'Kudos to the SC & the CJI for standing up to the Govt on the gross misuse of this colonial law of sedition to silence dissent'
Punjab Congress chief and former chief minister Amrinder Singh on Friday visited the Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa and met its chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to seek the support of the sect followers in favour of his party for the January 30 assembly polls.
Dera Sacha Sauda followers went on a rampage setting fire to vehicles, buildings and railway stations following the conviction of their head -- Gurmeet Ram Rahim -- in a rape case.
State govt said it is not averse to seeking Army's help to maintain law and order.
Adequate security and Covid safety measures have been put in place for the electoral exercise.
Last September on the eve of the release of Gurmeet Ram Rahim's MSG: The Warrior Lion Heart, Rediff.com's Patcy N and Afsar Dayatar attended a huge concert in Sirsa, Haryana, to promote the film.
'Pakistan was very mature in the way it dealt with the incident.' 'India too owned up to the accident.' 'The whole incident was resolved quite amicably.' 'Both countries should be proud of how they have handled this situation.'
Haryana and Punjab remained on high alert with officials warning that violent miscreants will be shot at sight.
A cases was registered on November 26 under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing any public servant in discharge of public functions) and 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) among others at the Parao police station on a complaint from Head Constable Pardeep Kumar as hundreds of farmers assembled on the GT road near Ambala Cantt to proceed towards the national capital.
Singh, who is serving a 20-year jail term after being convicted in two rape cases, has been charged along with doctors Pankaj Garg and M P Singh.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim also made an appeal to his followers to go back to their homes, a development which may come as a big relief to security personnel.
Sirsa Deputy Commissioner Yudhvir Singh said that preliminary reports indicated that at the function, someone spread a rumour about the presence of a snake that led to devotees running helter-skelter leading to the stampede.
The agitating farmers had earlier said they would picket toll plazas to press their demand for a repeal of the three new laws, which were voted through in Parliament in September amid strong protests by opposition parties.
Rather than lose direction with the Karnal protest, farmers decided to focus more on UP to defeat the BJP in the forthcoming assembly elections there, reports Nitin Kumar.
Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who ran a local daily 'Poora Sacch', was shot a few months after he published an anonymous letter narrating how women were being sexually exploited by Singh at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.
'As long as there is misery, as long as people let themselves be exploited by rogues, this will continue.'
The situation in Sirsa remained tense but under control, according to police.
Did the ISI choose the Rajasthan border to smuggle narcotics after striking deals with Indian smugglers, who would send the money to various terrorist groups in Kashmir?
'Two years ago I told Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi that we have traitors in the Congress.'
The air force has moved its critical frontline assets including the Sukhoi-30MKI, Mirage 2000 and Jaguar fighter aircraft fleet to advanced positions where they can fly in at a very short notice to carry out operations.
Her name has been included in the same FIR in which other Dera functionaries Aditya Insan and Surinder Dhiman, among others, had been booked for allegedly inciting violence and arson, police said.
Justice Jagdeep Singh read out the verdict as soon as the special CBI Court began the hearing on the case on Friday.
He also took on the prime minister over unemployment, taunting Modi for a remark that selling 'pakodas' is a job worth doing.
Leaders from all political parties welcomed the conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Police resorted to lathicharge for a brief time to control protesters who broke barricades. Hours later, they were granted permission to enter Delhi and stage a peaceful protest at Nirankari ground in Burari.
A local court on Thursday extended till October 15 the interim bail given to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh in three cases of murder and sexual harassment
Tractors carried the flags of the unions, some sported the tricolour, and also posters with slogans of 'Kisan Ekta Zindabad', 'No Farmer, No Food' and 'Kaale Kanoon Radd Karo'.
The incident took place near the venue of Congress leader Harminder Singh Jassi's roadshow.
According to official sources in Chandigarh, the six persons, all belonging to Sikh community, received minor injuries on their legs after the shooting incident in Mallewala village, about 10 km from Sirsa, and were treated in a local hospital.
Earlier, the CBI filed a "status report" in the court of Justices Adesh Kumar Goel and Ajay Lamba about the three cases in compliance of the high court's order.
The 50-year-old self-styled godman, who boasted of millions of followers, is lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria jail for raping his two disciples.
The cases relate to the murder of a Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chatterpatti and Dera Manager Ranjit Singh besides other related cases.
"We are trying to simplify the draft statement which we will telephonically discuss with the Sikh leaders", he said.
The Dera Sacha Sauda chief and the three others convicted last Friday in the case appeared before the court through video conferencing.
The districts are Gondia (Maharashtra), Raj Nand Gaon (Chhattisgarh), Davangiri (Karnataka), South Goa, Wayanad and Kottayam (Kerala), West Imphal (Manipur), Rajouri (J&K), Aizwal West (Mizoram), Mahe in Puducherry, SBS Nagar in Punjab, Patna, Nalanda and Munger in Bihar, Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, Panipat, Rohtak and Sirsa in Haryana, Pauri Garhwal in Uttrakhand and Bhadradari Kothagudem in Telangana.
Police said they will not allow the farmers protesting against the Centre's new farm laws to enter Delhi if they reach the borders of the national capital.
The raids were conducted in connection with the Junior Basic Teachers recruitment scam.
Locked inside the Sports Authority of India centre in Bengaluru due to the coronavirus forced restrictions, Indian Hockey players are utilising their free time to hone their English language skills, reading books and watching their favourite movies. The Indian men and women hockey teams are practicing at SAI centre Bengaluru where no unauthorised person can enter the campus.
The Hussains, hailing from Madhubani district of Bihar, had planned to go shopping on Sunday, but fate willed otherwise.
Police said farmers have been allowed to hold peaceful protest at the Nirankari Ground in north Delhi.
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