Indian security agencies have flagged that Pakistan-based social media accounts are inciting violence in Mewat. These are suspected to be a cover for Pakistan agencies.
One such YouTube channel belongs to a user named “Ahsan Mewati Pakistani”. His videos were specifically crafted – using social media feeds from multiple sources — to incite violence and were making rounds on social media on July 31 when riots started in Nuh.
It is, however, yet to be established if the Pakistani national was getting videos directly from a person from Nuh. Most of the videos are of period before the government clamped down on Internet services in the area.
“His account was not only uploading videos with hateful narrative, but also posting live accurate ground information from Haryana,” sources said. The videos mocked the police and the administration and incited the public of either side of the communal divide.
One of his videos has 1.45 lakh reactions in 48 hours. “Ahsan Mewati Pakistani” has 273 videos uploaded on its YouTube channel, registered in the name of Zeeshan Mushtaq. He has some 80,000 followers. He has been located at Islamabad, Sargodha and Lahore in the past few days. His internet protocol addresses have been located to Pakistan Education & Research Network, Islamabad. One of his locations was just a kilometre from the Chief Minister Secretariat of Pakistan’s Punjab. — TNS
In a fresh incident of arms looting in Manipur, a mob comprising mostly of the majority community stormed a police armoury and took away weapons, including assault rifles, and over 19,000 bullets of various calibres, officials said today.
The officials said the mob attacked the battalion headquarters of the 2nd India Reserve Battalion located at Naranseina in Bishnupur district. “A crowd had gathered there to march towards Churachandpur where tribals were planning to carry out a mass burial of their people killed in ethnic clashes that broke out in the state on May 3,” a senior police official said. “More than 19,000 rounds of bullets of different calibres, an AK-series assault rifle, three ‘Ghaatak’ rifles, 195 self-loading rifles, five MP-5 guns, 16 9-mm pistols, 25 bulletproof jackets, 21 carbines and 124 hand grenades among others were looted by the mob,” he said.
The majority community also attempted to loot two other armouries located in the state capital, but the attempts were foiled by the security forces, officials said.
The police also claimed that joint forces conducted search operations in Koutruk hill range and fringe areas of the violence-hit state and destroyed seven illegal bunkers after fresh violence broke out across various districts.
The state government, however, relaxed the curfew in Imphal East and West districts for seven hours.
SAD senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia today demanded a criminal case against former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi for duping four ex-servicemen from the Scheduled Caste community and two others of Rs 45 lakh on the pretext of inducting them into the Punjab Police.He said four ex-servicemen had been approached by a Channi confidant Daljit Singh and promised that they would be appointed as SIs. He said two others, who had also given money to Daljit, had been promised jobs in the police.
Australian court overturns law banning Sikhs from carrying kirpans in schools
The Supreme Court in Australia’s Queensland state has overturned a law banning Sikh religious dagger (Kirpan) on school grounds calling it “unconstitutional”.
The ruling by the state’s highest court came after Kamaljit Kaur Athwal took the state government to court last year, claiming that the ban discriminated against the kirpan — one of five religious symbols that Sikhs are supposed to carry at all times as part of their faith.
Ruling in Athwal’s favour, the state’s highest court found the legislation to be unconstitutional under the Racial Discrimination Act, ABC News reported on Thursday.
An initial court ruling last year had dismissed the suggestion that the ban on carrying knives was discriminatory. But this week, three judges in the Court of Appeal found that a section of the Queensland Weapons Act of 1990 — which bans carrying knives in public places and schools — is inconsistent with Section 10 of the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act of 1975.
In response, the Queensland Education Department said it is considering the implications of the court decision. “As this legal decision has just been handed down, the department will now consider any implications.”
Athwal’s lawyer was cited as saying by the ABC News that the court had a difficult task “to balance the human rights of individuals to practice their religion and express their faith with the human rights of student and teacher safety”.
“Today marks the day that members of the Sikh faith can practice their faith and positively participate without discrimination as proud members of their local school communities,” the lawyer said, adding that her client is pleased with the court’s decision.
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the “Modi surname defamation case”, saying no reasons had been given by the trial judge for imposing the maximum sentence of two-year imprisonment that led to his disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP.
Truth always triumphs
Truth always triumphs, if not today then tomorrow or the day after. I thank people for their support.
Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader
The top court, however, said, “No doubt that the alleged utterances by the appellant are not in good taste. A person in public life is expected to exercise a degree of restraint while making public speeches.”
Sentencing led to disqualification of MP
Only on account of max sentence of 2 years by trial judge, Section 8 (3) of Representation of People Act came into play (inviting disqualification of MP)
The order – which came from a three-judge Bench led by Justice BR Gavai – paved the way for his reinstatement as a Lok Sabha member representing the Wayanad constituency in Kerala. “Particularly, when an offence is non-cognisable, bailable and compoundable, the least that the trial judge was expected to do was to give some reasons as to why, in the facts and circumstances, he found it necessary to impose the maximum sentence of two years,” the top court said.
Remarks weren’t in good taste
No doubt the alleged utterances by the appellant are not in good taste. A person in public life is expected to exercise a degree of restrain
— SC Bench
The Bench – which had on July 21 issued notices to Gujarat BJP MLA Purnesh Modi and the state government on Gandhi’s petition against the High Court’s July 7 order refusing to stay his conviction – passed the order after hearing senior counsel AM Singhvi and Mahesh Jethmalani for Rahul and the complainant, respectively.
Not a clean chit
A BJP spokesperson said the SC had only stayed the conviction, not given a clean chit.
Noting that Rahul was already facing 10 criminal cases across India, Justice Hemant Prachchhak of the Gujarat High Court had said there was no reasonable ground to stay the conviction and the magisterial court’s order was “just, proper and legal”.
“Except the admonition given to the appellant (Rahul) by this court in contempt proceedings in Yashwant Sinha and Others v. CBI through its Director and another (for the “chowkidar chor hai” remark against PM Narendra Modi in connection with the Rafale deal), no other reason has been assigned by the learned trial judge while imposing the maximum sentence of two years,” the SC stated.
The Bench noted that “it is only on account of the maximum sentence of two years imposed by the learned trial judge, the provisions of sub-section (3) of Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, have come into play. Had the sentence been even a day lesser, the provisions of sub-section (3) of Section 8 of the Act would not have been attracted.”
The top court said, “We are of the considered view that the ramifications of sub-section (3) of Section 8 of the Act are wide-ranging. They not only affect the right of the appellant to continue in public life but also affect the right of the electorate, who have elected him, to represent their constituency.” It lamented that though the Surat Sessions Court and the Gujarat High Court spent voluminous pages while rejecting the application for stay of conviction, all these aspects were not even touched in their orders.
BJP MLA and former minister in Gujarat government Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case against Rahul over his “How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?” remark in 2019.
Case over Modi surname remark at Karnataka poll rally in 2019
THE Supreme Court’s order staying the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Modi surname’ defamation case must be welcomed, for it reaffirms public faith in an institution considered to be the custodian of democracy in India. The order shows that the apex court is not oblivious to politicians using the defamation law as a tool to settle scores with their rivals. Such cases have a ‘chilling effect’ on free speech, which is a sine qua non of democracy. To start with, the Surat court’s March 23 verdict was wrong inasmuch as it convicted Rahul for a political statement against an ‘unidentifiable’ group. But even if the conviction order were taken to be correct, awarding the maximum sentence of two-year imprisonment in a criminal defamation case to a person having no criminal antecedents was unjustified.
The top court rightly pointed out that no specific reason was given by the trial judge to impose the maximum sentence. Had the quantum of sentence been even a day less, it would not have attracted provisions of the Representation of the People Act necessitating his immediate disqualification. Imposing the maximum sentence for defamation — a bailable, non-cognisable and compoundable offence — was unwarranted. The failure of the Surat Sessions Court and the Gujarat High Court to correct the trial court’s order to award the maximum sentence was glaring.
The Supreme Court has undone the damage, though it did observe that Rahul’s utterances were not in ‘good taste’ and a person in public life ought to be more careful while making speeches. Even as Rahul is set to get back his Lok Sabha membership, there is a cautionary lesson here for politicians to not go overboard while criticising their rivals.
Rahul gains heft, to reclaim LS seat & contest elections
Congress workers on Friday burst into joy and jubilation as the Supreme Court suspended the conviction of Rahul Gandhi, paving the way for his return to the Lok Sabha and in the 2024 General Election fray.
Congress: Reinstate him immediately
Congress has sought immediate reinstatement of Rahul in the LS so that he can take part in the no-confidence motion debate starting August 8
LS leader Adhir Chowdhury said Speaker Om Birla had sought a copy of the SC judgment to initiate the process
Even as top Congress brass led by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called upon Speaker Om Birla to reinstate Rahul at the same “breakneck speed at which he was disqualified within 24 hours after the conviction by a Surat court”, Rahul himself appeared calm and composed.
He joined sister Priyanka Vadra and party workers in celebrations at the AICC headquarters here with top leaders hailing what they described as a “rise in Rahul’s political prominence, thanks to his disqualification from the Lok Sabha on March 24 followed by eviction from the official residence, 12 Tughlaq Lane, within a month of the notice post disqualification”.
Now Rahul is set to regain his LS berth, official bungalow and also a ticket to contest the next year’s Lok Sabha election, with the Congress today saying that the former party president had ended up gaining “tremendous political heft having been through all this”.
“In an election year, perceptions matter,” a senior Congress leader said, adding that PM Narendra Modi had repeatedly attacked Rahul over the “Modi surname” remarks in the Karnataka election campaign which the BJP lost badly. The Congress also feels Rahul’s insistence to not apologise in the matter set him apart from the rest of the opposition camp, where “examples of leaders buckling under varied pressures abound”.
“This is the victory of the people,” AICC general secretary organization KC Venugopal said, as the Congress sought to equate Rahul’s vindication in the SC with his exoneration in the people’s court too, after the BJP had painted him as anti-OBC for calling OBCs names.
The Congress is now counting days to Rahul’s reinstatement in the Lok Sabha. Adhir urged Speaker Birla to restore Rahul’s membership before Tuesday so that he could participate in the no-confidence motion debate starting August 8.
The Speaker has sought a copy of the SC judgment to initiate the process, Adhir added. Importantly, NCP’s Lakshadweep MP PP Mohammad Faizal’s LS membership was restored two months after the Kerala High Court stayed his conviction in an attempt to murder case. His stay order came on January 25 this year and LS membership was restored on March 29.
We hope the Faizal’s episode is fresh in the BJP’s mind and they don’t adopt any delaying tactics in case of Rahul Gandhi, said Abhishek Singhvi, his lawyer in the matter.
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