Filmmaker Ramasimhan Aboobakker quits BJP
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Malayalam filmmaker and Sangh Parivar fellow traveller Ramasimhan Aboobakker announced that he has quit the BJP.
Ramasimhan, as he is widely known after he renounced Islam in December 2021 and changed his name from Ali Akbar to Ramasimhan Aboobakker, was a state committee member of the BJP till he resigned all his organisational responsibilities in the saffron party in 2021.
The 'Puzha Muthal Puzhavare' director said there was no need to create any fuss about his decision as he is not going anywhere and would move with the "dharma" (a reference to Sanathana dharma) that he has learned.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Ramasimhan said he is "freed from everything. Only with one thing, with Dharma."
The director is the third film personality to quit the BJP in the past two weeks in Kerala. Earlier, Malayalam director Rajasenan and actor Bhiman Raghu had announced their decision to leave the saffron party and work with the ruling CPI(M).
The BJP has not reacted to the developments.
Ramasimhan said it has been a few days since he resigned. "Now it came out, that's all... It was now realised that if one wants to move with dharma, there should be no ties, so the ties were untied. That's it," he explained in another post on Friday.
In October 2021, the director-turned-politician resigned from all responsibilities in the BJP, including as a state committee member, as he was "pained" by the Kerala unit's organisational-level action against a Muslim BJP leader in Kerala. Akbar (as he was known then), however, had said he would continue as a member of the BJP.
In an emotional Facebook post, he had said it was very difficult for the common man to understand the kind of humiliations and abuses being faced by a Muslim, from his own family and community, while working for the BJP.
'Puzha Muthal Puzha Vare' based on the Malabar rebellion, also called the Moplah riot, that took place in north Kerala in 1921 was Ramasimhan's recent film.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
T'gana RTC strike: Talks between govt, employees successful
Hyderabad (PTI): Talks between employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) who were on strike and the state government concluded successfully on Friday as the government agreed to the key demands of the workmen.
Following a day-long marathon of talks between the leaders of the employees' Joint Action Committee (JAC) and the cabinet sub-committee, the government announced after midnight that it acceded to the demands, including a merger of RTC with the government, 11 per cent pay revision and elections to the employees' unions.
A committee comprising officials and employee leaders would be appointed over the merger of RTC with the government, it said.
The RTC management has also agreed to address the remaining issues as well, an official release said.
The employees would call off their strike and the RTC buses would hit the roads shortly, it said.
The employees had been on an indefinite strike since April 22 over a series of demands, including the merger of RTC with the government.
Earlier in the day, a driver of the RTC, who attempted suicide on April 23 during the strike, died at a hospital here in the early hours of Friday.
Shankar Goud, a 55-year-old driver, set himself ablaze by pouring petrol at Narsampet in Warangal district when the employees were staging a protest on Thursday in support of their demands.
Goud suffered serious burns, was initially admitted to a state-run hospital in Warangal, and later shifted to a super-speciality hospital in Hyderabad for advanced treatment.
"He succumbed (to injuries) at about 1.30 am on Friday," a senior official said.
The driver’s body was taken to his relative’s village, Muttojipet in Warangal district, for funeral rites.
Tension prevailed in Muttojipet as his family members and RTC employees attempted to take the body to the Narsampet bus station, where he worked, to enable his colleagues to pay their last respects. However, police did not permit this, citing law-and-order concerns.
This led to a deadlock before the funeral could proceed.
Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar criticised the Telangana government for not allowing the body to be taken to the Narsampet bus station.
Kumar, Minister of State (Home), visited Muttojipet village in Warangal district, where the funeral was held, and paid homage to Goud.
“They (family members) want to take the body to the bus depot for five minutes. Is the RTC bus depot in Pakistan or Bangladesh? They are emotionally attached to taking the body there. The government is hurting sentiments and creating fear among RTC employees,” Kumar told reporters.
He also expressed anger at the police for not allowing the body to be taken to the bus station and staged a protest, according to a release from his office.
RTC employees and BJP workers attempted to take the mortal remains in an ambulance to Narsampet, but were stopped by the police.
Later, after discussions with the police, the family members and RTC employees agreed to conduct the funeral in the village.
Sanjay Kumar, stating he would abide by the family’s decision, left the village after the funeral was conducted there.
Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh, a house, and a government job would be provided to the kin of Goud.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed shock over the employee’s death and conveyed deep condolences to the grieving family, according to the release.
The RTC employees’ JAC had earlier announced an agitation programme from April 24 to 29, including silent marches and submission of memorandums to MLAs and other leaders.
