Malayalam Actors condemn attack on JNU students
Thiruvananthapuram: The Malayalam Film industry has condemned the attack on students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), saying it was a "criminal offence" and deserves harshest punishment.
In a Facebook Post, Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran said entering an institution of knowlege and education and unleasing violence on students with scant regard for law and order, was an absolute murder of all democratic values.
"Regardless of what ideology you stand for, what cause youre fighting for, what end to this means you might be hoping for, violence and vandalism is not and never will be the answer to anything."
For a nation that won its independence from colonialism through a non-violence, non-cooperation movement, it's truly deplorable that today the word 'revolution' is automatically equated to a call for violence and lawlessness, Prithviraj wrote in his Facebook post.
"To be entering an institution of knowledge and education, and unleashing violence on students with scant regard for law and order is an absolute murder of all democratic values," he said.
It's a criminal offence of the highest order that deserves the harshest punishment.
But also do remember, any form of protest that endorses violence is an equally condemnable act, the "celluloid" actor added. Actor Manju warrier expressed shock over the visuals of bleeding faces of students on television.
JNU was always a symbol of knowledge in this country, Many who studied in JNU are now leaders and ruling us. Though their politics may differ, their patriortism cannot be questioned, she said in a post.
Though their ideologies may differ, the violence witnessed in the institution, wherein even outsiders had entered the campus and attacked the students, cannot be justified, she said adding "we cannot keep mum.
We need to stand with them", the actor said.
Another Malayalam actor Tovino Thomas said, "When the students of a premier university get attacked by cowards without faces and the system fails to stand firm against this, something is seriously and gravely wrong in this country!".
"Whatever be your political affiliation, if you are still believing that everything is normal here, you are terribly mistaken ! Unless and until those cowards are caught and punished for what they did to our students, this nation is not going to sleep!."
Actor Murali Gopy described the attack on students as "Black Shirts' terror @ JNU!" History suggests that this is yet another ominous portent of a democracy's steady decline into a fascist Black Hole, he wrote on his facebook page.
While Nivin Pauly described the attack on students as "horrifying and frightening" and brutality at its worst, Actor-tured Director Geetu Mohandas said, "What the hell is going on ! What next ? A war against children ?.
She also shared a picture of bleeding Aishe Ghosh, President of JNUSU.
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Attack on Constitution defeated, says Rahul Gandhi as bill to amend women’s quota law fails LS test
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the Constitution amendment bill brought by the government to tweak the women’s quota law was an attack on the Constitution, which the opposition has defeated.
The bill was not aimed at providing women reservation, but an attempt to change India's electoral structure, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha said.
Talking to reporters after the Constitution amendment bill failed to secure two-third majority in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi also said that if the prime minister is serious in providing women reservation in Parliament, he should bring the 2023 law and the opposition would extend its support outrightly.
"As I have said, it was an attack on the Constitution and we defeated that,” he said outside Parliament.
"We clearly said that this was not a women's bill, but an attempt to change India's electoral structure which we have stopped," he added.
In a direct message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said if he wants the women's bill to be implemented, he should bring the 2023 law and implement it from today.
"The entire opposition will support you and ensure women's reservation from today itself," he said.
Later, in a post on X in Hindi, Gandhi said, "The amendment bill has fallen. They used an unconstitutional trick in the name of women to break the Constitution."
"India has seen it. INDIA has stopped it. Hail the Constitution," the Congress leader said.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the manner in which the government sought to link the bill to delimitation can never be accepted.
"The way the Modi government presented women's reservation made its passage impossible. The BJP government linked women's reservation to delimitation and the old census, in which the OBC category was not included.
"We can never agree to this. What happened today is a huge victory for the country's democracy and its integrity," she told reporters.
Asked about the BJP leaders accusing the Congress of being anti-women, Priyanka said, "Those who did nothing in Hathras, those who did nothing in Unnao, those who did nothing in Manipur and those who did nothing for women wrestlers are now talking about anti-woman mindset?"
The Constitution amendment bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated in the Lower House on Friday.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
The bill proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in states and UT assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
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