Latest news with #ManekaGandhi
Indian Express
7 days ago
- Health
- Indian Express
Delhi may conduct a stray dog census soon
Delhi may soon see a census of stray dogs in the Capital. This is one of many measures that the panel formed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's Standing Committee earlier this month, amid an outcry over rising cases of stray dog bites, has planned to take. The committee, which held its second meeting on Monday, gathered suggestions from the MCD, doctors from government hospitals, NGOs running 20 sterilisation shelters, animal welfare experts, and dog lovers. Sub-committee chairperson, Sunder Singh Tanwar, said a monitoring team will be formed to inspect one shelter a week and look at sterilisation records. 'We'll see if the shelter has enough rabies injections, look at its sanitation conditions, if an infected dog is kept isolated, and check records of sterilisation,' he said, adding that RWAs will also be roped in to carry out the measures. Officials said the civic body, in collaboration with various NGOs, plans to implant a microchip in every dog at sterilisation centres. The chip will record details of their sterilisation status and other vital information, enabling effective monitoring and tracking in the future. Former BJP MP and founder of People for Animals, Maneka Gandhi, who was also present at the meeting, emphasised the need to upgrade and equip the ABC (animal birth control) centres run by the corporation, improve existing medical facilities, and train staff. Tanwar said dog lovers demanded that the Delhi government and civic body-run hospitals should function 24×7 and provide special attention and care to dogs who meet with accidents. Animal welfare expert Gauri Maulekhi, who was also part of the meeting, said, 'The 'nexus' between several ABC centres and MCD officials concerned was formally brought to the attention of the Standing Committee's chairperson.' She also alleged that there's no information on veterinarians working at ABC centres on the MCD website. Her recommendations to the committee included: robust monitoring, infrastructure upgradation, civil society participation, capacity-building, and transparent fund utilisation. 'We remain hopeful that the Standing Committee will rise above decades of bureaucratic inertia and initiate meaningful implementation of the law,' she added. Satya Sharma, Standing Committee Chairperson, said the MCD aims to adopt a holistic approach to strike a balance between animal welfare and public health. 'We are taking strong and effective steps in this direction with the support of all agencies concerned and experts to resolve the issue of stray dogs.' Last month, the Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognizance of a report about infants in Delhi falling prey to the menace. Three big hospitals in the Capital — Safdarjung Hospital, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Hindu Rao Hospital — are witnessing a surge in the cases of dog bites over the last few years. Data accessed by The Indian Express had shown that Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital saw a massive surge in dog bite cases this year when compared to the figures in 2021. While 63,361 cases were reported in the entire year in 2021, the hospital has already registered 91,009 cases till July this year
Indian Express
26-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Does being patriotic Indians mean we can't protest the horrors in Gaza?
When the Bombay High Court scolded petitioners seeking permission to hold a protest over the Gaza conflict this week, stating that they should 'look at their own country,' it did more than just deny a plea. To mourn for children in Gaza is not to betray India. To protest the unjust killing of innocents abroad is not to ignore injustice at home. It is to declare, as our freedom fighters once did, that truth has no borders and conscience no passport. At the heart of this matter lies Article 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Indian Constitution, which guarantee to every citizen the right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to assemble peaceably and without arms. These are not minor provisions. They are foundational to the democratic life of the Republic. Protest, in this framework, is not a disruption of order — it is the music of democratic breathing. It is the only means by which ordinary citizens, powerless in the machinery of state, can voice their hope, grief, and resistance. To deny permission for a peaceful protest mourning deaths in Gaza — under the reasoning that it does not concern India — is to misunderstand the very idea of Indian constitutionalism. The Supreme Court, in Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan vs Union of India (2018), has made it clear: 'Citizens have a fundamental right to assemble peacefully and protest against governmental action.' And in Amit Sahni vs Commissioner of Police (2020), while dealing with the Shaheen Bagh protests, the Court emphasised that protest must be balanced with public order — but it did not deny the right itself. That distinction matters. Courts are not to extinguish the flame of protest but to ensure that it does not burn others' homes. Even earlier, in the landmark Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India (1978), the Court warned against arbitrary state action: 'Any restriction on fundamental rights must pass the test of reasonableness and fairness. Arbitrary denial erodes the very fabric of liberty.' What was the crime here? A candlelit gathering. A moment of collective grief. A people who could not remain indifferent. The Indian tradition does not shy away from this impulse — it sanctifies it. From the Mahā Upanishad's declaration of vasudhaiva kutumbakam — 'The world is one family' — to the Isha Upanishad's invocation: 'He who sees all beings in himself and himself in all beings… he never turns away from it,' Indian thought has always affirmed that compassion is a civic virtue. Even our national poet, Rabindranath Tagore, warned against the dangers of closed sympathies: 'Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high/ Where the world has not been broken up into fragments/ By narrow domestic walls.' The judge's remarks — to 'look at your own country' — seem to invoke a narrow nationalism that betrays this expansive inheritance. Indeed, Mahatma Gandhi himself said: 'My patriotism is not an exclusive thing. It is all-embracing… I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible.' In that spirit, a gathering for Gaza is not un-Indian. It is Indian in its deepest moral sense. Great civilisations not only permit dissent — they preserve it. And great poets, through centuries, have told us what silence costs. Kabir, the weaver-saint, wrote: 'Dard ke dāman se jo lipta, soī to insān hai/ Dusre ke dukh se jo dukh paaye, vahī Bhagwān hai.' (One who clings to the cloak of sorrow is truly human/One who grieves another's grief — that is God.) Sa'adi of Shiraz, whose words are etched into the walls of the United Nations building in New York, said: 'Human beings are limbs of one another/ Created from the same essence/ When one limb is afflicted with pain/The others cannot remain at peace.' And lest we forget the price of selective empathy, we must remember the warning of Pastor Martin Niemöller, who survived Nazi prisons: 'First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me —and there was no one left to speak for me.' This poem is not history, it is prophecy. And we forget it at our peril. By reprimanding citizens who seek to protest global injustice, we do not 'look at our own country'. We blindfold it. When we tell people to silence their grief for others, what we're really saying is: 'Let injustice grow, as long as it's not at your door.' But injustice, like fire, spreads unseen through silence. This is not a Gaza issue. It is not a Muslim issue. It is not even a foreign affairs issue. It is an Indian constitutional issue. For it is we, the people — not robes, not gavels — who breathe life into our Constitution. In the end, history will not ask whether we obeyed orders, but whether we saw clearly — and stood in solidarity with whoever in our universal family was suffering. For again, we are the people who emphasised at the G20 we hosted recently that India's abiding value is vasudhaiva kutumbakam. The writer is President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Grain from Ukraine Ambassador for South Asia. He has worked at the United Nations on all five continents and is also a multilingual award-winning poet
India Gazette
10-07-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Maneka Gandhi meets Uttarakhand CM Dhami at his official residence
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], July 11 (ANI): Former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at his official residence on Thursday. On this occasion, the Chief Minister presented her with the holy prasad of the four Dhams of the state. Earlier, the Chief Minister gave strict instructions to the officials to start Operation Kalanemi against the impersonators who cheat people and play with their sentiments in the name of Sanatan Dharma in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. The Chief Minister said that many such cases have come to light in the state where anti-social elements are cheating people, especially women, by disguising themselves as saints. This is not only hurting the religious sentiments of the people, but also harming the image of social harmony and Sanatan tradition. In such a situation, if a person of any religion is found doing such acts, then strict action will be taken against him. He also said that just as the demon Kalanemi had tried to mislead by disguising himself as a saint, similarly, many 'Kalanemi' are active in society today who are committing crimes in religious guise. Our government is fully committed to protecting public sentiments, the dignity of Sanatan culture and maintaining social harmony. Those who spread hypocrisy in the name of faith will not be spared under any circumstances. He also conducted a field inspection of the areas affected by heavy rains in the Raipur area in Dehradun. He met the local people at Kirsali Chowk, IT Park, Nanurkheda, Amwala, Tapovan, and Shanti Vihar, and listened to their problems. He stated that the safety of the public is the top priority of the state government. (ANI)
Indian Express
04-07-2025
- Indian Express
‘Videos of Pitbull dogs hunting porcupines uploaded on social media': Punjab Police arrest ‘poacher' after Maneka Gandhi intervenes
The Patiala Police has arrested a Rajpura-based poacher for allegedly using his Pitbull and other dogs to illegally hunt porcupines, filming the incidents, and uploading the videos on his Instagram account, officers said on Thursday. The arrest followed the intervention of BJP MP and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi, who was informed about the matter by a local animal lover and environmentalist Sahil Sharma. In the heart-rending videos, allegedly uploaded by the accused — identified as Ajay, a native of Jansua area of Rajpura — on his Instagram account, a pack of dogs — at least one of them prima facie identified as Pitbull — could be seen hunting and mauling a porcupine mercilessly in the presence of two men whose faces are not visible. Sharma said he had allegedly received an anonymous complaint regarding the videos, following which he contacted the office of the former Union minister, Maneka. 'Following her intervention, police immediately took action against Ajay and raided the Jansua area to nab him. Subsequently, an FIR was registered.' Based on a complaint filed by Patiala district's Wildlife Range Forest Officer Charanjit Singh, the FIR was registered against Ajay under sections 9 (prohibition of hunting), 39 (wild animals, etc, to be government property), and 51 (penalties) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, at the Sadar Rajpura police station. In the FIR, it is mentioned that 'several residents of Rajpura hunt porcupines using Pitbull dogs, and videos of such incidents are being uploaded on social media'. Listed as endangered species, 'porcupines are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and illegal hunting or poaching of them is banned'. A complaint was received through the office of Maneka Gandhi, with videos enclosed in a pen drive, the FIR read. Speaking to The Indian Express, wildlife range officer Charanjit said: 'Prima facie, the dogs in the videos are Pitbull breed, but further investigation is underway. The accused — Ajay, from whose Instagram ID the videos were allegedly uploaded — has been arrested. It is being probed whether the dogs belong to him… The duo seen in the videos are being identified. Prima facie, they engage in the activity for fun or to consume porcupine's meat.. Porcupines are protected species (under the Act), but are often seen in the jungles of Punjab.' Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab. Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab. She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on 'Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers' had won accolades at IIMC. She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012. Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab. ... Read More
Time of India
19-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
Ahmedabad ranks third in bird strikes, 319 incidents recorded in five years; animal rights group flags alarming spike post-deadly crash
NEW DELHI: Just a week after the fatal plane crash near Ahmedabad airport that claimed 270 lives, a prominent animal rights think-tank has raised fresh concerns over bird and wildlife strikes at the city's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, revealing it ranks third in India for such incidents. According to data sourced from a parliamentary response in December 2023, Ahmedabad recorded 319 bird and wildlife strikes between January 2018 and October 2023, trailing only behind Delhi (710) and Mumbai (352). The findings were released by the People For Animals Public Policy Foundation (PFA PPF), the legal and policy arm of the organisation led by BJP MP Maneka Gandhi. While authorities have not confirmed bird strike as the cause of last week's crash, and some experts have ruled it out, PFA PPF says the tragedy should serve as a wake-up call. The group revealed that bird strike incidents at the airport surged by 107% in 2023 alone, signalling a sharp deterioration in aviation safety. "We can't keep calling these tragedies 'unforeseen' when the warnings have been clear for years," said Gauri Maulekhi, Trustee and Member Secretary of the foundation. "Ahmedabad Airport alone had 319 documented incidents, every single one was a red flag." The foundation has now made a formal representation to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), urging immediate enforcement of Rule 91 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Your Finger Shape Says a Lot About Your Personality, Read Now Tips and Tricks Undo The rule prohibits the slaughtering of animals, flaying, and dumping of garbage within a 10-kilometre radius of airports, practices known to attract birds and increase collision risks. Despite the ministry of civil aviation acknowledging as early as 2007 that removing meat shops and open garbage dumps near airports could significantly reduce bird strikes, such establishments continue to operate around major airports, including Ahmedabad. 'We already have the laws and the data. What we're missing is accountability and enforcement,' said Mihir Dawar, a policy expert at PFA PPF. 'If we're serious about preventing more tragedies like this, we need to act now.' Nationally, bird and wildlife strikes have surged from 167 in 2006 to 1,125 in 2022, far exceeding the safety thresholds set by the ministry. With the Ahmedabad crash still under investigation, PFA PPF says it's time to stop treating these incidents as isolated, and start treating them as systemic failures.
