SP, Congress reiterate demand to ban Sanatan Sanstha
Mumbai, Aug 21 : Amidst the ongoing crackdown on right-wing activists by the CBI and ATS, the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday demanded a ban on the Sanatan Sanstha and its leaders.
Maharashtra SP President Abu Asim Azmi also asked the Centre and the state government to ensure adequate security at various mosques ahead of the Eid Al Adha festival.
"The ATS has said there was a major plan to foment communal disturbances and made terror strikes in different cities of Maharashtra. It has also seized large quantities of arms and explosives from Palghar," Azmi pointed out.
In the wake of these seizures, Maharashtra ATS chief Atulchandra Kulkarni should also be provided strong security, he said.
Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to immediately arrest the Sanatan Sanstha founder-chief Jayant B. Athavale.
He alleged that the activities of the organisation were nothing short of ‘terror' and sought a ban on the outfit.
Referring to the recent police actions, Vikhe-Patil said he had specific information that nearly 500 youths have been trained to use firearms and they must be tracked.
For this, it was imperative to arrest Athavale, which would help unravel Sanatan Sansthan's modus operandi and plans, he said.
A Sanatan Sanstha spokesperson has dismissed all charges against it and said no such training was imparted to any youth and that it was a spiritual organization.
On Tuesday, a large of Sanstha and Hindu Janjagran Samiti activists took out a procession in Pune protesting what they termed attempts by various organisations and political leaders to defame them.
They carried banners, posters and placards with slogans of Hindu unity and flaying organisations like the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), headed by the slain rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
HJS convenor Parag Gokhale said neither his organization nor the Sanstha were in any manner involved in the killing of rationalists like Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M.M. Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh.
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Assam CM flays Cong for 'not verifying' documents before making charges against his family
Sivasagar/Guwahati (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday slammed the Congress for “not verifying” the documents based on which it brought allegations against him and his family.
Congress leader Pawan Khera had on Sunday alleged that Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, has multiple passports and foreign property, which were not declared in the chief minister’s election affidavit.
Sarma also hit out at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, claiming that he was “speaking like a madman” due to old age, after the latter put the onus on central agencies to probe the charges.
The CM asserted that Khera had “run away” to Hyderabad, but the Assam Police will “hunt him down even from ‘pataal’ (netherworld)”.
“‘Assam Police ko nahi jante hain.. Pataal se bhi ukhar ke le ayega’ (They don’t know the Assam Police... they will hunt him down even from the netherworld),” asserted Sarma.
An Assam Police team had earlier in the day visited the Delhi residence of Khera for questioning him in connection with the case.
“If they didn’t know the truth, why did they put it out in public? They should have asked the foreign minister first,” Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of an election campaign, when asked for his reaction to Kharge’s assertion that the Union government should probe the allegations now.
Kharge, at a presser in Guwahati on Tuesday, said all agencies are under the central government, which should probe the charges.
"They have already filed an FIR against Khera. Let them probe the matter. We will face the case as it progresses. We have sought probes by the ED or CBI into the allegations," he said.
Sarma added: “Kharge is ageing and is speaking like a ‘pagal’ (madman). You insult the people first and then say will ask the foreign minister (for verification)? Is he your ‘damad’ (son-in-law),” the chief minister said.
“I think Rahul Gandhi had given these documents to Khera, and if that is so, the case will then include Gandhi,” he added.
