KPCC demands withdrawal of sedition charges against Shaheen School, delegation meets DG IGP
Bengaluru: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Wednesday submitted a plea to the Karnataka DGP and IG Praveen Sood, demanding withdrawal of sedition case against three persons and two women who have been arrested in connection with the incident of a play against CAA/NRC in Shaheen School in Bidar.
Condemning the act, a delegation of senior Congress leaders led by KPCC President Dinesh GunuRao met Praveen Sood at his office and submitted the memorandum.
The memorandum asserted that the law against sedition has been widely been misused which has resulted in affecting the lives of the vulnerable.
The memorandum added “The section is deeply flawed. It is archaic and opposed to the fundamental values of liberty, freedom and pluralism guaranteed by the Constitution. The capital flaw in the law is that it is centered around the government and not the nation. Any attempt to overthrow the government is seen as conspiracy against the nation. This is wrong and unacceptable. The government cannot be equated with the nation. The nation is bigger entity than the government. While the government is a temporary political entity, the nation is an everlasting political phenomenon.”
It further cited cases and judgments of the Supreme Court wherein the apex court has spoken against the sedition law and cautioned against its misuse.
The memorandum demanded to withdraw the case and all charges against Shaheen School and the other accused and to release the parents immediately.
Party legislators Tanveer Sait, UT Khader, Rizwan Arshad, MLCs Abdul Jabbar, Vijay singh, Naseer Ahmed were present along with Dinesh GunduRao in the delegation.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
