Will shut all madrasas in Assam, says Himanta Biswa Sarma; calls Congress "new Mughals"
Belagavi (K'taka), Mar 17: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is visiting Karnataka, said he intended to shut all the madrasas (Muslim religious schools) in his state, as they were not needed in "New India".
Addressing an event here on Thursday night, Sarma said what Assam needed were schools, colleges and universities to produce doctors, engineers and other professionals to serve the state and the country, and not madrasas.
"I come from Assam, where everyday people arrive from Bangladesh. There is a threat to our culture and traditions," the Chief Minister said. "Recently in a TV interview in Delhi, I was asked what my intention was in having shut down 600 madrasas. I said that I have shut 600, but my intention is to shut all madrasas," he added.
Going on a tirade against opposition parties, Sarma accused the Congress and Communists of having distorted history and misrepresented facts. He also labelled the Congress "new Mughals".
"There is no need of madrasas in this 'New India'," he asserted, adding, "We have to move forward in this direction, we have to transform our education system; time has come to rewrite our history in a new way as it was distorted earlier."
The Assam Chief Minister was addressing a large gathering here after inaugurating a light and sound show on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Noting that Abhay Patil, a local BJP MLA, had planned the light and sound show six years ago, Sarma again made accusations against the Congress. "The Congress government then did not extend any help. Why will Congress help," he asked, adding, "Congress will never help. Congress will think about Babar, but not Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj."
"With this light and sound show, he (MLA) has ensured that the ideals of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will be followed in this country and that in the future too Sanatana (dharma) will be followed, and that Sanatana ideals will become stronger in this country," he said.
Pointing out that there are a large number of people in this country, who claim with pride that they are Muslims or Christians, the Assam CM said, "I have no objections, but we want people who will with pride say, 'I'm a Hindu'."
Sarma then went on to claim that the 17th century Mughal ruler Aurangazeb had allegedly tried to destroy Hinduism, while insisting that his contemporary Shivaji worked to protected Sanatana Dharma and its traditions. "Till today India is Sanatani and Hindu, and until the sun and moon exist India will go forward on the basis of its traditions," he declared.
He also claimed that it was communist historians who tried to make it appear that Aurangazeb ruled with "complete" India under his control while all of south India and the region from Assam to the North-East was never a part of his empire.
"We will have to rewrite that history in a new way. We will have to tell that Shivaji Maharaj was stronger than Aurangazeb. Such history has to be written by Indians," he said.
Sarma insisted that India's history is only that of Shivaji, Durgadas Rathore and Guru Gobind Singh and claimed that "Congress and Communists have made the history of Babar, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb as India's history."
Speaking about the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and the construction of corridors at Kashi, Ujjain, and Kamakhya among others, Sarma claimed that "the Badshahs of Delhi spoke and worked on destroying temples".
"But in the time of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, constructions of temples are happening," he said. "This is new India."
He went on to compare India's Mughal rulers with the Opposition party, Congress. "Earlier, Mughals tried to weaken India, and now Congress is doing it," he said.
"Congress people are today's new Mughals....they have an objection to Ram Mandir. Are you (Congress) children of Mughals? Why do you speak in favour of Babri Masjid and not for Ram Mandir? They represent new Mughals."
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
