NCM takes cognisance of alleged hate speeches, row over namaz in open, attacks on churches
New Delhi (PTI): The National Commission for Minority (NCM) has taken cognisance of the alleged hate speeches delivered at religious conclaves in Haridwar and Raipur recently and sought reports from Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh governments, its chairman Iqbal Singh Lalpura said on Wednesday.
The Commission has also taken note of an ongoing row in Gurgaon over offering Namaz in open spaces and called for a report on the issue from the Haryana government, he told a press conference.
Later in a statement, the NCM said it has also taken "suo motu" cognisance of "attacks on churches" in different parts of the country and will send teams to enquire into the matter as well seek reports from authorities concerned.
"Appropriate action" will be taken by the commission "accordingly", it said adding that the NCM chairman has "proposed" to visit the site in Ambala where a "church was vandalised" recently.
Asked if the Commission has taken any action against the alleged hate speeches delivered by some participants at religious conclaves organised in Haridwar and Raipur recently, the NCM chairman said, "We have sent notices to both the states (Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh) and called for reports. Their reply is expected to come in the first week of January."
Based on the reports from the two states, the Commission will decide its next course of action, he said.
Replying to a question on the ongoing tussle in Gurgaon over offering Namaz in open, the NCM chairman said, "We have issued a notice to Haryana government through the state chief secretary in this connection. They (Haryana government) have to send a reply to the Commission's notice by January 10, 2022."
Besides, vice chairman of the Commission Atif Rasheed has been requested to visit Gurgaon to speak to the people of the two communities engaged in the tussle over offering Namaz in open space, the NCM chairman added.
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I'm not anti-business, I'm anti-monopoly: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asserted that he was not "anti-business" as being projected by the BJP but was "anti-monopoly" and "anti-creating oligopolies".
His remarks came a day after he penned an opinion piece in The Indian Express in which he said the original East India Company wound up over 150 years ago but the raw fear it then generated is back with a new breed of monopolists having taken its place.
Gandhi, however, had asserted that a "new deal for progressive Indian business is an idea whose time has come".
In a video posted on X on Thursday, Gandhi said, "I want to make something absolutely clear, I have been projected by my opponents in the BJP to be anti-business. I am not anti-business in the least, I am anti-monopoly, I am anti-creating oligopolies, I am anti-domination of business by one or 2 or 5 people."
"I started my career as a management consultant and I understand the type of things that are required for a business to succeed. So I just want to repeat, I am not anti-business, I am anti-monopoly," the former Congress chief said.
In his post accompanying the video, Gandhi said, "I am pro-Jobs, pro-Business, pro-Innovation, pro-Competition. I am anti-Monopoly."
"Our economy will thrive when there is free and fair space for all businesses," Gandhi asserted.
In his article, Gandhi had said India was silenced by the East India Company and it was silenced not by its business prowess, but by its chokehold.
The Company choked India by partnering with, bribing, and threatening more pliant maharajas and nawabs, he pointed out.
"It controlled our banking, bureaucratic, and information networks. We didn't lose our freedom to another nation; we lost it to a monopolistic corporation that ran a coercive apparatus," he said.
The original East India Company wound up over 150 years ago, but the raw fear it then generated is back, he claimed.
A new breed of monopolists has taken its place, amassing colossal wealth, even as India has become far more unequal and unfair for everybody else, Gandhi had said.
The BJP had slammed Gandhi for making "baseless accusations" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him to examine facts before jumping to conclusions.
Hitting back at the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the BJP wrote on X: "Another baseless accusation against the Modi government through the so-called 'match-fixing monopoly groups versus fair-play businesses' is simply misleading."
"Dear Baalak Buddhi, do not jump to conclusions without examining facts," the saffron party said in a veiled reference to Gandhi.
