Student Arrested For Shouting ‘Fascist BJP Government’ On Plane Gets Bail
TUTICORIN: A woman arrested at the Tuticorin airport on Monday after she shouted "down with Modi, BJP-RSS fascist government" on a flight in the presence of a BJP leader has been released on bail.
Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan, who was on the flight and complained against her, had said: "She was not an ordinary passenger, I suspect some extremist organization behind her."
28-year-old Lois Sofia, a research scholar in Canada, and Ms Soundararajan, were on the flight to Tuticorin. Ms Sofia allegedly shouted the slogan when the BJP leader, seated in the front row, came near her to take her bag.
Ms Sofia was arrested after the plane landed in Tuticorin and Ms Soundararajan filed a complaint with the airport police. A video recorded at the airport shows the BJP leader asking angrily: "How can she shout like that? This is not a public forum."
Sofia has been charged with creating "public nuisance" and "attempt to cause alarm".
The student's father AA Sami, a retired government officer, has also filed a police complaint against the Tamil Nadu BJP chief and a few others for "criminal intimidation". That case has not been registered by the police yet.
Mr Sami says he and his wife had received their daughter at the Chennai airport and were flying with her to Tuticorin. When they arrived at Tuticorin, he says, his daughter was surrounded by men and abuses were thrown at her. The family was reportedly kept in a room for safety.
Ms Soundrarajan told reporters that the men were upset workers.
Ms Sofia, a writer and a mathematician, had earlier participated in campaigns against the Sterlite Copper Plant in Tuticorin and the Chennai-Salem eight lane expressway.
In a tweet before her arrest, Sofia had posted: "I am on a flight with Tamilisai Soundararajan and really want to shout out 'Down with Modi - BJP - RSS fascist government'. Will I be kicked off the flight?"
DMK Chief MK Stalin slammed the police action against Ms Sofia and demanded her release. Mr Stalin said he too would repeat her slogan and asked: "If you'd put behind bars all those who raise such slogans, how many lakh people would you jail?"
courtesy : ndtv.com
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Flip-flop on COP: Cong's dig at govt on withdrawing bid to host COP33
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Thursday attacked the Centre over India withdrawing its bid to host the COP33 climate summit in 2028, and said it reflects the Modi government's true commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement both in letter and spirit.
The opposition party said the decision also calls into question the government's true commitment to take on more ambitious carbon mitigation goals in the short and medium term.
Congress general secretary and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh recalled that on December 1, 2023, the prime minister had announced grandly in Dubai that India would be hosting the annual UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP) in India in late 2028.
"Clearly the intention was to milk the global gathering for whatever it is worth in the months before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections like Mr. Modi did by having the G20 Summit in New Delhi a few months before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," Ramesh said on X.
"Unexpectedly last night, it was announced that India will not be hosting the high-profile 2028 Conference. No reasons have been given for this sudden decision. But it does reflect on the Modi Govt's true commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement both in letter and spirit," the Congress general in-charge communications said.
It also calls into question the Modi government's true commitment to take on more ambitious carbon mitigation goals in the short and medium term, Ramesh said.
By 2028, the seventh assessment report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) may get published and this could put greater pressure on India as the Chair of the 2028 Conference to forge a new consensus that would undoubtedly involve a scaling up of ambitions not just for a distant future, he said.
"Incidentally, do we recall what the PM had told a group of children some years ago on his view of climate change? He had remarked that 'people have changed, climate has not.' Bizarre!" Ramesh said.
He slammed the government's "flip-flop" on hosting the conference.
Ramesh had on Wednesday night said that he was "surprised" at the development.
"I am very surprised. It was high on the PM's agenda especially since 2029 will be the year of Lok Sabha polls. So atmospherics could have (been) created," he had said.
India has withdrawn its offer to host the United Nations annual climate Conference Of the Parties (COP33) in 2028, according to sources.
During his address at COP28 in Dubai in 2023, Prime Minister Modi had proposed India as the host country for COP33. Usually, the venue for a COP edition is decided two years in advance.
Sources confirmed that the decision was officially communicated to the authorities concerned earlier this week that India is withdrawing its bid to host COP 33. They, however, did not state any specific reason behind the government's decision.
