Complainant Godse's kin: Rahul Gandhi claims threat to life over Savarkar remark
The defamation case stems from Gandhi's comments on Savarkar made on November 17, 2022 during his Bharat Jodo Yatra at a rally in Maharashtra's Akola district. Gandhi allegedly referred to Savarkar as a "British servant" who received a pension from the colonial government.'There exists a clear, reasonable, and substantial apprehension that Rahul Gandhi may face harm, wrongful implication, or other forms of targeting,' the application read.Gandhi further said, 'There is a history of violence associated with the complainant's lineage. History should not be allowed to repeat itself,' in reference to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.Gandhi also claimed that his 'vote chori' allegations have provoked his political opponents. He said he has received 'two public threats' from BJP leaders, one from Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, who called him the 'number one terrorist of the country,' and another from BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marwah.Complainant Satyaki Savarkar had earlier filed a criminal defamation case against Gandhi, objecting to alleged derogatory remarks made against V D Savarkar during a public address. At the time of filing, Savarkar submitted a CD and a transcript of the speech as supporting material.- EndsTune InMust Watch
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Hindustan Times
2 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
40 years of Assam Accord: A lookback at gains and unfulfilled clauses
On Tuesday, leaders from Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a regional party in Assam, met Congress MP and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, in Delhi. Also present were Assam Congress president and the party's deputy leader in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, and two other Congress MPs from the state Pradyut Bordoloi and Rakibul Hussain. Leaders from Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a regional party in Assam, met Congress MP and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, in Delhi. (@INCAssam) Among other issues including next year's assembly polls in the northeastern state and a likely alliance between AJP and Congress, the leaders discussed the Assam Accord and its implementation. The regional party's president Lurinjyoti Gogoi later told journalists that he urged Gandhi to raise the issue of non-implementation of critical clauses of the accord in Parliament. The accord, which was signed on August 15, 1985 to mark the end of a six-year agitation against illegal immigrants (especially those from Bangladesh), to which Gandhi's father, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was also a signatory, will complete 40 years this Friday. The accord signed by the union government and All Assam Students Union (AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP), the two organisations from the state that had spearheaded the 1979-1985 agitation, is considered as the most important deal to stop illegal immigration, detect and deport foreigners residing in the state and give constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards for Assamese people. Over the past four decades many of the clauses in the accord have been fulfilled. But the core issues of fencing the entire border with Bangladesh to prevent entry of illegal immigrants, detection and deportation of all foreigners who entered the state after March 25, 1971 (the day Bangladesh came into being) and providing constitutional safeguards to Assamese people remain unfulfilled despite assurances by successive governments from different political parties including Congress, Asom Gana Parishad (formed after signing of the accord) and Bharatiya Janata Party. Assam has a separate government department, set up in 1986, to implement the accord The agitation and the accord The Assam Agitation started in 1979 after names of several thousands of dubious citizens got included in the electoral rolls of Mangaldai constituency ahead of the 1980 Lok Sabha polls. This led to fears among indigenous groups that if the influx from Bangladesh continued unabated, it would lead to political, social and demographic sidelining of the original inhabitants. The protests over the next six years were led by AASU and organisations like AAGSP and saw participation from all sections of society. Though the agitation was mainly non-violent, over 800 people were killed in police action and nearly 2,000 killed in a single night in 1983 when members of indigenous groups attacked villages in Nellie of Bengali-speaking Muslims with origins in Bangladesh. The agitation came to an end following signing of the accord. 'Foreigners who came to Assam on or after March 25, 1971 shall continue to be detected, deleted and expelled in accordance with law. Immediate and practical steps shall be taken to expel such foreigners,' stated one of the main clauses of the agreement. It added that the international border (with Bangladesh) shall be made secure against future infiltration by erection of physical barriers like walls. barbed wire fencing and other obstacles at appropriate places. Strengthening of security arrangements to prevent future infiltration adequate number of check posts would be set up, it mentioned. Clause 6 of the accord stipulates, 'Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people'. Over the past decades some of the demands raised by AASU and few included in the accord have been met. Establishment of the sprawling Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati for preservation, promotion and upliftment of culture of the people of Assam is one. Setting up of the Numaligarh Refinery Limited, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Guwahati and two central universities, Tezpur University in Tezpur and Assam University in Silchar are other such completed projects. But issues like fencing the 267-km border Assam shares with Bangladesh, which is crucial to put an end to infiltration from the neighbouring country, is yet to be completed. Of the total border around 61 km, most of which falls in riverine areas, remain unprotected. Minister for implementation of the accord, Atul Bora, told the state assembly that fencing has been completed while the rest 39-40 km still remain open. Implementation of another prominent clause regarding detection and deportation of illegal immigrants also remains partial. While there is no exact number of such persons residing in Assam some estimates say they could be anywhere from 1 to 4 million or even more. The final report on updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for the state, which was supervised by the Supreme Court with the aim of weeding out illegal immigrants and got over in August 2019, had left out 1.9 million applicants. But that figure is debated, the list is yet to be ratified by the Registrar General of India and several petitions are pending in the apex court seeking partial or complete overhaul of the 5-year-long exercise. In the same reply to the assembly in February, Bora had mentioned that since signing of the accord, and until December 31, 2024, at least 165,531 illegal immigrants residing in Assam had been detected and declared as foreigners by tribunals specially set up for that purpose--cases against nearly 85,000 others who are suspected to be illegal foreigners are still pending. Bora had told the assembly that of those detected 30,115 were deported. Details on the rest are sketchy. In May this year, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had stated that nearly 30,000 of those declared foreigners by tribunals had gone missing with no details of their whereabouts at present. Contentious Clause 6 But the most highlighted and controversial of all things in the accord is Clause 6 that promised 'constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards' to protect the identity and heritage of 'Assamese people'. But since the accord doesn't clearly define who would be considered as 'Assamese people', there's confusion on who would enjoy the constitutional safeguards. Implementation of Clause 6 remained in the backburner for over three decades till the BJP-led government in Centre formed a committee in 2019 to suggest recommendations. The 13-member committee headed by Justice (Retd) Biplab Kumar Sarma had submitted its report to the then chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in February 2020. It had stipulated 1951 as the cut-off date to determine who an Assamese is (those who themselves or their ancestors were living in the state in that year). Other recommendations of the committee include protection of the state's culture, heritage and languages, job safeguards (100% reservation in Grade III and IV jobs and 70% in Grade I and II jobs for Assamese people), protection of land of indigenous people as well reservations in parliamentary and assembly seats for indigenous people. The recommendations again took a backseat for five years till the state government and AASU reached an agreement in February this year on implementing 38 of the 52 recommendations of the committee. CM Sarma stated that those would include mandatory inclusion of Assamese language as a subject in all schools of Brahmaputra Valley and Assamese and Bodo languages as subjects in all schools in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). Similarly, all schools will have to teach students about Assam's history and geography mandatorily till Class 8. It was decided that the state government and AASU would continue deliberations on how to implement the rest of the recommendations and also urge the Centre to find ways to take forward some other recommendations like reservations in Lok Sabha and assembly seats for indigenous people, which don't fall under purview of the state government. With elections happening in few months and issues like illegal immigrants, evictions of 'suspected Bangladeshis' from government and forest lands, rights of indigenous people coming to focus again, the Assam Accord and its implementation will again hit headlines with parties doling out assurances and blaming rivals for the long delay in reaching its stated objectives.
Time of India
2 minutes ago
- Time of India
Russian Forces Destroys Ukraine's Long-Range Missile Facilities Ahead Of Putin-Trump Meeting
Union Minister Anurag Thakur Turns Tables On Opposition In 'Vote Chori' War With 'Fake Voter' Data The BJP has turned the 'vote chori' debate into an all-out political slugfest, directly targeting Congress over alleged fake voters in Opposition strongholds. In a fiery press conference, BJP leader Anurag Thakur accused Sonia Gandhi of being on the voter list before becoming an Indian citizen and presented a detailed dossier exposing voter list anomalies in seats held by Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Abhishek Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav, and MK Stalin. From duplicate entries to mass voter additions, the BJP claims a 'ghuspaithiya vote bank' fuels Opposition victories. The party says its proposed SIR system will clean voter rolls and expose decades of electoral malpractice. Rahul Gandhi has yet to respond to the BJP's fresh offensive.#bjp #congress #votechori #rahulgandhi #soniagandhi #anuragthakur #abhishekbanerjee #akhileshyadav #mkstalin #tmc #sp #dmk #indiapolitics #evmcontroversy #fakevoters #parliament #breakingnews #trending #trendingnow #toi #bharat #toibharat #indianews 29.8K views | 1 day ago
Indian Express
2 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Why PMs deliver Independence Day address from Red Fort
Early morning on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hoist the tricolour and address the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi. In doing so, he will be continuing a tradition that was started by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947. But why was the Red Fort chosen as the venue for India's official Independence Day celebrations? As to why Delhi became a seat of power has been debated ad nauseum by historians. What is perhaps more interesting is that in the course of it assuming political significance, Delhi became more than just a physical location — it became an idea, a name associated with political power. In the 16th century, Babur, the first Mughal emperor, had referred to Delhi as the 'capital of all Hindustan'. More than a century later, Shah Jahan in 1648 would inaugurate Shahjahanabad, comprising a fortified citadel (the Red Fort) and a walled city surrounding it (Old Delhi), on the banks of the Yamuna. Shahjahanabad remained the Mughal capital till 1857 amid a rapid decline in the dynasty's authority over the 18th and 19th centuries. 'Yet, such was his (the Mughal emperor's) symbolic significance as the source of legitimate sovereign authority that many new states, including the East India Company, continued to rule in his name, and to issue coins in his name until well into the 19th century,' historian Swapna Liddle had written for The Indian Express in 2021. This would change after the rebellion of 1857. 1857 & stamping of British authority In 1857, the East India Company was ruling India from Calcutta. As such, there were only a few Europeans in Delhi, which was pretty unimportant for the grand scheme of the Company's economic and political interests designs in the subcontinent. For the natives, however, Delhi and the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar remained the foremost symbols of indigenous authorities. After mutinying against their British superiors, the sepoys triumphantly marched to Delhi and declared the ailing emperor as their leader. The fall of Delhi to Company forces effectively sealed the fate of the rebellion of 1857. It also sealed the fate of the Mughal emperor, who was exiled to Rangoon, and the city itself. 'Delhi suffered severe devastation, 'both physically and psychologically'. Military destruction was followed by punitive damage, vindictive demolition, radical reconstruction, railway and industrial development in disregard of historic dwellings, and the mixed blessing of modem municipal government,' Frykenberg wrote. Initially, the British planned to raze all of Shahjahanabad to the ground and thus wipe out the memory of the Mughal Empire from the city. While they stopped short of doing that, Shahjahanabad, and specifically the Red Fort, was very deliberately stamped with British authority. 'About 80 per cent of the interior of the fort was destroyed (an area of about 120 acres). This had been densely covered with elaborate royal pavilions, gardens, store-rooms, barracks, and quarters of artisans and other court functionaries. Displacing a substantial residential population, the British converted the fort into a military garrison,' Samuel V Noe wrote in 'What happened to Mughal Delhi: A morphological study', a chapter in the aforementioned Frykenberg-edited book. In the decades after the rebellion, the British systematically harnessed Delhi's symbolic associations with power, most notably with the Delhi Durbars of 1877, 1903, and 1911, before deciding to shift the capital to Delhi from Calcutta in 1911. 'Besides its centrality and connectivity within the Great Indian Empire, Delhi carried in the minds of the colonial rulers a symbolic value — as the age old saying goes: 'he who rules Delhi rules India'…,' Suoro D Joardar, professor at the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, wrote in his article 'New Delhi: Imperial Capital to Capital of World's Largest Democracy' (2006). It is this history of Delhi, and by extension the Red Fort, as a seat of empire that made it the venue of choice to celebrate India's independence. This is more so given that in 1946, the fort was the venue of the highly public trials of senior officers of Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army. These trials, which led to an outpouring of nationalist sentiments, had firmly established the Red Fort as a symbol of power and resistance in the minds of the Indian public. As Swapna Liddle wrote in 2021: 'With the coming of Independence, it was necessary that the site of the Red Fort, over which the British colonial government had sought to inscribe its power and might, be symbolically reclaimed for the Indian people.' This is an edited version of an article which first appeared in 2023
