Is this route to 'Viksit Bharat': Kapil Sibal on UP Kanwar Yatra order
New Delhi (PTI): Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday slammed as "divisive agenda" the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments' order to all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners' names and demanded that it should be withdrawn.
Days after the Muzaffarnagar Police asked all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners' names, the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday extended the controversial order across the state.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said similar instructions are already in place in his state as well.
In a post on X, Sibal said, "Kanwar Yatra Route. UP directs eateries including roadside carts to display names of owners! Is this the route to a 'Viksit Bharat'?"
"Divisive agendas will only divide the country!" the former Congress leader and Independent Rajya Sabha MP said.
Addressing a press conference here, Sibal said the politics that is happening on Kanwar Yatra is not going to take India towards becoming 'Viksit Bharat'.
"The Prime Minister, Home Minister and Chief Ministers should not raise such issues on which politics is done, that lead to controversies. The common person has nothing to do with these issues. What will happen is that the row will escalate, traders would suffer losses. Such issues will later be raised in the Parliament and issues of economic and political challenges will not be discussed," the former Union minister said.
He said the elections in three states are round the corner and attempts would be made to create such controversies that raise tensions and benefit a particular political party.
Sibal said the need is to pay attention to the "big problem" of unemployment.
"I would especially like to tell the CMs of UP and Uttarakhand to take back this directive. Kanwar Yatra should continue as it is and earlier also yatra has happened and such a row never arose. Those who are on the Yatra know everything, where to eat and where not to eat," he said.
Several opposition leaders have slammed the order, calling it discriminatory.
The Congress on Friday termed the order "mischief" and "bigotry".
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Child rape-murder: Hundreds protest on Mumbai-Bengaluru highway in Pune; traffic hit
Pune (PTI): Hundreds of people blocked the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway in Pune to protest the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl, leading to traffic disruption on the busy route for about four hours.
The girl's family members and other demonstrators placed the body on the road in the Navale Bridge area on Saturday evening and demanded stringent punishment for the 65-year-old man arrested in the case.
Several videos surfaced showing a huge traffic jam on the highway.
Later, the victim's last rites were performed at the Vaikunt crematorium here shortly after midnight amid tight police security.
The accused man, who works as a labourer and has a criminal record, allegedly lured the girl with the promise of food on Friday in the Bhor tehsil of Pune district. He then took her to a cattle enclosure where he allegedly sexually assaulted her and later killed her by hitting her with a stone, according to the police.
He was arrested based on CCTV footage from a private residence, which captured him with the child.
A case was registered against him under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and he has been remanded in police custody till May 7.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar on Saturday met the family of the victim, assuring them of strict action against the accused and a fast-track trial.
Describing the incident as "shocking" and a "blot on humanity", Pawar said the government stands firmly with the victim's family and will ensure justice.
She also spoke to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and sought a fast-track court trial so that the accused receives the harshest punishment.
Deputy CM Eknath Shinde directed Pune rural police to gather concrete evidence to build a watertight case and conduct the trial in a fast-track court.
Efforts should be made to ensure the accused gets the death penalty, a statement quoted Shinde as saying.
