Boycott shouting matches held in the name of debate: Tejashwi Yadav
Patna, Mar 11: Patna, Mar 11: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday urged opposition leaders to take a united stand against what he called a "campaign of distortion" by pro-BJP news channels, and he was backed by his father Lalu Prasad who gave the call - "boycott Modi media".
While they didn't name any particular channel, the BJP hit back accusing Yadav of "sitting in the lap of the Congress which is famous for its blatant use of the media".
The leader of the opposition in the Bihar Assembly shared on his official Twitter handle a letter dated March 8, copies of which were addressed to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, BSP supremo Mayawati, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
In the strongly-worded letter, Yadav alleged, "A spectacle is produced every evening with the sole aim of denigrating all the opposition parties. It is an open secret that a powerful section of the television media is deeply vested in the electoral fortunes of the BJP".
Lalu Prasad, who heads the RJD and is in Ranchi now serving sentences in fodder scam cases, retweeted the post on his own twitter handle, operated by his close aides, with the hashtag #Boycott_Modi_Media.
The BJP reacted with indignation, accusing the RJD heir apparent of "sitting in the lap" of the Congress notwithstanding alleged indifference of Gandhi to his plank of social justice and reminding him of throttling of the media during the Emergency.
The former deputy chief minister said, "If it was a case of subtle siding with the party in power, the spokespersons of various opposition parties would have expected to counter the tilt in rational debates held in news channel studios."
Many news channels "have not only given up pretence of impartiality... but have gone ahead to spout vitriolic hate in Indian society and incite violence", he said.
Without naming any media outlet or personality, Yadav alleged that many senior and well-respected journalists have been warning about the "near-total breakdown of the ethics of journalism in these corporate house-funded news channels".
He claimed that the news channels have been seized fully by fascist tendencies and that no rational debate is possible at these studios.
"We appeal to all political parties in the opposition and conscientious voices of the Indian public sphere not to participate in the shouting matches held in the name of debate by these channels and anchors and to refuse to be complicit in their campaign of distortion and deceit.
"Conspicuous absence of voices from opposition shall not allow them to continue with their pre-scripted debates and discussions," the RJD heir apparent added.
He urged the opposition parties and people to take a "united and collective call" on this.
Reacting to Yadav's initiative, BJP state spokesman Nikhil Anand advised him not to sermonise sitting in the lap of the Congress which is "famous for its blatant use of media".
"Your echo on social justice has never got any support from @RahulGandhi. Remember Congress is hard core anti-Mandal, anti-Dalit and anti-OBC," he said.
"Why don't you remember those days when public broadcasters were called Indira Darshan and Rajiv Darshan. Hope you are well aware of the media ban during Emergency. @RJDforIndia and @CongressforIndia must not force media to be their mouthpiece," Anand said in another tweet.
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US SC rejects 26/11 attack accused Tahawwur Rana’s plea seeking stay on his extradition to India
New York, Apr 7 (PTI): The US Supreme Court has rejected 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana's appeal seeking a stay on his extradition to India, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities to face justice.
Rana, 64, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles.
He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. Headley conducted a recce of Mumbai before the attacks by posing as an employee of Rana’s immigration consultancy.
Rana had submitted an ‘Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus' on February 27, 2025, with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit Elena Kagan.
Kagan had denied the application earlier last month.
Rana had then renewed his ‘Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus previously addressed to Justice Kagan’, and requested that the renewed application be directed to US Chief Justice John Roberts.
An order on the Supreme Court website noted that Rana's renewed application had been “distributed for Conference” on April 4 and the “application” has been “referred to the Court.”
A notice on the Supreme Court website Monday said that “Application denied by the Court.”
Rana was convicted in the US of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorist plot in Denmark and one count of providing material support to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashker-e-Taiba which was responsible for the attacks in Mumbai.
New York-based Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra had told PTI that Rana had made his application to the Supreme Court to prevent extradition, which Justice Kagan denied on March 6. The application was then submitted before Roberts, “who has shared it with the Court to conference so as to harness the entire Court’s view.”
The Supreme Court justices are Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
In his emergency application, Rana had sought a stay of his extradition and surrender to India pending litigation (including exhaustion of all appeals) on the merits of his February 13.
In that petition, Rana argued that his extradition to India violates US law and the UN Convention Against Torture "because there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, the petitioner will be in danger of being subjected to torture."
"The likelihood of torture in this case is even higher though as petitioner faces acute risk as a Muslim of Pakistani origin charged in the Mumbai attacks,” the application said.
The application also said that his “severe medical conditions” render extradition to Indian detention facilities a “de facto" death sentence in this case.
The US Supreme Court denied Rana's petition for a writ of certiorari relating to his original habeas petition on January 21. The application notes that on that same day, newly-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio had met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington on February 12 to meet with Trump, Rana’s counsel received a letter from the Department of State, stating that “on February 11, 2025, the Secretary of State decided to authorise” Rana’s "surrender to India,” pursuant to the “Extradition Treaty between the United States and India”.
Rana’s Counsel requested from the State Department the complete administrative record on which Secretary Rubio based his decision to authorize Rana’s surrender to India.
The Counsel also requested immediate information of any commitment the United States has obtained from India with respect to Rana’s treatment. “The government declined to provide any information in response to these requests,” the application said.
It added that given Rana’s underlying health conditions and the State Department’s findings regarding the treatment of prisoners, it is very likely “Rana will not survive long enough to be tried in India".
During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi in the White House in February, President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.
A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations in Mumbai.
