Bharat Jodo Yatra enters Jammu and Kashmir: Back to my roots says Rahul Gandhi
Kathua rape case accused supporter Chowdhary Lal Singh joins Congress rally near Jammu
Jammu: As the 3,500-km rally of the Congress Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is on its last leg, entered Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called it a homecoming of sorts, for him.
“I am going back to my roots, I know the suffering of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and come to you with a bowed head,” he said.
Amid chants of "Nafrat Chodo Bharat Jodo" (Leave hatred and unite India), the Bharat Jodo Yatra yatra entered Jammu and Kashmir via Pathankot-Punjab. Fire crackers were burst as the participants crossed the Madhopur Bridge into Jammu and Kashmir, with tight security cover. In a conventional manner, the Punjab unit of the Congress handed the party flag to a leader of the party from Jammu and Kashmir, reports Hindustan Times.
"After covering 3200 km from Kanyakumari, it is a happy moment for us that the Yatra has reached Jammu and Kashmir," Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress committee president Vikar Rasool Wani said.
Rahul Gandhi was welcomed by senior leaders including Jairam Ramesh, Ashok Gehlot, Digvijay Singh, Farooq Abdullah, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party supremo Chowdhary Lal Singh and Awami National Conference leader Muzaffar Shah.
At his first stop in Jammu and Kashmir, about 90 km from Jammu, Rahul Gandhi, addressed hundreds of people, who, regardless of the winter chill and the late hour of the day, attended the function at the venue near the statue of Maharaja Gulab Singh on Saturday.
Gandhi said that the Central government was indulging in diverting the attention of people as a means to win them over but also looting them. Hatred, violence, unemployment and price rise were the main problems in the country, he said, and blamed the media too, for not highlighting such issues but focusing on topics ‘such as Bollywood stars Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar’.
"The BJP and RSS have spread hatred. I earlier thought it ran deep but it does not and is mainly seen on television," Gandhi said.
He also referred to ‘two Indias in the making’, one for the poor and one for the corporate world.
He shared his experiences of his journey from Kanyakumari, starting September, till Kashmir. Gandhi said that the participants had walked about seven hours and covered 25 km each day. Speaking of how predictions of tire turned false, Gandhi said, "I later felt we are not feeling tired because people are pushing us forward." He also spoke of how people supported one another, sidelining matters like religion and caste.
National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah drew a parallel between Shankaracharya and Rahul Gandhi, “Many years ago, Shankaracharya had undertaken a yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. And today you are doing it.”
Pointing out that the India of today is neither Ram’s Bharat nor Gandhi’s Hindustan, since people are divided on the basis of religion, Abdullah stressed, “If we are together, we will be able to overcome the hatred of the present day.”
The MP, who was joining the rally for the second time, said he wished to “see my secular Hindustan again where everyone is respected,” before he died.
Chowdhary Lal Singh, the controversial participant in the Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir, was not seen on the podium as he came late. All through the function, he was standing among the crowd.
Also, while the Congress thanked all the leaders who turned up for the Yatra, the name of Singh was not mentioned.
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Karnataka School Edu Dept prohibits children from being made to dance to obscene songs
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka School Education Department has issued a circular strictly prohibiting children from being made to dance to obscene songs in educational and cultural programmes.
It stated that such dances would negatively impact students' mental health and moral values. It will create indiscipline and harm the sanctity of education.
"All the Deputy Directors (Administration) of the state's School Education Department have been asked to take strict measures to prevent children or students from dancing to obscene songs in all government, aided and unaided schools in the state," the office of the commissioner of the School Education Department said in a recent circular.
"If it is found that children are being made to dance to obscene songs, appropriate action will be taken against the headmaster or management of such school," it added.
The department also listed certain measures in this regard, which include: strictly prohibiting children from being made to dance to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes; selecting songs that are inspiring, positive, instilling national pride in children and reflecting the greatness, dignity, values, culture, and morality of the state.
Stating that the school headmaster and management are responsible for selecting songs and dances for cultural programmes, it said, they should also ensure that students wear decent clothes in dance or cultural programmes.
