Latest news with #ShivSainiks
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Keeping up with UP: It is time we celebrate Indian languages day, not just Hindi Diwas
As the row over languages in different parts of the country escalates, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has said that all Indian languages are national languages. Hindi is the official language and not the national language of India, which is known for its linguistic diversity. Of the 22 official Indian languages, Sanskrit is not an official language of any state. (HT Photo) While the southern states have relentlessly fought against the imposition of Hindi since independence, in Maharashtra, Shiv Sainiks are compelling Hindi-speaking migrants to speak Marathi. In Bengaluru too, outsiders have been critcised for not speaking in Kannada. In this backdrop, Varanasi-based Socialist leader and author Shatrudh Prakash has made three suggestions to resolve the contentious issue. First, the use of information technology to defuse the ongoing conflict over language. Second, as the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution recognises 22 official languages, the country should celebrate Indian Languages Day, and not Hindi Diwas, on September 14. Hindi was never the special status of a national language though used widely. Also, many of the 22 official languages have a history of thousands of years with Tamil being among the oldest. Prakash argued that there was no justification for celebrating Hindi Diwas. Instead, the entire country should decide a date to unitedly celebrate Indian Languages Day. There aren't many takers amongst Hindi lovers, who connect Hindi with the country's pride but Prakash has quoted famous Hindi poet and author Kedar Nath Singh's book in which he has raised questions on celebrating Hindi Diwas to endorse his view. Singh, a recipient of Jnanpith Award in 2013, had suggested review of all programmes for the promotion of Hindi. Third, English has now become a language of the villages too, where people take pride in learning the language. Besides, even the governments encourage the use of English by naming their welfare schemes in English like the Smart City Mission and phrases like trillion-dollar economy double-engine government. The fact is words travel from one place to another and are used in the local dialect. Prakash did his LLB from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) after completing his graduation in Science. Interestingly he himself had entered public life in 1968, joining the 'English Hatao Movement' but has now given up his anti-English mindset. He has traced the journey of languages from the pre-Independent era till today, extensively quoting the meetings of the Constituent Assembly, the deliberations and the subsequent constitutional provisions, the anti-Hindi protests in the South and the anti-English agitation in the northern belt in his comprehensive book titled Rashtriya Bhashon Ki Vyatha Katha' (Sad Tale of Indian Languages). His argument is: 'Now, the basic structure of the Constitution cannot be changed as the Indian Parliament has limited powers to amend the Constitution under Article 368. Only amendments can be done without touching the basic structure of the Constitution.' Referring to the strong reaction of southern leaders to Union home minister Amit Shah's recent statement on the Hindi language, in which they said the 'imposition of Hindi was beyond their intolerance', he said this only reflects the growing bitterness between the south and north. 'Thus, without making it an emotional or a prestige issue, one should look forward to finding an acceptable and feasible alternative in this era of modern technology,' he said. Prakash suggested the scientists and experts use information technology to resolve the increasing conflict over languages. In the era of technology, there should be no competition or conflict between Indian languages. Quoting Netflix, Prime Video and Jio websites, with provisions for audio and subtitles in any and every language of the world, he suggests the development of a similar software to provide translation in any Indian language and its script. Aren't lakhs of people watching videos in the language of their choice, then why can't there be a software to end this row forever? The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have audio provisions in several languages. So, why can' the Indian Union make a similar provision. Vineet Kansal, director of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) says, 'Realtime softwares are being used in defence. Many tools and applications are available while work is on in labs to develop more.' Of the 22 official languages, Sanskrit is not an official language of any state. However, the central government spent ₹2532.59 crore on the promotion of Sanskrit between 2014-15 and 2024-25, 17 times the combined expenditure of ₹147.56 crore on five other classical Indian languages –– Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia, according to data obtained by Hindustan Times through an RTI application and from public records. Some experts are of the view that the government should make appropriate use of funds though RSS is promoting the Sanskrit language. The book, while reproducing the Constituent Assembly discussions, notes, 'During debate in the Constituent Assembly over the country's capital, a member from the South had said, 'when we travel from South to Delhi, we feel we are strangers.' The author raises a question here: 'Should we allow this feeling to fester?'
NDTV
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
'Jeetu Bhai, Many Have Been Killed': A Journalist Recounts 2006 Mumbai Train Blasts
July 11, 2006, was a Tuesday, and I had taken a compensatory day off from work because on the previous Sunday, I was on duty. Some miscreants had desecrated the statue of Meenatai, Bal Thackeray's wife, at Shivaji Park. This enraged the Shiv Sainiks, and they went on a rampage. A private bus was set on fire, and the police had to fire tear gas shells to disperse frenzied Shiv Sainiks. On Monday, I was busy doing a follow-up story on the violence. It was only on Tuesday that my editor allowed a day off. I planned for a relaxed evening at South Mumbai's New Excelsior Cinema, where the Hrithik Roshan-starred movie Krrish was being screened. Just as the movie began, my mobile phone rang. "JEETU BHAI!!! A BOMB HAS EXPLODED IN A TRAIN OUTSIDE MY BUILDING! THERE IS CHAOS ALL AROUND. MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED. SEND A CAMERA UNIT FAST.' Odysteven Gomes, the Operations Manager at my news channel, screamed on the phone. Gomes stayed at Khar in a building next to the railway tracks. Being an employee of a news organisation, his immediate response to the event was to alert me. Back then, all mobile phones didn't have cameras, and a camera team had to be instantly sent to the location for the incident's coverage. I hastily left the cinema hall and rang the cops to get more details. Six more bomb blasts had taken place in first-class compartments of different local trains. After informing my office and directing camera teams to reach the spots, I rushed to Matunga Road, one of the nearest blast locations. It started raining midway, and I reached the station entirely drenched. My cameraman was already there. The metal body of the train was completely mangled and its pieces minced with bone, blood, and flesh. Local people gathered to speed up the relief work, but the intensified rains hindered the rescue operation. Targeting Gujaratis Since all the affected trains ran on the Western Railway line, I could apprehend that the conspiracy was another attempt by the terrorist organisations to avenge the Gujarat riots. The Western Railway connects suburbs like Khar, Santacruz, Vile Parle, Goregaon, Malad, Kandivali, Borivali, Meera Road and Bhayendar, which are densely populated by Gujaratis. The bombs exploded after 6 pm, when the Bombay Stock Exchange shuts down and the stockbrokers, mostly Gujaratis, head to their suburban homes. A look at the blasts' chronology showed that everything happened within eleven minutes. The first blast took place at 6:24 pm on the train heading towards Borivali near Khar station. It was the blast that Odysteven Gomes had witnessed and alerted me about. This was followed by six other blasts in trains near or within the premises of Matunga Road, Mahim, Bandra, Jogeshwari and Khar stations. The last bomb went off at 6:35 pm on a Virar-bound local train near Borivali. It took over a week to ascertain the total number of casualties, which turned out to be 209. Over 700 passengers were injured. Among the killed was my favourite Hindi poet, Shyam Jwalamukhi. He was famous for his humorous and satirical poems. Jwalamukhi was not a regular local train traveller, but boarded one that evening to return from Thane after some work. Overcrowded Buses, Choked Roads With the bombings at multiple locations, the Western Railway became totally dysfunctional. The impact of the train shutdown affected the road traffic. All arterial roads from South Mumbai to the North-Western suburbs were choked. People pushed themselves into overcrowded BEST buses and taxis to reach home. Many clung to trucks and pickup vans. Several people stayed back at their offices or other known residences in South Mumbai that night. The investigations that followed ignited a controversy, with different investigating agencies coming up with different suspects of the bombings. A week after the bombings, a Hindi TV channel received an email from an obscure, never-heard-of-before organisation, Lashkar-e-Qahhar. The organisation owned up to the blasts and threatened more in the future. The Blasts In Madrid And London The Mumbai train blasts were a close replication of the blasts that occurred in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005. On March 11, 2004, four bombs exploded on different local trains in Madrid within ten minutes, killing 191 people and injuring 1,800. The mass transit system of the capital city of Spain was attacked in the early morning rush hours, when people left home to commute to their place of work. Next year on July 7, 2005, three bombs exploded in London's underground trains, and a fourth one exploded in a double-decker bus. Like Madrid, the mass transport system in London was also bombed during the morning rush. The blasts claimed 52 lives. Who Was Behind The Attack? The Maharashtra ATS claimed to have unearthed the conspiracy a few weeks later and charged 12 people. Reportedly, the conspiracy of the train blasts was engineered at the behest of the Pakistani agency ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and was executed by Lashkar-e-Taiba, with the help of SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India). The bombs were put in pressure cookers at slums in Govandi and then planted on the trains. However, there was a twist in the story when, in 2008, the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested Sadiq Shaikh, an alleged member of the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen. As per the Crime Branch, Indian Mujahideen executed the conspiracy and Sadiq, along with others, planted the bombs. Contradicting the ATS, the Crime Branch claimed the bombs were assembled in a flat at Sewri. It led to scepticism over which set of the accused were the actual perpetrators. Did the ATS arrest the wrong people under political pressure to show results? The ATS stood by its story. In 2015, five alleged planters of the bombs arrested by the ATS were awarded the death penalty, seven were imprisoned for life, and one accused named Abdul Wahid was acquitted. (This is an excerpt from Jitendra Dixit's 2022 book Bombay After Ayodhya: A City in Flux, published by HarperCollins India. Only subheadings and paragraph breaks have been added by NDTV for readers' ease. These are the personal views of the author.) Disclaimer: The author and publisher of the book are solely responsible for the contents of the book or any excerpt derived therefrom. NDTV shall not be responsible or liable for any claims arising from the contents of the book including any claims of defamation, infringement of intellectual property rights or any other right of any third party or of law.
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Uddhav hits out at CM over ‘rudali' comment, calls him ‘perverted and mean-spirited'
Mumbai: Hitting back at CM Devendra Fadnavis for his comment that the Thackeray cousins' 'reunion' rally was a "rudali" (professional women mourners) act and not a "victory celebration", Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said that the "original BJP " was "dead" and that "those who feel sad about the happy moments of Marathi people are very perverted and mean-spirited." Uddhav also clarified that he was not against any language but was against Hindi compulsion or the imposition of any language. "If they want to have three languages, they must tell us what third language will be taught in Uttar Pradesh," he said. "I can understand their (BJP) mentality because the original BJP is dead. It was murdered by these people. 'Rudali' is also a Hindi word. They have taken help from our party, Congress, NCP, and parties across the country to get people to express sorrow because the original BJP is dead," Uddhav said while speaking at Vidhan Bhavan. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai He also hit out at BJP minister Ashish Shelar, who compared the terrorists in Pahalgam to those assaulting non-Marathis in Mumbai. "We Shiv Sainiks are helping people without looking at caste or religion. Those who are comparing Marathi people with the terrorists of Pahalgam are the real killers of Marathi. They cannot even save Hindus; they are taking sides with those who do injustice to Marathi. If any BJP member is comparing a Marathi person who agitates for rights with the terrorists of Pahalgam, they are the killers of Marathi. So did the terrorists of Pahalgam join the BJP? They should tell us. Where did they go? Are they living in the houses of those who accused us? It is the misfortune of Maharashtra that such incompetent people are ruling in Maharashtra," he said. Uddhav also held a meeting of Sena (UBT) legislators in Vidhan Bhavan and asked them to remind assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar about the appointment of the leader of ppposition (LoP) in the assembly. The Sena (UBT) will give a reminder letter to Narwekar on Tuesday asking him to make a decision on appointing an LoP. Narwekar has said they are studying the rules and examining if the LoP's post can be given if a party has less than 10% MLAs. After the budget session, this is the second session of the new Mahayuti govt without an LoP in the assembly. Uddhav hits out at CM over 'rudali' comment, calls him 'perverted and mean-spirited' Chaitanya Marpakwar Mumbai: Hitting back at CM Devendra Fadnavis for his comment that the Thackeray cousins' 'reunion' rally was a "rudali" (professional women mourners) act and not a "victory celebration", Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said that the "original BJP" was "dead" and that "those who feel sad about the happy moments of Marathi people are very perverted and mean-spirited." Uddhav also clarified that he was not against any language but was against Hindi compulsion or the imposition of any language. "If they want to have three languages, they must tell us what third language will be taught in Uttar Pradesh," he said. "I can understand their (BJP) mentality because the original BJP is dead. It was murdered by these people. 'Rudali' is also a Hindi word. They have taken help from our party, Congress, NCP, and parties across the country to get people to express sorrow because the original BJP is dead," Uddhav said while speaking at Vidhan Bhavan. He also hit out at BJP minister Ashish Shelar, who compared the terrorists in Pahalgam to those assaulting non-Marathis in Mumbai. "We Shiv Sainiks are helping people without looking at caste or religion. Those who are comparing Marathi people with the terrorists of Pahalgam are the real killers of Marathi. They cannot even save Hindus; they are taking sides with those who do injustice to Marathi. If any BJP member is comparing a Marathi person who agitates for rights with the terrorists of Pahalgam, they are the killers of Marathi. So did the terrorists of Pahalgam join the BJP? They should tell us. Where did they go? Are they living in the houses of those who accused us? It is the misfortune of Maharashtra that such incompetent people are ruling in Maharashtra," he said. Uddhav also held a meeting of Sena (UBT) legislators in Vidhan Bhavan and asked them to remind assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar about the appointment of the leader of ppposition (LoP) in the assembly. The Sena (UBT) will give a reminder letter to Narwekar on Tuesday asking him to make a decision on appointing an LoP. Narwekar has said they are studying the rules and examining if the LoP's post can be given if a party has less than 10% MLAs. After the budget session, this is the second session of the new Mahayuti govt without an LoP in the assembly.
Hans India
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Shiv Sena to contest in local body elections in Telangana- Shivaji
Hyderabad: The Shiv Sena Party Telangana president Sinkaru Shivaji on Thursday said that his party would contest the upcoming local body elections in the State and a big public meeting would also be organized in Hyderabad soon. The Shiv Sena Party Telangana President and others met Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on the occasion of party's Formation Day. Shivaji said that his party would contest the upcoming local body elections going alone in Telangana. He said all Shiv Sainiks should work to strengthen the party in every village. 'Shiv Sena is a great Hindutva party that works for the country for the sake of dharma and Shiv Sena will support those who fight uncompromisingly for the sake of dharma in Telangana State. The Shiv Sena party always welcomes strong Hindutva leadership. We will soon hold a huge meeting in Hyderabad under the Shiv Sena party,' said Shivaji, adding there will be a lot of joining in the party before the elections.
