BJP leaders in 'hate speech' row: Cong urges SC to issue directives
New Delhi, Oct 11: The Congress on Tuesday demanded immediate action over the alleged hate speeches by BJP MP Parvesh Verma and BJP MLA Nand Kishor Gurjar, and urged the Supreme Court to issue directives after taking cognisance of the matter.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is silent on the issue and said she hoped that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will gather the courage to speak for the people of the city.
Several purported videos of inflammatory speeches made at the 'Virat Hindu Sabha' have come up online.
An FIR has been filed against the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the other organisers of the Sunday event in Delhi, where certain speakers, including the two BJP lawmakers, allegedly delivered hate speeches. The case was filed for allegedly holding the event without permission.
Shrinate said, "Parvesh Verma has been caught on camera asking for a boycott of a certain community. He also incited hatred, so did Gurjar one of the BJP MLAs from UP, Ghaziabad."
"Nothing has been done, what is the police waiting for, why is PM not speaking. Why have the courts not taken cognisance, what is Mr Arvind Kejriwal doing, and if this is not hypocrisy then we wonder what is," the Congress spokesperson said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here.
Over 72 hours later, a citizens committee report is out on the Delhi riots of 2020 and it "nails the role played by the media, and agencies, the way police looked the other way and how perpetrators of violence have gone scot-free", Shrinate claimed.
"We hope courts will take cognisance, police will act, the PM will speak and hopefully Arvind Kejriwal will gather the courage to speak for the people of Delhi that he represents," Shrinate said.
Since hate speech is in focus, the Supreme Court must take suo-motu cognizance of the matter and issue directives, she said.
Till when will the country continue to burn in this hate being spread, she asked.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
