Will not allow any attack on Constitution, my duty to protect it: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Asserting that the Constitution is the protective shield of the poor, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday urged people to pledge that "we will not allow any attack" on the Constitution and said he will be the first to stand up against any assault on it.
On Constitution Day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge stressed the need to protect the fundamental principles of the Constitution such as justice, equality, freedom, mutual brotherhood, secularism, and socialism.
He also pledged to uphold the freedom of democracy and the Constitution for the unity and integrity of the country, for love and brotherhood, and for harmony.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "The Constitution of India is not just a book; it is a sacred promise made to every citizen of the country. A promise that no matter what religion or caste one belongs to, what region one comes from, what language one speaks, whether poor or rich, one will receive equality, respect, and justice."
The Constitution is the protective shield of the poor and the deprived, their strength, and the voice of every citizen, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
As long as the Constitution is protected, the rights of every Indian are protected, Gandhi asserted.
"Let us pledge that we will not allow any attack on the Constitution. It is my duty to protect it, and I will be the first to stand up against any attack on it," he said and greeted people on Constitution Day.
Kharge also greeted citizens on Constitution Day and quoted BR Ambedkar to emphasise that the Constitution is a way of life.
"We remember the invaluable contributions of all the great leaders of the Constituent Assembly. Countless national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Maulana Azad, Rajendra Prasad, Sarojini Naidu, and Babasaheb Ambedkar played a historic role in building a new India," Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
"Today, what we need most is to protect the fundamental principles of the Constitution - justice, equality, freedom, mutual brotherhood, secularism, and socialism," he said.
"Today, on Constitution Day, we once again pledge to uphold the freedom of democracy and the Constitution for the unity and integrity of the country, for love and brotherhood, and for harmony," Kharge said.
The Congress on Tuesday had recalled that BR Ambedkar had moved the resolution in the Constituent Assembly 76 years ago for the formal adoption of the draft Constitution and claimed that Ambedkar as well as the Constitution were then subject to a "ferocious assault" by the RSS which has continued since.
Since 2015, Constitution Day, or Samvidhan Diwas, has been celebrated on November 26 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Mathura boat capsize tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13
Mathura (UP)(PTI): With the recovery of two more bodies on Sunday, the death toll in the boat capsize incident in the Yamuna river in Mathura has climbed to 13, officials said on Sunday.
Search for three more missing persons is underway.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Suresh Chandra Rawat said renewed search efforts led to the recovery of the body of a college student, identified as Dinki Bansal, near Devraha Baba Ghat and that of a man identified as Rishabh Sharma approximately 3 km away from the accident site.
The incident occurred on Friday afternoon when a boat carrying over two dozen tourists, primarily from Punjab, hit a floating drum of a pontoon bridge and capsized near Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan.
Most of the victims were from Jagraon and Dugri areas of Ludhiana district.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) along with the district administration and local police were actively engaged in the search for the missing pilgrims.
However, strong currents of the Yamuna river and the significant depth of the water at the ghats are proving a hindrance.
Circle Officer (Mant) Sandeep Singh said the Yamuna river stretch extending from Keshi Ghat to Gokul Barrage has been divided into seven sectors.
The search for the missing individuals will now be conducted within this specific 20-square-km zone. A Station House Officer (SHO) has been designated as the in-charge for each sector.
Acting on the orders of the DIG (Agra Range), seven SHOs will oversee operations across the seven sectors of river Yamuna.
Giving details about the operation, Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Pankaj Kumar Verma, citing NDRF officials, on Saturday had said although the search for the missing persons is currently focused within a 14-km radius from the spot where the boat had capsized, there is a possibility that they may have been swept much further downstream.
SHO of Vrindavan police station Sanjay Pandey said boat operator Pappu was arrested late on Friday night.
He is accused of failing to provide life jackets to passengers before allowing them to board the boat, and operating the boat at high speed. This resulted in the boat losing control and colliding with a pontoon bridge's drum, which led to the accident, officials said.
Police have registered a case and also arrested the contractor, Narayan Sharma, responsible for the repair work on the pontoon bridge.
Rawat said that on Friday evening, police registered a case under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the boatman Pappu (alias Dauji) and Sharma, and subsequently arrested them.
According to the case details, Pappu's boat did not have any safety equipment or provisions whatsoever.
Moreover, despite repeated pleas from pilgrims, Pappu operated the boat at high speed. By the time he realised the danger upon approaching the pontoons of the bridge, it was already too late.
Consequently, after colliding with a pontoon drum, the boat lost control and capsized. It has also come to light that he is among those operators who have not obtained the requisite license to operate a boat.
Sharma was carrying out the work of dismantling and reassembling the pontoon bridge without providing any prior notification.
_vb_00.jpeg)
_vb_85.jpeg)