Waqf Amendment Bill takes centrestage during Eid prayers in parts of Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): The issue of the Waqf Amendment Bill took center stage during Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations in some parts of Karnataka on Monday, with people, including Minister Rahim Khan, offering special prayers sporting black armbands to express their protest against the Centre's move.
According to the information available, believers sported symbols of protest during the prayers held in Bidar, Mandya and Belagavi.
In Bidar, Minister Khan, who holds sports and youth empowerment portfolio, reached mosque with his followers wearing black armband and offered prayers at the Eidgah Maidan.
His supporters performed prayers and lodged their protest peacefully against Waqf law amendment.
The Mandya Urban Development Authority president Naheem performed prayers in Mandya wearing the black armband. All his supporters too followed him.
Speaking to reporters, he said he did it as a silent protest against the Waqf Amendment Bill.
In Belagavi, Social Democratic Party of India cadres participated in the prayers wearing black armband to show protest against the bill.
Apart from demanding to withdraw the amendment bill, the protesting Muslims in Kittur appealed for the early release of their national president M K Faizy, who was arrested earlier this month by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the banned terrorist organisation PFI.
The ED claimed that there existed an 'organic' relation between the two outfits and that PFI was carrying out its criminal activities through the political party.
The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), founded in 2009 and headquartered in Delhi, is alleged to be the political front of the Popular Front of India (PFI), which was banned by the Union government in September 2022.
The Union Cabinet recently approved the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, incorporating the changes recommended by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), paving the way for it to be tabled in Parliament for a discussion and passage.
The Bill was referred to the JPC in August 2024, after it was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
The parliamentary panel adopted the report with a majority vote, while all 11 MPs from opposition parties in the panel had objected to it.
They had also moved dissent notes. The 655-page report was submitted to both Houses of Parliament earlier this month.
On March 28 Union Home Minister Amit Shah made it clear that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which was referred to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) in August 2024, will be reintroduced in the current session of Parliament.
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17 newborn girl children named Sindoor in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar
Kushinagar (UP), May 12 (PTI): Inspired by Operation Sindoor, India's military action against Pakistan to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack last month, 17 newborn girls here have been named Sindoor by their families.
"As many as 17 newborn girls born on May 10 and 11 in Kushinagar Medical College have been named Sindoor by their family members," Principal Dr RK Shahi told PTI on Monday.
Twenty-six people, a majority of them tourists, were killed and several injured when terrorists opened fire at Baisaran meadow in the popular tourist town of Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on April 22.
In retaliation, Indian Army launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 to destroy nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir. All subsequent retaliations to Pakistani offensives were carried out under the moniker Operation Sindoor.
Hailing Indian armed forces for "giving a befitting reply to Pakistan", Kushinagar resident Archana Shahi said she named her newly born baby girl after the military operation.
"Following the Pahalgam attack, the lives of a number of married women were ruined when they lost their husbands. Operation Sindoor was carried out by the Indian Army in response to that. We are proud of this. Sindoor is not a word but an emotion now. So, we have decided to name our daughter Sindoor," Archana said.
Her husband Ajit Shahi echoed the sentiments. "Archana and I had thought of the name even before our daughter was born. This word is an inspiration for us," he said.
Madan Gupta from Padrauna said ever since India avenged the killing of the 26 innocent people, his daughter-in-law Kajal Gupta wanted to name her newborn Sindoor.
"That way, we will remember this operation and celebrate this day," Gupta told PTI.
Vyasmuni from Bhathahi Babu village has taken a similar decision, saying it would instil courage in his daughter.
"When my daughter grows up, she will understand the true meaning of this word and present herself as a dutiful woman for Mother India," he said.
Priyanka Devi from Padrauna has also joined others and decided to name her daughter after India's military action, the Kushinagar Medical College principal said.
On the trend of parents naming their daughters Sindoor, Pradeep Khatri, who teaches psychology at Lucknow's National PG College, told PTI, "The parents intend to instil patriotism in their children. When these girls grow up, the parents may tell them why they were named so. It will develop patriotic feelings inside these girl children."
