Tag: activists

Dangerous, misleading, say LGBTQ activists on RSS’s survey on same-sex marriage

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New Delhi: Several LGBTQ rights activists have called the survey on same-sex marriage by an RSS body “dangerous and misleading” and accused the organisation of “spreading disinformation”.
According to the survey by Samwardhini Nyas, an affiliate of the Rashtra Sevika Samiti (a women’s organisation which parallels the RSS), many doctors and allied medical professionals believe that homosexuality is “a disorder” and it will increase further in society if same-sex marriage is legalised.
“Such a study is dangerous and misleading for a society that is unaware. It goes against basic dignity and amounts to defamation. Who are these doctors who have respondents in the survey? Their licences should be cancelled.

“Be it The Yoga Institute which was founded in 1918 or the Indian Psychiatric Society, both have maintained that homosexuality is legitimate and normal, it is natural, inborn and choiceless,” said author and advocate for equal rights, Sharif Rangnekar, who also points out how Hinduism is replete with references to homosexuality.
Activist Harish Iyer said that psychiatric bodies from across the world and India have maintained that homosexuality is not an “aberration but a variation”. It is beyond any reasonable doubt, he said.
“No religion that claims to be a protector of humanity can also support this labelling of LGBTQIA+ individuals as deviants. It is against the ethos of our nation and also against the very grain of the belief of every religion that is based on the principle of love and acceptance.
“If you believe that your God created all of humankind. Then God made me too. And standing up against LGBTQIA+ individuals is akin to working against the intent of your God. God made me this way,” he said.
Iyer also appealed to the government to raise awareness on the issue.

“In keeping with the ruling on Section 377, the government’s responsibility is to create awareness to ensure more acceptance and no misinformation. I would appeal to the government of the day to step in and stand against such blatant disinformation,” he said.
Q Manivannan, a queer scholar and PhD candidate, at the University of St Andrews, to refers to ancient mythology in debunking the results of the survey.
“The RSS forgets, when convenient, that homosexuality is rife in mythology too. Same-sex unions of many kinds, companionships and homoeroticism, much like transgender themes, feature in the Ramayana, in the Mahabharata, and the Upanishads,” he said.
Activist and CPI-M leader Subhashini Ali also attacked the survey. “It was “idiotic unscientific, inhuman,” she tweeted.
The survey has been conducted by the Samwardhini Nyas against the backdrop of a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, hearing arguments on a batch of pleas seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriage.
A senior functionary of the Rashtra Sevika Samiti had said the findings of the survey are based on 318 responses collected across the country covering medical practitioners from eight different paths of treatment from modern science to Ayurveda.
In their response to the survey, according to Samwardhini Nyas, nearly 70 per cent of the doctors and allied medical professionals stated that “homosexuality is a disorder” while 83 per cent of them “confirmed transmission of sexual disease in homosexual relations.”
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#Dangerous #misleading #LGBTQ #activists #RSSs #survey #samesex #marriage
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 7, 2023
Hyderabad: Bajrang dal, BJP activists recite Hanuman Chalisa at Cong office; detained

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Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) activists who were a part of Bajrang Dal gathered outside the Congress party office in the city on Friday and recited Hanuman Chalisa following which they were detained by the cops.
The crowd were protesting against the Congress’s manifesto mentioning the ban on Bajrang Dal, while they cried out the description, calling themselves devotees of lord Ram and Hanuman.
#WATCH | Police detained BJP workers who gathered outside the Congress party office in Hyderabad to recite Hanuman Chalisa amid a row over the Congress manifesto mentioning the ban on Bajrang Dal pic.twitter.com/VFM3Xl4UD9
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2023
Shouting out loud, the activists lay on the road while police tried to stop them. The cops faced a tough time as they had to drag the activists into a DCM truck as they refused to move from their place.

Additionally, lady constables also interfered to move the female activists who were among the protestors while their companions cried out, ‘Ram ki jai’.
Congress members respond
Countering the BJP members and the Bajrang dal, the Telangana Congress Women wing members on Friday said that even they are devotees of lord Ram, asserting that Hanuman Chalisa can be recited by anyone and it doesn’t have to do anything with a particular party.
Stating that there is no significance in linking the Hanuman Chalisa, (one of the popular Hindu devotional hymns dedicated to Lord Hanuman) with the ban, one of the members of the Telangana Congress women’s wing read out the entire Chalisa while her fellow mates accompanied her.
Bajrang Dal announced a nationwide protest
The Karnataka Congress unit in its manifesto stated that it would ban the Bajrang Dal and compared the group to the PFI. The PFI was recently banned by the Union government for its alleged anti-national activities.
The Bajrang Dal announced a nationwide protest and protests are held across the country for the past couple of days.

On Wednesday, the Telangana Bajrang Dal activists held protests in all districts and the city. The Bajrang Dal workers stormed the Gandhi Bhavan on Wednesday.
The police took over 300 of the activists into custody and shifted them to various police stations. All of them were let off later.
Following the developments, the police pickets continued at the Gandhi Bhavan on Thursday as well.

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#Hyderabad #Bajrang #dal #BJP #activists #recite #Hanuman #Chalisa #Cong #office #detained
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 5, 2023
UP: 183 encountered since Mar 2017, activists pose questions

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Lucknow: With the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad’s son Asad and his aide in Jhansi, the number of alleged criminals gunned down in police encounters in Uttar Pradesh has risen to 183 in the six years of Yogi Adityanath’s government, officials said.
The UP Police data showed that more than 10,900 police encounters have taken place in the state since March 2017, when Adityanath took over as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the first time.
In these encounters, 23,300 alleged criminals were arrested and 5,046 were injured.

The number of policemen injured in them was 1,443 and 13 were killed, the data showed.
Of the 13 policemen killed in encounters since March 2017, eight were ambushed in a narrow lane in a village in Kanpur district by the aides of notorious gangster Vikas Dubey.
Dubey was shot dead by police when he tried to escape while being brought to UP from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. Police said Dubey’s vehicle had overturned during the transit and he had snatched a policeman’s gun.
“As many as 183 criminals have been gunned down in police encounters in the state since March 20, 2017,” Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar told PTI.
However, the opposition parties and the critics of the government have alleged that many of these encounters were “fake” and demanded a high-level probe to bring out the facts. The UP government and the police have denied these allegations and said law and order has improved since the BJP came to power in 2017.

The demand for a thorough probe was most recently raised by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati after Asad and his aide Ghulam were shot dead in Jhansi on Thursday.
Both Asad and Ghulam were wanted for the daylight murder of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the killing of then BSP legislator Raju Pal in 2005, and his two security guards in Prayagraj in February this year.
Hours after their killing in Jhansi, Yadav suggested the police encounter could be “fake”.
“By doing fake encounters, the BJP government is trying to divert attention from real issues. The BJP does not believe in courts at all. Today’s and other recent encounters should be thoroughly investigated and the culprits should not be spared. The government does not have the right to decide what is right or wrong. The BJP is against brotherhood,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Shortly thereafter, Mayawati too demanded a “high-level” investigation to bring out “complete facts and truth” of the incident as “many types of discussions” were happening. She also linked the encounter to Dubey’s killing.
But Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has congratulated the police on the action.
“Nobody will touch you if you don’t commit a crime. And nobody will be spared if they commit a crime,” Maurya said, asserting that this was a BJP government and not an SP regime that criminals would be spared.
Some activists too have raised questions over the high number of police encounters in the state.
“We are of the view that the National Human Rights Commission has some guidelines on police encounters. And there should be a magisterial probe as per the guidelines of the NHRC. It will make the picture clear,” Lenin Raghuvanshi, the founder-convenor of People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, told PTI.
Thursday’s encounter killing of Atiq Ahmad’s son and his aide was the seventh under Prayagraj police commissionerate. It was also the third such encounter in the Umesh Pal murder case.
In February and March, two men who allegedly took part in Umesh Pal’s killing were gunned down.
Asad was caught on CCTV when Umesh Pal was killed and was on the run for 50 days, police said.
Atiq Ahmad, a former SP legislator, has expressed fear that he himself could be killed by UP Police while being brought to Prayagraj from an Ahmedabad prison, where he was lodged in connection with another case.
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#encountered #Mar #activists #pose #questions
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 14, 2023
TMC’s Abhishek warns party activists against violence during rural polls

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Kolkata: Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Monday warned party activists against resorting to strong-arm tactics during the upcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal and said there should not be a repeat of the 2018 rural polls, during which widespread violence was reported, a party leader said.
Banerjee, who held a two-hour organisational meeting with the TMC’s district units on Monday via video-conferencing, said the party will not tolerate infighting during the panchayat polls and asked everyone to unitedly fight against the opposition.
“Abhishek Banerjee has said infighting will not be tolerated. The party has to put up a united fight in the panchayat polls. He has also warned against violence as such incidents tarnish the party’s image,” a TMC leader privy to the proceedings of the meeting said.

“He said this year’s panchayat polls will be held in a peaceful atmosphere, not like 2018,” he said.
Referring to the widespread violence during the 2018 rural polls, which was followed by the party’s poor show in Lok Sabha polls next year, Banerjee said that anyone thinking that he can win elections through muscle power is wrong.
“Abhishek Banerjee said that like MLAs and MPs, those seeking to win in panchayat polls have to undergo grind. It won’t be tolerated if someone thinks he will win unopposed and tarnish the party’s image to secure his seat. He said we won fewer seats in 2019 Lok Sabha polls due to widespread violence in 2018 rural elections,” the party leader said.
Banerjee said the TMC will comfortably get an overwhelming mandate owing to the development work done in the last 12 years, he said, adding that strict scrutiny will be done while selecting candidates and those with a clean image will be given preference.
The TMC presently controls all the Zilla Parishads and most of the gram panchayats in the state.

Widespread violence, incidents of rigging and clashes with police were reported from various parts of the state during the 2018 rural polls.
The following year, TMC’s tally in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls came down from 34 to 22, and the BJP’s count went up from two to 18 in the state.
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#TMCs #Abhishek #warns #party #activists #violence #rural #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 10, 2023
Nandini vs Amul: Kannada activists throw products on street in protest

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Bengaluru: The members of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike on Monday staged a protest by throwing Amul products on a street here to oppose the direct sale of milk by Amul in the state.
The Vedike also warned against the direct selling of Amul products in the state.
The protest was staged near the Mysuru Bank Circle. The Vedike activists condemned the sale of milk and curd of Amul brand in Karnataka and the conspiracy to merge Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) into Amul.

Vedike President T.A. Narayana Gowda led the protest and the protesters also attempted to burn the effigy of Amul. Vedike Vice President D.P. Anjanappa stated that the Amul institution is playing with the feelings of the Kannada people. He claimed that he will not allow any chance to destroy the KMF built by Kannadigas.
“The central government is planning to merge Nandini with Amul. If this happens, the local people will raise a revolt,” he warned.
Dharmaraj Gowda T.A., Youth President of Youth wing of Vedike said, “If Amul continues the sale of milk and curd with obstinacy in the state, all Amul products would be boycotted. It won’t be allowed to sell any of its products from ice cream to biscuits. Amul has to stop selling milk and curd.”
When activists tried to burn the effigy of Amul, the police intervened and stopped it. This led to arguments between the police personnel and the protesters. The police took a large number of agitators into custody.
B. Sannerappa, General Secretary of Vedike said, “The ruling BJP government has asked the police to arrest hundreds of activists in cowardice. The police atrocity would be taken as a challenge. The agitation would be staged in all corners of the state. Let them send more police force.”

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#Nandini #Amul #Kannada #activists #throw #products #street #protest
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 10, 2023
MP: Rightwing activists hold protest after IMC action at Indore temple

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Indore: A day after Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) removed illegal construction from the Beleshwar Jhulelal Mahadev Temple where 36 people were after the roof of a stepwell collapsed on Thursday last, a group of Rightwing activists on Tuesday late night reached Dhakkanwala Kuan in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore and demanded the removal of ‘Dargah’ from the area.
On being stopped by the police from reaching the spot, they sat on the road and started raising slogans against the administration.
Indore’s additional collector Ajay Dev Sharma said, “The administration with help of civic body has launched a drive and clearing illegal constructions in and around water bodies including Bawadis and wells. It’s not about any particular religion.”

“We have already removed illegal constructions from Dhakkanwala Kuan area, and the drive will continue in future as well,” said Sharma.
“The protesters were also informed about the action, after which they called off their protest,” he added.
The protestors however claimed there is a dargah in the area and it has been built on a well and demanded that it should be removed.
“We have withdrawn our protest after talks with the leaders of our organization and the district administration. But if the encroachment is not removed, we will remove the illegal encroachments ourselves,” Rajesh Binjwe, one of the protestors said.
Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) filled the stepwell of the temple with building materials where 36 people died last week after its floor collapsed and also demolished the illegal structure of the temple on Monday.

The stepwell floor collapse incident occurred at Beleshwar Jhulelal Mahadev Temple located in Patel Nagar in the city on Thursday (March 30). A ‘Hawan Puja’ was going on in view of the Ram Navami festival in the temple at the time of the incident.
Around 200 Municipal Corporation employees, officers and police force were present on the spot to remove the illegal structure of the temple constructed by encroaching over the garden land of Sneh Nagar locality. The police barricaded the entire area before the JCBs, bulldozers and dumpers reached the spot.
Notably, Bajrang Dal workers had come to protest for the removal of the temple construction, but the police stopped them at the spot. Some local people also reached there to protest but the police convinced them too and drew them back.
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#Rightwing #activists #hold #protest #IMC #action #Indore #temple
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 5, 2023
DeSantis signs Florida gun bill as activists demand more

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Florida becomes the 26th state to allow residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit. The new legislation gives DeSantis another victory to tout as he gears up for an expected presidential campaign.
“Here in the free state of Florida, government will not get in the way of law-abiding Americans who want to defend themselves and their families,” said state Sen. Jay Collins, a Tampa Republican and sponsor of the legislation.
While DeSantis and other Republican backers have described the legislation as “constitutional carry,” supporters of gun rights have repeatedly called on GOP legislators to go further by allowing people to carry guns openly.
DeSantis has said he supports open carry, but top Republicans in the state Senate — including Senate President Kathleen Passidomo — oppose such a policy. Passidomo has cited the opposition of many of Florida’s sheriffs as a prime reason for her stance.
“The governor is weak if he cannot even get his own super majority legislature to add part of his agenda, which is open carry, to the permitless carry bill,” said Matt Collins, a gun rights supporter and former lobbyist for gun-rights groups. “It’s embarrassing for him. It’s failed leadership and it hurts his chances in the upcoming presidential primary.”
Democrats, meanwhile, sharply criticized the approval of the gun measure.
“Hiding behind closed doors and standing shoulder to shoulder with the NRA, Ron DeSantis just signed legislation that could make it easier for criminals to carry guns,” Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement. “DeSantis knows this legislation could be dangerous for Florida families and that’s why he signed this bill with none of his usual produced fanfare.”
Florida law currently makes it a felony if someone carries a concealed weapon without a permit. There are more than 2.6 million people with concealed weapon licenses who must go through training and a background check first.

The new law, which takes effect on July 1, does not end the permitting program but instead makes it optional. Bill supporters contend many Floridians will go through the permitting process because other states recognize the licenses.
State Sen. Lauren Book, the Senate Democratic leader, also faulted Republicans for pushing ahead with what she called a “nonsensical, reckless policy” due to the “governor’s political ambition.”
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#DeSantis #signs #Florida #gun #bill #activists #demand
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 3, 2023
Midnight March: AISA claims 15 activists detained, police deny charge

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New Delhi: All India Students’ Association (AISA), a students’ group on Monday claimed that around of its 15 activists were detained from outside the Indraprastha College for Women, where they had gathered to stage a protest against the alleged harassment of girl students during a fest last week.
Delhi Police, however, has denied the charge.
Police personnel were deployed in large numbers while the gates of the college were barricaded.

Led by the AISA, the agitators had gathered to protest against the alleged incident and the administration’s response to it.
“About 15 AISA activists have been detained from the college gate and are being taken to Burari police station,” the students’ body’s Delhi unit president Abhigyan alleged.
A senior police officer, however, denied the allegation.
“Around 10-15 protesters had gathered outside the college gate. They were removed peacefully,” he said.
No one has been detained, the officer added.

Students at the Indraprastha College for Women, a Delhi University affiliate, last week alleged that some men scaled the institute’s boundary walls during a fest and “harassed several students”.
Scores of students have held multiple demonstrations in the last few days, demanding the resignation of the college’s newly-appointed principal over security lapses during the annual fest and its alleged authoritarian steps.
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#Midnight #March #AISA #claims #activists #detained #police #deny #charge
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 3, 2023
Delhi HC allows activist’s intervention in plea on employment of transgenders

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New Delhi: A transgender rights activist, Grace Banu has filed an “Intervention Application” before the Delhi High Court, seeking permission to support the court in a plea seeking hiring of transgender people in public appointments.
Representing Banu, Senior Advocate Jayna Kothari submitted that she wanted to assist the court in the present case.
The bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh allowed the intervention application, but refused any impleadment in the case.
The court noted: “In terms of the previous order affidavit were to be filed by the respondents. However, it is stated that the Union of India received the petition only on March 24.”
Thus, the court directed all the respondents to file their affidavits.
The court added: “Let the paper book be given to the Union of India, so that they can reply on the affidavit in 6 weeks. List the matter for August 4.”
The court was hearing a plea filed by one Jane Kaushik, a transgender person living in the national capital.
Being a qualified individual with degrees in B.A. (General), M.A. (Political Science), B.Ed., and a two-year diploma in Nursery Teacher Training (NTT), which is also known as Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), since 2019, Kaushik had been looking for employment in Delhi government schools, but to no avail.

The Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) advertised a position, but Kaushik was unable to apply since the online application registration system (OARS) did not contain “transgender” as an option for identification. As a result, she filed the current plea.
Kaushik in her plea stated that various positions advertised required a “specific gender” of the candidate, either male or female.
She has sought directions through the current plea in order to develop a policy for the hiring of transgender people for all positions with the Delhi government.
She also sought relaxations for transgender persons by Clause 9 of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) guidelines issued by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and sought effective implementation of the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
The court had sought the Centre’s response to the current plea in January.
The Ministry of Home Affairs of the Central Government was to be included as a party to the plea, the court had directed.
The Delhi government’s counsel subsequently informed the court that the DSSSB had already taken the necessary actions to instantly alter the portal.
After considering the arguments, the court had clarified that Kaushik would be permitted to apply for positions at any time, regardless of the gender indicated in the job posting.
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#Delhi #activists #intervention #plea #employment #transgenders
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 30, 2023
Congress activists stage protest in Delhi against Rahul’s disqualification, detained

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New Delhi: Scores of Indian Youth Congress activists staged a protest at the Jantar Mantar here on Monday against Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha and were detained when they tried to march towards Parliament.
Indian Youth Congress activists from across the country gathered here to show solidarity with Gandhi and criticised the central government for “silencing” the voices of the democratic opposition.
Carrying IYC flags and “Satyameva Jayate” placards, the protesters demanded justice for Gandhi.
A senior police officer said around 15 Congress workers, including senior leaders and IYC president Srinivas BV, were detained and taken to Mandir Marg police station from where they were released after a few hours.
Addressing the protesters, Srinivas BV said the dictatorship and mute-system of the Modi government has weakened the foundation of democracy in the country.
Youth Congress workers will continue to fight against this ‘Modishahi’ and will win. No matter how many difficulties come, it cannot deter our spirits, he said.
“Rahul Gandhi ji is not fighting for himself but for the country and countrymen. Why is the whole central government, ministers and MPs trying to save one man Adani. Thousands of crores are in their shell companies but investigation is not being done, why?
“If Adani earns Rs 12 lakh crore in just two and a half years, then it is necessary to ask – where did this money come from? Who gave this money? Rahul Gandhi ji is fighting for the people of this country, for the women, for the youth. Fighting against unemployment and inflation and will continue to fight,” he said.

“The Centre has shown that no one can speak or question the Modi government. Rahul ji raised questions about Adani…so they attempted to silence him by disqualifying him,” said Vikram, one of the protesters.
“Rahul Gandhi is fearless and will continue to question the government over their wrong deeds,” he added.
The protesters, including Srinivas BV, were detained when they tried to march towards Parliament.
“Several protesters have been detained and taken to Mandir Marg police station. They were allowed only to protest at Jantar Mantar but when they climbed over the multi-layered barricades to head towards Parliament, they were detained at the spot,” a senior police officer said.
Gandhi, 52, was disqualified from Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat’s Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case. The disqualification will prevent Gandhi, a four-time MP, from contesting elections for eight years unless a higher court stays the conviction.
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#Congress #activists #stage #protest #Delhi #Rahuls #disqualification #detained
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 28, 2023