Gulmaki elected as Odisha's first Muslim woman chairperson in urban polls
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Meet 31-year-old Gulmaki Dalwazi Habib, a Business Administration graduate, who was elected as the first Muslim woman chairperson of Bhadrak Municipality.
Of the 108 civic body election results declared on Saturday, only Gulmaki was elected as the chairperson from the Muslim community. Independent candidate Gulmaki was elected as the chairperson defeating Sasmita Mishra of the BJD by 3,256 votes.
Gulmaki, who is a newcomer to politics despite her husband having been a BJD leader, filed her nomination papers for the post after being encouraged by the local people.
"Initially, I was scared...but gradually people from all communities came forward to support me as they have trust on an educated woman like me," Gulmaki said.
She said that Bhadrak town, situated on the Odisha coast, has people from all communities. While 59.72 per cent of population are Hindus, Muslims constitute 39.56 per cent, followed by Christians (0.12 per cent), while the remainder are Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains (0.02 per cent).
"The people voted for me because they want development of their areas which I can do," she said adding that her family members and local people campaigned for her.
When asked how she will run the 30-member municipality where BJD has secured a majority by winning 17 councilors, she said, "I think I can also be a good politician. My uncle, aunts and others in the family are active in politics. My maternal uncle was a councilor and my maternal aunt was elected as vice-chairman many years ago."
Gulmaki, however, admitted that initially she was reluctant to contest the direct elections. "But people here know my family well and everyone insisted that I take this up. Their trust and cooperation throughout the journey, from filing the nomination to the counting day, ensured my win," she said.
This time during the elections and keeping in view past experiences of communal tension, the State Election Commission, Odisha had deployed at least 15 platoons (1 platoon has 30 personnel) of security forces and a deputy an Inspector General rank officer to maintain law and order.
Gulmaki said, "I may have been born a Muslim family, but as a chairperson, I will work in an impartial fashion. Development is my only agenda. I have never come across any ill feeling towards me. My Hindu brothers who have worked for me during elections will never regret electing me. I will work for everyone."
According to political analysts, no Muslim woman has so far been elected as chairperson of any civic body in Odisha so far. However, one Md Akbar was the chairperson of another Muslim dominated municipality in Kendrapara from 1983 to 1990.
Though no Muslim woman has been elected as MLA so far, Mahammed Moquim of Congress is the lone Muslim face in the Assembly now after winning from Cuttack Barabati assembly segment in Cuttack city.
Earlier, during the Congress regime, Matlub Ali and Habibulla Khan had been ministers in the state.
The ruling BJD has also sent Munna Khan to Rajya Sabha from the state.
Muslim community constitutes less than 3 per cent of Odisha's population.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
