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1. Shoot Me, Not Dalits: PM Modi Slams ‘Gau Rakshaks’
Finally breaking his silence on attacks on dalits and cow vigilantism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a party meet in Hyderabad on Sunday said, “If you want to attack, attack me, not Dalits. If you want to shoot, shoot me.”
Modi’s choice of Hyderabad to bring up the issue was perhaps strategic, given that the city triggered protests around the country after the highly politicised suicide of Hyderabad University research scholar Rohith Vemula.
Attacking his political rivals, he said:
Some people who thought that they control dalit votes could not digest the fact that people are now getting to know about BJP’s good work.
Source: Times of India
2. National Anthem Banned in Allahabad School; Principal, 7 Teachers Quit
MA Convent, a private school in Allahabad, reportedly banned students from singing the Indian national anthem, Vande Mataram or Saraswati Vandana during this year’s Independence Day celebrations.
The decision, reportedly taken by the school’s manager Mohammad Zia-ul Haq, was on the grounds that the songs were “un-Islamic.”
The principal of the school and seven other teachers have resigned in protest.
Haq said the decision was taken following objections from some Muslim parents.
The national anthem has a line, ‘Bharat bhagya vidhata’, which is against Islam as Allah is our bhagya vidhata. How can we say Bharat has made our destiny. In the national anthem, the country has been described as being bigger and more important than mazhab (religion) and khuda (god), which is unacceptable for any true Muslim.
Source: The Indian Express
3. 40 Attended ISIS ‘Terror Classes’ in Kerala, Says Suspected Woman Recruit
Yasmin Ahmad, a 28-year-old school teacher in Kerala who had earlier been arrested on grounds of being a suspected ISIS recruit, and had triggered a probe into 19 people in Kerala who allegedly attended “jihadi classes”, now says nearly 40 people have been indoctrinated.
According to Ahmad, Abdul Rashid, a fugitive ISIS recruiter held these classes, and is now operating out of Afghanistan.
We have identified some of those who attended radicalisation sessions conducted by Rashid in Thrikkaripur in north Kerala’s Kasargode. We are closely watching movements of some of them.Kerala Police SIT
Ahmad was arrested at the Delhi airport last week, when she was about to board a flight to Kabul. She was reportedly going to join Rashid there.
Rashid is believed to have orchestrated the disappearance of 21 youth from Kerala in the months of May and June. The 19 suspected recruits from Ahmad’s earlier tip-off are on a police watch list.
Source: Hindustan Times
4. Police Probe Terror Angle in Attack on Punjab RSS Leader
On Saturday, Punjab RSS Vice President Retd Brigadier Jagdish Gagneja was shot in Jalandhar. A day later, Punjab police are now probing a possible terror angle in the attack.
The police suspect two Sikh men on a motorcycle, based on an 11-minute CCTV footage from a nearby shop. The footage shows two men with their faces covered slowing down their bike near an electronics shop at Jyoti Chowk in Jalandhar, hardly 200 metres from where Gagneja was shot. Eyewitnesses confirmed that two motorcycle-borne men shot at Gagneja, who was transferred from Patel Hospital in Jalandhar to Ludhiana’s Dayanand Medical College and Hospital on Sunday.
Jalandhar police have recovered five shells – four of .32 bore weapon and one 9 mm pistol. The shell from the 9 mm pistol is what led police to investigate the terror angle as it is prohibited for general public use and is very hard to acquire. Only terrorists, police and the armed forces have been known to use the 9 mm.
Source: Times of India
5. KM Mani’s Kerala Cong Quits UDF, Blames Congress’ ‘Attitude Problem’
On Sunday, KM Mani-led Kerala Congress (M) announced their withdrawal of support from the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala.
Mani said he was saddened to leave UDF,which his party had also nurtured for the last 30 years, but said he was left with no other option owing to the Congress leaders’ ‘attitude problem.’
VM Sudheeran, Congress state chief, said Mani had raised no such differences or issues in party meetings in the follow-up to or after the state assembly elections.
According to him, the only thing Kerala Congress (M) had expressed objection to was being informed about the sharing of seats over the phone. The party was citing these reasons now in retrospect only to explain the move, Sudheeran added.
Source: The Indian Express
6. Sonowal’s 20-Minute Tour of Kokrajhar Attack Site Leaves Many Unhappy
Sumoti Basumatary, the kin of a victim in the Kokrajhar attack hardly got one entire minute to speak with Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, in the five-minute interaction he had with families of six of the victims.
I had a lot to say but could just manage to say how I saw my husband shot from point-blank range and die in my arms [...] because of a few local leaders who tried to speak on our behalf.Sumoti Basumatary, Victim’s Wife
The Chief Minister’s visit brought with it congestion of VIP vehicles, security personnel and mediapersons, but provided hardly any room to inspect and interact with those affected.
In his address, Sonowal spoke of zero tolerance against terror attacks and assured the affected that the government “will be with you all”. He also chaired an hour-long review meeting of security actions at the Kokrajhar circuit house.
Also Read: Assam Attack: Those Involved Will Not Be Spared, Promises Sonowal
The locals however, were unhappy.
We have not seen such a rush but it is of no benefit to us. We wanted to interact with the chief minister but failed. If the chief minister can get down and walk, why can’t the others? Why do they need to block the road with their vehicles? There should have been better crowd and traffic control.A Local
Source: The Telegraph
7. Zakir Naik’s IRF Could Be Banned: Law Ministry
Controversial televangelist Zakir Naik’s NGO, Islamic Research Foundation, could be banned, the law ministry informed the government. Naik roused controversy when he was accused of influencing one of the attackers in the Dhaka terror attack through the sermons on his channel Peace TV.
To make its case stronger, the government has put together a list of FIRs registered against Naik. Before presenting its opinion, the ministry considered these FIRs.
Under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the IRF – founded by Naik in 1991 – could be declared “unlawful”, the Home Ministry was also informed.
If the IRF is deemed “unlawful”, it would mean no person will be allowed to be a member of the foundation, hold meetings or collect funds in its name.
A ban under UAPA is valid for five years.
Source: Hindustan Times
8. Vijay Rupani Sworn in as Gujarat CM, 9 Ministers Dropped From Old Cabinet
On Sunday, Vijay Rupani was officially sworn in as Gujarat’s 16th Chief Minister, after Anandiben Patel’s surprise resignation last week. Nitin Patel was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister in a high profile ceremony attended by BJP’s top leaders, including party President Amit Shah, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and patriarch LK Advani.
As if the past week hadn’t seen enough surprises in the state already – with Anandiben’s resignation and Rupani being chosen over Nitin Patel as CM by the party – Rupani decided to drop Saurabh Patel, one of the most powerful ministers from Anandiben’s cabinet.
Patel, a known favourite of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his chief ministerial days, had held a position in the Gujarat cabinet since 2003. He is also a key figure in conceptualising the Vibrant Gujarat summit.
Source: The Hindu
9. Centre to Keep Up Security Heat in Kashmir Valley
In its policy toward the ongoing unrest in the Kashmir Valley, the Central government reportedly plans to continue its tough tactics to subdue the violence.
This is a law-and-order situation and that is how the elected state government should treat it and deal with it. This isn’t the first time such violence has erupted, it can be subjugated. We’ll establish control.Kashmir-Watcher and Policy Adviser to The Telegraph
According to The Telegraph, the government plans to step further away from political engagement in the Valley, and “deploy a stricter security regime.”
In a meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti two days ago, top commanders discussed contingency plans to deploy more forces across the Valley and along the national highway to Jammu.
Though no decision has been taken yet, or publicly announced, sources told The Telegraph a “fallback strategy” for the armed forces to return to the foreground is in place.
A similar step was taken by the government to call the army during the violence triggered after the killing of student Tufail Mattoo in 2010.
Source: The Telegraph
From The Quint
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