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The Wire
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The Wire
'Forcefully Imposed' Versus 'Necessary Cleaning': Are There Rifts in BJP Ally JD(U) Over the Bihar SIR?
JD(U) MP Giridhari Yadav said to The Wire that it took him 10 days to find his own documents. Party MLA Sanjeev Singh said migrant voters are being excluded. JD(U) MP and working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, has, however, welcomed the exercise. From left, JD(U)'s Sanjay Kumar Jha, Giridhari Yadav, and Sanjeev Singh. In the background is an image of the Bihar SIR uploaded by the Election Commission to X. New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party's key ally in the Union and Bihar governments, the Janata Dal (United), has begun to display signs of discontent in its ranks over the Election Commission of India's 'special intensive revision' of rolls in Bihar. While opposition parties have already been up in arms over it, JD(U) MP from Banka, Giridhari Yadav on Wednesday (July 23) said that it was his 'personal opinion' that the exercise had been "forcefully imposed' on Bihar and it took him 10 days to find his documents alone. Speaking to The Wire, Yadav said that at least six months should have been given for the SIR. 'This is my personal opinion and not the party's. At least six months should have been given for the exercise. It took me 10 days myself to find my documents. During this time there is rain and flood in Bihar, many people live outside the state. How will they find the documents for this exercise?' he said to The Wire. When asked if he had raised the matter with the party, Yadav reiterated that this was his personal opinion. 'What will I say to the party? This is my personal opinion,' he said. Earlier on the same day, while speaking to a news agency outside parliament, Yadav criticised the SIR and said that the Election Commission has 'no practical knowledge.' 'The Election Commission has no practical knowledge. It neither knows the history nor the geography of Bihar. It took 10 days for me to collect all the documents. My son stays in America. How will he do the signatures in just a month? This (SIR) has been imposed on us forcefully. This is just like a Tughlaqi farmaan,' he said. 'At least six months' time should have been given for this. I am giving my personal opinion. It doesn't matter what the party is saying. This is the truth. If I can't say the truth, why have I become an MP?' Yadav's remarks come amid ongoing opposition agitation in parliament, demanding a discussion on the Bihar SIR. Opposition MPs of the INDIA bloc continued to protest on the third day of the monsoon session, holding placards and banners, demanding that the exercise be stopped. Inside parliament, the first half of the day's proceedings saw adjournments amid loud protests from the opposition benches demanding a discussion on the issue, with many MPs holding placards and banners in the well of the House. The government is yet to yield to the opposition's demand, and has not admitted any of the adjournment notices submitted by opposition members demanding a discussion on the issue. The exercise which requires voters to provide proof of citizenship as well as of their parents' has been criticised amid fears of mass exclusions and disenfranchisement. The ongoing SIR is due to be completed by July 25, two days from now. The draft electoral roll will be published on August 1. Voters will have until September 1 to make claims and objections and the final electoral roll is set to be published on September 30. 'Cleaning should be done' While his party MP has raised concerns about the exercise, JD(U) working president and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha said that the Election Commission's exercise was a 'welcome move'. 'The purpose of conducting a survey was to avoid bogus voting in case of deaths, or if one person's name is in two places or if one is not a citizen of India. That is why this extensive revision is being done. This is a welcome move by the Election Commission. The cleaning should be done. Till yesterday 98% people applied to the voter list. So the Election Commission is doing the right thing and they have said no genuine voter will be left out,' he said. On Wednesday, the Election Commission's daily release revealed a dramatic overnight surge in electors classified as deceased or or permanently shifted in Bihar. The figures showed that 8,37,262 voters were added to the 'not found at their addresses' category in a single day, while the total number of 'electors not found' jumped from 43.93 lakh on July 21 to 52.30 lakh on July 22. 'Migrants' In Patna, JD(U) MLA Sanjeev Singh has also echoed concerns about migrant workers being excluded from the electoral rolls and said that in his constituency there are no Bangladeshi and Pakistanis, yet names have been excluded. "Those who have been found deceased are genuine [exclusions]. But those who have not been found to be deceased, on what basis have their names been excluded? In my Vidhan Sabha [seat] several names have been excluded. There are no Bangladeshi or Pakistanis in our Vidhan Sabha [seat]. Despite this their names have been excluded,' he said to PTI. 'Those who are migrant workers, their names have been excluded. These people are not able to fill the forms online. They will not be able to give their vote. I want to request the Election Commission to help them. The revision should be done. But more time should have been given. If they started this in March and April these people could have filled their forms. These migrant workers will get holiday during Durga Puja and Chhatth Puja in October-November. By that time our elections will be over. What will they do then?' Singh said that the exercise will not only affect voters of the NDA but other parties as well. 'This will lead to losses not just to NDA but to other parties also. I myself am worried. I have not been able to get in touch with our voters who live outside,' he said. Find The Wire's coverage of the Bihar SIR here. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
The Wire
a day ago
- Business
- The Wire
Coal Production Falls by 6.8%, Crude Oil Output Too Reduces
The sectors which recorded a positive growth included refinery products (3.4 per cent), steel (9.3 per cent), and cement (9.2 per cent). New Delhi: India's core infrastructure sector saw a three-month high of 1.7 per cent in June, increasing from 1.2 per cent in May. However, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday (July 21), the output of five important sectors including coal, crude oil, natural gas, fertiliser, and electricity recorded a negative growth in June, reported Economic Times. The sectors which recorded a positive growth included refinery products (3.4 per cent), steel (9.3 per cent), and cement (9.2 per cent). On the other hand, coal production fell by 6.8 per cent in June, while crude oil output too reduced by 1.2 per cent. Natural gas and fertiliser output also decreased by 2.8 per cent and 1.2 per cent in June, respectively. At the same time, electricity generation too reduced 2.8 per cent year-on-year in June. The combined individual performance in terms of output by eight core industries including coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity is reflected by the Index of Core Industries. These eight make up 40.27 per cent of the total weight of India's Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
The Wire
2 days ago
- Business
- The Wire
China Begins Construction on World's Largest Dam in Tibet
India and Bangladesh have both expressed concerns over the dam's potential impact. China 's Premier Li Qiang announced that construction has begun on what will be the world's largest hydropower dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, at the eastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau. The announcement was made at the ceremony on Saturday, as reported by the Chinese media. However, the planned dam has sparked concerns from India, Bangladesh and NGOs. Why does China want to build the dam? The Yarlung Tsangpo River, which is 2,900 kilometres long, starts in the Himalayas and winds through what is said to be the world's deepest land-based canyon. At one section, the river drops 2,000 meters (6,561 feet) in elevation within 50 kilometers (31 miles). China has cited expanding renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions, and economic goals in the Tibet region as reasons behind the estimated $170 billion (€147.4 billion) project. "The electricity generated will be primarily transmitted to other regions for consumption, while also meeting local power needs in Tibet," state media reported. The dam will reportedly consist of five cascade hydropower stations with capacity to produce 300 billion kilowatt hours of electricity each year – equivalent to the amount consumed by the UK last year. India and Bangladesh raise concerns As the Yarlung Tsangpo flows south, it becomes the Brahmaputra River in India and Bangladesh. Millions rely on the river as a water source and for agriculture. Both countries have expressed concerns over the dam's impact on millions of people living downstream. NGOs have also warned of risks of irreversible damage to the ecologically sensitive plateau. In January, India's Foreign Ministry raised concerns with China, saying it will "monitor and take necessary measures to protect our interests." The ministry stressed that China has been "urged to ensure that the interests of the downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in upstream areas." A 2020 report from the Lowry Institute, an Australian think tank, reported that "control over these rivers gives China a stranglehold on the Indian economy." How has China responded to the concerns? Chinese authorities have not said how many people would be displaced by the construction of the Yarlung project. In December, China's Foreign Ministry said that the project would not have any "negative impact" downstream, adding that Beijing "will also maintain communication with countries at the lower reaches" of the river. This is not the first time geopolitical issues have been raised by rivers crossing international borders. The Yarlung Tsangpo dam is expected to be operational in the 2030s. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
The Wire
2 days ago
- The Wire
'Used Torture For Confession': After 19 Years in Jail, All 12 Men Convicted of 7/11 Train Blasts Acquitted
This acquittal raises serious questions on the role played by the state investigating agency, in this case the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), in investigating the case. Mumbai: In a significant judgment, the Bombay high court today, July 21, acquitted all 12 men who were earlier convicted and sentenced to death (five of them) and life term (seven) for 'participating' in the deadly serial train blasts of July 11, 2006. The judgement came 19 years since the incident and the men have languished in jail through this time. Only one person, Wahid Shaikh, was acquitted in 2015 after the trial court found no evidence against him. He too had languished in jail for nine years. Abdul Wahid Shaikh at his house. Photo: File/The Wire. Wahid told The Wire that the special court, comprising Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak, fully accepted the defence's argument that they were brutally tortured and their confessions were forcefully extracted. 'We have maintained all along that not just me but all the other 12 men were falsely implicated in the case. We stand vindicated today,' an emotional Wahid said over phone. The judgement copy that was made available around noon reflected Wahid's words. 'Confessional statements were not found to be truthful and complete on various grounds, including some portions of the same were found to be similar and copied,' the 667- pages judgement stated. Justice Kilor and Chandak also pointed out that the accused persons have 'succeeded in establishing the fact of torture inflicted on them to extort confessional statements, etc.' Confessional statements, they observed, were not found to be truthful and complete on various grounds, including some portions of the same were found to be similar and copied. 'Identical Part-I and Part-II of some of the confessional statements,' the judgement points out, as one of the 10 points for accepting the defence's argument that the defendants were physically and mentally tortured. Over the past six months, the high court had heard the appeals filed by both the government and the convicted men. This acquittal raises serious questions on the role played by the state investigating agency, in this case the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), in probing the case. On July 11, 2006, seven bombs had exploded in different local trains on the western line of the Mumbai railways. A total of 189 persons had died and over 820 were seriously injured. The police's case was that the accused persons had assembled bombs in a pressure cooker and had planted it on the train in the evening, which is a very busy time for commuters in the city. The Congress government, which was in power in the state then, had handed over the investigation immediately to the state ATS. Several cases handled by the ATS around that period under the Congress leadership, including the Malegaon 2006 blast case, have raised serious questions of the communal biases in the police and wrong implication of Muslim youth in terror cases. In Malegaon 2006 blast case, the Muslim men were eventually exonerated after the National Investigating Agency (NIA) took over and the new line of investigations showed that the terror blast was an handiwork of accused persons belonging to Hindu community. Among those convicted, five persons – Kamal Ansari, Mohammad Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui, Naveed Hussain Khan and Asif Khan – were awarded the death penalty after the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court found them guilty of 'planting the bombs', along with undergoing training for terror activities, and conspiracy, among other accusations. The seven others who were sentenced to life (unto death) are Tanveer Ahmed Mohammed Ibrahim Ansari, Mohammed Majid Mohammed Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh, Mohammed Sajid Margub Ansari, Muzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Suhail Mehmood Shaikh and Zameer Ahmed Latiur Rehman Shaikh. The men have, all through this time, been denied bail. Even in extreme situations like the COVID- 19 pandemic and loss of family members, the incarcerated men were denied any kind of release by the judiciary. Today, the high court has released them all on a simple 'Personal Recognizance (PR)' Bond, which means they can walk out without having to make any financial payment for their release. Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh's son Sohail told The Wire that the family members are waiting to get a copy of the judgement before rushing to the various prisons that the 12 men have been incarcerated in at the moment. 'My father is in Nagpur jail. Since there is no release condition, I am hoping he returns home today itself,' Sohail said. Frequent visits, sustained torture Mohammad Ali. Photo: By arrangement. Last month, The Wire had published a detailed piece on the sustained torture that the families, including Ali's, have been facing from law enforcement despite the men being firmly in jail. Ali's family had alleged that different departments of the Mumbai police would keep frequenting their homes and asking for Ali's whereabouts, even when he was in their custody. This is one of the common tactics that states resort to in order to intimidate families and ensure they do not file complaints against them. 'After this judgement, we just hope our lives will finally begin,' said Sohail, who was a little boy when his father was arrested in 2006. Sohail, now working with a private firm in the city, had earlier told this reporter that he barely got a chance to be a child. 'We had to grow up too soon and assume responsibilities. We have always been in the firefighting mode,' he had said in a conversation in June. Wahid, who was a school teacher at the time of his arrest, transformed into a fierce activist on his release in 2015. He started 'Innocence Network', a campaign for the release of the 12 others. He wrote books on his life in jail, researched on the Indian carceral system and obtained a PhD degree recently on the same. He, along with the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, once only a socio-religious organisation and now a full-fledged legal aid organisation, worked meticulously on the case. A battery of lawyers, including Wahab Shaikh, Sharif Shaikh, Yug Mohit Chaudhry, Payoshi Roy, Stuti Rai, senior advocate and former Odisha high court chief justice S. Muralidhar and Nitya Ramakrishnan among many others worked on this case. The ATS had claimed that the men were a part of the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and that the conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan. On September 29, 2006, over two months after the blast, the then police commissioner of Mumbai police, A.N. Roy had claimed that two Kashmiri men had gone to a local market and purchased pressure cookers from two shops. These pressure cookers, Roy had claimed, were used in assembling the highly explosive bombs. The blast came to be known as 'pressure cooker blast case'. The media reporting at that time was entirely based on what the police would share in the press conferences and all the men were accused of a whole range of things, from visiting Pakistan for arms training to storing Research Department Explosives (RDX), ammonium nitrate, nitrite and petroleum hydrocarbon oil in their houses. The pressure cooker theory soon vanished and it found no mention in the chargesheet. Eight years later, at the time of the final submission before the MCOCA court, the special public prosecutor in the case, Raja Thakare, reintroduced the theory. Advocate Ramakrishnan and her associate Rai, in their final submissions to the high court, meticulously punctured these inconsistencies in the investigation. The police had claimed that two months after the serial bomb blasts, two men had come forward to claim that in May 2006, two 'Kashmiri-looking youths' had bought pressure cookers in large quantities. The statements of these two men were recorded. The two men should have been treated as crucial witnesses but the investigating agency decided to simply drop their statements at the time of the trial, terming them as 'not credible'. 'Instead of trying to chase after that lead, or exposing the current accused to identification by the shopkeepers, which any honest investigation would have done, these shopkeepers were dropped as 'not credible'. Why they were unreliable, is not clear. What is clear is that the pressure cooker angle was picked up, and incorporated against the present accused/appellants. As long as two and a half months after the arrest of A-6 (Ali) and A-3 (Mohd. Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh), now suddenly discoveries and disclosures are set up by the investigators leading to pressure cookers (on 29.09.2006) and their parts (on 08.10.2006),' Ramakrishnan and Rai argue in their written submissions. 'It is impossible to believe the version of witnesses that accused had mentioned pressure cookers in their interrogation in September, because the story of pressure cookers only occurred to ATS after 28.09.2006 after recording statements of shopkeepers that Kashmiri youths had bought pressure cookers en masse. Throughout this period, ATS said that the accused were giving them no lead. In fact, not a single remand application was taken on the ground that they had to identify pressure cookers or the accused had talked about pressure cookers,' they argued. The lawyers also raised questions about the application of the draconian MCOCA law in the case. Section 23(1) MCOCA, the lawyers pointed out, requires prior approval of a police officer not below the rank of the Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) before any information about a commission of an offence under MCOCA is recorded. The officer, S.K. Jaiswal, the then deputy Inspector General of Police/Addl. Commissioner of Police, Anti Terrorism Squad, Mumbai, who allegedly had given the required approval, was never examined. The HC, accepting the argument, noted: 'Shri. Jaiswal, who granted the prior approval, did not enter into the witness box to prove the contents of the letter of prior approval. Mere identification of signature of Shri. Jaiswal by PW-174 does not prove the contents of prior approval.' In the last set of arguments, advocate Muralidhar, who appeared for Muzzamil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, and Zameer Ahmed Latifur Rehman Shaikh looked in detail at the lapses in investigation and how the confession statements of the defendants were extracted forcefully. Under the stringent MCOCA law, confessions made before a police officer are admissible in a court, making the situation even more precarious for accused. He also had called the entire investigation a 'media trial'. His entire submission focused on bringing out the biased nature of the investigation. Murlidhar, in his written submission had argued: "Innocent people are sent to jail and then years later when they are released from jail there is no possibility for reconstruction of their lives… From last 17 years (now 19) these accused are in jail. They haven't stepped out even for a day. The majority of their prime life is gone. In such cases where there is a public outcry, the approach by police is always to first assume guilt and then go from there.' On the behaviour of the police, Muralidhar had said: 'Police officers take press conferences in such cases, and the way the media covers the case, it kind of decides the guilt of a person. In many such terror cases, investigating agencies have failed us miserably.' 'And then after years, the accused are acquitted and then no one gets closure. We have a history of failures in probes in terror cases. But it is not too late now. The court can set it right,' Muralidhar had said in his concluding arguments. The acquittal puts into focus not just the fact that 12 men had to languish in jail for close to two decades – and Wahid, for nine years – but also the fact that the families of the many people who died in the attack still do not know who perpetrated them. With this acquittal, the state police have a lot of answering to do. This is a developing story and will be updated. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
The Wire
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Wire
Trump Thinks '5 Jets Were Shot Down' in India-Pakistan Conflict, Repeats Trade Deal Claim
Pakistan had claimed that it downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat after India launched Operation Sindoor. Indian defence brass have admitted 'losses' but not the extent of it. New Delhi: US president Donald Trump has repeated – for the 24th time by some accounts – the claim that his invocation of trade led to the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May this year. This time, though, Trump introduced a new line, about "five jets" having been shot down. Trump said on July 18 that the India-Pakistan war was among the wars that he had stopped: "We stopped a lot of wars. And these were serious, India and Pakistan, that was going on. Planes were being shot out of there. I think five jets were shot down, actually. These are two serious nuclear countries, and they were hitting each other." Pakistan had claimed that it downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat after India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terror bases in response to the Pahalgam terror attack which killed 26 civilians in April. While the Indian Chief of Defence Staff and a defence attache have spoken of "losses", India has not yet spoken of the extent of it. Trump also claimed that the US has "totally knocked out" Iran's nuclear capabilities in its strikes in June – which is a claim that has earlier been seriously questioned, including by American media. He said: "You know, it seems like a new form of warfare. You saw it recently when you looked at what we did in Iran, where we knocked out their nuclear capability, totally knocked out that..." Trump then repeated the 'trade' line . But India and Pakistan were going at it, and they were back and forth, and it was getting bigger and bigger, and we got it solved through trade. We said, you guys want to make a trade deal. We're not making a trade deal if you're going to be throwing around weapons, and maybe nuclear weapons, both very powerful nuclear states." India has opposed Trump's claims that the ceasefire was a result of his threats to stop trade talks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also told Trump over a phone call that India had never, 'at any level', discussed a trade deal or third-party mediation with the US. This, however, has not stopped Trump from repeating the claim. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has noted in a post on X that this is his 24th time repeating the 'trade' line. "The Prime Minister, who has had years of friendship and huglomacy with President Trump going back to Howdy Modi in Sept 2019 and Namaste Trump in Feb 2020, has to now himself make a clear and categorical statement in Parliament on what President Trump has been claiming over the past 70 days," Ramesh wrote. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
