Muslims in UP's Bulandshahr hand over Rs 6.27 lakh DD to admin for protest damages
Bulandshahr (UP), Dec 28: A section of Muslims from the civil society here handed over a demand draft of Rs 6.27 lakh to the Bulandshahr district administration to compensate for damage to public property during violent protests over the citizenship law in Uttar Pradesh.
Handing over the demand draft to officials on Friday, they also requested the police and the administration to withdraw cases lodged against community members in the aftermath of the protests on December 20, when violence had also swept several other parts of the state over the contentious law.
"It is a welcome initiative by the people here who have realized that the property which got damaged during the violence belonged to them and involved their own tax money. Loss to public property means loss to citizen's property," Bulandshahr District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar told reporters.
Rs 6,27,507, the amount of damage assessed by the administration, has been raised by donations within the community, Haji Akram, a local councilor, said.
Around 20 people have died and several others, including policemen, injured in UP since protests unfolded in the state and elsewhere in the country against the amended Citizenship Act and the proposed implementation of a pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The CAA provides for grant of citizenship to persecuted minority Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jain, Buddhists and Parsis of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who have taken refuge in India before December 31, 2014.
Critics say by leaving Muslims out of the ambit of the law, it violates the Fundamental Right to Equality under Article 14 of the Constitution and is against the secular ethos of India.
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No 'jealousy' against Vijay, meeting with Stalin was friendship call, says Rajini
Chennai (PTI): Superstar Rajinikanth on Sunday denied he was "jealous" about Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and clarified that his recent meeting with DMK president M K Stalin was "purely" a friendship call and not done with any political motive.
Talking to reporters at his Poes Garden residence here, and responding to some reports, the top star made it clear that the meeting with the former chief minister Stalin was not an attempt to hinder Vijay's chief ministerial aspirations or merge political parties.
Dismissing that he had any envy towards TVK founder and chief minister Vijay, the "Jailer" star said there was a 25-year generational gap between him and the CM and commended Vijay's impressive achievements at a young age, which he said surpassed even those of the legendary MGR (MG Ramachandran) and NTR (N T Rama Rao). MGR and NTR, the two matinee idols from Tamil and Telugu cinema had gone on to become CM of Tamil Nadu and the then undivided Andhra Pradesh, respectively.
"I have seen Vijay since a young age. Why would I be jealous if he had become CM. That too at a young age of 52, he has achieved more than MGR and NTR... I have no envy at all," he added.
Rajinikanth also congratulated Vijay, whose TVK won 108 seats to form government after getting support from Congress, VCK, Left parties and IUML after the April 23 elections defeating Dravidian majors -- DMK and AIADMK.
The superstar further said that he did not enter politics due to health reasons and advised his fans to support any political party of their choice.
Rajinikanth also urged the people to grant Vijay a two-year period to establish himself.
