Mahagathbandhan MLAs demonstrate in assembly over Rahul's conviction, JD(U) stays away
Patna (PTI): Members of the ruling Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, barring Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), on Friday staged a march inside the Vidhan Sabha premises in protest against the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, by a Gujarat court, in a defamation case.
RJD, Congress, CPI (ML) Liberation, CPI, CPI(M) and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) took part in the march.
The MLAs alighted from their vehicles at the main gate and marched towards the assembly hall, a few hundred metres away, raising slogans like 'Modi hatao, desh bachao' (dethrone Modi, save the country) and holding banners and placards.
"The court should rethink its judgement. Rahul Gandhi has not defamed anybody in particular by his caustic utterances about a surname that were made in far-off Karnataka. I do not wish to cast any aspersions in the judiciary but it is also true that people get away by making horrific statements like calling for the rape of corpses by digging graveyards," said Manjhi.
Inside the House, Mahagathbandhan members continued to raise slogans following which Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary asked CPIML(L) legislator Mahboob Alam to make a statement on behalf of the alliance.
However, no sooner than Alam repeated the slogan 'Modi hatao desh bachao', members of the opposition BJP were on their feet, furiously registering their protest.
The speaker then decided that he has had enough and he asked marshals to snatch away banners, posters and placards from members who had brought these inside the House and proceeded with the Question Hour.
When asked about JD(U)'s stance, its chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said, "It is wrong to draw a conclusion that we have a divergent view and there is any problem, on this account, in the Mahagathbandhan."
"I am a member of the legislative council. The march was staged by members of the assembly and I am not sure how well was the coordination on this matter. But it will be preposterous to draw a conclusion that it has anything to do with the alleged prime ministerial ambitions of our leader Nitish Kumar," he said.
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Nashik TCS case: Accused Nida Khan held in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Nashik (PTI): Weeks after she went into hiding, a female employee of the TCS unit in Nashik, accused in a case related to alleged religious conversion and sexual harassment of some women colleagues, has been arrested, police said.
Nida Khan was held on Thursday in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nashik Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik said.
Khan is an accused in the Deolali Camp police station crime register number 156/26 here, he said.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik police is probing nine cases of molestation and harassment at the IT major’s Nashik unit.
It had arrested eight persons, including a female operations manager, by registering nine FIRs after allegations of exploitation, attempt of forceful conversion, hurting religious sentiments, molestation and mental harassment of female employees at the TCS unit came to light.
The SIT had launched a search for Khan in different parts of Maharashtra. She is accused of targeting employees in a WhatsApp group, pressuring them to pray and eat non-vegetarian food.
According to the FIR, Khan allegedly advised women employees to dress and behave in accordance with Islamic traditions.
Some complainants have also alleged that they were coerced or pressured into adopting religious practices, including praying, changing dietary habits, and adopting religious symbols.
Besides Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) provisions for sexual harassment and defamation, Khan has also been booked under relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as the complainant belongs to a Scheduled Caste.
On April 18, she had moved the Nashik court seeking anticipatory bail and interim protection from arrest pending the plea hearing, citing her pregnancy. Her anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a court here on May 2.
TCS has clarified that it has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and coercion of any form for a long time, and the employees allegedly involved in sexual harassment at the Nashik office have been suspended.
