'I'm proud to be a Hindu, but am not a fool', says MP Congress chief Kamal Nath
Bhopal (PTI): Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Monday asserted he is "proud to be a Hindu", but he is not a "fool" and claimed Indian culture is facing attack and the Constitution going into wrong hands, in remarks aimed at the BJP in a state where Assembly polls are due by the year-end.
Nath made the comments while addressing a function organised to mark International Labour Day in Bhopal's BHEL township, where religious slogans like "Jai Hanuman" and "Jai Siya Ram" were raised from the dais.
Highlighting how various festivals are celebrated in BHEL township due to its migratory population, the former chief minister, apparently seeking to counter BJP's Hindutva plank, said, "I am a Hindu. I am proudly saying I am a Hindu, but I am not a fool. This should be understood."
He said people have been living under one flag with harmony despite diversity of caste and religion.
"Our culture is being attacked . The Constitution of Dr B R Ambedkar is going into wrong hands," said the Congress leader in an indirect criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Nath said every section of society is facing problems in the state under the BJP rule.
"There is a big challenge before people. The picture of the entire state is in front of you. Every section of society is facing difficulties. There is a big challenge for the future of farmers, youths, businessmen. This is not a challenge of any party," he told the gathering.
The former Union minister maintained people have to decide if they want to save their own future or that of the saffron outfit, which is ruling Madhya Pradesh for nearly two decades barring eighteen months in 2018-20 when the Congress was in power.
Nath said talking about "mandir-masjid" will not generate employment. For creating new jobs, there is a need to increase economic activities, he said while accusing Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of speaking lies and making false promises on employment front.
He announced that if the Congress comes to power in the state Assembly polls, it would declare a holiday on International Labour Day.
Former Union minister Suresh Pachouri, Congress MLAs Arif Aqueel (Bhopal North) and Arif Masood (Bhopal Central) were also present at the programme.
The Nath-led Congress government, which assumed office in December 2018 after 15 years of BJP rule, collapsed in March 2020 after 22 party MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia, now Union Civil Aviation Minister, rebelled and later joined the saffron party.
After this, the BJP came back to power and Chouhan once again became chief minister.
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Pak court grants bail to PM Shehbaz's daughter and her husband in graft case
Lahore (PTI): A Pakistani court on Tuesday granted bail to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's daughter Rabia Imran and her husband Imran Yousaf in a mega corruption and money laundering case.
Judge Ashfaq Ahmed allowed the bail petitions of the couple and restrained the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting them till May 7.
"The special court (central) Lahore granted interim pre-arrest bail to PM Shehbaz's daughter, Rabia Imran and her husband Imran Yousaf till May 7 in a mega corruption and money laundering case as the couple personally appeared before the court along with their counsel after arriving from the UK, where they had gone in 2022 to evade arrest," a court official said.
Last week, an accountability court had suspended the perpetual arrest warrants issued against the couple in the multi-billion corruption case, related to the Punjab Saaf Pani Company case.
The accountability court had issued perpetual warrants for their arrest in 2022 during the tenure of the Imran Khan government.
The PM's daughter and her husband had fled to the UK in 2022, and the court subsequently had declared them proclaimed offenders.
Interestingly, the country's anti-graft body -- National Accountability Bureau (NAB) -- that had instituted the multi-billion corruption case against the couple told the accountability court that it has no objection if the court suspends their warrants.
PM Shehbaz was also nominated in this corruption case but has been acquitted because of a lack of evidence.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has consistently alleged that the acquittal of PM Shehbaz and other ruling coalition members in various mega corruption cases is the result of a "compromised judiciary" and a "NAB-PMLN nexus" (referring to a perceived alliance between the NAB and the military-backed government).
His party has claimed these acquittals represent the "demise of justice" and has accused the judiciary of acting as a "silent accomplice" to state-backed political terrorism.
Khan was ousted from power in April 2022 through a no-confidence motion. Subsequently, he was arrested in August 2023 and has been in jail in multiple cases since then.
