Minister's remark on IIT Bombay's name shows govt’s mindset: Raj Thackeray
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray on Wednesday said Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh's remark on not changing IIT Bombay's name to IIT Mumbai shows the government’s mindset.
“As far as IIT Bombay is concerned, thank God it still is this name. You have not changed it to Mumbai. So that's another compliment to you. And also true for Madras. It remains IIT Madras,” the minister had said, addressing a function at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay on Monday.
Responding to the minister's remarks, Thackeray said Singh's statement clearly appears to be a symbol of the government's mindset.
The plot to separate Mumbai, which has always belonged to the Marathi people, from Maharashtra was foiled by Marathi leaders and the public, the MNS chief said in a post on X.
“Our Marathi Mumbai remained in Maharashtra. Now, the bitterness that's been festering in their bellies for decades is starting to spill out once again,” he said.
“People of Mumbai and all Marathi folks living in the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region should open their eyes now. The name "Mumbai" irks them (ruling dispensation) because it is named after Mumbadevi, the original goddess of Mumbai. her children are the Marathi people who have lived here for generations,” he said.
The Central government tried to “wrest” Chandigarh from Punjab's control, but backed off after facing opposition from all other parties, he said, adding that retreat is temporary.
“Something similar is brewing in Mumbai's case. An attempt to quietly take control of the city is definitely underway. First Mumbai, and then the entire MMR region will be seized and linked to Gujarat. Marathi people should wake up,” Thackeray said.
The city, also known as Bombay earlier, was officially renamed Mumbai in 1995 by the state government, to honour the local goddess Mumbadevi, after whom the city is named, and to shed the remnants of British colonial rule.
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36 ex-judges slam Opposition move to impeach Justice Swaminathan
New Delhi (PTI): Thirty-six former judges on Saturday gave a call to people, including parliamentarians, to denounce opposition leaders' move to impeach Madras High Court judge Justice G R Swaminathan, saying such an attempt, if allowed to proceed, would cut at the very roots of democracy and independence of the judiciary.
On December 1, Justice Swaminathan held that the Arulmighu Subramania Swamy Temple was duty-bound to light the lamp at the Deepathoon, in addition to the customary lighting near the Uchi Pillaiyar Mandapam.
The single-judge bench said that doing so would not encroach upon the rights of the adjacent dargah or the Muslim community.
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The order sparked a row, and on December 9, several opposition MPs, led by the DMK, submitted a notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to move a motion for the removal of the judge.
Taking serious exception to the move, the former judges in a joint statement said this is a "brazen attempt to browbeat judges who do not fall in line with the ideological and political expectations of a particular section of society".
"If such an attempt is permitted to proceed, it would cut at the very roots of our democracy and the independence of the judiciary," they said.
"We therefore call upon all stakeholders -- Members of Parliament across party lines, members of the Bar, civil society, and citizens at large -- to unequivocally denounce this move and ensure that it is nipped in the bud at the very inception," they added.
The statement emphasised that the judges must remain answerable to their oath and to the Constitution of India, not to "partisan political pressures or ideological intimidation".
"The message from all constitutional stakeholders must be clear and firm: in a republic governed by the rule of law, judgments are tested by appeals and legal critique, and not by threats of impeachment for political nonconformity," it said.
The statement was signed by former Supreme Court judge Krishn Murari J as well as ex-chief justices and former judges of different high courts.
The statement said the opposition party's move is not an "isolated aberration". It fits into a "clear and deeply troubling pattern" in India's recent constitutional history, where sections of the political class have sought to discredit and intimidate the higher judiciary whenever outcomes do not align with their interests, it added.
"The unprecedented bid in 2018 to initiate impeachment proceedings against then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, the sustained campaigns of vilification directed at Chief Justices Ranjan Gogoi, S A Bobde and D Y Chandrachud while they were in office," the statement noted.
"The targeted attacks now being mounted against the incumbent CJI, Justice Surya Kant, whenever a judgment/remark displeases a political constituency, are all manifestations of the same trend," it said.
"This is not principled, reasoned criticism of judicial decisions; it is an attempt to weaponise impeachment and public calumny as instruments of pressure -- a practice that strikes at the heart of judicial independence and the basic norms of constitutional democracy," the statement added.
