Centre on witch hunting mode in West Bengal
The tussle between PM Narendra Modi and WB CM Mamata Banerjee has come to a very tricky point. Supreme Court has refused permission to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner on charges of tampering with proof pertaining to Saradha Chit Funds scandal which has cheated lakhs of people amounting to huge money.
The court has said the Commissioner can appear before the CBI voluntarily pertaining to the enquiry. Mamata Banerjee has welcomed this decision. In some ways, the court has diplomatically given an earful to both centre and state.
In the last three days, West Bengal looked like it was in constitutional crisis. About 40 men from the CBI had entered the Kolkata Police Station, which prompted CM Mamata Banerjee to personally arrive at the station to defend the Commissioner of Police. She sat on a dharna and this led to matters being complicated. Except for left parties, rest of the political parties had supported Banerjee.
Supreme Court has ordered that the CBI enquiry should be conducted into the Saradha Chit Funds case which runs into several lakhs of thousands in 2014 itself. The BJP government sat on this matter for the longest time after assuming office and is planning to act now when its term is a mere four and half months in the centre. This is nothing but a political opportunism.
The Modi government has made a mockery of CBI while taking chief accused in this scam Trinamool leader Mukul Roy under their wings into BJP, and misusing autonomous institutions to act at their behest. This does not mean Mamata Banerjee is any innocent. Her leaders, supporters and seniors are part of this scandal. But this recent development is not limited to the scandal alone. There are clearly political calculations behind this.
Modi government has launched this raid with the intention of clinching 42 Lok Sabha seats in WB, in the upcoming elections. Mamata on the other hand used the hunger strike weapon against this assault, to emerge a shining star and a strong leader at that out of this incident.
Sangh Parivar which has been wanting to gain control over WB since long, has extended all support to Modi on this. Both Modi and Banerjee are leaders with authoritarian mindsets. They can sacrifice anybody for their political gains. Mamata used Maoists to finish off the CPM government in West Bengal.
She instigated people against Singur and Nandigram farmer uprising. After assuming power, she finished off senior Maoist leader Kishenji and other Naxal activists. Communist leaders are facing threats and assaults every day. Now Modi grew up imbibing the ideals of fascist outfit such as RSS. He is conditioned to have authoritarian views. Hence both cannot be defended.
After assuming power, Modi has been using premium investigative agency such as CBI to silence his political detractors. He used it against RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav who had turned into a stumbling block in Bihar. He sent CBI to the residences of Mayawati, Arvind Kejriwal and Mulayam’s son’s residence. But he was smart enough not to send CBI to his own party members’ residences despite the fact that they have been instrumental in the mega Vyapam scandal that has claimed the lives of 20 persons so far. CBI didn’t go to check on Amit Shah’s son.
But the team was sent to Bengal. Not just that, Modi government’s conduct when it comes to the federal structure of the states and their rights is highly questionable. Right now West Bengal has escaped a constitutional crisis. But we need to see what happens in the future.
One thing is very clear from this. For anybody to escape corruption charges, the only route left is to join the BJP. This ensures safe exit from all the impending punishment. Trinamool leader Mukul Roy was facing serious charges and CBI had taken it up in 2015. But the investigation was dropped when Mukul Roy joined the BJP. Hemant Sharma of Assam was also in the same boat and he escaped inquiry since he joined the BJP.
In Karnataka, the mining mafia was safeguarded since they were in BJP. One of the prominent Congress politicians was forced to join BJP and he didn’t relent. Joining BJP is much like ‘bara khoon maaf’ instead of being declared innocent by the courts. Mamata Banerjee has challenged this since it is inevitable for her existence.
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Suspected drones observed along IB in Jammu's Samba, being engaged: Army
Jammu, May 12 (PTI): Security forces are engaging suspected drones observed along the International Border in Samba district of Jammu region on Monday, an Army said.
This fresh incident of drone activity along the borderline comes barely hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first address to the nation following Operation Sindoor and the meeting of the DGMOs of India and Pakistan.
The Army, however, said there is no need to be alarmed.
“A small number of suspected drones have been observed near Samba in J&K. They are being engaged,” it said.
In the backdrop of the situation, several areas witnessed blackouts in Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, and Jammu.
Lights were switched off at the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi and along its track as a precautionary measure, sources said.
On Monday, talks between the DGMOs were held during which issues related to the continuing commitment that both sides must not fire a single shot or initiate any aggressive or inimical action against each other were discussed, the Indian Army said.
It was also agreed that both sides would consider immediate measures to ensure troop reduction along the borders and in forward areas, it added.
The situation remained largely peaceful across Jammu and Kashmir, with no incidents of ceasefire violation reported along the Indo-Pak border Sunday overnight — marking the first calm night after 18 days of hostilities following the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people — mostly tourists — dead.
India and Pakistan on Saturday reached an understanding to cease all firing and military actions on land, air, and sea with immediate effect, following four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes that brought the two countries to the brink of full-scale war.
Eighteen days of intense hostilities following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, which brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war, ended with a ceasefire that restored calm along the Line of Control, the International Border, and the hinterland in Jammu and Kashmir. The Army thwarted Pakistan’s Hamas-style kamikaze drone attacks during the escalation.
Since the night of April 24, hours after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistani troops repeatedly targeted Indian positions along the LoC — beginning in the Kashmir Valley and quickly expanding to the Jammu region.
The latest hostilities began in the northern districts of Kupwara and Baramulla in the Kashmir Valley, before spreading southwards to Rajouri, Poonch, Akhnoor, and the Pargwal sector along the International Border in Jammu district. The firing affected five border districts — Baramulla, Kupwara, Poonch, Rajouri, and Jammu.
The recent round of cross-border firing further undermined the ceasefire agreement reached in February 2021, which has largely been seen as ineffective due to Pakistan’s frequent violations along the 740-km-long LoC.
The April 22 terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people — mostly tourists — in Pahalgam’s Baisaran valley, triggered a strong response from the central government.
The India-Pakistan border stretches over 3,300 kilometers, divided into three segments: the International Border (IB), spanning about 2,400 km from Gujarat to Akhnoor in Jammu; the 740-km-long Line of Control (LoC) that divides Jammu and Kashmir; and the 110-km-long Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL), which separates the Siachen Glacier region.
WATCH: OP Sindoor continues. Minutes after PM Speech.
— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) May 12, 2025
A small numbers of suspected drones being observed near Samba in J&K. Being engaged . pic.twitter.com/jmGmRkmQ26
