Covid-19 lockdown in Karnataka extended till June 7

In a no-holds-barred attack on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his remark that India got "true independence" after the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was consecrated, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said the comment amounted to "treason" and that Mr Bhagwat would be arrested and tried if he was in any other country.

Mr Gandhi was addressing an event to mark the inauguration of the new Congress headquarters in Delhi. "We are getting a new headquarters at a very particular time. I think it's quite symbolic that yesterday, the chief of the RSS said that India never achieved Independence in 1947. He said true Independence in India was achieved when the Ram Mandir was built. He says that the Constitution was not the symbol of our freedom."

"Mohan Bhagwat has the audacity to inform the nation every two or three days what he thinks about the Independence movement, what he thinks about the Constitution. What he has said yesterday is treason because it is stating that the Constitution is invalid, it is stating that everything (done) to fight against the British was invalid and he has the audacity to say this publicly," Mr Gandhi said, adding, "in any other country, he would be arrested and tried".

"To say that India did not get Independence in 1947 is an insult to every single Indian and it's about time we stop listening to this nonsense that these people think they can just keep parroting out and shouting and screaming," the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

Mr Bhagwat was in Indore on Monday to present the National Devi Ahilya award to Champat Rai, general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Addressing a gathering there, he said the day of the consecration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya should be celebrated as "Pratishtha Dwadashi" as it marks the "true independence" of Bharat. 

"India, which faced enemy attacks for centuries, witnessed its true independence that day. We had independence, but it had not been established. India got political independence on August 15, 1947, we also brought a Constitution but the country did not run in its spirit. How can we accept that dreams have been fulfilled and pain alleviated? Our swa (self) is Ram, Krishna and Shiva. Do they belong only to those who worship them? No. Ram connects people from north to south, Krishna from east to west and Shiva is in every particle of Bharat," he said.

The US consulate in Bengaluru will hold its ‘site-dedication ceremony’ on January 17, with officials confirming that the location of the upcoming consulate will be disclosed during the event. Sources indicate that the site could be in either the Central Business District or Whitefield.

While the consulate building is under development, visa services may temporarily begin at the JW Marriott hotel, which currently houses the United States Commercial Service (USCS) office.

Bengaluru has long advocated for the establishment of a US consulate, and with its opening, residents of the city and Karnataka will no longer need to travel to other states for their US visa applications.

It was in January of the previous year that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, during his visit to Bengaluru, expressed his intention to urge the US Ambassador to India to establish a consulate in the city. This move follows the announcement during Prime Minister Modi’s June 2023 visit to the US, where it was revealed that two new US consulates would open in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, and India would set up a mission in Seattle.

Journalist Mohammad Hijazi has been killed in an Israeli attack, raising the number of media workers killed by Zionist forces since the start of the war on Gaza to 220.

The Israeli regime forces killed the Palestinian writer, poet and journalist in an airstrike on northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, according to his family.

He was among nearly 90 other Palestinians killed in Israeli bombardment across the besieged territory in the last 24 hours, according to a Gaza Health Ministry statement on Sunday.

“I don’t know if I will write to you again. I keep what I have written and am writing. Maybe it will come to light one day. I refuse a cheap death. I curse the murderer,” Hijazi wrote in a post on social media in August 2023.

“Let us in this bottom that we have finally reached, arm ourselves with patience and prayer, and count the days we have lived as a historic achievement while awaiting what is coming with a broken heart, an extinguished eye, a head held high, and a spirit that fights until the end of the road.”

Since the Israeli killing machine imposed a military siege of northern Gaza in early October intensifying its bombing attacks on the the Jabalia camp, hundreds of people have been killed.

Gaza’s Health Ministry reported on Sunday that at least 88 Palestinians had been killed and 208 others injured in the past 24 hours alone.

According to media reports from central Gaza, among those killed in the latest Israeli strikes across Gaza on Sunday were three Palestinians who were living in a tent in Deir el-Balah.

A family of 15 people was also buried under the rubble in Gaza City, following a separate strike, media reported.

The Israeli regime launched its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a surprise operation by the Palestinian  Hamas resistance movement in October last year, killing more than 45,805 Palestinians and wounding 109,064 others.