BJP will give Bharat Ratna to Godse as well: Owaisi on RSS chief’s remarks
Hyderabad (PTI): AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday slammed the BJP-led Centre and the RSS over the Sangh chief’s remarks seeking the conferment of the Bharat Ratna on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, saying the saffron party would even give the country’s highest civilian award to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse.
Addressing a rally at Mahabubnagar during the campaign for the municipal polls in Telangana, Owaisi said Maulvi Alauddin, the then imam of Makkah Masjid in Hyderabad, was arrested for attacking the British Residency during the First War of Independence in 1857 and was sent to the ‘Kala Pani’ jail in the Andaman Islands, where he later passed away.
The Hyderabad MP, without naming Savarkar, said the RSS was seeking the Bharat Ratna for a person who had written six mercy petitions to the British.
He asked the RSS who the first prisoner in ‘Kala Pani’ was—whether it was a Sangh member or a Muslim—adding that Maulvi Alauddin was the first prisoner in the Cellular Jail in the Andamans.
Referring to the J L Kapur Commission report on Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, Owaisi further asked whether Justice Kapur had not stated that Savarkar was a conspirator in Gandhi’s assassination.
“A person who conspired in Gandhi’s assassination—you are seeking the Bharat Ratna for him. Congratulations. A time will come in this country when the BJP will give the Bharat Ratna to Godse as well,” the AIMIM chief claimed.
On the long-pending demand for the Bharat Ratna for Savarkar, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said the prestige of the award would rise if it were conferred on him.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
