PM should have spoken truth in last I-DAY address: Cong

Agencies
August 15, 2018

New Delhi, Aug 15: The Congress on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have spoken "the truth" in the last Independence Day address of his term instead of making a "hollow" speech and urged him to accept party chief Rahul Gandhi's challenge of a debate on issues such as corruption, mob lynching and Chinese incursions.

In his last Independence Day speech before Lok Sabha elections, Modi presented a picture of rising India under his government, contrasting it with what he termed was "policy paralysis" under the UPA.

Congress's communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala alleged that the prime minister in his address did not utter a single word that was "meaningful" to the common person.

Surjewala claimed that people were now tired of the "fake achche din" promised by the BJP and were waiting for "sachche din (days of truth) when he departs as the prime minister of the country.

In 2013, Modi had created a Red Fort-like replica in Chhattisgarh and from there he had challenged then prime minister Manmohan Singh to an open debate on the issues of corruption, China and Pakistan threatening the territorial integrity of India, falling rupee and failing economy, rampant unemployment as also discrimination vis-a-vis farmers and India's women, Surjewala said.

"We ask you Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, five years after you have taken over as prime minister, are you ready for a debate on these very issues with Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

"Will you debate on the issue of corruption and Rafale and Vyapam and other corruption scams of your government for you did not utter a single word from the precincts of the Red Fort on corruption," he told reporters at the AICC headquarters here.

Gandhi had dared the prime minister to a debate on the Rafale deal and claimed that he will not be able to answer his questions on the issue "even for a second".

Surjewala also asked if Modi was ready to have a debate with the Congress president on issues such as the state of India's farmers, "mob lynching that is happening under the instigation and protection of BJP leaders" and "insecurity" of women.

"You (prime minister) did not utter a word, whether on Bihar or Unnao or any other rape incident that happened in the country," Surjewal claimed, referring to the shelter home case of Bihar's Muzaffarpur district and the rape case in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao involving a BJP MLA.

"Will you today debate on the failing economy and falling rupee, for the rupee has hit a new low that is 70 and the trade deficit has gone over USD 18 billion. Will you today debate as to the manner in which China has occupied Doklam, they are intruding into Ladakh and has been engulfing India from all sides," the Congress spokesperson alleged.

He also urged the prime minister to debate on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and "rampant unemployment" in the country.

The last speech of Modi's tenure as prime minister has proved to be "hollow" because neither he made a mention of corruption in the Rafale deal nor did he say a word about the Vyapam or the PDS scams.

"He also did not talk about incursions by China in Doklam and other places. He also did not speak about the environment of hate in the country, on the conspiracy of making brothers fight and how people are killing each other, on how hate is being propagated on the basis of religion, caste, regionalism, colour, dress and food," he said.

"We wish that at least in his last speech, he would have spoken the truth, and if not 'mann ki baat', he could have at least done 'kaam ki baat'," Surjewala said, taking a swipe at Prime Minister's 'Mann ki Baat' Radio programme.

The Congress leader also said there was a need to fight a second struggle for independence -- independence from discrimination, independence from unemployment, independence from poverty, independence from lack of opportunities and from empty rhetoric and promises.

Asked about the remarks of Modi that India's stature rose on the world stage in the last four years, he said the prime minister should not undermine India's contribution in the last 70 years.

India was always a power and it did not happen in the last four years, he said, adding that the prime minister's statement of this nature was "myopic, parochial and uncalled for" on a day like the Independence Day.

"He (Modi) makes promises to break them. His and his party's path has been one of spreading hate and divisiveness," Surjewala said.

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News Network
November 17,2024

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An Israeli airstrike on the office of Syria’s Baath party in Lebanon’s capital Beirut has killed the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah's Media Relations Officer, Mohammad Afif, reports say.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli raid struck the Ba'ath party’s building in central Beirut district of Ras Al-Naba'a on Sunday, adding that the strike was an attempt to assassinate the leader of the resistance media front.

According to Baath Secretary-General Ali Hijazi, Afif was having a meeting in the Baath Party headquarters when Israel carried out the attack.

"Afif did not fight with weapons and did not lead a military unit in Hezbollah. Rather, he led a media unit," he said.

Reuters, Sky News, Al Jazeera and a number of Henrew-language media reported that Afif was killed in the Israeli strike.

However, Hezbollah has not yet confirmed Afif’s death or whether he was present at the site or not.

Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said at least one person was killed and three others injured after an Israeli strike targeted a central district in Beirut.

Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network reported that five people were killed in the attack.

The latest development came after Afif said Hezbollah was behind the Caesarea operation and targeting Netanyahu’s home during a speech at the Ghobeiry area in the southern suburbs of Beirut on October 22.

This was the second assassination attempt on Afif in the last two months, after he survived an attack on the Hezbollah media relations office several weeks ago.

Israel launched a ground assault and massive air campaign against Lebanon in late September after a year of exchanging fire across the Lebanese border in parallel with the Gaza war.

At least 3,287 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past year, with the vast majority in the past seven weeks. Another 14,222 have been wounded, mostly women and children.

In response to the ongoing aggression, the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli forces trying to advance on southern Lebanese areas.

The movement has vowed to sustain its strikes until the regime ends the escalation.

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News Network
November 27,2024

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Gaza health authorities say Israel’s military has "erased” over 1,400 Palestinian families in the besieged territory over the past year.

The Health Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the Israeli regime "completely erased about 1,410 families, numbering 5,444 people, from the civil registry during the same period.”

It said that there were 3,463 families with only one survivor, while 2,287 families had more than one survivor.

In northern Gaza, Israel’s warplanes have continued dropping bombs over Palestinian families, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

It said one airstrike hit a family home in Jabalia, causing numerous casualties on Tuesday.

According to Gaza's civil defense agency, at least seven people were killed and several others wounded in the attack.

Another person was killed in a strike on a house in nearby Beit Lahia, a town in northern Gaza, which has been declared “a disaster area" by the municipality due to "the Israeli war of extermination and siege, and it has no food, water, hospitals, doctors, services, or communications."

The health ministry said, “Israeli forces killed 14 people and injured 108 others in three massacres of families in the last 24 hours.”

“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them.”

International organizations and leaders believe that Israel’s genocidal war, now in its second year, is a deliberate attempt to destroy the population of Gaza.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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