New Delhi: The CPIM on Monday demanded an explanation from the government over the allegations made by former governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satyapal Malik about the Pulwama attack.
Malik, in an interview with a news portal, had claimed there were lapses in security protocol that led to the February 2019 attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
“The CPIM demands that the Modi government must come clean and answer all the serious allegations raised by the former governor of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, Satyapal Malik,” the party said in a statement.
“The allegations regarding the Pulwama terrorist attack in which 40 CRPF jawans had lost their lives are a serious matter which concerns the security of our country. No lapses in safeguarding our national security can be brooked,” it said.
The CPIM also said that the allegations regarding the manner in which Articles 370 and 35 A of the Constitution were abrogated and the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir dissolved into two Union Territories are “equally serious”.
“The Modi government’s silence on these issues has very grave implications for our national security and the unity and integrity of India. Modi government must respond to these allegations in the interest of our national security and Constitutional sanctity. Modi government cannot remain silent,” it said.
Though the Centre has not reacted to the allegations, the BJP has cited Malik’s past remarks, including the one that mocked former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as a “political juvenile”, and slammed him as the “disgraced governor of Jammu and Kashmir”.
New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded an up-to-date caste census.
In his letter, Kharge said in the absence of an updated caste census, a reliable data base so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete.
“I am writing to you to once again place on record the demand of the Indian National Congress for an up-to-date Caste Census. My colleagues and I have raised this demand earlier in both House of Parliament on a number of occasions as have leaders of many other Opposition parties,” the Congress chief said in his letter.
“You are aware that for the first time the UPA Government conducted a Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) during 2011-12 covering some 25 crore households. For a number of reasons, however, the caste data could not get published even though Congress and other MPs demanded its release after your government came to power in May 2014,” he said.
“In the absence of an updated Caste Census, I am afraid a reliable data base so very essential for meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes, particularly for OBCs, is incomplete. This Census is the responsibility of the Union Government,” Kharge said.
In the letter dated April 16, he also pointed out that the regular decennial census was to be carried out in 2021 but it has not yet been conducted.
“We demand that it be done immediately and that a comprehensive Caste Census be made its integral part,” Kharge said.
Sharing Kharge’s letter to the prime minister, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted “Jitni aabadi, utna haq! Congress President @kharge -ji has written to PM demanding that the decennial Census that should have been conducted in 2021 be done right-away, and a Caste Census be made its integral part. This will put social justice & empowerment on a firmer footing”.
Addressing a rally in Katnataka’s Kolar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday had also dared Prime Minister Modi to release the 2011 caste-based census data in public domain and also demanded the 50 per cent cap on reservation be removed.
“UPA in 2011 did the caste-based census. It has the data of all the castes. Mr Prime Minister, you talk of OBCs. Make that data public. Let the nation know how many OBCs, Dalits and tribals are there in the country,” Gandhi had said at the Congress’ ‘Jai Bharat’ election rally in Kolar in the run-up to the May 10 Karnataka polls.
Mumbai: The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party should come clear on the statements made by former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on various issues, including the Pulwama attacks, here on Saturday.
Terming Malik’s contentions on corruption, farmers and February 2019 Pulwama strikes as ‘grave’ and directly linked with national security, the Congress state president Nana Patole, Nationalist Congress Party Chief Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase and Shiv Sena (UBT) National Spokesperson Kishore Tiwari have said they must be probed thoroughly.
“Many questions are raised in Malik’s allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him to keep silent when the government’s fault was pointed out in the Pulwama attacks that led to the killing of 40 soldiers,” said Patole.
He said doubts are created in public minds if this is true and why the demand to send airplanes for the jawans was rejected, where did the 300 kg RDX used came from and other glaring lapses that pointed a finger at the Modi government.
Tapase said that Malik’s statements are too ‘serious’ to be brushed aside and the PM must clarify as it owes an explanation to the nation and the families of the martyred soldiers.
Tiwari pointed out that Malik’s explosive revelations pointed fingers at the PM, the Home Ministry and Defence Ministry and could have possible ‘national security ramifications’.
“What Malik has exposed may be like the tip of the iceberg. What exactly is underneath that has not yet come to light, what does it portend for the country’s internal and external security, and why it has been kept suppressed for over 4 years,” Tiwari asked, saying this needs an independent investigation.
Referring to Malik’s allegations that RSS leader Ram Madhav had offered him a bribe of Rs 300 crore, the Congress leader said this is coming from a former governor appointed by Modi and BJP who claim that they will not spare any corrupt person. “But now, they are themselves completely silent on this.”
“All these statements made openly by a senior BJP leader deepen the suspicions on the government and so it is up to PM Modi himself to disclose the true facts in this matter,” urged Patole.
Tiwari warned that if the BJP attempts to bury Malik’s allegations under the carpet, then it will be deemed as not only true but tantamount to a deliberate fraud played on the people, the farmers and the soldiers of the country who lay their lives for the nation.
New Delhi: After the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the ongoing probe into the excise policy of the national capital, Delhi Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi on Saturday said that the Centre wants to suppress Kejriwal’s voice as he is vocal against the Modi government.
Addressing the mediapersons, Atishi said, “CBI has summoned the Delhi CM tomorrow. Why is he being called for an inquiry? Were crores of rupees found in Kejriwal’s house?… Gold biscuits were found. The central agencies have not been able to keep evidence against a single AAP leader or MLA. Now, these investigating agencies are calling Arvind Kejriwal because they want to suppress Kejriwal’s voice.”
Today the leader, who is raising his voice against the Centre and the Prime Minister is Arvind Kejriwal, she said.
Atishi further said, “It has been almost 10 years since Modi ji ran the government. They speak about reducing inflation. But the prices of everything have increased. Only Arvind Kejriwal has been raising his voice against it.”
The Delhi Minister said there are no jobs and over 5 crore youth are unemployed. She further said around 22 crore people are malnourished in the country. And only Kejriwal, she said has been raising these issues.
“The question is where the country’s money is going. After Modi ji became the Prime Minister, there is a big increase in the net worth of only his special friends. Kejriwal exposes this corruption layer by layer in the assembly, which is why Modi ji wants to suppress Kejriwal’s voice,” Atishi said.
No matter how much the Centre threaten Kejriwal, AAP will continue to raise the voice of the people against corruption, Atishi said.
“AAP is not afraid if they think that they can silence Arvind Kejriwal through CBI and ED,” she added.
In a major development in the Delhi excise policy case, the CBI has summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on April 16. AAP leaders said that Kejriwal will appear before CBI for questioning.
Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, a key aide of Kejriwal, is in jail over alleged irregularities in the excise policy case.
Sisodia was arrested by ED and CBI in the ongoing investigation of a case related to alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy in Delhi.
The CBI arrested Sisodia on February 26, 2023. Later on March 9, the ED arrested him, after hours of questioning at Tihar Jail.
The ED and the CBI had alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority’s approval. The beneficiaries diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection, the probe agencies said.
Bengaluru: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address a party rally on Sunday in Kolar, the same place where he made a remark on the Modi surname for which he was convicted of criminal defamation and also stripped of his Parliament membership.
According to state Congress sources, the former AICC president will arrive in Bengaluru on Sunday morning, and travel to Kolar where he will address the ‘Jai Bharat’ rally organised by the party.
In the evening, Gandhi will inaugurate the newly constructed ‘Indira Gandhi Bhavan’ – office and auditorium with a seating capacity of 750 people – near Karnataka PCC office in Bengaluru.
Several senior Congress leaders including AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, KPCC chief D K Shivakumar, legislature party leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah are expected to participate in the events.
The rally was first scheduled on April 5, which was then postponed to April 9, and finally to April 16, due to poll preparation and candidate selection process, among other reasons, Congress sources said.
Gandhi was on March 23 sentenced to two years in jail by a court in Gujarat’s Surat in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his “why all thieves have the Modi surname” remark. A day later, he was disqualified from the Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction in the case. The Gandhi scion had made those remarks at Kolar in April, 2019 during the Lok Sabha poll campaign. His visit on Sunday is important for the party ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka.
Kolar is significant as Siddaramaiah has expressed his wish to contest from there, as his second seat. He has already been fielded from Varuna in Mysuru district.
Congress has not yet named its candidate for the Kolar seat.
Satya Pal Malik, the last Governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir who oversaw heightened times that include the abrogation of Article 370, stated in an interview that the Prime Minister squelched him by saying “tum abhi chup raho” when he as governor reported that the Centre’s own mistakes were to blame for the Pulwama massacre.
Malik also said that the Prime Minister is ‘ill-informed’ and ‘does not hate corruption very much’ in an interview with journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire news portal that was posted on Friday night.
Malik mentioned the bombing of the CRPF convoy in Pulwama in February 2019 which claimed the lives of 40 jawans and was turned into an election issue by the BJP in the interview.
“CRPF members requested an aircraft to transport their members because such a sizable convoy seldom travels by road. They enquired the home ministry. They refused to give. They only required 5 aircraft, but they weren’t provided with any,” Malik said.
He recalled the Prime Minister calling him on the evening of February 14, 2019, from outside the Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.
“I told it to the PM the same evening. This is our fault. Had we given aircraft then this would not have happened. (To that), he told me, “Tum abhi chup raho….’ I had already said this to a couple of channels. He said, ‘Yeh sab mat bolo, yeh koi aur cheez hai. Hame bolne do….’
Malik also said that the National security advisor Ajit Doval also asked him to stay quiet. “Yeh sab mat boliye. Aap chup rahiye (Don’t say all this. Stay quiet)….’ Mujhe lag gaya tha ki ab yeh sara onus Pakistan ke taraf jana hai toh ‘chup rahiye’ (I feelthat the onus was shifted to Pakistan, so ‘stay quiet’),” Malik said.
He said that none of the link roads to the highway where the convoy was travelling had been blocked, blaming the CRPF and the Union home ministry.
“It was 100% an intelligence failure,” the former governor stated. He further stated that the vehicle that crashed into the convoy was travelling through the nearby villages for 10–12 days prior to the explosion while carrying an estimated 300kg of explosives without being seen.
He claimed that even though Pakistan was the only place where such a massive amount of explosives could have arrived, the deaths were due to these security failings.
When the interviewer asked the former Governor if the Prime Minister used the Pulwama issue for the sake of the upcoming general election, Satyapal Malik just smiled. “Ha ya Na.. kuch nahi kar raha hu,” he added.
Malik stated that while not being informed beforehand of the Modi administration’s intention to revoke the state’s special status, he was aware of it because it had been discussed and was on the agenda.
“Just a day before (the abrogation of special status under Article 370), I got a call from the home minister saying he was sending me a letter that I needed to get passed by the committee and send by 11 a.m. the next day,” Malik explained.
Malik further said that if he had been consulted, he would have advocated against reducing Jammu and Kashmir to a Union Territory. He speculated that this was done because the Centre feared an uprising and wanted the police under its control.
Malik stated he found Modi ‘ill-informed’ during their conversations on Kashmir in 2018, after Modi had already been in power for four years.
Malik rehashed past claims of corruption in an insurance contract and a power project that he had halted as governor in the interview. In conjunction with his charges, he implicated a business, a former Jammu and Kashmir minister, and RSS leader Ram Madhav. For these claims, Ram Madhav has filed a defamation suit against Malik.
“I can safely say that the PM does not hate corruption very much,” Malik claimed, adding that he was relocated from Goa, where he was governor, a week after complaining to Modi about suspected corruption there.
However, he claimed that the Prime Minister had supported him when he stopped the ‘dodgy’ projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
Malik further stated that despite a recommendation for Z+ security and a residence for him due to an alleged danger from Pakistan, he is now protected by a single cop. “Sarkar chahti hai saale ko koi maar de,” he said when asked about the absence of protection.
“If we could only work honestly in Kashmir. We never had free and fair elections there. We rigged the results. We don’t elicit trust because of these tricks,” he remarked.
Malik disputed charges made by former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti that he denied her an audience to lay a claim to lead the government when he dissolved the J&K Assembly in 2018.
“I was not in contact with him (Modi),” he explained. It was Eid and there was no one in my office to operate the fax machine or anything else. I was in Delhi at the time. I arrived at 4 p.m. My chief secretary and our intelligence head arrived and informed me that there is a majority and that if they submit the letter, I will administer the oath. But what exactly is the rule? Twitter is not where governments are formed,” he remarked.
“I dissolved the Assembly after 8 p.m,” Malik stated. “She had the entire day to herself. There are three flights every day between Srinagar and Jammu. We are heading to Delhi and will decide tomorrow,’ stated Farooq Abdullah Sahab’s party. Ghulam Nabi Azad has not said unequivocally that they will support it. Only Mehbooba stated that she had a majority. There was horse trading going on at a large scale. She herself had complained and demanded that the Assembly be dissolved soon, ‘Our MLAs are being poached, we are being pressurised’. Farooq himself used to complain..if they were incompetent, I am not responsible for that..Of course, she is lying. She never called me in that period of time,” he added
Malik remarked that the Adani-Hindenburg row would be to the Modi government’s detriment if the opposition comes together for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“It’s (the Adani-Hindenburg scandal) an election issue. If they (the Modi government) do not improve, the Adani (row) will destroy them. If the opposition has a one-on-one debate, they (the Modi government) will not be rescued. He (the PM) couldn’t say anything in his defence,” Malik remarked.
Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said an idea becomes a mass movement when it moves from “discussion tables to dinner tables” as he called for people’s participation and collective efforts in the fight against climate change.
He also told a gathering of world leaders on Friday that when people become conscious that simple acts in their daily lives are powerful, there will be a very positive impact on the environment.
“People across the world hear a lot about climate change. Many of them feel a lot of anxiety because they do not know what they can do about it. They are constantly made to feel that only governments or global institutions have a role. If they learn that they can also contribute, their anxiety will turn into action,” Modi said while addressing the World Bank-organised “Making it Personal: How behavioral change can tackle climate change” conference.
Citing “Mission Life”, which was launched by him and the UN secretary general last year October, Modi said the programme is about democratising the battle against climate change.
“Climate change cannot be fought from conference tables alone. It has to be fought from the dinner tables in every home,” he told the conference being held on the sidelines of the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
“When an idea moves from discussion tables to dinner tables, it becomes a mass movement”, making every family and individual a part, and their choices can help the planet as well as provide scale and speed, he said.
Prime Minister Modi said when people become conscious that simple acts in their daily lives are powerful, there will be a very positive impact on the environment. The people of India have done a lot in this matter, he said.
“In the last few years, people-driven efforts have improved the sex-ratio in many parts of India. It was the people who laid a massive cleanliness drive, be it rivers, beaches, or roads. They are ensuring public places are free of litter, and it was the people who made the switch to LED bulbs a success. Nearly 370 million LED bulbs have been sold in India,” he said.
This helps in avoiding nearly 39 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, the prime minister said.
Farmers of India ensure coverage of nearly 7,00,000 hectares of farmland through micro-irrigation. Fulfilling the mantra of per drop more crop, this has saved a huge amount of water, he pointed out.
“Under Mission Life, our efforts are spread across many domains, such as making local bodies environment friendly, saving water, saving energy, reducing waste, and e-wastes, adopting healthy lifestyles, adoption of natural farming, promotion of millets,” Modi said.
These efforts will save over 22 billion units of energy, save nine trillion litres of water, reduce waste by 375 million tons, recycle almost one million tons of e-waste, and generate around 170 million of additional cost saving by 2030, he said.
“Further, it will help us reduce wastage of 15 billion tons of food,” Modi said, noting that the global primary crop production in 2020, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, was about nine billion tons.
He said global institutions have an important role to play in encouraging countries across the world.
The World Bank Group is looking to increase climate finance from 26 per cent to 35 percent as a share of total financing. The focus of this climate finance is usually on conventional respects, he noted.
The prime minister said adequate financing methods need to be worked out for behavioral initiatives and a show of support by the World Bank towards behavioral initiatives such as Mission Life will have a multiplier effect.
Patna: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to appear before an MP-MLA court in Patna in connection with the Modi surname case on Wednesday.
However, it is not clear whether he will appear in court or not.
The case was filed by BJP senior leader and MP Sushil Kumar Modi against Rahul Gandhi’s alleged remark “Why all Modis are thieves” in his speech in Kolar district of Karnataka in 2019.
Rahul Gandhi was convicted in the same case (criminal defamation) from Surat court. He was also sentenced to two years jail and is currently on bail.
Sushil Kumar Modi alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s remark was derogatory and targeting people having the ‘Modi’ surname.
The statements of Sushil Kumar Modi, as a complainant, and Sanjiv Chaurashia, Nitin Navin and Manish Kumar as witnesses, have been recorded in the MP-MLA court.
Jaipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Wednesday flag off Rajasthan’s first Vande Bharat Express, which will run on the Ajmer-Delhi Cantonment route, via videoconference.
The train will complete the journey an hour earlier than the present fastest train running on the route, a release stated.
Modi will flag off the train at 11 am on Wednesday via video conferencing, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
The inaugural run will be between Jaipur and Delhi Cantonment. Regular services will start from Thursday and will operate between Ajmer and Delhi Cantonment, with stoppages in Jaipur, Alwar and Gurugram.
The train will cover the distance between Delhi Cantonment and Ajmer in 5 hours and 15 minutes. Shatabdi Express, the fastest train on this route at present, covers the distance in 6 hours and 15 minutes, the release stated.
The Ajmer-Delhi Cantonment Vande Bharat Express will be the world’s first semi-high speed passenger train on high-rise overhead electric territory.
The train will improve the connectivity of Rajasthan’s major tourist destinations, including Pushkar and Ajmer Dargah, and boost the region’s socio-economic development, it said.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Sacred Heart Cathedral Church here on Sunday on the occasion of Easter.
An official video showed the prime minister being welcomed at the church and him greeting priests and worshippers on the holy day.
Modi later joined them as they offered prayers. He also planted a tree on the premises.
After the visit, Modi tweeted, “Today, on the very special occasion of Easter, I had the opportunity to visit the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Delhi. I also met spiritual leaders from the Christian community.”
Some more pictures from the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Delhi on Easter.
The prime minister’s rare visit to the church is imbued with political significance as well, as the ruling BJP has been actively wooing Christians.
Modi in his recent speeches has underlined the minority community’s growing connect with the BJP by citing the party’s poll successes in Goa and recently, in the two northeastern states of Nagaland and Meghalaya. These states have a large Christian population.
Modi has underscored his government’s commitment to the mottos of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ and development for all without any discrimination.
The BJP is looking for support from the community in Kerala, the state with their largest population in the country, as it works to make a fresh headway there after tasting little success in previous elections.
The party’s leaders in the state also met with community leaders on Sunday.
Anil Antony, son of senior Kerala Congress leader A K Antony, a Christian, joined the BJP a few days back.
Earlier in the day, Modi tweeted, “Happy Easter! May this special occasion deepen the spirit of harmony in our society. May it inspire people to serve society and help empower the downtrodden. We remember the pious thoughts of Lord Christ on this day.”
