Category: News

Modi Accuses Unnamed ‘Forces Inside and Outside India’ of Trying to Destabilise Country

Modi said one nation, one election and a “secular civil code” would be brought following Sardar Patel’s spirit of unity, while the Congress accused the BJP of ‘misappropriating’ his legacy.

New Delhi: Speaking on the occasion of ‘National Unity Day’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (October 31) said that some “forces” outside and within India were attempting to destabilise it and spread a negative image of the country.

He again made a pitch for ‘one nation, one election’ and a “secular civil code”, which he said would be brought following Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s spirit of unity.

“With India’s growing strength and the growing sense of unity within India, some forces, some disorderly ideas, some mentalities … such forces are very disturbed. [Present] within India and outside it, such people are trying to spread instability and anarchy in India. They are engaged in harming India’s economic interests …

“Such forces want that … a negative image of India emerges to the world. These people are trying to target even India’s military,” Modi said, adding that they were engaged in “trying to create divisions in India in the name of caste” and “never want India to become developed”.

In a veiled attack on the opposition, he said “urban Naxals” were attempting to target India’s unity.

Holding that “a new model of urban Naxals emerged” as Naxalism was being eliminated from the jungle, Modi said: “We have to identify and battle those people who dream of breaking the nation, who believe in an ideology of destroying the nation, whose faces are masked.”

“… Today, if someone says ‘if we are one, we are safe’, these people … try to give it the wrong meaning,” Modi continued to say.

Modi added that there were people who were sceptical about India’s unification but that Patel made it possible.

His address came after he paid floral tributes to Patel, India’s first home minister, at the Statue of Unity.

Meanwhile, the Congress has accused the BJP of making “continuous efforts” to misappropriate Patel’s legacy.

“Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is an immortal part of the nation’s history. He was also a stalwart Congressman. Continuous efforts are being made to (mis)appropriate his legacy by those whose ideological gurus opposed the Quit India Movement in which the Sardar was jailed for almost three years and who criticised the constitution, a key committee of which was chaired by the Sardar later,” wrote Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on X.

“This only exposes the insecurities and hypocrisy of the (mis)appropriaters.”

In his address, Modi said that in the spirit of unity, the government was working on implementing ‘one nation, one election’ and a “secular civil code”.

“In line with our efforts on unity, we are now working on ‘one nation, one election’, which will strengthen India’s democracy, bring out an optimum outcome of India’s resources and which will bring a new speed in achieving the nation’s dream of ‘Viksit Bharat’ and a new prosperity.

“Today India is also moving toward ‘one nation, one civil code’ – that is, a secular civil code – and I had said this at the Red Fort: at the heart of this too is Sardar [Patel]’s inspiration of unity …”

Last month, the Union cabinet approved the report by the high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind on the ‘one nation one election’ proposal that recommended simultaneous polls in the country to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies as well as local bodies (including panchayats and municipalities).

However, no timeline has been provided on its rollout yet.

Congress president and Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge said to reporters that Modi was attempting to “fool people” as any attempt to bring in simultaneous polls would require taking all political parties into confidence.

“What PM Modi has said, he will not do it, because when it comes in the parliament, he has to take everybody into confidence, then only this will happen. This is impossible, ‘one nation, one election’ is impossible, because several states have several problems. Regional problems are there. When we cannot give 2 crore jobs … Whatever he was supposed to do he is not doing, but these things he is saying to fool the people,” he said.

 

Kerala: More Than 150 Injured in Fireworks Explosion at Kasaragod Temple

Thousands of people had gathered at the temple to celebrate kaliyattam or theyyam – a popular annual ritual in the temples of North Kerala.

New Delhi: More than 150 people were injured in a fireworks explosion at the Anjootambalam Veerakavu temple in Kerala’s Kasaragod district on Monday night. Of these, nine are said to be grievously injured.

Thousands of people had gathered at the temple to celebrate kaliyattam or theyyam – a popular annual ritual in the temples of North Kerala – where bursting crackers is a traditional practice. 

According to the police, the explosion took place after sparks from fireworks fell inside the shed the crackers were stored in. The police said that the shed, also known as the magazine, was less than 100 metres away from the fire-line or where the fireworks are displayed. This caused a series of explosions, causing panic among the attendees and created a stampede-like situation.

The injured are receiving treatment at various hospitals in Kasaragod while the more seriously injured have been admitted to the government medical college in Kannur. Some were also taken to hospitals in Mangalore.

District collector K. Inbasekar told reporters that the temple authorities had not requested any permission to light fireworks and the police have taken the office bearers into custody, the Indian Express reported.

A case has also been registered against the temple committee’s office bearers.

Suresh Babu, a theyyam artiste who was present at the spot, said, “I have been staging theyyam at the temple for the last 40 years but this is a first. Our performance was going on when the magazine turned into a fireball. Several persons got injured in the stampede-like situation after the incident. When a series of palm leaf crackers were bursted, sparks fell accidently on the nearby magazine, leading to the massive explosion.”

According to the temple authorities, the explosion’s impact was reduced as the magazine was mainly storing low-intensity Chinese crackers.

Israel’s Evacuation of Palestinians from North Gaza Hints at a Particularly Ominous Plan

There is speculation that this could be part of Israel’s strategy is to defeat Hamas and propose the wholesale transfer of north Gaza’s population south beyond the Netzarim corridor.

Western political leaders were quick to argue that the killing of Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, on October 17 presented a window of opportunity. Perhaps the decapitation of the militant group’s senior command would be a chance for renewed ceasefire talks and the release of the Israeli hostages.

The US president, Joe Biden, urged the Israeli government the following day to “make this moment an opportunity” to end the war in Gaza. But Israel had already launched a major operation in northern Gaza. On October 12, the IDF posted a message in Arabic on social media sites warning civilians living in an area designated as D5 on Israel’s grid map of Gaza to evacuate. It said the area would soon be a “dangerous combat zone” and ordered people to move to safe areas in the south of Gaza.

This process has continued as the IDF has renewed its offensive in the north of the enclave, with an estimated 400,000 people affected, about 20% of the population of Gaza. The UN reported on October 21 that only a “trickle” of food aid has been allowed into north Gaza over the previous week. The Israeli military has denied this. But it has also been reported that the emergency polio vaccination campaign in north Gaza has had to be suspended, due to Israeli bombardment and a lack of access to UN personnel.

The forcible transfer of a population during war is illegal under international law, as is denying access to humanitarian aid for civilians. But there are fears that there is a plan to move Palestinians out of north Gaza in a plan which could pave the way for settlers to move in.

The liberal Haaretz newspaper, a consistent critic of the Netanyahu government, published an editorial on October 22 saying that there was mounting evidence that Israel is now pursuing a policy of siege and starvation to force the complete evacuation of the civilian population of northern Gaza. In doing this, the newspaper said, Israel is implementing the now notorious “generals’ plan”. It asserted:

Make no mistake, [the generals’ plan] is a war crime, and it runs contrary to UN Security Council decision 2334, which states that land may not be taken through force, referring to acts of war.

Military plan or land grab?

The “generals’ plan” is attributed to retired Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, a former head of national security in Israel. As a strategy to defeat Hamas (something which has proved elusive in 12 months of bitter fighting in Gaza) it proposes the wholesale transfer of north Gaza’s population south beyond the Netzarim corridor. A siege would be imposed on those who remain.

2008 map of Gaza showing Gaza City and Netzarim Corridor.

The Netzarim Corridor runs across the Gaza Strip below Gaza CIty. Israel is moving Palestinians south of the corridor. ChrisO/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

In late September Eiland argued in an interview with Haaretz that “it’s permissible and even recommended to starve an enemy to death, provided you’ve allowed the civilians corridors of exits beforehand. And that is exactly what I am proposing”.

Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, recently told US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, that Israel is not planning to lay siege to northern Gaza. But the evidence of the military’s actions on the ground suggests otherwise. Since October 6 the IDF has been conducting what it calls a “clearing operation” in Jabalia, north of Gaza City, channelling civilians south while launching airstrikes against the Jabalia refugee camp, where it says units of Hamas are embedded.

Changing the reality

There is widespread concern that the end game in north Gaza will include the return of settlers. A conference on October 22 attended by members of the ruling Likud Party, including several ministers in the Netanyahu government, heard the national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, assert that “encouraging emigration” of Palestinian residents of Gaza would be the “most ethical” solution to the conflict. The finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, told journalists on his way to the conference that the Gaza Strip was “part of the Land of Israel” and that “without settlements, there is no security”.

Settlers were moved out of the the Gaza Strip in 2005, under the then prime minister Ariel Sharon’s Disengagement Plan. The plan dismantled 21 settlements in the Strip, relocating an estimated 8,000 settlers. Many vowed at the time that they would return one day.

CIA map of the Gaza Strip in May 2005, a few months prior to the Israeli withdrawal. The major settlement blocs are shaded in blue.

CIA map of the Gaza Strip in May 2005, a few months prior to the Israeli withdrawal. The major settlement blocs are shaded in blue. CIA/Wikimedia Commons

There was a Jewish presence on the Gaza Strip from biblical times until 1929, when they were driven out during the Arab revolts, in which 133 Gazan Jews were killed. After the six-day war in 1967, Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. In the aftermath of the war, the main focus of settlement was national security, rather than religious ideology. Here the driving force was Israel’s deputy prime minister, Yigal Allon, who believed that national security could be guaranteed by building settlements.

As a consequence, in the 1970s, the Labour government established the initial modern settlements in the Gaza Strip. The settlements divided the enclave such that the Palestinian inhabitants in each area were isolated from each other, thus enabling Israeli control.

UK-based historian Ahron Bregman, a former Israeli army officer (who has written for The Conversation on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians), warned in a post on X about how national security could once again be used as a pretext for settlements to be established in north Gaza.

Screenshot of post on X by Ahron Bregman

Warning: Ahron Bregman’s post on X on October 22. Twitter

The current operation in northern Gaza feels like a particularly ominous moment, not only in the Hamas-Israel war, but in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rather than use the opportunity of a weakened Hamas to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal and allow the people of Gaza to attempt to rebuild their shattered lives, Israel appears to be illegally, immorally and irreversibly changing the realities on the ground.The Conversation

Leonie Fleischmann, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, City St George’s, University of London.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Fresh Violence Erupts in Manipur, Cops, Militants Engage in Gunfight

Ethnic violence began in the state in May 2023, and has been going on ever since – killing hundreds, displacing tens of thousands and sharply dividing the state along ethnic lines.

New Delhi: Fresh violence was reported in strife-torn Manipur, with gunfights and bomb explosions erupting on two different locations on the night of Saturday (October 26), said officials.

The two latest incidents were reported in Koutruk in Imphal West district and Tronglaobi in Bishnupur district, reported Hindustan Times.

The police in Imphal West district suspect that Kuki militants allegedly started the attack at around 7PM on October 26. The attack targeted the Koutruk Ching Leikai village which falls under the jurisdiction of Lamshang police station.

While the militants allegedly used sophisticated weapons including firearms and bombs, the state police too retaliated which led to heavy exchange of gunfire.

Local residents said that during the exchange of gunfire, an unauthorised drone allegedly launched by suspected militants was also seen.

The Bishnupur district police said that suspected Kuki militants launched an attack on the Tronglaobi village. The state forces along with village volunteers retaliated, which resulted in an exchange of gunfire.

The village had also witnessed a rocket attack on September 6.

Ethnic violence began in the state in May 2023, and has been going on ever since – killing hundreds, displacing tens of thousands and sharply dividing the state along ethnic lines.

Audio tapes put out in the public domain by The Wire after they were submitted to the Commission of Inquiry for Manipur Violence set up by the Union home ministry appear to implicate chief minister N. Biren Singh and his administration directly in the violence. Biren, whose administration has claimed the tapes are “doctored”, has been under considerable pressure to respond to them.

Indians Lost Rs 120 Crore in Digital Arrest Frauds in First Quarter of 2024: Report

As part of the digital arrest scam, the cyber fraudsters would pose as law enforcement officers.

New Delhi: In the first quarter of this year, Indians lost Rs. 120.30 crore in “digital arrest frauds”, government data indicates.

“We found that Indians lost Rs 120.30 crore in digital arrest, Rs 1,420.48 crore in trading scam, Rs 222.58 crore in investment scam, and Rs 13.23 crore in romance/dating scam,” Rajesh Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), had said while releasing the January-April data, reported The Indian Express.

As part of the digital arrest scam, the cyber fraudsters would pose as law enforcement officers and tell the victims that the they were involved in certain illegal activities. Thereafter, they would demand money for closing the case.

Data from the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) reveals that 7.4 lakh complaints were made between January 1 and April 30 this year, while 15.56 lakh complaints were received in all of 2023. A total 9.66 lakh complaints were reported in 2022, up from 4.52 lakh the previous year.

Many of those who carry out digital arrest scams are based in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The cybercrime operations based in these countries employ a comprehensive array of deceptive strategies, including recruitment efforts by exploiting social media to lure Indians with fake employment opportunities,” Kumar said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had warned the public of digital arrest fraud on Sunday (October 27), saying that no government agencies threaten people over phone and demand money, reported Hindustan Times.

‘I See Myself Threatened’: Jignesh Mevani Writes to Amit Shah, Demands Gujarat IPS Officer’s Suspension

Mevani has sought an unconditional apology from Pandian to the Dalits of Gujarat and India.

New Delhi: In a letter written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani has said that he sees himself “threatened” by Rajkumar Pandian an IPS officer in Gujarat.

Mevani, the Congress MLA from Vadgam assembly constituency in Gujarat, has requested Shah in the letter dated October 23 that Pandian be immediately suspended or terminated.

In the letter, Mevani mentions that on October 15, he visited Pandian, who is presently posted as the ADGP-SC/ST (Ahmedabad police) to represent the concerns of Dalits in Kutch district, whose land has been illegally upon for several years. Mevani was accompanied by Hitendra Pitadiya, Chairperson of the Congress SC Cell.

“As I entered the office of the ADGP, he very rudely and in a dismissive tone told Shri Pitadiya and I to keep our cell phones out. It was not a request; rather it was an order. He summoned the junior officer to take our cell phones outside his office. I inquired under what legal provision he was making this order,” Mevani has said in the letter to Shah.

Mevani added that thereafter he reminded ADGP Pandian that as a bureaucrat and in accordance with established protocol, he has to demonstrate courteous behaviour towards Mevani, who is an elected public representative.

After hearing this, Pandian told Mevani that the meeting was over, they could leave and there would be no appointments in future and that he will not be permitted to enter his office, Mevani has alleged in his letter. Mevani said that Pandian also reportedly commented on the former’s attire, stating that Mevani had come to meet him wearing a T shirt. Pandian’s intention was to intimidate and threaten him, says Mevani’s letter.

“With his behaviour, especially on the issue of land rights to Dalits, Rajkumar Pandian has not just misbehaved with an elected representative; more he has insulted the dignity, rights and esteem of 50 lakh Dalits in Gujarat. This is unquestionably unacceptable and intolerable,” Mevani has written in his letter to Shah.

“However, I must say that, keeping in mind the history of accusations against and consequential jail term undergone by Rajkumar Pandian (who was charged for a fake encounter under section 302 of the IPC, in jail for about 7 years, and subsequently discharged) I do see myself threatened. I am compelled to say that if any harm is done to me, my life and property and/or the life and property of my family, and to the life and property of Shri Hitendra Pitadiya, and/or the life and property of any of my team members/associates; in any such case, Rajkumar Pandian should be held responsible,” Mevani’s letter states.

Mevani has sought an unconditional apology from Pandian to the Dalits of Gujarat and India.

Supreme Court Bar Association Questions CJI Chandrachud-led SC’s Administrative Decisions

The SCBA has also questioned the Supreme Court’s decision to set up a museum to replace the erstwhile Judges’ Library.

New Delhi: Days after the Supreme Court brought in several changes, many of which have attracted criticism and scrutiny, including redesigning the ‘Lady Justice’ statue, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has questioned the move.

The new statue, which traditionally depicted a blindfolded woman and a sword, now features her with open eyes and the constitution in place of the sword.

In a strongly-worded letter to outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud, who spearheaded the move, the SCBA has taken exception to the ‘unilateral’ decisions.

“It has been observed by the Executive Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association that recently some radical changes have been brought in by the Supreme Court unilaterally like change of its emblem, change in the statue of Lady Justice without consultation with the Bar. We are equal stakeholders in the administration of justice but these changes when proposed, were never brought to our attention. We are totally clueless on the rationale behind these changes,” the resolution passed by the SCBA says.

Led by Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal, the SCBA has also questioned the Supreme Court’s decision to set up a museum to replace the erstwhile Judges’ Library.

When contacted, Sibal confirmed the development. A copy of the resolution, sources said, has already been sent to the CJI.

“Now a museum has apparently been proposed in the erstwhile Judges Library whereas we had demanded a Library, Cafe cum Lounge for the members of the Bar as the present cafeteria is inadequate to cater to the needs of the members of the Bar. We are concerned that despite our objection raised against the proposed Museum in the erstwhile Judges library, work has started for the museum,” the resolution signed by almost all SCBA Executive Committee members says.

It adds: “We unanimously oppose the proposed museum in the High Security Zone and press our demand for a Library and a Cafe cum Lounge for our members instead.”

“The law is not blind; it sees everyone equally,” CJI Chandrachud had said during the unveiling of the new statue.

A senior official in the CJI’s office had explained the rationale behind the replacement of the sword with the constitution by saying, “The sword is a symbol of violence, but courts deliver justice according to constitutional laws. The new statue aims to reflect this principle.”

Former SCBA president and senior advocate Adish C. Aggarwala said the outgoing CJI should have consulted all stakeholders before taking such a decision.

In the last few weeks, the CJI, whose term ends on November 10, has attracted criticism for his controversial statements and actions outside court.

Last week, speaking at an event, CJI Chandrachud claimed that the hand of God guided him in finding a solution to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

“Very often we have cases [to adjudicate] but we don’t arrive at a solution,” he said, adding, “Something similar happened during the Ayodhya [Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid] dispute which was in front of me for three months. I sat before the deity and told him he needed to find a solution.”

As first reported by The Wire, the CJI also tried, unsuccessfully, to get the Supreme Court collegium to recommend the name of a senior advocate to fill the lone vacancy in the Supreme Court. In attempting to do so, he apparently also delayed recommending the name of Justice Sanjiv Khanna as his successor as CJI.

Article 370 Rollback Versus Statehood: Why Omar Abdullah’s First Cabinet Meeting Has Kicked up a Row

‘Omar Abdullah’s first resolution on statehood is nothing less than ratification of the August 5, 2019 decision.’

Srinagar: A resolution seeking the restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, which was adopted in the first cabinet meeting chaired by the Union territory chief minister Omar Abdullah, has triggered a political row with the opposition parties accusing the coalition government of turning against its own election promises.

The controversy over Abdullah’s first cabinet meeting was exacerbated after his father and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Friday (October 18) appeared to soften the party’s stance on Article 370.

Asked to respond to the allegations by the opposition, Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar that solving the issues of the people was “the most important task” for the NC-led government, which prompted the opposition to target the ruling party once again.

‘Scaling down the demand’

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) termed the cabinet resolution as “nothing less than ratification” of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)-led Union government’s move on August 5, 2019 which bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir and downgraded it into two Union territories.

“Omar Abdullah’s first resolution on statehood is nothing less than ratification of the August 5, 2019 decision. No resolution on Article 370 and scaling down the demand to mere statehood is a huge setback, especially after seeking votes on the promise of restoring Article 370,” PDP youth president Waheed Para posted on X.

People’s Conference president Sajad Lone also questioned the cabinet move, saying: “I humbly state that the will of the people of J&K is reflected in the Assembly and not in the cabinet. Cabinet is a majoritarian institution of governance. It does not reflect all shades and opinions as per the will of the people of J&K.”

The details of the resolution of the cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Abdullah on Thursday (October 17) at the civil secretariat in Srinagar, were released by the official PR wing of J&K government on Saturday.

“The restoration of statehood will be a beginning of a healing process, reclaiming the constitutional rights and protecting identity of people of Jammu and Kashmir .. (which) remains the cornerstone of the newly elected government’s policy,” an official spokesperson said.

Under new rules in the union territory, the minutes of cabinet meetings have to be vetted by the office of the lieutenant governor before they are made public. Indian Express reported that the restoration of J&K’s statehood figured on top of the agendas of the cabinet meeting, the minutes of which were sent to the LG’s office.

According to the official spokesperson, the cabinet “authorised the Chief Minister to take up the matter with the Prime Minister and Government of India for restoration of statehood.” It said that the chief minister will travel to New Delhi for meeting the Prime Minister and others on the issue.

Modi as well as Union home minister Amit Shah and other central ministers of the BJP-led NDA government have promised that the statehood of J&K would be restored once the assembly elections are held in the union territory.

“If the PM and others have already promised that J&K’s statehood would be restored, what is the need of going to Delhi?,” a PDP leader questioned.

Also read: Abdullah’s Statement Creates Doubts Over Whether NC Will Move Resolution Against Article 370 Move

Supreme Court petition

Abdullah’s first cabinet meeting took place on the day when the Supreme Court of India also agreed to hear a petition on J&K’s statehood which contended that the prolonged delay in restoring statehood has negatively impacted the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Filed by a college teacher and an activist,  the plea urges the Union government to implement the promise made by the Solicitor General in the apex court during the Article 370 hearings: that the statehood of J&K would be restored once the assembly election was held in the Union territory.

The plea states that despite assurances, no substantial action has been taken in the past 10 months after the Supreme Court upheld the reading down of Article 370 to restore J&K’s statehood even after the culmination of the assembly election which it says is a violation of federalism.

The NC, which emerged as the single largest with 42 seats in the recently concluded assembly election, is facing a backlash from the opposition parties over its alleged change of heart on the issue of reading down of Article 370 after it formed a coalition government with the support of Congress, CPM and some independents.

After assuming office as the first chief minister of the union territory, Abdullah’s remarks that his government wanted cordial relations with the Union government have added fuel to the opposition’s fire that the NC scion was warming up to the BJP.

The party has rejected the allegations, saying that “it was foolish” to expect the party, BJP in this case, which revoked Article 370, to restore it. On Saturday, Abdullah posted on X: “Article 370 is the purview of the legislature while statehood is the purview of the government. Hence, the statehood resolution has come first.”

The official spokesperson said that the legislative assembly will convene in Srinagar on November 4.

According to reports, senior NC leader and Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, Syed Aga Ruhullah Mehdi has said that his party was going to bring a resolution against the August 2019 decision of the central government in the first sitting of J&K assembly.

Former Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain Granted Bail, Court Cites Long Period of Incarceration

Former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia accused the BJP of conspiring to stop work done by the Delhi government.

New Delhi: Over two years after he was first arrested, former Delhi health minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain has been granted bail in a money laundering case by a court in Delhi, which cited a delay in the trial and the long period of his incarceration.

Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in May 2022 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on charges of money laundering through four companies from 2010 to 2012 and 2015-16, LiveLaw has reported.

Granting him bail, special judge Vishal Gogne of Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court cited the long period of incarceration and the fact that the trial in the case is yet to start.

“Considering the delay in trial and long incarceration of 18 months, and the fact that trial will take long to start, let alone conclude, accused is favourably suited for the relief,” the court was quoted as saying by LiveLaw.

In May last year, the Supreme Court granted Jain interim bail for six weeks for a spinal surgery. The court extended his interim bail by five weeks on July 24, 2023 and subsequently renewed it several times.

However, on March 18, 2024, the Supreme Court rejected Jain’s appeal against the dismissal of his bail plea. The court ordered him to surrender immediately after cancelling his medical bail.

While refusing him bail, the apex court had observed that Jain along with his aides Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain were prima facie guilty of money laundering offences.

Jain has become the fourth top AAP leader to be granted bail this year. Former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested in March in the alleged liquor policy case, was granted bail last month by the Supreme Court.

In August, the Supreme Court granted bail to former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who was arrested in February 2023 in connection with the same case. While granting him bail, the court had noted that Sisodia had been robbed of the right to a speedy trial, which it called a ‘sacrosanct right’.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was also granted bail in April.

‘BJP conspiracy’

Following Jain’s bail, Sisodia said that the BJP had hatched a conspiracy to jail AAP leaders to stop development work in Delhi.

“Today we are very happy that our senior leader Satyendar Jain has been granted bail. He brought a health revolution in the country in the form of mohalla clinics and turned private health systems into public health systems. He built excellent government hospitals for the people of Delhi,” he said to reporters.

Sisodia continued: “This is not an impossible task and he made it possible for the people of Delhi. He has given the people of Delhi new hospitals and revamped old hospitals and given the revolutionary idea of mohalla clinics which has been adopted by other states.”

He said that Jain was jailed because the BJP was facing questions about why it was not able to develop similar healthcare systems in other states.

“This is why he was arrested. The BJP made the ED raid his house four times but did not find a single paper or a rupee. Under false charges the BJP imprisoned him under the PMLA. The BJP’s conspiracy has been exposed. The court has observed itself that it is not known how long the case will take.

“So today the BJP and Modi should apologise to Satyendar Jain for wasting so many days of his life. The BJP and Modi should also apologise to the people of Delhi as due to him being in jail, the work being done in public hospitals and mohalla clinics had been affected.

“The BJP jailed Satyendar Jain, me, Sanjay Singh and Arvind Kejriwal. In all cases false charges were filed and nothing was found against us. The BJP has been running a conspiracy to stop the work being done by the Delhi government.”

UP Police Shoot at Two Muslim Men For Murder of Hindu Youth in Bahraich Communal Incident

Police alleged that the two accused persons were shot after they fired at the police team that was with them.

New Delhi: Two Muslim men accused in the murder of a Hindu youth during the recent communal incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich were on Thursday (October 17) shot in the leg by police and arrested near the Indo-Nepal border, said officials.

Police alleged that the two accused persons were shot after they fired at the police team that had accompanied them to a location in Bahraich’s Nanpara area to recover the weapon used in the murder of Ram Gopal Mishra during the Durga idol procession on Sunday.

Along with the two persons who were shot – Mohammad Sarfaraz and Mohammad Taleem – police said they arrested three others linked to Mishra’s killing. They were identified as Abdul Hamid (Sarfaraz’s father), Mohammad Faheem and Mohammad Afzal.

The shooting of Sarfaraz and Taleem came less than a day after the former’s sister Ruqsar had come out in the media and expressed an apprehension that the police could shoot dead her brothers (Sarfaraz and co-accused Faheem), father Hamid, husband Osama and brother-in-law Shahid.

Ruqsar alleged that her husband and her brother-in-law had been picked up by the police from their residence in the Kewanaganj area of Bahraich on Monday, a day after the violence in the district’s Mahasi tehsil. She also alleged that police had detained her father and her brothers along with another person on Wednesday but did not show this in the records.

“They were not in any police station. I fear that they will be killed in a fake encounter,” said Ruqsar in a video hours before police announced the shooting.

Vrinda Shukla, Bahraich’s superintendent of police, said that Sarfaraz and Taleem were taken to a location in Nanpara near the Indo-Nepal border to retrieve the weapon used in Mishra’s murder. They had allegedly hidden it at the location after the incident.

“The DBBL [double-barrel breech-loading shotgun] gun in a loaded state and another illegal weapon were hidden there,” said Shukla.

The officer said that the two men fired at the police team with these weapons. Police fired back in self-defence and the two were shot and injured, Shukla told journalists.

The police are yet to reveal if any police personnel were injured or how the two accused managed to use the weapons amid tight security, given that they were touted as the main accused.

Also read: The Communal Violence at Bahraich Is a Blot on Yogi’s Claims of ‘Danga-Mukt’ Uttar Pradesh

Shukla said arrests will continue in the case and that the stringent National Security Act will be invoked against all the accused.

Amid a wave of misinformation spread about Mishra’s killing by some television channels as well as social media users, the Bahraich police clarified that he was not subjected to torture with electricity, attacked with a sword or have his nails plucked out.

“These are not true,” said police, adding that Mishra’s cause of death as shown in his post-mortem report was a bullet injury.

The outspoken BJP MLA from Deoria, Shalabh Mani Tripathi, celebrated the shooting of Sarfaraz and Taleem in a social media post. “The beasts of Bahraich have received their treatment,” he said on X.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, speaking to reporters, said the BJP government was carrying out “encounters” to “hide its failures.”

The Bahraich communal incident was a “failure of the government and an administrative failure,” said Yadav, asking why the government could not ensure that the Durga idol procession concluded in a peaceful manner.

Hyderabad MP and president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Asaduddin Owaisi, a vocal opponent of the BJP government, said it was “not difficult to know the truth” about the Bahraich “encounter”.

“Everyone knows about Yogi’s ‘thok denge’ policy. If the police had this much evidence, efforts would have been made to provide legal punishment to the accused,” said Owaisi.

Mishra, a Hindu youth who was seen uprooting a green flag (customarily linked to Islam) atop a Muslim residence shortly before being shot, was the only casualty in the Bahraich incident. After uprooting the green flag, Mishra was seen atop the roof of the house violently waving a saffron flag of the Hindu deity Ram as a large mob that was part of the procession shouted slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’.

The violence erupted after some local Muslims objected to the playing of loud music – other versions say the music was also vulgar – in the procession that was passing by their homes in the Maharajganj area.

After Mishra died as a result of a gunshot injury, angry, rampaging mobs armed with sticks and iron roads protesting his death torched shops, vehicles and private property, including a hospital, linked to the minority community.

The violence lasted for over two days before it was finally brought under control.

The police is yet to provide a full account of the action taken against the rioting and arson incidents that took place after Mishra’s death.