Nitish speaks with Rupani over attacks on non-Gujaratis
Patna, Oct 8: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Monday he has spoken to his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani and expressed concern over attacks in the western state on non-Gujarati people, including those from Bihar.
Condemning the alleged rape of a 14-month-old girl, which triggered the violent attacks, Kumar said the guilty must be punished but an entire community should not be "tarred with the same brush".
"Our government is aware and alert. I spoke to the Gujarat chief minister Sunday. Our chief secretary and director general of police are also in touch with their counterparts in Gujarat," Kumar told reporters here.
"If somebody has committed a crime, he must be punished severely. But on account of one incident, people should not generalise and hold a grouse against an entire state," he said.
Non-Gujaratis, especially those hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, have been targeted by locals following the alleged rape of the girl by a native of Bihar, in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district on September 28.
The attacks intensified following the circulation of hate messages on social media. Police have arrested 342 people from various parts of Gujarat for allegedly attacking non-Gujaratis.
Meanwhile, a JD(U) leader in a two-page open letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, blamed the grand old party for the violence against Biharis.
"You appointed your Gujarat MLA Alpesh Thakor as one of the national secretaries in-charge of Bihar and his outfit Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena is driving out migrant Biharis," Neeraj Kumar, a JD(U) MLC and spokesman, alleged.
He also took potshots at the Congress alliance with the RJD, saying the Rashtriya Janata Dal is "headed by a convicted person (Lalu Prasad) whose son (Tejashwi Yadav) is also facing corruption charges".
Reacting to the JD(U) MLC's charge, Congress leader Prem Chand Mishra said instead of writing a letter to Gandhi, Neeraj Kumar should speak to his boss Nitish Kumar who is running a government in alliance with the BJP which rules Gujarat.
Madhepura MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav expressed strong resentment over the humiliation Biharis have to face everywhere in the country, Gujarat being only the latest instance.
He asked the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi to intervene and ensure that attacks on Biharis in Gujarat are stopped.
"If that does not happen, we will ensure that no Gujarati is able to enter Bihar for any purpose whatsoever," Yadav, who has been known for using strong arm tactics in his three-decade-long political career, said.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
