Tag: protests

Protests against proposed mega-refinery in Maha with Arab help

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Ratnagiri: Protests have erupted against the proposed Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Project (RRPL) coming up in Maharashtra’s Rajapur taluka with the help of Saudi ARAMCO and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, activists said here on Tuesday.
Over 500 residents of around six villages have taken to the streets against the soil surveys that were due to start which would affect their lands, according to activist Sachin Chavan.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders of Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), and local parties have come out in support of the villagers, who apprehend that 20 acres of their land will be taken away for the RRPL project.

NCP’s Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar, Congress Legislative Party Leader Balasaheb Thorat, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut and others have urged the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP government to call off the survey in view of the opposition from the villagers.
The police have deployed a massive force of over 1,500, 300 SRP personnel and four platoons of riot control police in and around the villages of Barsu, Goval, Dhopeshwar Varchiwadi-Goval, Rajapur, Khalchiwadi-Goval, Panhale-Tarfe.
AScores of women activists protested on Tuesday by squatting and lying on the roads to stop the survey teams from entering their villages as police attempted to physically lift them aside.
Chavan claimed that over a 100 protesters have been either detained or arrested in the past three days, allegedly flouting norms and being produced in distant courts beyond the stipulated time of 24 hours after they are nabbed.
Prohibitory orders have been clamped till May 31 outside the (above) villages to enable the soil testing for the RRPL project, and notices have slapped on many villagers, he added.

Attempting to persuade the villagers to call off their protests, government officials like Vaishali Mane and Sheetal Jadhav held unsuccessful talks with the protesters.
Adding to the government’s woes was the overturning of a police vehicle en route to the protest site in which around 17 personnel were injured but their condition is stable in a local hospital.
The RRPL is promoted by IOCL, BPCL and HPCL and plans to construct the mega-refinery and petrochemical complex with help of the two Arab giants which have signed a MoU with the government.
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#Protests #proposed #megarefinery #Maha #Arab
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 25, 2023
Bengal: Police say prime accused arrested in rape of minor as violent protests rock

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Raiganj: A 20-year-old man was arrested on Saturday in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a teenage girl in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district that triggered violent protests, police said.
The 17-year-old girl, whose body was found in a canal in Kaliaganj police station area on Friday, knew the man, Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Sana Akhtar said, identifying him as the prime accused.
A case has been filed under IPC section 302 (murder) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act based on the complaint filed by the girl’s mother, he said.

The preliminary post-mortem report revealed no injury to the body, Akhtar said, adding that a bottle of poison was found near the body.
“We are investigating the case from all angles,” he said.
Violence rocked Kaliaganj, around 18 km from the Bangladesh border, as locals protested against the incident, prompting the police to use tear gas shells and charge batons to bring the situation under control, officials said.
Several shops and e-rickshaws were set on fire by the mob, which demanded the arrest of those behind the incident. Roads were also blocked and stones were hurled at the police, they said.
The RSS-backed ABVP gheraoed the Kaliaganj police station, while BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar sat on a dharna outside the SP office in Raiganj, demanding justice for the victim’s family.

Rapid Action Force (RAF) was deployed to bring the situation under control, police said, adding that a few protestors were also detained.
Three persons were injured in the police action and admitted to the Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital, officials said.
Majumdar, who visited the victim’s village along with local BJP MP Debasree Chaudhuri, demanded a CBI investigation into the incident.
“We think the real truth will be revealed only if a CBI inquiry is conducted in this case,” he told reporters.
State Minister for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, Dr Shashi Panja hit out at the BJP leadership, particularly Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, for identifying the minor in his tweets.
She alleged that the saffron party leaders were trying to instigate the people by misleading them.
“The BJP is trying to play dirty politics. That the Leader of Opposition (LoP) has divulged the identity of the victim girl through his tweets is itself a crime. How can he do that? They are playing dead body politics (sic),” Panja said.
The minister further said the post-mortem report would clear whether the girl was raped and killed or whether she died by suicide by consuming poison.
“At the moment, police are trying to bring the law and order under control. We must think about the mental condition of the family. Culprits will definitely be brought to the book,” Panja said.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) also sent a team to the area, and sought a report from the state police within three days.
The girl went missing on Thursday evening after she left home for going to her tuition classes. Her body was found the next day floating in a canal amid hectic searches by her family and locals.
Protests had started on Friday afternoon but quietened down by the day-end, only to restart on Saturday.
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#Bengal #Police #prime #accused #arrested #rape #minor #violent #protests #rock
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 23, 2023
Are we facing a summer of sporting protests? – podcast

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It began with a protest at Britain’s biggest horse racing event. Members of the activist group Animal Rising scaled the fences at Aintree and attempted to stop the Grand National. As stewards and fans intervened, the protest managed only to delay the race for 14 minutes. As if to help prove the protesters’ point, one of the horses in the race was killed in a fall.
As chief sports reporter Sean Ingle tells Nosheen Iqbal, it was followed just days later by a stunt by another activist group. This time the target was the World Snooker Championship; play was postponed when a Just Stop Oil protester managed to clamber on to the the snooker table and launch an orange powder bomb over proceedings. This weekend, all eyes will be on the London Marathon.
As environment correspondent Damien Gayle reports, the pivot away from mass protest to high-profile stunts shows a divergence in philosophies that still divides the climate action movements. Is building popular support more important? Or bringing the maximum attention to the cause?

Photograph: VCG/Getty Images
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#facing #summer #sporting #protests #podcast
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 21, 2023
Heavy traffic snarls in parts of Delhi as AAP protests against CBI summons to Kejriwal

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New Delhi: Heavy traffic snarls were witnessed in several parts of the national capital on Sunday following protests by AAP workers against the summoning of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the CBI in the excise policy case.
Traffic jams were witnessed in the protest sites of Anand Vihar Terminal, ITO Chowk, Mukarba Chowk Peera Garhi Chowk, Lado Sarai Chowk, Crown Plaza Chowk, Dwarka More Sec 6 and Sec 2 Chauraha, Pecific Wala Chowk Subhash Nagar More, Prem Wari Chauraha Ring Road, New Delhi Railway Station Ajmeri Gate Side, Bara Hanuman Mandir, Karol Bagh Chowk, IIT Crossing, ISBT Kashmiri Gate, Raj Ghat and NH 24 Near Murga Mandi Gazipur.
A serpentine queue of vehicles unable to move an inch due to the AAP protest was seen.

Police officials, along with the traffic unit deployed at multiple locations, are persuading protesters to move from the roads and allow vehicle traffic.
“We have deployed sufficient force at these locations. But protesters are on a sit-in so we are persuading them to move because they are causing heavy traffic jams. If they are still not cooperating, we are removing them from the spot,” a senior police official said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has stepped up security outside the CBI headquarters as Kejriwal appeared before the agency on Sunday in connection with alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped excise policy, officials said.
The force has deployed over 1,000 security personnel, including paramilitary forces, outside the CBI headquarters and section 144 has also been imposed in the area to ensure no gathering of more than four persons takes place, they said.
Security has also been tightened outside the Aam Aadmi Party office in Rouse Avenue, officials said.

An adequate number of barricades have also been placed on the streets at both these places to ensure AAP workers and supporters do not create any trouble, a senior police official said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had summoned Kejriwal at its office to answer questions of the investigation team as a witness in the excise police case, according to a notice issued by the CBI.
Kejriwal’s deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested last month in the case.
The AAP has called the case a conspiracy against its leaders.
CBI officials have said they asked Kejriwal to appear on a Sunday as the offices in the area remain closed.
The agency adopted the same strategy when Sisodia was called at the agency headquarters, where he was grilled for eight hours before being taken into custody.
The allegations relate to the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22. The CBI is probing allegations of bribes paid by liquor traders to get licences.
The AAP has strongly refuted these charges, but its government later scrapped the policy.
“It was further alleged that irregularities were committed, including modifications in excise policy, extending undue favours to the licensees, waiver/reduction in license fee, the extension of L-1 licence without approval, etc,” said a CBI spokesperson after the FIR was filed on August 17, 2022.
The CBI filed its charge sheet against seven accused on November 25 last year.
It alleged in the charge sheet that the excise policy was framed in a manner to promote cartelisation and monopoly at the wholesale level.
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#Heavy #traffic #snarls #parts #Delhi #AAP #protests #CBI #summons #Kejriwal
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 16, 2023
Congress stages protests against Kailash Vijayvargiya for ‘Shurpanakha’ remarks

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Bhopal: The Congress in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday staged protests against senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya over his “girls look like ‘Shurpanakha’ in bad clothes” remark and demanded his apology for “insulting” women.
In Indore city, the women’s cell of Congress held a demonstration in Rajwara area and tried to set afire the effigy of Vijayvargiya saying he had scant respect for women.
In Bhopal, women workers of the opposition party protested in front of the bungalow of Vijayvargiya’s MLA son Aakash Vijayvargiya holding flowers, called “Beshram ke phool” in Hindi.

MP Congress media department’s vice president Sangeeta Sharma told PTI the party will wait for two-three days for the Vijayvargiya senior to apologise, and if he fails to do so, a complaint will be lodged with the police in Indore.
Kailash Vijayvargiya, a BJP general secretary, had said, “When I leave for home at night, I see educated young people and children under the influence of drugs….I feel like getting down (from the car) and slapping them five to seven times to sober them up”.
Mahila Congress chief @dnetta condemns the remarks of BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya. Vijayvargiya stoked a controversy after he said girls who wear “dirty clothes” look like Shurpanakha, a demoness from the Indian epic Ramayana. @TheNewIndian_in pic.twitter.com/W05Ye1k8TO
— Anand Singh (@Anand_Journ) April 8, 2023
A video of the religious program where the BJP leader passed the controversial remarks on Thursday went viral a day later.
“We see the goddess in women. But (with) the kind of bad dresses the girls wear and move around, they do not embody the goddess but look like ‘Shurpanakha’. God has given you a good and beautiful body…..dress well, friends,” he had said.
In the popular version of the Ramayana, Shurpanakha is the sister of the demon king Ravan.

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#Congress #stages #protests #Kailash #Vijayvargiya #Shurpanakha #remarks
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 8, 2023
White House: Tenn. Republicans’ expected vote to expel Dems over gun protests ‘undemocratic’

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The Tennessee Legislature has captured national attention after three state lawmakers — Reps. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis — used a bullhorn to amplify calls for gun policy reform as demonstrators at the state capitol called for lawmakers to take action last week. The lawmakers approached the lectern without being recognized, interrupting legislative business. House Speaker Cameron Sexton called the protests “an insurrection.”
The lawmakers were quickly stripped of their committee assignments, and GOP lawmakers filed three resolutions this week seeking the Democrats’ removal, in a rare and historic step that the state House has taken only twice since the 1860s. If the vote succeeds, it will mark an unprecedented use of power by Republicans who control both chambers of the Tennessee Legislature. The GOP holds 75 of the 99 seats in the House, and the three Democrats will be removed if the vote falls along party lines. The rare step typically occurs only when members are accused of crimes or ethics violations.
The White House has weighed in twice this week, criticizing the action for its partisan nature amid a national epidemic of gun violence that continues to rock the country. So far this year, the U.S. has seen 141 mass shootings and 65 children have been killed because of gun violence, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The White House on Thursday repeated President Joe Biden’s futile pleas for Congress to reimplement an assault weapons ban. Jean-Pierre also said the president would continue his push for Congress to eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability and to implement universal background checks.
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#White #House #Tenn #Republicans #expected #vote #expel #Dems #gun #protests #undemocratic
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 7, 2023
BJP to organise protests across Rajasthan to corner Cong govt

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Jaipur: The BJP will organise protest demonstrations in all districts of the state against various issues including paper leaks, law and order and women safety in coming days.
Newly appointed BJP state president CP Joshi said the party will create a movement against the “anti-people policies” of the Congress government.
The issues and strategy to corner the Ashok Gehlot government were discussed in a meeting of office-bearers held at the party’s state headquarters here on Sunday.

It was the first state party meeting after Chittorgarh MP CP Joshi took charge as the state unit president, succeeding Satish Poonia.
“The Congress party has always done the politics of division. It was under the Congress rule that the massacre of Sikhs took place in 1984. Terrorists also got patronage and protection during the Congress government,” Joshi alleged in the meeting.
He said that in peace-loving Rajasthan, the government over the past four-and-a-half years has given protection to people who have been spoiling harmony.
Joshi also accused Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of doing politics of appeasement.
He said Chief Minister Gehlot talks about winning 156 seats in the 2023 assembly elections, while Congress MLAs and ministers have raised question marks on his current tenure. “So there is no possibility of repeating a Congress government”.

“The Congress could win only 21 and 56 seats in the assembly after the two terms of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The people of Rajasthan will give an answer to the Congress government in the 2023 assembly elections. The BJP will get a huge mandate,” he said.
BJP national general secretary and state in-charge Arun Singh shared the party’s poll action plan with the office-bearers presidents of various state party units, district in-charge and district presidents.
Co in charge Vijaya Rahatkar and other leaders were also present in the meeting.
A meeting of BJP legislators and core committee was also held later.
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#BJP #organise #protests #Rajasthan #corner #Cong #govt
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
Israelis resume protests against judicial reforms despite negotiations

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Jerusalem: Tens of thousands of Israelis resume demonstrations in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, calling for a complete cancellation of the government’s judicial overhaul plan, according to the local media.
The Times of Israel, citing the estimation of Channel 12, reported that some 160,000 people were demonstrating in the major Israeli city on Saturday evening. Demonstrations were also held in several other cities.
Before the protests resurfaced, streets had largely remained calm for a few days in Israel since the ruling coalition and those opposing the reform started their negotiations on Thursday to find a compromise solution, Xinhua news agency reported.

On March 26, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a pause in the contentious legislation aimed at curbing what they called a too-powerful Supreme Court. The decision came after weeks of widespread protests and a brief nationwide strike.
The ruling coalition, which had pushed forward judicial reform bills in the parliament since the beginning of this year, argued that the Supreme Court often “intervenes” in political issues that should be determined by the legislature.
Opponents of the reforms believe the reform will weaken the courts and give the coalition too much power.
“We are on guard. The danger has not yet passed,” Yair Lapid, Head of the Opposition, tweeted from one of the demonstrations. Lapid’s party Yesh Atid is participating in the negotiations.
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#Israelis #resume #protests #judicial #reforms #negotiations

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
2008 Jaipur serial blasts: BJP protests against Gehlot govt over acquittal of accused

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Jaipur: The BJP on Saturday held a protest here against the Congress government in Rajasthan, blaming it for the acquittal of four accused in the 2008 Jaipur serial bomb blast case in which 71 people were killed.
The opposition party alleged that due to the state government’s “appeasement politics”, the prosecution did not put up a strong case in the Rajasthan High Court which set aside the 2019 lower court order of capital punishment to the accused.
The acquittal has come as a great shock and the victims are still waiting for justice, the BJP said.
The Rajasthan High Court, which on Wednesday acquitted the four accused, had also pulled up the probe agency for its “poor” investigation. The state government has decided to challenge the high court verdict in the Supreme Court.
“The judgment puts a question mark on the intention of the state government which had a weak prosecution in the high court and this led to the acquittal,” former minister Rajpal Singh said during the dharna at Badi Chaupad, one of the sites rocked by the serial blasts.
He said that the victims were waiting for justice.
“The acquittal is the outcome of the appeasement policy of the Congress government,” he said.
Jaipur MP Ramcharan Bohra, former BJP state president Arun Chaturvedi, Rajya Sabha MP Ghanshyam Tiwari and other leaders were present in the dharna.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot told reporters in Kota that the state government has already decided to file an SLP in the Supreme Court against the high court decision.
A lower court in December 2019 awarded death sentences to Mohammad Sarwar Azmi, Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Salman and Saifur Rahman and acquitted the fifth accused Shahbaz Hussain while giving the benefit of doubt.
The state government challenged the acquittal of Shahbaz Hussain in the High Court. At the same time, all four who were awarded capital punishment had filed an appeal against the sentence.
A division bench of justices Pankaj Bhandari and Sameer Jain on Wednesday acquitted the four accused. The court, in its order, also confirmed the acquittal of a fifth person – Shahbaz Hussain – by the trial court. It cited shoddy investigation in its verdict.
Jaipur was rocked by serial blasts on May 13, 2008 at Manak Chawk Khanda, Chandpole Gate, Badi Chaupad, Chhoti Chaupad, Tripolia Gate, Johri Bazar and Sanganeri Gate.
The explosions left 71 people dead and 185 injured.
One live bomb was recovered near Ramchandra Temple which was defused by a bomb disposal squad.
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#Jaipur #serial #blasts #BJP #protests #Gehlot #govt #acquittal #accused
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 1, 2023
Turkey summons Danish ambassador over anti-Islam protests

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Ankara: Turkey’s Foreign Ministry summoned Danish Ambassador Danny Annan over “an attack targeting Quran and Turkish flag” at a public demonstration in Denmark.
The ministry said in a written statement that it strongly condemned and protested the “heinous act committed under the guise of freedom of expression”, which is “unacceptable”.
The statement came after Turkish media reported that members of the Danish far-right group The Patriots Go Live displayed Islamophobic banners and chanted anti-Islam slogans in front of the Turkish Embassy in Denmark’s capital of Copenhagen earlier on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.
The protest was live broadcasted on the group’s Facebook page, local TV network CNN Turk reported.
“It is seen that the inadequacy of legal and administrative measures and the lack of political will to prevent such acts as well as impunity of perpetrators have encouraged further provocations,” the ministry said in the statement, speaking of the recurrence of anti-Islam demonstrations in Denmark lately.
It urged Danish authorities to take necessary actions against the perpetrators of this act and to take effective measures to prevent the recurrence of such “provocations”, according to the statement.
Earlier, Turkey had summoned the Danish ambassador to denounce “the desecration of the Quran and the Turkish flag” over a public protest staged in Copenhagen on March 24.

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#Turkey #summons #Danish #ambassador #antiIslam #protests
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 1, 2023