1. Why Has This Happened Before Elections: Mamata on Pulwama Attack
On a day BJP chief Amit Shah declared Narendra Modi as the strongest-willed leader in the world in fighting terrorism, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she was being compelled to break her solidarity-driven silence and ask searching questions on the Pulwama attack.
The key questions asked by the Trinamool leader who made it clear she was speaking out only because of the statements made by Modi and Shah and provocative steps by the Sangh parivar aimed at fomenting trouble:
- How did you allow Pakistan to do it? What action have you taken in five years? Just before the elections, you thought it’s important to wage a war, a shadow war, to toy with the lives of the people?
- Just before elections, after Parliament is over, why has this happened? I don’t know…. As a citizen, I have these questions, which have remained.
(Source: The Telegraph)
2. Kolkata Police Chief Apologises To SC, Calls CBI Action Mala Fide
Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Monday tendered an “unconditional” apology for any “inadvertent disobedience” of the Supreme Court’s various directives in the Saradha case and said he was never in possession of evidence or documents related to investigations into chit funds scams.
The apology and the clarifications were part of an affidavit submitted by Kumar to the Supreme Court on Monday evening, 18 February.
The affidavit was filed in response to notices issued by the court on 5 February on a contempt petition filed by the Centre.
In the petition, the Centre accused the state administration of wilfully violating the court’s directive to probe the Saradha and other related chit fund scams in Bengal.
(Source: The Telegraph)
3. Help Offers Pour In But Wary Kashmiri Doctor Mulls Adieu
The Kashmiri doctor, who was threatened and abused for two days because of his ethnicity, has received several offers of help from Kolkatans, some of whom have even opened up their home and hearth. But he may still leave the city he’s called home for the past 22 years, considering the safety of his family.
The 42-year-old cardiologist from Srinagar, attached with a top nursing home, is still distraught at how his daughters were being ostracised, even as the state government assured him a safe stay and several friends contacted him, offering their homes as a temporary refuge until the hatred blows over.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. NIT Student Assaulted In Hostel For FB Comment
A third-year student of NIT-Durgapur was assaulted in the college hostel on Friday, 15 February, after he wrote a Facebook post on the Pulwama attack, ruing how soldiers were being turned into pawns by political leaders eager to hide their own failures. Srijan Goswami, the student, was rescued by some of his friends but he had to leave the hostel and return to his home to Burdwan’s Baburbag. On Monday afternoon, 18 February, however, he returned to the hostel and attended classes following assurance from the hostel warden.
“On Friday, I had shared my opinion in a post on my Facebook account. After a while, some of my classmates started forcing me to withdraw it. But I refused and told them that I have the freedom to express my opinion. Then, more students gathered and suddenly I found myself surrounded by 25-30 students who started hitting me. They tore my shirt, kicked me and punched me in the face. Fortunately, a few others came to my rescue, brought me to my room and locked it from inside. I called my father to the hostel and left for home immediately,” said Srijan.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Pulwama Post Costs Teacher At DPS North Calcutta His Job
A teacher of DPS North Calcutta resigned on Monday, 18 February, after a backlash erupted over his Facebook post that he did not agree with the description of the soldiers killed in Pulwama as “martyrs”.
The history teacher, Chitradip Som, 36, said the school forced him to quit, his house was ransacked and group of people made him rub his nose on the ground.
In the post on Thursday, 14 February, the day of the Pulwama attack, Som had said he was not in favour of calling as “martyrs” uniformed personnel killed while discharging their professional duty for salary. The post was deleted later.
(Source: The Telegraph)
5. Mob Attacks Over Child-Abduction Rumours: Cops On Alert
Even as the child-lifting rumours continued to spread and two more persons were attacked by mobs in the heart of the city on Sunday night, 17 February. Lalbazar issued strict orders to all the 70 police stations in the city asking them to launch a special vigilance and round up anyone spreading falsehoods.
Earlier, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spoke extensively about “evoking fear” by spreading “bogus child-lifting scare”. The CM mentioned a similar incident that took place at Behala on Sunday.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. Presidency University’s Second Campus Opens
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated Presidency University’s second campus at Rajarhat on Monday, 18 February.
Classes will begin on the sprawling campus — with two 14-storey academic and administrative towers, including hostels, spread over a 10-acre plot — from the 2019-2020 academic session, in July/August.
The chief minister, during her address, said she expected students seeking to pursue higher education in various divergent emerging fields to find a new destination on the second campus. She also expressed hope that more students would now be encouraged to pursue higher education in the state. “Cyber crime is now a vast area. It is sometimes even graver than physical crime. Teaching such emerging subjects will benefit students,” Banerjee said.
(Source: The Times of India)
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