BJP annoyed over Rahul Gandhi’s remarks against terrorism

Agencies
November 28, 2017

Ahmedabad, Nov 28: With the Gujarat polls less than two weeks away, the BJP today raked up the issue of an old US diplomatic cable which allegedly quoted Rahul Gandhi as saying that "Hindu terror is a bigger threat" in India than the Pakistan-based LeT, and sought his explanation.

Addressing a press conference here, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad referred to the cable which was leaked by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks and subsequently published in some newspapers in 2010.

Prasad said Gandhi should be "ashamed of linking" Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat when he spoke about "polarizing figures in the BJP" during his purported conversation with a US diplomat.

"In 2010, two years after the (26/11) Mumbai terror attack, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was on India tour. At the lunch organised by then prime minister Manmohan Singh, US Ambassador Timothy Roemer was sitting next to Rahul Gandhi and asked the Congress leader what he thinks about the LeT," Prasad said.

"In his response, Rahul told Roemer that forget LeT, it is the Hindu terror of this country which is a bigger threat. The US envoy Roemer sent this conversation as a cable to his country. Later, that cable was leaked and published by London-based The Guardian newspaper," the minister said.

Referring to the purported communication, Prasad said, the US envoy even wrote that the Congress General Secretary (Rahul Gandhi) was referring to the tensions created by some of the more polarising figures in the BJP such as Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

"This is the level of the Congress and Rahul. It was indeed shameful that he tried to link Modi with it. We demand an explanation from Rahul on this. He should be ashamed of himself as he thinks that LeT is less dangerous that Hindu saffron terror. And now, he is visiting temples in Gujarat," the BJP leader said.

Prasad's diatribe came a day after the prime minister accused the Congress vice president of applauding the release of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, and asked why he hugged the Chinese ambassador during the Dokalam standoff.

He also lashed out at the Congress over a joint statement issued by India and Pakistan in Sharm el-Sheikh in July 2009.

Prasad alleged that Manmohan Singh had accepted his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani's charge that India was interfering in Pakistan's restive Balochistan region.

"During the talks between both the PMs (in Sharm el-Sheikh), Pakistan had said that they are worried about Balochistan as India is interfering in it (the region). Surprisingly, Manmohan Singh accepted Pakistan's worry about Balochistan, which was also mentioned in the joint statement," the minister said.

Prasad said the instance of Manmohan Singh "agreeing to Pakistan's concerns on Balochistan", at a time when the neighbouring country was spreading terror in Kashmir, amounted to "bigger compromise with national interests".

"On one side, Pakistan is spreading terror in PoK and Kashmir, while on the other side Indian PM (Singh) agrees to Pakistan's concerns in Balochistan and that too just a few months after the 26/11 attack. There cannot be any bigger compromise with nation's interests than this one," he added.

Commenting on former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah's challenge to the Centre to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar before talking about unfurling it in PoK, Prasad said the tricolour is already flying high across the state.

"Abdullah had also said that PoK should be given to Pakistan...Our tricolour is already flying high in the state and Pak-sponsored terrorism is losing its ground," he said.

Responding to a query, Prasad said repealing Article 370 of the Constitution that gives autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir was indeed a part of the BJP's election manifesto.

He said the situation in Kashmir has been improving gradually during the last two years.

When asked about the statement of Lalu Prasad's son Tej Pratap following withdrawal of NSG security to the RJD supremo that he will get the prime minister "skinned", Prasad said, Rahul Gandhi should also speak on this as RJD is an ally of the Congress.

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News Network
November 10,2024

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Mangaluru: A tragic accident took place on Saturday at Chembugudde near Thokkottu, claiming the life of a 47-year-old woman after a tanker lorry ran over her. The victim, identified as Rahmat H Rashid, was riding pillion with her husband, Abdul Rashid G, on their scooter. 

The couple was traveling from Yenepoya Hospital to Bajpe when the scooter skidded on the poorly maintained road. Rahmat fell onto the road and was fatally struck by a tanker lorry that was coming from behind. Despite being rushed to the hospital, doctors declared her dead upon arrival.

The incident prompted a swift response from the DYFI Ullal Taluk Committee, which staged a protest on Saturday night, condemning the unsafe condition of the road. Nithin Kuthar, president of the committee, criticized MLA and Legislative Assembly Speaker UT Khader for failing to ensure safe infrastructure, despite touting the road as toll-free. 

Kuthar demanded immediate repairs, warning that the committee would march to the MLA’s office with black flags if the road is not fixed within a week.

Former DYFI State President Sunil Kumar Bajal also voiced frustration over the deteriorating condition of Thokkottu market, highlighting the struggles people face while crossing roads riddled with dangerous potholes. In response to public outcry, temporary repairs were made to the road at Chembugudde on Sunday, though locals remain wary and demand a more permanent solution. 

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News Network
November 10,2024

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The media office in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli regime has been waging a genocidal war since last October, says as many as 188 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the onset of the brutal military onslaught.

The office provided the figure on Saturday, naming four journalists as the most recent victims of the onslaught.

It identified the foursome as Zahraa Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Ahmad Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Mustafa Khadr Bahar, and Abdel Rahman Khadr Bahar.

The office said it “strongly condemns the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation and holds it fully responsible for committing this heinous crime.”

“We call on the international community, international organizations, and those involved in journalistic work worldwide to take action against the occupation, pursue it in international courts for its ongoing crimes, and pressure it to halt the genocide and the targeted killings of Palestinian journalists,” it said.

Earlier in the day, the office said the Israeli regime had bombed the tents sheltering journalists and displaced persons at the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the ninth consecutive time.

The atrocity that claimed the lives of two people and injured 26 others came as part of “the genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army against hospitals, civilians, and displaced persons,” it said.

The media office held the regime and the United States, its biggest ally, as well as other countries aiding the genocide fully responsible for such systematic crimes.

At least 43,552 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 102,765 others wounded since the launch of the war that followed a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

The fatalities include 44 people, who were killed across the coastal sliver, in the most recent phase of the military onslaught.

As many as 24 of the victims were killed in the northern part of the territory, where the regime has markedly intensified its deadly attacks for weeks.

They included an eight-year-old child and a five-year-old one, who lost their lives after Israeli warplanes targeted a group of minors filling up jerry cans with water alongside their mother at the Jabalia Refugee camp.

Gaza’s heath ministry, meanwhile, said a number of victims remained under the rubble and in the streets following Israeli airstrikes, saying ambulances and civil defense teams could not reach them due to the sheer extent of the destruction caused by the raids and obstruction caused by the regime.

Also on Saturday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, a United Nations-backed assessment, warned that famine was looming in northern Gaza amid escalated Israeli aggression and the regime’s near-total siege of the targeted areas.

The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip."

On October 17, the body projected that the number of people in Gaza facing "catastrophic" food insecurity between November and April 2025 would reach 345,000, or 16 percent of the population.

The IPC report classified that figure as Phase 5 -- a situation when "starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident."

The Israeli military, however, questioned the report's credibility.

"To date, all assessments by the IPC have proven incorrect and inconsistent with the situation on the ground," the army said in a statement, denouncing "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests."

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News Network
November 18,2024

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Mangaluru: The Ullal police have arrested Manohar, the owner of Vazco Beach Resort, and its manager Bharath in connection with the drowning of three college girls from Mysuru at the resort’s swimming pool on November 17.

City Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal confirmed the arrests, stating that a case has been registered under Section 106 of BNS. The bodies of the victims, all in their twenties, have been handed over to their parents. The women had arrived at the resort for a weekend getaway on November 16.

Following the tragic incident, the resort was sealed by officials led by Mangaluru Assistant Commissioner Harshavardhan. The trade license of the resort, issued on June 13, 2024, has been suspended, and the tourism department has temporarily revoked the resort's registration. These actions prohibit the resort from engaging in any tourism-related activities until further notice.

Someshwara TMC Chief Officer stated that the suspension was due to the resort's failure to implement adequate safety measures, which resulted in the loss of three lives. Further investigations are underway.

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