Ravana was born in Noida village: BJP MP Swamy
Panaji, Sep 23: Ravana was born in Noida unlike late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's belief that the Lankan king was a Dravidian like him, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said here on Sunday.
Speaking at an event in South Goa, Swamy claimed that contrary to popular notions, Ravana, the villain in Indian epic Ramayana, was born in the village of Bisrakh in Noida, located in the National Capital Region.
"And Rama was a hate figure for these people because he was from the north and he killed Ravana who was from Lanka and therefore Dravidian. Well, Ravana was not from Lanka. He was born in a village near Delhi, it is called Bisrakh. You can still go and see it. There are big billboards. The area is called Noida...," Swamy said.
He said that Ravana performed 'tapas' (penance) at Manasarovar, after which Lord Shiva bestowed a boon upon him, following which Ravana went to Lanka and defeated his cousin Kuber to eventually become the 'Lanka Naresh'.
"And he was a Brahmin, incidentally... He practiced, he was a scholar of Sama Veda and Karunanidhi thought he is like him. And so, Karunanidhi was against anything I did which didn't suit the Dravidian concocted notions," Swamy said, adding that the 'divide' between northern India as an Aryan domain and the Dravidian south was a notion implanted in the Indian subconscience by the British colonists.
"Therefore, I say to you that first of all, recognise that we all are one people. We did not come from some faraway place, as the British wrote in their history books...," he said.
"It was taught to us through schools, through Bishops, the Christian clergy and soon enough it became an accepted gospel."
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'Someone must be held accountable': HC converts civil suit on Goa nightclub tragedy into PIL
Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."
The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.
The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.
The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.
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Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".
They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."
Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.
The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.
