The West Bengal Congress on Tuesday held its Martyrs' Day programme in Kolkata after several years, commemorating the youth wing workers killed in the 1993 police firing, and said the attendance at the gathering marked the party's revival in the state.
Chandigarh police on Saturday used tear gas shells and water cannons to disperse protesters who tried to breach barricades during a march towards Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria's residence, seeking the release of Sikh prisoners, including Jagtar Singh Hawara, who is serving a life sentence for the assassination of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995.
West Bengal's annual July 21 Martyrs' Day observance has transformed into an unprecedented political contest, with three rival camps - Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, a breakaway TMC faction, and the Congress - holding parallel programmes in central Kolkata, each vying for legacy and organisational strength.
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has urged the Congress and CPI(M) to set aside their differences and unite under the INDIA bloc to fight the BJP in West Bengal. This marks a significant shift in the TMC's stance, which has historically been a bitter rival to the Congress and Left in the state.
Senior Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra on Tuesday gave party supremo Mamata Banerjee a one-month ultimatum to "leave Abhishek's hand" and reconnect with grassroot workers, while asking the Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee to admit his "mistakes".
The Kolkata police on Tuesday imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in the Dharmatala area, including the traditional venue of Trinamool Congress' annual July 21 Martyrs' Day rally, for 60 days, citing intelligence inputs about possible violent demonstrations that could disrupt public order and traffic.
The TMC's July 21 Shahid Diwas rally is expected to serve as a crucial test of party unity and organisational strength amid defections and an internal rebellion.
Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Wednesday justified the police firing on Youth Congress workers, killing 13 people on July 21, 1993 during the Left Front rule and asserted that he had never felt the need for a judicial inquiry into it.
A court in Mumbai acquitted a 53-year-old man in a 1993 riots case, citing the prosecution's failure to prove his participation in the violence that followed the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
In a huge embarrassment for the Left Front, a Commission of Inquiry into the police firing on a Youth Congress movement in 1993 killing 13 persons on Monday said that it was worse than the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Courts cannot be the only hope for those fighting hate speech. Countering its effects on the ground takes more effort. With our political parties unwilling to put in that amount of effort, it's left to citizens to do so, points out Jyoti Punwani.
Actor Vijay's journey from a shy film star to a political leader is explored, highlighting his unconventional methods and the key moments that shaped his transformation.
Police are examining the past records of the arrested men in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case and a related case of extortion to decide if the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) should be invoked, sources said on Thursday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he had requested senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam to appear as a special prosecutor in the murder case. The Crime Investigation Department (CID) has sought old case papers and chargesheets against the arrested men. Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, was abducted and brutally killed on December 9, allegedly for opposing an extortion bid by some persons who had demanded money from a windmill company. Beed Police has put up posters seeking information about whereabouts of three wanted accused in the murder case. CM Fadnavis said he spoke to BJP MLA from Beed, Suresh Dhas who demanded that Nikam be appointed as special public prosecutor in the case. Nikam was a special public prosecutor in several high-profile cases, including the 26/11 terror attacks and 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar claimed that "smaller fish" could be killed in fake encounters to save the "big fish" involved in the Deshmukh murder and extortion cases. Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative council Ambadas Danve said the trial in the case should be conducted outside Beed district. NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, who has come under fire after the alleged involvement of his aide Karad in the extortion matter came to light, said those who murdered Santosh Deshmukh should be tried in a fast-track court and "hanged till death." The government on Wednesday set up a 10-member SIT to probe the case, headed by Deputy Inspector General -CID Basavraj Teli.
The government has convened an all-party meeting on July 21 ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament which will start next Monday, the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry said.
The ISI strategy has been to use its proxies to target Hindus in India. They want an outrage and counter-targeting of India's minorities. Further, even the whiff of it restores the Pakistan army's popularity, especially when it's in the dumps, like now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The senior IPS officer said Tata displayed resoluteness, uncharacteristic of his calm demeanour, when the iconic hotel came under attack.
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Rohinton Nariman has warned that events similar to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre could occur if the 'basic structure' doctrine of the Constitution is diluted. In his new book, 'The Basic Structure Doctrine: Protector of Constitutional Integrity,' Nariman argues that the 1973 Kesavananda Bharati judgment, which established the doctrine, is essential for protecting fundamental rights and preventing constitutional amendments that could lead to such tragedies. Nariman's concerns are echoed by Supreme Court judge Justice K V Viswanathan, who applauds the book for its "chilling clarity" and underscores the importance of the Kesavananda Bharati ruling. The book provides a detailed analysis of the doctrine and its implications, highlighting the robustness of the Kesavananda Bharati judgment and the lack of a compelling alternative theory.
'In UP, the CM actually announced that his administration would 'take revenge' against rioters.' 'That must have been music to his police force's ears for it substantiated what the police always do: Take revenge on an entire community for the violence of a few,' points out Jyoti Punwani.
Senior IPS officer Rajiv Singh, belonging to the neighbouring Tripura cadre, was on Thursday appointed as the new director general of police of Manipur.
Gangster Anmol Bishnoi had ordered the hit on Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique for his 'association with Dawood Ibrahim and involvement in the 1993 Bombay blasts', alleged main shooter Shivkumar Gautam in his confessional statement to the police.
He was rushed to Mumbai's JJ Hospital due to chest pain.
Can ordinary citizens counter this backward march? Can peace activists ensure that the two communities retain their bonds? Do they have a choice, asks Jyoti Punwani.
The Chandigarh police lodged the FIR on Wednesday late night in connection with the clash in which around 30 policemen, including the Rapid Action Force personnel, were injured while several police vehicles were damaged.
Former West Bengal chief minister and a front-ranking Marxist leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will go down in the country's history as a pragmatic communist who kept aside his ideological convictions to woo capital for the industrialisation of his state.
Mamata said TMC will win all 42 LS seats from WB.
'They only bring pieces. Dialogue is the only way forward.' 'We should get people who have influence to bring the community leaders to sit across the table and talk.' 'Otherwise, our adversaries across the borders will add fuel to the fire. Let's not give them a chance.'
The police had allegedly opened fire on a "mob" coming out of Hari Masjid in Central Mumbai on January 10, 1993, to maintain law and order in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition.
The hearing relates to a 1993 raid on a Mumbai bakery, which left 8 unarmed Muslims dead, none of whom had a criminal record. Justice Srikrishna had described the incident as 'not becoming of the police force of any civilised, democratic State.'
The Bombay High Court on Friday upheld a lower court's order discharging former Mumbai police commissioner Ram Deo Tyagi and eight others, but observed that the firing in Suleiman Bakery by the police during the 1993 Mumbai riots was 'cruel and atrocious'.Justice Mridula Bhatkar upheld the trial court's conclusion that Tyagi -- a joint commissioner at the time -- and eight other policemen had no intention to murder. Eight persons were killed and 12 injured in the firing.
'With continued focus on votes, upcoming by-polls and purchasing politicians, the political hierarchy has little time for national defence.' 'They would do well to heed a veteran scholar, who says, "There will be war with China in the next few years. The next full scale war will have the involvement of Pakistan and terror elements, insurgents and intelligence assets operating inside India",' warns Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The Opposition's stand on the Ayodhya consecration is puzzling. Their only objection seems to be that the BJP has hijacked a religious event for political benefit. In saying this, the Opposition is either being naive or hypocritical, argues Jyoti Punwani.
Srinagar Senior Superintendent of Police Rakesh Balwal, who has expertise in handling terror-related cases, has been "prematurely" repatriated to Manipur cadre where a fresh bout of violence has worsened the already tense situation.
A letter to the state government from the Union Home ministry last month said that it would not hand over the case to the CBI as per its request because it thought "no case was made out" against the Assistant Inpector of Police Nikhil Kapse and his team. The division bench of Justices Bilal Nazki and A P Deshpande wondered how the Home Ministry could exonerate police without conducting a probe.
Additional Solicitor General Rajendra Raghuvanshi told a division bench of Justices S B Mhase and V K Tahilramani on Thursday that the Centre was not ready for a CBI probe. "The Centre thinks the case is 15 years old and already a trial of the case against one of the survivors Farooq Mhapkar -- for rioting -- is underway. Also, the STF, formed by state government following the Srikrishna report, held that (police official) Kapse was not guilty," Raghuvanshi said.
The Sessions Court judge presiding over the trial was appointed to this court just a few months ago. Annoyed at its slow pace, he is cracking the whip on the prosecution.
'If we have to restrict and fight terrorism, first and foremost, we have to ensure communal harmony in the country.'
'We first collected samples from all the bomb blast sites.' 'We had to find what was common among them.'
Unlike other top police officers, A A Khan spoke boldly --- be it while defending 'encounters' in many of which he was involved, or in tracing the cause of the ghastly Radhabai Chawl incident, recalls Jyoti Punwani. Encounters were useful, he said, because hardened criminals who were targeted were beyond reform and no good for society.
BJP sources suggest that the upcoming elections will likely revolve around the renewed enthusiasm for the temple unless another theme with religious and nationalist undertones emerges.
'It wasn't as if the senior police inspectors in charge of the police stations were not aware of the communal tension that was being created in their areas before and during the riots.' 'Yet they chose not to act,' recalls Jyoti Punwani.
