Muslims have not allowed radicalisation to spread in India: Rajnath Singh at HTLS 2018
New Delhi, Oct 05: Muslims in India should be complimented for not letting radicalisation spread in the country despite consistent efforts to brainwash them, Union home minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday while castigating Pakistan for not desisting from its “evil designs” in the context of Kashmir.
Speaking at the 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Singh called terrorism a “crime against humanity” and said it was not linked to any religion or caste.
“Even Islamic nations have condemned terrorism. Pakistan should take efforts to stop terrorism. I must compliment Muslims in India that they have not allowed radicalisation to spread in the country,” Singh said.
The home minister said the situation in Kashmir will improve, but expressed dismay that Pakistan was still indulging in cross-border terror. “Not one, but every prime minister has tried to improve the relationship with Pakistan,” Singh said. “But Pakistan is continuing to infiltrate terrorists into India. This is a reality.”
He said that the general situation in Kashmir is better than it was a year ago, and pointed out that terror-related incidents have come down from 6,000 in 1995 to 360-odd incidents in 2017. His comments come at a time when the Opposition has blamed the government for a spurt in violence in the region in recent months.
The home minister said he has told security persons not to fire the first bullet, but if there was any provocation from Pakistan, then the jawans should not count the number of bullets in retaliatory action.
He said there is an “amazing” coordination between the army, central paramilitary forces and the J&K Police in the state and about 700 terrorists have been neutralised over the last four years.
The government, he said, has launched a pilot project in Jammu & Kashmir and Assam to replicate an Israel-type border management system that will use the latest technology and resources to make India’s coastline and borders breach-proof. “The Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System will be operated through a command centre and every activity on the borders can be monitored from one place,” Singh said. “This is a huge development.”
The former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president admitted that the alliance with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Mehbooba Mufti was “not successful”, but maintained it was the need of the hour after the 2014 assembly elections returned a hung verdict.
“The PDP emerged as the number one party and the BJP was the second-largest party. We thought we should respect the mandate,” Singh said. “That experiment was not successful.” The BJP pulled out of the government in June and the state is now under Governor’s Rule.
Singh also said that there has been a 50% decline in Maoist-related activities in the last four years and the major activities of the Maoists have been restricted to 10-15 districts. “They are now trying to move into urban areas.”
He defended the criticism of the government after five activists were arrested in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence in January, and said that the Supreme Court allowed the Maharashtra police conduct the probe as it wanted to. “We have said you may be influenced by any ideology but you cannot be allowed to indulge in violence. You will not be allowed to do that,” Singh said.
The home minister also expressed optimism that a framework agreement with insurgents in Nagaland will be stitched and claimed there was some forward movement in it.
Speaking on farmer agitations in different parts of the country, he said the government was committed to solving the issues faced by farmers, and those who staged a protest at the Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border last week have returned following the promise that the government will look into their demands – which range from higher minimum support prices to overturning the ban on 10-year-old diesel vehicles.
“There is a crisis of credibility in politics today. We have taken it up as a challenge. We will not let this crisis of credibility to deepen,” Singh said. “If we have promised something, then the protesters know we are honest in our commitment.”
Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
SC refuses to entertain plea against deletion of names from WB voter list, terms it ‘premature’
_vb_77.jpeg)
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea by a group of 13 people seeking its intervention in the deletion of their names from the voter list during the Special Institutional Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, where polling for the first phase of the assembly election will be held on April 23.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi termed the petition "premature", directing the aggrieved parties to approach the established appellate tribunals instead.
"Since the petitioners (Quaraisha Yeasmin and others) have already approached the appellate tribunals… in our considered view, the apprehensions expressed in the petition are premature. If the plea is allowed, then necessary consequences will follow,” the bench said in its order, adding that it has not expressed any views on the merits of the plea.
The plea alleged that the Election Commission was summarily deleting names without following due process, and that appeals against these deletions were not being heard in a timely manner.
The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court has set up as many as 19 tribunals headed by former HC chief justices and judges to decide appeals against deletions of names of persons from the voters’ lists.
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the poll panel, informed the court that there are approximately 30 to 34 lakh appeals currently pending. "Every tribunal now has over one lakh appeals to handle," the bench said.
The petitioners’ counsel argued that the EC had failed to place necessary orders before the relevant judicial authorities and that the "freezing date" for the electoral rolls should be extended.
"If I am not allowed to argue, then what is the use? Will these appeals be decided within a timeframe or just kept extending?" the counsel asked.
Justice Bagchi, during the hearing, referred to the sanctity of the electoral process and said the right to vote is not merely a constitutional formality but a "sentimental" pillar of democracy.
"The right to vote in a country you were born in is not just constitutional, but sentimental. It is about being part of a democracy and helping elect a government," he said.
He, however, said that the tribunals, manned by former judges, cannot be overburdened by fixing the timelines for adjudications.
"It is not the end justifying the means, but the means justifying the end," Justice Bagchi said.
"We need to protect due process rights. The voter should not be sandwiched between two constitutional authorities," he said, adding that it would not interdict the election process at this stage.
Justice Bagchi noted that the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice had already formulated the manner and mode for appeals, which began on Monday.
"Unless and until an enormous number of voters are excluded or it materially affects the election... the election cannot be cancelled," the bench said, adding that judicial intervention is intended to "promote elections, not interdict them."
The CJI emphasised that the petitioners must exhaust their remedies before the appellate tribunals.
Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.
_vb_67.jpeg)
_vb_65.jpeg)
_vb_52.jpeg)