Indian Social Forum Saudi Arabia condemns police atrocities at University campuses
Indian Social Forum on Tuesday issued a press release condemning the police atrocities at the Jamia Millia, Aligarh Muslim University and Darul-Uloom campuses. The press statement asserted that the central government has been legislating and enacting laws that are disregarding the dignity of the constitution of the country and has been setting up wrong image of the country in front of the world.
“Indian Social Forum, Saudi national executive committee vehemently condemned the police atrocities at Jamila Millia, Aligarh Muslim University & Darul-Uloom campuses. Since the central govt. has been legislating and enacting laws disregarding the dignity tradition and due process of the constitution of the country, the whole world is witnessing a paradigm shift from the principles of secularism and democracy to an authoritarian rule by curtailing the freedom of expression and the right to protest peacefully and democratically” the press release stated.
The forum also added that the government was distracting itself from giving hopes and aspirations to the youth by creating employment and is involved in dividing the people of the country on religious line with legislatures like Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC)
“Rather than giving hopes and aspirations to the youth by creating employment opportunities and paving the way for development of country, the government of the country is dividing its people on religious grounds under the pretext of implementing the Citizenship Amendment Bill and National Register of Citizens” it added.
“The entire people of country are fed up with the hollow rhetoric of the govt. and are compelled to register their protest against this divisive law, CAB. But the police stormed the Jamia Millia University campuses instead of addressing the issue the prime minister has played a communal card and his party leaders spread fake news to defame the peaceful protestors, which is quite shameful and does not have any place in a democratic set up. The futile exercise of the govt. to suppress public opinion by force will only put the country to shame before the world and we request all, including political party leaders to strongly but peacefully oppose this unconstitutional act meant to divide the country on the basis of religion” the press statement further stated.
The press statement was released during a meeting that was chaired by Ashraf Morayur (President) and was attended by Abdul Ghani, EM Abdullah, Haris Mangalore, Basheer Karanthoor, Waseem Udupi, Ashraf Puthoor, Mujahid Pasha Bangalore.
Haris Mangalore welcomed the executive members and EM Abdulla proposed the vote of thanks at the meeting.
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Bajrang Punia handed provisional suspension, WFI to approach WADA after NADA keeps it in 'dark'
‘Never refused to give my sample’: Bajrang Punia responds after NADA suspends him
New Delhi, May 5: Bajrang Punia has been handed provisional suspension for refusing to give his sample for dope test during recent trials and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is furious that NADA kept it "in dark" on the development and is planning to write to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on the matter.
Bajrang was handed provisional suspension on April 23 by National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) and asked to send his reply by May 7 to avoid further disciplinary action.
The trials to pick the men's national team for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Bishkek were held in Sonepat on March 10 and Bajrang had walked off the venue without providing his urine sample after losing his bout.
Reacting to his suspension, Bajrang said he never refused to provide his sample to NADA officials.
"I want to clarify that I never refused to give my sample to NADA officials. I requested them to first answer me as to what action they took on the expired kit they brought to take my sample and then take my dope test," Bajrang wrote on X.
"My lawyer Vidush Singhania will reply to this letter," he wrote further.
The Tokyo Games bronze medallist also posted a video in which he displayed "expired kits" being sent for sample collection and asked the official why such kits were brought.
The video is from the time a dope sample collecting officer visited him to take samples. In the video, Bajrang said he was fortunate to have a team that noticed the expiry date and what would have innocent junior wrestlers done in case such kits reach them.
He also alleged that former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was using such kits to scare women wrestlers who had the guts to come out in the open against him.
"I am not blaming you. This is work of the big crocodiles sitting above. Money talks in these matter," he was heard telling the officer in the video.
If Bajrang fails to come out clean with his reply, he will be out of the race for Paris Olympic Qualification.
According to the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) Code, "Refusing, or failing without compelling justification, to submit to sample collection after notification as authorized in applicable anti-doping rules or otherwise evading sample collection is an anti-doping rule violation."
Meanwhile WFI President Sanjay Singh expressed his surprise that NADA did not inform them about the suspension.
"It's really surprising that NADA did not keep us in loop while suspending Bajrang. I had a meeting with NADA DG and other officials on April 25 and this matter was not raised in that meeting," Sanjay told PTI.
"They keep communicating with us on matters such as whereabout clause requirements, long list (for Paris Olympics) and so on. Even we had a discussion about the recent Federation Cup, where they sent officials to collect samples from the winners.
"But they did not let us know about this suspension of Bajrang Punia. I called NADA officials this morning and they had no answer to my query. Now, I plan to write to NADA and also inform WADA about this," he said.
It was reported that Vinesh Phogat had also initially refused to provide her sample after she won the women's 50kg trials in Patiala.
"We were not informed by anyone whose samples were taken after trials (in Sonepat and Patiala) and what came out of those samples. Just imagine if Bajrang had come to compete in the Federation Cup. We would have allowed him because we had no clue that he had been suspended," the WFI chief added.
Meanwhile, Bhupender Singh Bajwa, who was the head of the dissolved ad-hoc panel, told PTI they also have no communication regarding the suspension of Bajrang.
"I have got the mail checked. We have no such communication. We got a mail on April 18 about a warning to Bajrang but the April 23 communication is not with us. I don't know to which email ID they sent it," Bajwa said.
The World Qualifiers in Turkey from May 9 is the last chance for Indian wrestlers to lock quotas for the Paris Olympics. Sujeet Kalkal will represent India in the men's freestyle 65kg class, a category in which Bajrang competes.
If Sujeet wins the quota, the WFI may ask him and other quota winners to appear in one final trial to decide who represents India in the Paris Games, starting July 26.
So far, four Indian women wrestlers -- Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Antim Panghal (53kg), Anshu Malik (57kg) and Reetika Hooda (76kg) -- have qualified for the Olympics.
मेरे बारे में जो डोप टेस्ट के लिए ख़बर आ रही है उसके लिये मैं स्पष्ट करना चाहता हूँ !!! मैंने कभी भी नाडा अधिकारियों को sample देने से इनकार नहीं किया, मैंने उनसे अनुरोध किया कि वे मुझे जवाब दें कि उन्होंने पहले मेरा sample लेने के लिए जो एक्सपायरी किट लाई थी, उस पर उन्होंने क्या… pic.twitter.com/aU676ADyy3
— Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@BajrangPunia) May 5, 2024
