Families of Anti-CAA activists question selective application of 'bail is the rule' principle
New Delhi: The families of activists imprisoned after the 2020 Delhi riots, including Umar Khalid, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Khalid Saifi, and Athar Khan, have voiced concerns over their prolonged detention. They argue that despite the Supreme Court's assertion that "bail is the rule," the activists continue to remain behind bars.
At a public meeting organized by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (ACPR), Umar Khalid's father, S.Q.R. Ilyas, questioned the impartiality of the judiciary, pointing to the continued incarceration of his son and others. He also raised concerns about the relationship between the executive and judiciary, citing a recent instance where the Chief Justice of India invited the Prime Minister for a publicised religious ceremony.
The families of these activists, who were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with the anti-CAA protests, highlighted their struggles. Farzana Yasmeen, the sister of Meeran Haider, expressed her family's pain but noted that Haider remains proud of raising his voice for justice. Athar Khan's mother, Noor Jehan, also voiced frustration, saying their case had appeared in court 62 times without a hearing.
Khalid Saifi’s wife, Nargis Saifi, highlighted the disparity in the judicial system, pointing out that her husband has been denied bail for over four years, while individuals accused of more severe crimes like rape and corruption have been granted bail.
Several prominent figures, including Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, attended the meeting. Singh criticized the RSS and its influence, arguing that the organization poses a threat to India's democracy and constitution.
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FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).
