By IANS,

New Delhi : The government is planning to bring the controversial anti-communal violence bill in the winter session of parliament, informed sources said Monday.

The core group of the Congress, headed by party chief Sonia Gandhi, met and discussed the legislation. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, sources said.

"The communal violence bill has to be approved by the cabinet. Once that happens, then we will see," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath told reporters, when asked if the bill would be introduced in the ongoing winter session of parliament.

This session is scheduled to end Dec 20, but could be extended as the government is keen to pass the Lokpal bill.

By IANS,

Riyadh : The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia has launched online visa services for people wanting to visit India on a tourist, business or visit visa.

Now, people will be able to access the application form and other details from the website https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/indianVisaReg.jsp, the embassy said in a statement Sunday.

A printout of the completed application form. duly signed along with fee, two recent passport size photographs, photocopy of ID card or iqama, The Saudi identity document, proof of confirmation of hotel accommodation, airline booking and passport validity of at least six months beyond the applicable visa period should be submitted at the visa application centre at Umm-Al-Hammam in Riyadh or Al-Mustafa building in Dammam between 8.30 a.m. and 3 p.m. on all working days.

Visas will normally be issued on the third working day except in cases which require detailed procedural formalities and clearance.

By IANS,

Kolkata : Hailing the hanging of Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah, war veterans of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War Monday demanded swift execution of all war criminals.

Participating in the army-organised Vijay Diwas celebrations -- to mark the surrender of Pakistani soldiers to the Indian Army in 1971, the war veterans also criticised the riots in Bangladesh that have ensued following Mollah's execution.

"We are happy at Mollah's execution and we want that all the war criminals are hanged swiftly," Lt. Col. (Retd.) N Nabi Khan said.

Mollah was hanged Thursday night in the first execution of a 1971 Liberation War criminal in Bangladesh, after the country's highest court dismissed his petition to review his death sentence.

Following the execution of Mollah -- convicted of rape and mass murder, clashes have been reported across Bangladesh.

"The clashes are unfortunate. Moreover, there are attempts to destabilise the Bangladesh-India border and creating troubles in India's east and north east region," added Khan.

The Vijay Diwas saw war veterans from both the countries coming together and reminiscing about their joint effort which saw more than 90,000 Pakistani soldiers laying down arms.

By TCN News,

New Delhi: Hundreds of riot victims from Muzaffernagar traveled all the way to New Delhi demanding implementation of Supreme Court orders to give relief to the people living in harsh conditions in relief camps and enactment of a strong anti-communal violence law.

Several Members of Parliament, activists, lawyers, students and community leaders participated in the protest organized at Jantar Mantar near Parliament of India on Monday.

Mohammad Haneef from Loi village of Muzaffernagar covered himself in the blanket he was carrying to protect himself from the cold and fog that engulfed the national capital Monday morning. He shouted slogans against United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre and Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh.

“It seems we are alone in this world. There is no one to listen to us. We don’t have proper tents, food or drinking water. Our children are struggling to survive. So many people have died due to poor living conditions. We don’t know if we will ever be able to go back to our homes,” said Haneef who came to Delhi for the first time to participate in a protest. He was bewildered by large number of protests, posters and banners at Jantar Mantar organized by several organizations to mark the anniversary of Delhi gang rape incident.

“Is rape in Muzaffernagar different from rape in Delhi? There is no one to listen to rape victims in Muzaffernagar. Nobody has been arrested even when the women gave statement in the court,” said Haneef.

Haneef and other victims were brought to Delhi by Aligarh Muslim University Lawyers Forum, a registered body of lawyers who are alumni of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

Aslam Khan, president of the lawyers’ forum, said: “We are grateful to the Supreme Court for passing orders to give all kinds of protection to the people living in relief camps. But there is hardly any implementation by the district administration.”

“There is a total failure on the part of state government. More people have died in the relief camps than in the violence. But the govt is not acknowledging those deaths and forcing people to shut the relief camps. Where will these people go?” People in the relief camps are scared of going back to their villages due to hostile environment there.

The protesters also demanded that the UPA government should pass Protection of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill in the ongoing winter session of Parliament. It is due to lack of any specific law and accountability that such violence keep happening time and again.

Shahzad Alam Burni, president of AMU Students Union, said: “It is a long pending demand. The Congress party promised this Bill in its manifesto. But it never showed any interest in the enactment of the law. Congress party will have to pay a price for this.”

Naved Hamid, member of the National Integration Council, said: “We want a strong law in which the policemen are held accountable if there is any communal violence. Also, the law should be specific to the minorities otherwise it will become meaningless. A special law is meant to protect a specific group. The govt wants to dilute the law by making it for everybody. This is not acceptable.”
Members of Parliament like Shafiqur Rahman Barq of BSP, Ali Anwar of JD (U) and Mohammed Adeeb also addressed the gathering.

Resolution Passed at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on December 16, 2013

Table the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice & Reparations) Bill in the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) of the Indian Parliament.

This Bill when it becomes Law will be an institutional mechanism to protect the lives and properties of disadvantaged citizens who are victims of targeted and mass violence. It will fix responsibility on the officers of the state who show overt and covert complicity in violence against vulnerable sections of the society. It will give life into Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution (Right to Life and Right to Equality Before the Law)

The Bill - first drafted in 2005 – was redrafted in 2011 by the National Advisory Council along with members of the civil society. The Bill aims at removing certain anomalies in the existing structure, so that people can be held accountable.
In the last few decades we have seen gross injustice meted out to religious and linguistic minorities as well as dalits and adivasis in different states of this country through organized communal and targeted violence. By religious minorities we mean Kashmiri Pandits in J&K, Hindus in some of the north eastern states as much as Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Parsis across the country. Tamilians in Karnataka and Biharis in Maharashtra are among the examples of linguistic minorities.
Along with the vicious and repeated targeting of religious and linguistic minorities, dalits and adivasis too continue to face repression in many parts of the country. In the last two years recurring communal riots in Uttar Pradesh is a matter of shame for all Indians.

The prevailing culture of impunity has led to growing alienation and erosion of faith in the system among the targeted communities. By its failure to protect the life and liberty of a section of citizens, the state sows the seeds of extremism.
Until now, governments have at best remained content with somehow restoring peace after protracted violence and transferring officers guilty of dereliction of duty. It is evident that we urgently need a new law to punish the perpetrators and masterminds of violence and to hold politicians, the bureaucracy and policemen responsible for law and order accountable for any dereliction of duty.

If the police and administration were to be held directly responsible for failure to enforce Rule of Law, perpetrators of recurring violence would be halted in their tracks. If the law could facilitate time-bound prosecution of those guilty, the political gains from engineered violence would diminish. If fair reparation commensurate to the loss were to be compulsorily paid within a short time-frame, the future would not benefit rioters.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the UPA coalition had included in its manifesto the promise to enact a new law to curb communal violence. But the nearly decade-old promise is yet to be fulfilled.

We therefore urge the UPA government to enable the tabling of the ‘Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011’ in the Rajya Sabha without any further delay in the current winter session of Parliament.
Unfortunately, it has been reported in the media that the government under electoral pressure is trying to bring in a “weak” law. The Bill – which is actually meant for the minorities – has been amended to include all. While we uphold that justice be done to all but such an amendment will make the law meaningless. A special law is meant for the protection of targeted and vulnerable population. Making it neutral will be like taking the heart out of flesh and bones.

It has also been reported that the police officials and bureaucrats have been let free from any responsibility in the amended Bill. The entire exercise will become futile with this amendment. We, therefore, oppose this change tooth and nail.

Resolution on Muzaffarnagar

The guilty officers from the police and administration, responsible for dereliction of duty must be punished;

Anti-women campaigns like ‘Love Jehad’ or ‘ BahuBetiBachao’ movements should be viewed as crimes against women and dealt with in those terms;

Cases of molestation and sexual harassment should be prosecuted in a time bound manner;

The rights over land (land rights ) of the Victims and Survivors of the violence who have been displaced from their habitats should be preserved and protected as there is a real danger of over 1,000 acres of land being seized by politically powerful vested interests;

Immediate compensation to all the displaced;

Provide adequate food, shelter and warm clothes to those living in relief camps.

Courts should be approached for the cancellation of bail of those leaders responsible for hate speech and inciting violence who have been granted speedy bail.

By IANS,

New Delhi : Over 1,000 Muslims Monday protested against the Congress party at the Jantar Mantar here, demanding the immediate clearance of the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill.

Shouting slogans like "Bill nahi to vote nahi (no bill, no vote)" and "Insaaf nahi toh vote nahi (no justice, no vote)", victims of the Muzaffarnagar riots along with more than 200 lawyers from the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Lawyers Forum demanded the immediate clearance of the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill in parliament.

"We can't tolerate this. Our community has been ignored and brushed aside by both the Uttar Pradesh government and the central government," said Md. Aslam Khan, president of AMU Lawyers Forum.

He said the Congress, in its party manifesto, prior to the 2004 general elections, had mentioned the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill and on the basis of that, they gained the faith and trust of Muslims in the country. But now, we have realised it is just a cunning trick to win elections.

Calling the prevailing law and order situation in the country "jungle law", he told IANS he wants to challenge Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to get rid of the party's fake promises and try to arrive at a consensus to pass the bill in parliament or else the Congress should stop dreaming of Muslim votes.

The delegation from the AMU Lawyers Forum also presented a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaker of the Lok Sabha Meira Kumar and chairman of the Rajya Sabha M. Hamid Ansari.

Speaking on the occasion, Md. Shafiq-ur-Rehman Warq, member of parliament and a forum member said it was important for all people from the minority community to stand for the cause.

"The clearance of the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill is very important to ensure the welfare of the minority classes," Warq said.

By Saiyed Danish, TwoCircles.net,

Shamli: Even after being rapped by the Supreme Court for deaths of children, the UP government’s brazen refusal to recognize deaths of 50 children in various camps exposes the level the government can stoop down in order to cover up the truth about the existence of mass graves in the various camps situated in the district.

There is not a single camp where children deaths have not taken place but there is no mention of it by any medical representative appointed by the UP government to look after the sick victims living in the camp.

Nearly 4500 Muzaffarnagar riot victims and 700 families are languishing in hundreds of camps at Malakpur.

In fact, the Director-General U.P. Health Ministry Dr. A. S. Rathore, in one of his rare visits to the Malakpur camp, went on to claim that he had precise information about the deaths in the camps but failed to acknowledge the number of graves in the very camp from which he was making his lofty claims.

Even a layman could tell that the 16 small graves of infants in the premises of Malakpur camp are fresh. But even that record was nowhere to be found in the “updated list of dead persons in families” as claimed by Dr. Rathore. He seemed to be so obsessed with the official versions that even after visiting the graves he denied the possibility of children dying due to severe weather conditions.

If the state of naked apathy on the part of the Director General was not inhumane yet, the Chief Medical Officer of Shamli district Dr. Lokesh Kumar Gupta’s arrogant behaviour made up for it at Sunaiti camp where he did not even step down from his car to listen to the antagonized riot-victims. It is because of such slip-shoddy visits that the real problems of victims are going unheard.

Sunaiti relief camp, which is about 4 km away from the Malakpur camp, is second in a row of camps in with unregistered child deaths in the district. 6 infants have died in this camp due to cold weather but the uniformity, with which the health officials have been denying such facts elsewhere, was maintained by them at Sunaiti camp also.

“My child died by a snake bite,” said Akbari, the mother of Saadil who succumbed to the snake bite. Five other infants, namely Fatima (4 years), Firdaus (6 days), Zoya (5 years), Firoz (20 days), Umar (9 days) also died in the same camp.

The third camp with graves of children in Shamli alone is Nurpur-Furqan camp situated not far from Sunaiti and Malakpur, where 1300 riot-victims have camped. So far six children died here.

By TCN News,

Asansol, West Bengal: A training program for college and university students was organised by Al Hafeez Welfare Society at National Marriage Hall, Railpaar, Asansol, which was attended by large number of students, teachers, guardians and activists connected with education.

Delivering his speech, Chief Guest of the program, Dr. Shakeel Samdani of the Dept of Law, Aligarh Muslim University said that without education and good training no community can progress in this world. Islam gives much stress on education and that’s why the social reformer and the educationist Sir Syed Ahmad Khan established Anglo Mohamadan Oriental College at Aligarh. For establishing a standard model college he visited England , studied the educational system there including Oxford and Cambridge and tried to replicate that model at Aligarh. Dr. Samdani further said that Islam doesn’t prevent girls from acquiring knowledge and getting education from colleges and universities. Islam permits every human activity provided it doesn’t violate the Shariat and doesn’t transgress the limits of Allah. He told the audience that Islam has produced great women scholars like Hazrat Aisha (R.A.) who gave us about 2300 Ahadiths.

Dr. Shakeel Samdani speaking.

While advising the students preparing for competitive exams Dr Samdani said that they should not waste their time and spend every minute for their studies. He said that there is no dearth of talent in boys and girls; the only thing required is their right guidance and hard work. He further said that the history of the Muslims is full of education, scientific temper and struggle. There was a time when Muslims were the rulers of Asia, Africa, greater part of Russia, parts of China and about one third of Europe. This was due to their excellence in education, committed leadership and full belief in Almighty Allah. Now the time has come to revive the same spirit. If they want to live a dignified and respectful life in this world, they will have to use the same tool which they had used earlier. Dr. Samdani also gave tips to the students about the competitive exams.

He requested the social workers, human right activists and political leaders to force the government to implement reservation for Muslims in jobs and admissions.

Boquet being presented to the Chief Guest Dr. Shakeel Samdani by Haji Naseem Ansari.

Prof Suleman Khursheed of Kolkata said that the North Indian Muslims should learn a lesson from South Indian Muslims who have established a large number of educational institutions including medical, engineering and training colleges. The need of the hour is to replicate that in Bengal also.

In the beginning Mayor in council of Asansol Municipal Corporation, Rabiul Islam said that this is wrong to say that the Bengali Muslims are away from Islam. They are as devout Muslims as Urdu speaking Muslims of Bengal. Syed Mohd. Afroz, Member, State Haj Committee said that education is the lost heritage of Muslims, so we have to start work in this direction.

Convenor of the program Al Haj Mohd Naseem Ansari, while welcoming the Chief Guest, Dr. Samdani said that the sacrifice of Dr. Samdani can never be forgotten by the people of Asansol because in the last two years he has ignited the candle of education in the entire district especially in remote areas. He asked the audience to pray to Almighty for sound health and long life of Dr. Samdani. He announced that hence forth the students who are trying to get admission through competitions will be given free coaching.

The educational program was presided by Secretary, Madarsa Raza-e-Ghaus, Asansol, Arshad Ali. The other speakers included Shujat Hussain, Principal, Rehmni Higher Secondary School, Javed Iqbal Lalias Jhabbu etc. The program was conducted by Khaliq Adeeb of Asansol.

The important personalities present included Mohd. Islam, Niamatpur, Qurban Ali, Wajihuddin Jamal, Rashid Ahmad, Master Kamal, Mohiuddin Sona, Master Sultan, Naushad etc. The most important feature of the program was that a separate hall was earmarked for women and girl students.

By TCN News,

Washington DC: The Coalition Against Genocide (CAG), has released a new report “Affiliations of Faith: Hindu American Foundation and the Global Sangh,” that documents HAF's deep imbrication within the Global Hindutva movement.

Hindutva refers to a Hindu supremacist movement that originated in India in the 1920s. The movement has a presence today in several countries across the world including the US. The Hindutva movement was responsible for the assassination of Gandhi, the demolition of the 16th century Babri Masjid mosque in Northern India, the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom that claimed over 2000 lives in Gujarat, the massacre of Christians and the destruction of churches in the state of Odisha and the ongoing atrocities against Muslims in the district of Muzaffarnagar (U.P).

This new report releases for the first time archival material from the internal email communications of the global Sangh to show HAF's deep links to this violent and intolerant movement.

"The HAF is a third wave Hindutva organization in the US," said Professor Biju Mathew, whose pioneering article 'The Protean Forms of Yankee Hindutva' (with Vijay Prashad) defined the study of Hindutva's growth outside India.

The first wave organizations imitated the Sangh outfits in India and built mirror organizations in the US and UK in the 1980s. A decade long transition of the 1990s then saw the Hindutva movement both try to create space for the second generation and build organizations responsive to US political frameworks.

The current third wave of the 2000s has witnessed organizations like HAF that are deeply rooted in Hindutva use an American discourse of civil rights and multiculturalism to advance their agenda" he added.

Challenging HAF's claim to represent Hindus and Hinduism in the US, the report shows that the HAF does not represent all the "sampradayas" or traditions within Hinduism, but at most represents only a narrow ideological spectrum of Brahmanism and upper caste ideology. Moreover, it also demonstrates that contrary to their public "human rights" posturing, the people behind HAF have positions on Dalits and women that are blatantly anti-liberal and oppressive.

"American audiences need to know that HAF and its ilk are rooted in supremacist and majoritarian ideologies. They pay lip service to caste oppression issues and pluralism, but have a monocultural and elitist view of Indian society. They want pluralism and minority rights for themselves here in the US but want minorities, Dalits and women to be second class citizens in India," said Dr. Raja Swamy.

Announcing the release of the CAG's new Spotlight Series, Dr. Shaik Ubaid of the CAG noted that "the spotlight series on the violent supremacist movement will help draw attention of the world to the international expansion of Hindutva. It should raise grave and urgent concerns about Hindutva attempts to take over Indian and Hindu spaces in the US and to infiltrate US power centers such as the Congress and local legislatures."

The HAF report Affiliations of Faith is the first in the series. The next report is scheduled for release in early January.

Link:

http://coalitionagainstgenocide.org/reports/2013/cag.15dec2013.haf.rss.pdf

By TCN News,

New Delhi: The Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia is going to organize a Talk on “The Legacy of Islamic Humanism” on 17 December, 2013 by Dr. Ramin Jahanbegloo.

Dr. Rahim Jahanbegloo holds the Noor-York Chair in Islamic Studies at York University, Toronto, Canada.

The Talk is scheduled to be held on December 17, 2013 at 3 PM in Ho Chi Minh Conference Hall, Academy of International Studies in the University.

By IANS,

New Delhi : The Supreme Court Tuesday restrained Uttar Pradesh Police from taking any coercive step against self-exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen following her criticism of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal meeting cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan just before Delhi assembly polls.

A bench of Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice S.A. Bobde also issued notice to UP Police on her plea to quash an FIR against her.

The court restrained the state police from moving against Nasreen after senior counsel K.K. Venugopal told the court that a critical tweet on a meeting between Kejriwal and Tauqeer Raza Khan cannot be construed as an offence under section 66(a) of the IT Act.

Venugopal, who appeared for the writer, said that police in Bareilly registered the FIR without carrying out the preliminary inquiry that is mandatory under the law.

The court was also told that there no provision for anticipatory bail in Uttar Pradesh.

It was informed that the writer was still under the threat of fatwa issued in 2007 by the cleric as the same has not been withdrawn till date.

The court also directed that Nasreen's plea challenging the validity of section 66(a) be tagged with an earlier petition pending before the court that has questioned the constitutional validity of the provision.

An FIR was filed by UP Police on a complaint under the IT Act after Nasreen's controversial tweet criticising a meeting between Kejriwal and the cleric in November.

Nasreen, in her petition, has also sought the scrapping of section 66(a) which provides for punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services etc as "unconstitutional and void".

Describing the provision as draconian, she said that it "acts as an easy ready aid for such abuse of the legal process".

The Bangladesh writer said that she was "quite distressed and shocked by the registration of a criminal case against her and believes that criminal justice system was being abused to harass, intimidate and coerce her virtually giving up her right to express her views freely and without fear".

In her petition, she said that her tweet was in protest against Kejriwal meeting Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan for support as the latter had issued fatwa against her for holding views advocating women's rights and in 2007 had announced a reward of Rs.5 lakh to anyone who would behead her.

She said that 2007 fatwa survives even today.

She said she wanted her displeasure known over Kejriwal meeting the cleric as it amounted to conferring legitimacy to Muslim cleric by the AAP leader who is perceived as a voice of civil society.

By IANS,

New Delhi : A suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative, arrested from Haryana, was Tuesday sent to five days in police custody by a Delhi court.

Hafeez Rashid, 30, was arrested from Nuh district in Haryana Monday night, police said.

His name surfaced after police interrogated Mohammad Shahid, another LeT suspect arrested by a special cell of Delhi Police Dec 9 from Choti Mewli village in Nuh district.

An earlier report said he was arrested Dec 10 but police later corrected the date.

Rashid was presented before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma who allowed Delhi Police to question the LeT suspect till Dec 21.

A police officer said Rashid was providing logistics to Shahid to prepare for a terror attack in north India.

"Rashid introduced Shahid to Pakistan-based LeT commander Javed Baluchi early this year. They travelled to Pakistan to meet Baluchi," a police officer said.

Both Rashid and Shahid were imams of a mosque in Choti Mewli, police said.

Shahid told police that he had joined the LeT about six-seven months ago.

Police said the LeT module was at an advanced stage of planning a terrorist strike in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.

By IANS,

New Delhi : A member of the Hindu Sena was detained inside parliament premises Tuesday because he was creating ruckus on the delay of the passing of the Communal Violence Bill, police said.

Vishnu Gupta entered the parliament complex on a visiting pass and shouted slogans and tried to disrupt the decorum of parliament, said a police official.

He was detained by parliament security officials later and was interrogated.

The Lokpal bill is being debated in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday.

By IANS,

New Delhi : BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Tuesday declined to meet a US Congressional team to protest the "ill-treatment meted to our lady diplomat in the US".

"Refused to meet the visiting delegation in solidarity with our nation," the Bharatiya Janata Party leader tweeted.

India's Deputy Consul General in New York, Devyani Khobargade, is in US custody on charges of "exploiting" her housemaid and babysitter. New Delhi has lodged a strong protest against the treatment meted out to her.

Modi's decision follows similar decisions by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.

By IANS,

New Delhi : Lashkar-e-Taiba alleged bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda, accused in the 1997 Delhi Sadar Bazar blasts case, Tuesday filed his bail application in a Delhi court.

Tunda's counsel M.S. Khan said in the bail application that the other two co-accused in the case have been discharged or acquitted.

The application will be heard Dec 20 by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Amit Bansal.

Police have charge sheeted Tunda under Sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Police said Tunda was part of the conspiracy which led to two bomb blasts at Sadar Bazar and Qutab Road Oct 1, 1997, in which many people were injured.

Police said the two other accused in the case earlier disclosed that the blasts were carried out at the behest of Tunda.

One of the co-accused Mohd Shakeel alias Hamza was acquitted in April 1999 while the second, Mohd Amir, was discharged in the case in April 2001.

Tunda said he was dragged into the case in a conspiracy.

"As per prosecution, the applicant (Tunda) is being prosecuted for the offence dealing with attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy for the only reason that the disclosure statement made earlier by the above two people and one made by the applicant accused are corroborating each other and same establish a link of conspiracy between them," Tunda said in his application.

He said the other two accused were already released by court and the question of conspiracy with them does not arise, and their disclosure statements not admissible as evidence.

Tunda requested the court to grant him bail, saying there was no evidence of any nature against him.

By IANS,

New Delhi : The Rajya Sabha Tuesday passed the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, which provides for creation of an anti-corruption ombudsman.

The most prominent of the group of anti-graft bills on the anvil, the Lokpal bill seeks to establish a Lokpal at the central level and asks states to establish Lokayuktas within a year's time from the date of notification of the law. The format of the Lokayukta will be left to the state assemblies to decide.

The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha at the fag end of the winter session of 2011, but not by the Rajya Sabha, where it was debated but the house was adjourned before voting on it.

A select committee of the Rajya Sabha later suggested changes in the bill which were incorporated and approved by the union cabinet.

Now the bill will again have to be sent again to the Lok Sabha for the lower house to approve the changes.

Replying to the debate on the bill, Law Minister Kapil Sibal called it a historic moment, but stressed that corruption could not be removed by the Lokpal alone.

"Law alone will not lead to elimination of corruption. Law will help deal with those who are corrupt, but it will not deal with the impetus to be corrupt. It will just be a deterrent," he said.

He also said that the government will also deal with the "supply side" of corruption, as pointed out by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), saying a bill amending Prevention of Corruption Act, pending with the Lok Sabha, provides for dealing with the source of bribe.

According to the bill passed Tuesday, the Lokpal will consist of a chairperson and a maximum of eight members, of which 50 percent shall be judicial members. Fifty percent of the members of Lokpal shall be from amongst Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minorities and women.

After the bill was passed, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath thanked all parties for ensuring smooth passage of the bill in the upper house of parliament.

"Today is a historic day. I thank the parties for ensuring its smooth passage in Rajya Sabha. It was the need of the hour to address the growing lack of confidence in politics," he said.

Sibal, talking to reporters after the bill was passed, said it was a good bill, but it is to be seen how well it works.

Earlier, debating the bill, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said parliament should pass "an effective Lokpal" bill which meets expectations of people.

This comes even as Anna Hazare's fast demanding passage of the bill entered its eighth day Tuesday.

His supporter, former Delhi Police officer Kiran Bedi tweeted earlier in the day that he was keeping a close watch on the debate in parliament.

The bill will now be taken up in the Lok Sabha Wednesday.

By IANS,

Kolkata : Actor Aamir Khan, great grand nephew of Muslim scholar and nationalist Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, will pay homage to the leader during the inaugural session of the fifth chapter of Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF) 2014, its organisers said Tuesday.

AKLF, running from Jan 8 to 13 next year, will celebrate the secular views of Azad to coincide with his 125th birth anniversary.

The festival will begin with Khan's lecture titled "Maulana Azad: His belief in Secularism and his Foresight" at the Victoria Memorial Hall here.

Syeda Hameed, member, Planning Commission, will launch her book "Maulana Azad, Islam and the Indian National Movement", at the fest.

"As part of the tribute, we have sessions on Urdu and Hindi poetry and sessions on exploring the south Asian literary identity," Anjum Katyal, one of the directors of AKLF, said.

The fest, organised by Apeejay Surrendra Group and Oxford Bookstores, will witness the participation of around 60 delegates including authors and panelists from Europe, Britain, Egypt, China, Ghana and neighbours Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.

The speakers and panelists will include the likes of former BBC journalist and author Mark Tully, British author and playwright Farrukh Dhondy, Pakistani artist and writer Salima Hashmi, novelist Nabaneeta Dev Sen and Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan will also release his book at the event.

Woven around themes of 'women's writings', the Raj, European authors and Granta authors (best young British novelists), the fest will also incorporate subjects that interest youngsters.

To lure the youth, discussions on writings on romance, food and love in Bollywood and fashion will be kept in focus. Speakers include upcoming authors like Nepali-Indian author Prajwal Parajuly and fashion designer Kallol Dutta among others.

The fifth edition, spanning six locations including various heritage buildings in the city, will also highlight the connection between literature, art and cinema through deliberations on music, dance and scriptwriting.

By IANS,

Dubai : Two expatriates, including an Indian national, died after breathing toxic gases from a coal-burning heater in the Ha'il province of Saudi Arabia.

While the Indian, 28, and the Sri Lankan, 34 died after inhaling the toxic fumes, another man, a Sri Lankan labourer, was critically injured, the Arab News reported Tuesday.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that the men died after breathing the toxic gases from the heater's smouldering coal, which they used to keep themselves warm.

The men were sleeping in a tightly shut room in a building close to the Jarallah Market in Ha'il, the capital of Ha'il province.

Civil defence personnel said severe cold in the region drives poor people to use cheap and often risky methods to keep themselves warm.

By IANS,

Dubai : Three Indian nationals, accused of locking up 20 women and only allowing them to go out to work, were cleared of the charges by a Dubai court Tuesday.

The three men, identified by the initials of their names, SM, 41, KM, 61, and KA, 54, were acquitted by the Dubai Criminal Court of illegally locking up the employees of a Dubai hotel for more than a month, the National reported.

The court heard that the men used to take the Filipino women to a hotel at 7 a.m. where they worked as cleaners and bring them back at 8 p.m.

The Indian men claimed that they did so only to protect the women from sexual harassment.

“They would lock the door to the villa and the main entrance outside as well,” one of the women, MT, 30, was quoted as saying.

She added that a bus attendant and a guard used to keep an eye on them.

“Five days after I joined, I was told by my female co-workers that this was the system followed by the hotel management and that the women gave in because they need their jobs,” MT said.

MT said the men told them that once a month they will be taken to the market to buy things they needed.

Another worker told the court she signed a contract with the hotel on a monthly salary of 1,500 dirhams (about $400) but when she came she was given just 700 dirhams.

The workers, however, said they had not been abused physically or in any other way.

The report did not mention how the defendants were arrested and when.

By Vinay Bhat, TwoCircles.net,

The 2014 general elections in India have perhaps seen one of the longest lead-ups towards it. In the age of mass corporate media, keeping a story alive in between the lulls of other hysteria becomes critical. So it is no surprise that a large portion of this credit goes to the BJP’s projected PM candidate – Narendra Modi. The Savarna middle class including the likes of Shashi Tharoor in India often fantasizes about a presidential form of Government in India. And projecting this election as a personality war between Modi and the Gandhi scion from the Congress does well to satisfy this urge. So there are the “secular” Pandits who argue that the issue with the BJP is Modi and that he must be stopped at all costs. Then there are the right-wing Sanghis challenging the capabilities of a Rahul Gandhi. What perhaps the intelligentsia is missing is that these two characters are symptoms of the larger malaise within these parties.

1947 saw the British, Congress and Muslim league foisting a nation on the vast majority of people residing within the boundaries of what is now the Indian Union. The Congress has now ruled the greater part of the past 66 years. The seventies saw an anti-incumbency wave giving rise eventually to the next largest national party the BJP. Since the late 80s neither of these two national parties has gone past the 272+ mark in the Lok Sabha elections to form a non-coalition government at the center. If you combine the other fact that the combined vote share of these two parties across the nation has consistently been less than half since the early 90s, the notion of a national party itself seems defunct and an antiquated idea.

There is a long list of states that have now been consistently kicking these two national parties out of their conscience – from East to West and from South to North, the mandates have been increasingly regional. The rise of regional parties over the last three decades or so has been a reaction to not only strong anti-Congress sentiments but in many ways a strong anti-Delhi sentiment – the fountainhead of Indian nationalism. A population that is divided on caste and communal lines can only be understood and catered to by a structure that deals with local dynamics and is not governed by diktats of a central big brother. If the discontent with Congress’s recent decision on bifurcating Andhra Pradesh is anything to go by, the coming years will see further decimation of those under the influence of machinations taking place in Delhi.

Regional and communitarian aspirations unique to individual identities in a divided society are invariably sacrificed at the altar of the nation. The Indian population has become increasingly aware of this. The number of undented states now remains very small. Regional forces in these states have been unable to galvanize resources due to strong dominant caste forces still aligning with the Brahmanical national parties. Strong socio-political movements that fight this Brahmanical order will be needed to dislodge these last bastions of power. Regional political forces have been at the forefront of these types of movements in the past and have been instrumental in punching holes into the already vacuous national ideal.

A Congress hoading in Patna against Forbesganj police firing

Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi are representations of this national ideal. The national ideal is one that binds the elite (read Savarna population) of the Indian union in balanced harmony. There are public feuds every election on which section of this elite gets a bite of power in the center but it is generally accepted that it is better for power to rotate between these polar forces vs. decentralization of power to meet the Constitution’s federal ideals. Both Modi and Gandhi talk of a landmass with a homogenizing ideal. The terms maybe different and the elite would want us believe that there is an ongoing battle - Bharat vs. India. Careful inspection reveals that these are but two sides of the same coin – an instrument to confound. The real battle is Bharat-India combine vs. the idea of an egalitarian equal society, the Indian vs the “other”. It is the battle of the whole vs. the piece parts.

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,

As the R.D. Nimesh Commission report asserts that Khalid Mujahid was ‘illegally’ arrested from Madiyahu, Jaunpur (U.P.) on December 16, 2007 and wrongly charged by the STF for carrying out serial blasts in the various courts of Uttar Pradesh on December 22, 2007, which showed his arrest from Barabanki. But even after that Samajwadi Party led state government tried to protect the culprits who wrongly charged him in the name of terror by suppressing the issue for quite a long time which encouraged the police department and IB so much that they killed Khalid in the end.

Later, when the case was registered against the police and IB officials responsible for his death no legal action was taken. Hence, Rihai Manch has declared the day of Khalid arrest i.e. December 16 as ‘Anti-Illegal Arrest Day’ as the official occasion to demand the releae of innocent youths arrested in the name of terror everywhere.

“Just like the case of Khalid, the other arrested youth in the same case Tariq Qasmi had filed an RTI on July 12 which confirms that Khalid Mujahid, who was killed on April 19, 2013 was not suffering from ill health and not the way the government has been saying,” said Muhammad Shoaib, President Rihai Manch.

“Not only this, the report of RTI also confirms that Khalid had no such illness which demanded him to go through Electro Cardio Graph (ECG) and Ultra-Sonography (USG). Likewise, Khalid time of leaving the jail for the court was registered in the G.B. was 9:35 am while the jail archives tell us that 9:35 am was the time Dr. Pradeep Bijlani entered the High Security Barrack. How can it be possible that the time of Khalid’s exit from the jail for the court and that of Dr. Bijlani’s entry into the jail was the same,” he asked.

On the occasion of ‘Anti-illegal Arrest Day’, Sandeep Pandey, national vice-president of Socialist Party said that the occasion is also to remember the pressure we put on the government. The 121 day strike by Rihai Manch forced the UP government to constitute Nimesh Commission whose reports publically accepted the truth of illegal arrest of Khalid Mujahid.

“We have to fight for the justice of all Khalid Mujhahids who are languishing in various jails of the country in the name of terror,” said the Magsasay Award winner.

“Now when the Nimesh Commission report has already raised serious questions on the Azamgarh youth Tariq Qasmi’s fake arrest, the killers of Khalid and those who sent Tariq behind jail should not be allowed to move freely in a democracy,” said Tariq’s uncle Faiyyaz Azmi.

Zayed Ahmad Farooqui of Muslim Majlis and Saeed Moid Ahmad said that the recent ruling of Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court in which the court said that the innocent youths cannot be released without the consent of central government is a violation of Section 321 of the constitution which gives the state government the right to intervene in the matters of law and order.

Also present on this occasion were Inayatullah Khan, Qamar Seetapuri, Zubair Jaunpuri, Abdul haleem Siddiqui, Shan e Ilahi, Gufran Siddiqui, Irfan Sheikh, Wasif Sheikh, Mohammad Wasi, Rizawan Siddiqui, Ashraf Khan, Raju Sonkar, Rajeev Yadav and Shahnawaz Alam.