Second repatriation flight from UK takes off for Bengaluru with 323 Indians
London: Air India's second repatriation flight to bring back Indians stranded in the UK due to the coronavirus lockdown took off from the Heathrow Airport here for Bengaluru on Sunday with 323 passengers.
Besides the 323 students, tourists and other Indian passport holders, the flight is flying back the body of a 37-year-old Indian-origin man who committed suicide at his home in south-east England.
This was the the second of the first set of seven Air India repatriation flights as part of the Indian government's Vande Bharat Mission to bring home stranded Indians.
Gadigeppagouda Onkaragouda Patil died at Slough in Berkshire on March 13, days before the pandemic-related lockdown grounded international flights to India.
This was a complicated case but with the help of the Indian government, his family will be able to conduct his last rites," said the President of the Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) diaspora group, who is involved with the coordination of the repatriation process.
Patil's case was complicated as a result of strict new rules for the repatriation of human remains and was made possible only after a new visa was issued.
His coffin has now been transported back to his home-town of Bengaluru after the clearance from the coroner in England.
Air India's evacuation flight for Bengaluru takes off with 323 stranded Indians on board. Shubh Yatra, the Indian High Commission in London said in a statement on Sunday.
The Indian mission has urged all passengers to follow the norm of Do Gaj Doori, Bahut Hair Zaroori as far as possible, with Air India providing passengers with a kit containing meals, snacks, sanitizer, mask and gloves.
On landing, they will be directed to the relevant state government organised quarantine venues for their 14-day self-isolation.
The aircraft, which will land in Bengaluru later on Sunday, comes a day after the first repatriation flight landed in Mumbai in the early hours of Sunday.
The next set of flights over the next week in phase one of the Vande Bharat Mission for the UK will cover Hyderabad (Monday), Mumbai (Tuesday), Ahmedabad (Wednesday), Chennai (Thursday) and New Delhi (Friday).
Organisers have said that further flights are planned from the UK to other cities of India as well in phase two of the repatriation mission.
The schedule is being coordinated by the Indian High Commission in London, with payments made directly to Air India by confirmed passengers. The first set of flights to India will prioritise Indian passport holders on vulnerability and health grounds.
On their way from India to the UK, these flights will also be bringing back some expatriates and UK visa holders wanting to fly back to London's Heathrow Airport.
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Bhojshala complex registered as 'mosque' in old revenue records: Muslim side to MP HC
Indore (PTI): The disputed Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex has historically been registered as a 'mosque' in revenue records and available sources don't clearly mention any Saraswati temple established by then-king Raja Bhoj, the Muslim side has told the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The Hindu community considers Bhojshala a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, while the Muslim side calls the 11th-century monument Kamal Maula Mosque. The disputed complex located in Dhar district is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
During the hearing before the HC's Indore bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi on Wednesday, Qazi Moinuddin questioned two PILs filed as intervenors in the Bhojshala case by an organisation named Hindu Front for Justice, one Kuldeep Tiwari and another individual.
Moinuddin claims to be a descendant of Sufi saint Maulana Kamaluddin Chishti and the 'Sajjadanashin' (spiritual head, guru, or successor of a Sufi shrine, khanqah, or religious site).
The PILs state that Bhojshala is actually a Saraswati temple and only Hindus should be granted the right to worship at the disputed complex.
Moinuddin's lawyer, Noor Ahmed Sheikh, claimed in the court that his client's ancestors, who are descendants of Maulana Kamaluddin Chishti, have historically held titles to the complex, and the site was also recorded as a "mosque" in government revenue records.
He contended that those associated with the management of the Kamal Maula Mosque, located within the complex, have been in "continuous and peaceful occupation" of the site for a long time.
Citing Muslim law, Sheikh argued that in the case of religious property, particularly a mosque or its related properties, officials such as the Sajjadanashin and Mutawalli (person entrusted with management, maintenance, and administration of a Waqf), and their descendants, not only have the right to intervene, but also have the right to manage and use such a structure.
Citing provisions of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904, the Muslim side's lawyer said the term "in-charge of the property" is used in this law, which makes it clear that the person or party who has been in charge of a property for a long time has rights over it.
During the hearing, Touseef Warsi, the lawyer representing the Maulana Kamaluddin Welfare Society of Dhar, claimed that Hindu parties in both PILs had made "misleading representations" regarding historical facts before the high court.
He further claimed that available historical sources do not clearly mention the existence of a Saraswati temple established by Raja Bhoj, the legendary king of the Parmar dynasty who ruled Dhar from 1010 to 1055.
The ASI, a central government agency, has adopted three different positions in the lawsuits filed regarding the Bhojshala dispute, changing its answers from time to time, and this situation raises serious questions about judicial scrutiny of the complex, Warsi submitted.
He raised objections regarding the ASI's process of scientific survey of the Bhojshala complex, carried out on the HC order in 2024, and the method of videography and requested the court to examine these objections.
The hearing in the Bhojshala case will continue on Thursday.
The HC has been regularly hearing four petitions and one writ appeal since April 6, contesting the religious nature of the monument.
