TNCC protests Bajrang Dal's harassment of Kerala-based nuns
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United News of India
26 minutes ago
- United News of India
SC issues notice on challenge to section 9 of Citizenship Act over automatic termination of Indian citizenship
New Delhi, Aug 4 (UNI) The Supreme Court today issued notice on a plea challenging the constitutional validity of Section 9 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which provides for the automatic termination of Indian citizenship upon the voluntary acquisition of foreign citizenship. A Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi tagged the matter with a pending case, Dr Radhika Thappeta v. Union of India, which raises a similar issue concerning revocation of Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) status. The Court also issued notice on an interim application filed by the petitioner seeking protection from being required to renounce Indian citizenship in order to acquire foreign citizenship, while the constitutional challenge to Section 9 is under consideration. The petition was filed by Sanjay Gundlagutta Reddy, a US-based Economics professor of Indian origin, who, despite living in New York for several years, continues to identify as an Indian citizen. He argues that Section 9(1) is arbitrary, disproportionate, and violates fundamental constitutional rights, particularly the right to equality and personal liberty. During the hearing, Justice Surya Kant initially questioned the petitioner's counsel Advocate Warisha Farasat, asking, 'You are an eminent person. But what grievance is there…if you are so keen for Indian citizenship, you surrender the foreign citizenship and get the Indian one?' However, after hearing her submissions including reference to a previous case where the Supreme Court had granted interim relief on similar grounds the Bench agreed to issue notice and listed the matter for hearing after two weeks. Key arguments in the Petition are that Section 9 imposes a 'Hobson's choice' on Indians abroad, either acquire foreign citizenship and lose Indian nationality or retain Indian citizenship at great personal and professional cost. It fails to consider the global mobility and dual loyalty of Indian-origin individuals who maintain cultural and emotional ties with India The provision does not offer any discretionary or adjudicatory mechanism, resulting in automatic cessation of citizenship. The petitioner highlights that non-citizens globally face precarious legal status, with risks of deportation and limited access to rights. The petition, filed through Advocate-on-Record Yashwant Singh, seeks a reconsideration of India's citizenship framework to better align with contemporary realities of global Indian diaspora. The outcome of this case could have far-reaching implications for Indian-origin individuals across the world, particularly in how India defines and regulates its citizenship laws in a globalized era. UNI SNG RN
The Print
an hour ago
- The Print
TMC mudslinging hits boiling point: Kalyan Banerjee steps down as party whip in LS, slams Mahua Moitra
He also expressed disappointment with the lack of action against party MP Mahua Moitra, with whom he had publicly clashed in April during the visit of a TMC delegation to the Election Commission of India. Since then, the two leaders have clashed several times, leaving the party red-faced. He announced his decision minutes after a meeting of the party's Lok Sabha MPs chaired by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who joined it virtually from Kolkata. New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress found itself in a spot Monday after party MP Kalyan Banerjee announced his decision to step down as the chief whip in Lok Sabha and lashed out at his party colleagues for their absence from the House, 'session after session'. At the meeting, Mamata also announced her decision to appoint nephew Abhishek Banerjee as the party's leader in the Lok Sabha, replacing Sudip Bandopadhyay. Sources told ThePrint that she also expressed her displeasure with the performance of the TMC Lok Sabha contingent. In the absence of Sudip, who has been unwell, it was Kalyan who was looking after the coordination of the TMC MPs in the Lok Sabha. There were indications in the lead up to Monday's meeting held at the party's office on Rajendra Prasad Road that there may be mudslinging. Just as Kalyan was entering the meeting, he spotted Moitra ahead of him and bitterly remarked to the assembled reporters that 'my day is ruined now'. After the meeting, in which he announced his decision to resign, he came out and said, 'Did not I tell you that this was going to be a bad day for me?' Later, he had an angry outburst while speaking to Kolkata-based television channels. 'She (Mamata) feels there is a lack of coordination in Lok Sabha, that's why I resigned. But is she aware of the situation? Most party MPs never even show up. And it is supposed to be my fault? Sudip (Bandopadhyay) never comes. Kakoli (Ghosh Dastidar) drops by occasionally. Can you believe that the south Kolkata MP is always absent? Only around 11 of our 29 MPs attend the House,' Kalyan said. He also expressed disappointment over the lack of disciplinary action against Moitra, alleging that she compared him to a 'pig' and called him 'sexually frustrated'. Earlier, he had also made personal remarks against Moitra, referring to her recent wedding with former BJD MP Pinaki Misra. 'Labeling a male colleague as 'sexually frustrated' isn't boldness — it's outright abuse. If such language were directed at a woman, there would be nationwide outrage, and rightly so. But when a man is the target, it's dismissed or even applauded. Let's be clear: abuse is abuse — regardless of gender. Such remarks are not just indecent, they reinforce a toxic double standard where men are expected to silently endure what would never be tolerated if roles were reversed. 'If Ms. Moitra thinks that flinging gutter insults will mask her own failures or distract from serious questions about her record, she is deluding herself. Those who rely on abuse instead of answers are not champions of democracy – they are its embarrassment, and the people of this country can see through that act,' he posted on X Monday. (Edited by Gitanjali Das) Also Read: TMC to lead language movement against BJP's 'linguistic terrorism' as Mamata sets tone for 2026
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Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Year after uprising, Bangladesh struggles to find political stability
Abdur Rahman Tarif was talking to his sister Meherunnesa over the phone when the voice on the other end of the call suddenly fell silent. In that moment, Tarif knew something bad had happened. He rushed home, dodging the exchange of fire between security forces and protesters on the streets of Dhaka. When he finally arrived, he discovered his parents tending to his bleeding sister. A stray bullet had hit Meherunnesa's chest while she was standing beside the window of her room, Tarif said. She was taken to a hospital where doctors declared her dead. Meherunnesa, 23, was killed on Aug 5 last year, the same day Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country in a massive student-led uprising, which ended her 15-year rule. For much of Bangladesh, Hasina's ouster was a moment of joy. Three days later, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over the country as head of an interim government, promising to restore order and hold a new election after necessary reforms. A year on, Bangladesh is still reeling from that violence, and Hasina now faces trial for crimes against humanity, in absentia as she is in exile in India. But despite the bloodshed and lives lost, many say the prospect for a better Bangladesh with a liberal democracy, political tolerance and religious and communal harmony has remained a challenge. The hope of the thousands who braved lethal violence a year ago when they opposed Sheikh Hasina's abusive rule to build a rights-respecting democracy remains unfulfilled, said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights group. Stalled change Bangladesh's anti-government movement exacted a heavy price. Hundreds of people, mostly students, were killed in violent protests. Angry demonstrators torched police stations and government buildings. Political opponents often clashed with each other, sometimes leading to gruesome killings. Like many Bangladeshis, Tarif and his sister took part in the uprising, hoping for a broader political change, particularly after when one of their cousins was shot and killed by security forces. "We could not stay home and wanted Sheikh Hasina to go, 20-year-old Tarif said. Ultimately we wanted a country without any discrimination and injustice. Today, his hopes lie shattered. We wanted a change, but I am frustrated now, he said. After taking the reins, the Yunus-led administration formed 11 reform commissions, including a national consensus commission that is working with major political parties for future governments and the electoral process. Bickering political parties have failed to reach a consensus on a timetable and process for elections. Mob violence, political attacks on rival parties and groups, and hostility to women's rights and vulnerable minority groups by religious hardliners have all surged. Some of the fear and repression that marked Hasina's rule, and abuses such as widespread enforced disappearances, appear to have ended, rights groups say. However, they accuse the new government of using arbitrary detention to target perceived political opponents, especially Hasina's supporters, many of whom have been forced to go into hiding. Hasina's Awami League party, which remains banned, says more than two dozen of its supporters have died in custody over the last one year. Human Rights Watch in a statement on July 30 said the interim government is falling short in implementing its challenging human rights agenda. It said violations against ethnic and other minority groups in some parts of Bangladesh have continued. The interim government appears stuck, juggling an unreformed security sector, sometimes violent religious hardliners, and political groups that seem more focused on extracting vengeance on Hasina's supporters than protecting Bangladeshis' rights, said Ganguly. Yunus' office routinely rejects these allegations. Growing political uncertainty Bangladesh also faces political uncertainty over a return to democratically held elections. Yunus has been at loggerheads with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, now the main contender for power. The party headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has demanded elections either in December or February next year. Yunus has said they could be held in April. The interim government has also cleared the way for the Islamists, who were under severe pressure during Hasina's regime, to rise, while the student leaders who spearheaded the uprising have formed a new political party. The students' party demands that the constitution be rewritten, if needed entirely, and says it won't allow the election without major reforms. Meanwhile, many hardline Islamists have either fled prison or have been released, and the Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party, which has a controversial past, is now aspiring to a role in government. It often bitterly criticizes the BNP, equating it with Hasina's Awami League, and recently held a massive rally in Dhaka as a show of power. Critics fear that greater influence of the Islamist forces could fragment Bangladesh's political landscape further. Any rise of Islamists demonstrates a future Bangladesh where radicalization could get a shape where so-called disciplined Islamist forces could work as a catalyst against liberal and moderate forces, political analyst Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah said. Worries also remain over whether the government is ultimately capable of enacting reforms. People's expectation was (that) Yunus government will be focused and solely geared towards reforming the electoral process. But now it's a missed opportunity for them, Kalimullah said. A frustrated population For some, not much has changed in the last year. Meherunnesa's father, Mosharraf Hossain, said the uprising was not for a mere change in government, but symbolized deeper frustrations. We want a new Bangladesh It's been 54 years since independence, yet freedom was not achieved, he said. Tarif echoed his father's remarks, adding that he was not happy with the current state of the country. I want to see the new Bangladesh as a place where I feel secure, where the law enforcement agencies will perform their duties properly, and no government will resort to enforced disappearances or killings like before. I want to have the right to speak freely, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
