Surgical strike video released to divert attention: Congress
New Delhi, June 28: Describing Narendra Modi government as "coward and weak" in handling terrorism, the Congress on Thursday said the videos of surgical strike were released to divert attention from the falling value of rupee.
The party said Prime Minister Modi should apologise to the nation for "economic mismanagement" triggered by his decision to enforce demonetisation.
"Was this video released selectively just to divert attention from the value of rupee falling to Rs. 69 per dollar? He (Modi) should apologise to the country for this as it has happened due to economic mismanagement. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad should also give him company," said Congress spokesperson Pramod Tiwari.
"Economy of the country has been destroyed," he added.
Tiwari said that surgical strike of September 28-29, 2016 was shamelessly politicised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in March 2017.
"Ravi Shankar Prasadji calls Hafiz Saeed, Hafizji, out of fear. He is so scared even during a press conference. They (BJP) released three terrorists in Kandahar -- Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Jargar, Ahmed Sayeed Sheikh -- and took them in a chartered plane," said Tiwari.
"Congress government arrested them and they released these terrorists. Had they not released Masood Azhar, then peace would have continued in Jammu and Kashmir. There would not have been bloodshed in Kashmir."
The entire country was facing the consequences of the historic blunder they committed, he said and added: "the BJP government is the weakest and most coward when it comes to handling terrorism."
He said the Congress party lost former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi to terrorism.
"We have sacrificed lives, we have struggled. But they gave a safe passage to terrorists. BJP, whose hands are full of blood, now wants to teach a lesson to the Congress."
Tiwari said: "They spoke about Bofors, but they should not forget Rafale deal. They should not point fingers at Congress as they themselves were involved in the Kargil coffin scam."
He also said that a former Union Minister and a senior BJP leader Arun Shourie had termed the surgical strike a "farcical strike".
"Earlier, no Prime Minister had released a videos of surgical strikes, which were conducted at least nine times. For Modi, his party is bigger than the country.
"Without PMO and Defence Ministry's consent these videos would not have been released. It was done just to hide its own failures," he added.
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K’taka HC judge whose controversial remarks triggered controversy expresses regret before open court
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.
Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.
On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.
Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”
Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”
Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.
In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.
The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.
Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.
