Rahul targets Modi in Maharashtra
Thane , June 12 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Tuesday, accusing him of "keeping silent" on crucial issues confronting the country.
"Modiji is mum on major problems like unemployment and farmers. He does not reply to my questions on petrol price hike, inflation and joblessness. A handful of 15 industrialists are running the country," Gandhi told the media after a hearing in the Bhiwandi Court here.
On the court case, filed by a RSS supporter against Gandhi, the Congress leader said: "Ours is a fight of ideology and system. Let them file any number of court cases against me, I shall fight them, I am not bothered."
Earlier, Bhiwandi Court Judge A.I. Shaikh summoned Gandhi to the witness box and read out the charges against him, to which the Congress President pleaded not guilty.
The next date of hearing was fixed for August 10. This is Gandhi's first visit to Maharashtra after taking over as Congress President.
Hoardings proclaiming Gandhi as the ‘Future Prime Minister' greeted him on the roads outside the Mumbai Airport to Thane as he was accorded a warm welcome by Congress leaders including state President Ashok Chavan and Mumbai city chief Sanjay Nirupam.
Thereafter, Gandhi proceeded to the Bhiwandi Court in adjoining Thane district which was virtually converted into fortress for the framing of charges in a defamation case against him filed by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker who objected to Gandhi's utterances at an election rally in March 2014 wherein he blamed the RSS for the killing Mahatma Gandhi.
Later, he will interact with the party's over 15,000 booth-level workers at a function in Bombay Exhibition Centre at Goregaon in Mumbai.
In the evening, Gandhi is scheduled to have a meeting with the party's municipal corporators and is also likely to call on Nationalist Congress President Sharad Pawar.
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Bangladesh will seek extradition of Sheikh Hasina, says interim govt chief Muhammad Yunus
Dhaka, Nov 17: Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus said on Sunday that the interim government will seek the extradition of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India after the fall of her government following a mass protest movement in August.
In an address to the nation on the completion of 100 days of the interim government, Yunus also said that his government has been continuing its all-out efforts to ensure the security of all citizens, including religious minorities.
"We must ensure justice in every killing...We will also ask India to send back fallen autocrat Sheikh Hasina," Yunus was quoted as saying by the state-run BSS news agency.
His remarks indicate a U-turn as in an interview with the UK-based Financial Times newspaper last month, Yunus said his government would not immediately seek Hasina’s extradition from India.
Yunus, who assumed office on August 8, claimed that about 1500 people, including students and workers, were killed while 19,931 others were wounded during the protest against the Hasina government.
"Our government is very careful to collect information on every death," he said, adding that the government made arrangements for treatment of the injured in various specialized hospitals, including 13 hospitals in Dhaka.
Hasina, 77, resigned and fled to India following massive protests by students and others against her government over a controversial quota system in government jobs.
She landed at the Hindon airbase near Delhi on August 5. She was believed to have been shifted later to an unspecified location and has not been seen in public since then.
Hasina and her party leaders face accusations of ordering brutal suppression of the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement, resulting in numerous casualties during the July-August protests.
Yunus said his government is investigating every incident in a few cases where religious minorities were subjected to violence.
"We have tried our best so that any citizen of the country, not only Hindu community members, doesn’t become a victim of violence. We will continue these efforts,” he said in his address to the nation.
He said Bangladesh was a completely insecure country when the interim government assumed office.
Yunus said an attempt was made to spread unnecessary fear among the religious minorities.
"In some cases, they have also been subjected to violence. But all the hype about it was completely exaggerated. Those little cases of violence that took place were mainly political,” he said.
But ill efforts were made to make the country unstable again by giving religious colour to these events, he said, adding that the government dealt with the situation firmly with the cooperation of all.
He said that after two months of assumption of office by his government, Durga Puja was celebrated in around 32,000 puja mandaps across the country.
He said the government took extensive security preparations during the Durga Puja so that the Hindu community members celebrate the festival smoothly.
Hindus constitute just about 8 per cent of the 170 million Bangladesh population. The minority Hindu community members have faced regular vandalism of their businesses and destruction of temples during and since the protest erupted, resulting in the ouster of Prime Minister Hasina.
Yunus also said that the Election Commission (EC) will be formed soon while an election roadmap will be announced after competing reforms in the electoral system.
"Once the electoral reforms are decided, you will get the election roadmap very soon," he said.
Noting that there is a question in everyone's mind about when the elections will be held, Yunus said the government has started taking necessary steps to hold the elections.
