BJP pushing Parrikar to work despite illness: Goa Congress
Panaji, June 22: Lashing out at the BJP for pushing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to return to office despite his illness, a top Goa Congress leader on Friday said it was a "suicidal move" for Parrikar.
State Congress President Girish Chodankar also said that the administration in Goa had become sick because of Parrikar's prolonged illness.
He said the Bharatiya Janata Party was forcing work on the ailing Chief Minister, who recently returned from a nearly three-month-long treatment for pancreatic cancer in the US.
"The Congress party and those close to Parrikar feel that it is a suicidal. He is ruining his health and it amounts to suicide. Is his party forcing him to do it? The BJP is being irresponsible with Parrikar's health," Chodankar said.
"Is BJP forcing him to work and creating a new genre of sympathy politics in Goa?" Chodankar asked, adding that the Congress was worried about Parrikar and advised him to focus on his health and assume charge when he is fit.
He said Parrikar had advised that those who have a cold should not come close to him. "This indicates that not all is well with him and there is still a medical restriction on him."
Parrikar returned to Goa and assumed charge as Chief Minister on June 14, after undergoing treatment at a New York hospital for advanced pancreatic cancer. He was earlier also hospitalised in Mumbai and Goa in February.
Chodankar said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi could temporarily divest Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's portfolio and hand it over to another minister while Jaitley was undergoing a medical procedure, why should the Goa Chief Minister suffer who is not fully fit yet.
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Bangladesh tribunal tells investigators to finish probe against ousted premier Hasina by next month
Dhaka (AP/PTI): A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Monday told investigators they have one month to complete their work on ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her close aides who face charges of crimes against humanity after hundreds of people were killed in a mass uprising this summer.
Golam Mortuza Majumdar, the head judge of the three-member International Crimes Tribunal, set Dec 17 for investigators to finish their work, as the tribunal heard updates Monday from police about what the country's security agencies have done to arrest Hasina and her close aides.
The decision came after prosecutors sought more time for the investigation.
Hasina has been living in exile in India since Aug 5 when she fled the country amid the student-led protests. The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal on Oct. 17 issued arrest warrants for Hasina and 45 others including former Cabinet ministers, advisors and military and civil officials. The country is now being run by an interim government headed by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus.
At least 13 people, including a former law minister and a businessman who was Hasina's private-sector advisor, appeared before the tribunal on Monday, said B M Sultan Mahmud, a prosecutor at the tribunal.
One former Cabinet minister was not brought to the tribunal as he was in custody for police interrogation in a separate case. Another six people will appear on Wednesday, tribunal officials said. At least 20 suspects have been arrested in the case.
The tribunal will also seek updates from police on their progress in arresting the other suspects, including Hasina.
The chief prosecutor of the tribunal has already sought help from Interpol through the country's police chief to arrest Hasina. On Sunday, Yunus said in an address to the nation that his administration would seek Hasina's extradition from India.
Authorities say hundreds of people were killed during the uprising in July and August mainly by security agents seeking to quell the initial protests over government jobs. The violence intensified as the protests morphed into an anti-government movement with more bloodshed, ending Hasina's 15-year rule. Hasina had also earlier sought an investigation into the killings.
