RSS continues to woo Muslim women: Gives monthly pension for divorced women
Lucknow: The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has begun a second and subtle round of wooing the minorities. The Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) has adopted some 700 families under its unique pension scheme that is being run in Varanasi, Gorakhpur and the Bundelkhand region.
Denying any RSS role in these pro-minority moves, Indresh Kumar, the "guide" of the MRM, says the organisation was being run by "nationalist and well-meaning Muslims who wanted their community to shun dogmas and become progressive in life".
He added that initiatives like the monthly pension scheme of Rs 500 per divorced woman were efforts to "bring light" to the otherwise dark and gloomy setting these women are forced to live in.
"Ye rajnaitik nahin, ek imandaar prayaas hai ki jo ye andhera phailaya hai usme roshni bhari jaye" (this is not political, it is an honest effort to bring some light in their lives), Indresh Kumar told IANS.
The MRM has also rolled out a free foodgrain scheme for Muslim families in Modi's Varanasi parliamentary constituency. This scheme initially targets 800 families in poor slum dwellings and would be taken further as and when our resources increase, an official informed.
, the presence of a large number of Muslim women buoyed the spirits of RSS mandarins who feel that the "outreach's response is more than a trickle now". Muslim women openly spoke of their support to Modi's anti-triple divorce move and also extended their support to the demand of a grand Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
At a convention at the Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan auditorium this week, Shabana Azmi, a professor with the Arabic Culture Department at Lucknow University, told the crowd that Lord Rama was "one of the 1.24 lakh Nabis sent by Allah and that it was only natural that his grand temple be built at Ayodhya".
Insiders say the RSS has been trying to make inroads into segments that were not supporters so far -- and hopes that these efforts will fructify by the time of the next general election.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
