencies


Mint
21 minutes ago
- Mint
‘Time has come': Security beefed-up around Jammu railway station after pigeon carrying 'threat letter' captured
A pigeon carrying a threat note to blow up the Jammu railway station was captured by the security forces from the border area of RS Pura in Jammu district, officials said on Thursday. Pakistan has traditionally sent balloons, flags and pigeons carrying varied messages to the India side of the International Border (IB). However, this is the first time a pigeon has been captured carrying a threat letter for a blast, officials said. The matter has been taken up seriously by Indian security agencies amid the prevailing threat perceptions and anti-India designs. 'The pigeon believed to be flying in from Pakistan was caught in the Katmaria area along the International Border at around 9 pm on August 18. A chit was found tied to its claws carrying a message to blow up the Jammu railway station,' a senior police officer said. According to sources quoted by PTI, the letter carried by the pigeon was written in Urdu and English. It threatened to low up the Jammu railway station with an IED with lines such as 'Kashmir Freedom', 'Time has come', etc. Officials said that the security agencies are probing the incident and ascertaining whether it was an act of mischief or a well-planned conspiracy. The security at the Jammu railway station and along the tracks, which is close to the Pakistan border, has been beefed up as security agencies do not want to take any chances. Local police are on high alert. Additionally, dog squads and bomb disposal teams have been deployed in case of an emergency. According to security experts, the pigeon might have been specially trained and released from across the border with a threat message tied to its claws. 'You have to take such matters seriously,' an expert said.