Ever since the time for elections come up, one can be sure that the Batla House encounter will come up. And you can be sure that Digvijay Singh will be somewhere in the frame, since he is apparently the appointed politician in the Congress who will raise the issues that are supposed to appeal to Muslims – not the issues that related to development and how to increase the economic condition of the community (since even when he was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, he was never accused of being good on the development angle front), but more about the emotional issues, about showcasing how other parties don’t care for the Muslims, and only the Congress can appeal to the Muslims. So when it comes to issues such as the apparent injustice to Osama Bin Ladenji (his statement) or the Batla House encounter, it is Digvijay Singh who is in the front.
Now, there is a genuine sense of hurt in the community. At the time that the Batla House encounter had taken place, there had been blasts which were created by a group named as Indian Mujahideen, and the Batla House encounter was treated as a breakthrough, which killed some of the members of the group, and also led to the death of a celebrated police official. During this time as well, the police took some short-cuts, arresting some members of the Muslim community (and the media started treating the Uttar Pradesh locality of Azamgarh as a terrorist creating place); both of these actions were not justified. Many of those arrested were not involved, and were released after the courts intervened and the police had no evidence to justify the continued arrest of these.
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Categories:
Accountable, Congress, Controversy, Court, Crime, Delhi, India, Investigation, Muslim, Police, Politics Tags:
Azamgarh, Batla House, Congress, Delhi, Digvijay Singh, Government, Police, Rahul Gandhi, Uttar Pradesh
Let me start with a quick point. I have not read the Satanic Verses, so I don’t know whether the book is as insulting to the feelings of Muslims as is made out to be. Let us assume that the book is incredibly insulting and hurts the feelings of Muslims p(with a slight Devil’s Advocate – I can bet most of the people who have been voicing their protest against the author and the book have not read the book, but have heard that the author denigrates the religion and the Prophet). So, ever since the emergence of the book, the author has been in hiding, with a death threat against him by the late Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, however, the administration of Khatami moderated this threat with the statement that the Iranian Government is not seriously expecting this fatwa to be carried out.
All this happened many years ago, so why is this issue coming up again ? Well, the author is of Indian origin, and having a PIO card, the author can come to India any time, without the need of applying for a visa. This made the promised attendance of the author in the Jaipur Literature Festival controversial. And what made it controversial ? This entire discussion is just like pulling a thread and seeing what emerges from the thread …
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Congress, Controversy, India, Law, Minority, Muslim, Politics, Protection, Rajasthan, Security Tags:
Congress, Controversial, Darul Uloom, Deoband, Government, India, Rajasthan, Responsibility, Salman Rushdie, Satanic Verses, Security, Uttar Pradesh Elections
One really does not know what is the truth behind the age of the Army Chief, whether the year of birth is 1950 or 1951. It is also important to see that the army chiefs in the 2 neighboring nations of India and Pakistan are having a skirmish with their civilian superior agencies. However, as of now, the comparison between the 2 countries is not much of a comparison, since in Pakistan, the army chief is having a skirmish with the civilian authorities over their attempt to challenge the hegemony of the army in Pakistani affairs; in India, the army is much more controlled, with no visible action by the army to resent the control of civilians as part of the defence establishment setup.
One is pretty sure that the relationship between the army (or the other defense services) and the Government will not change, with overall civilian control remaining high. The Indian Army continues to be a disciplined force, serving under the control of the Indian Government, and no one envisages a position like what happens in Pakistan. However, there is something seriously wrong here. It has been known for some time that there has been disagreement in terms of the age of the Army Chief, and that the Army Chief remains dissatisfied with the current state of affairs.
I am no legal expert, but that does not stop people in this country from airing their opinion on an issue, so here goes. In the absence of birth certificates in the year of birth, the standard proof of age of birth is the School certificate (typically the 10th standard one). That certificate mentions the year of birth as 1951, and then there is a lot of confusion about the year of birth marked in later records. Apparently, the Government has sought legal advice from the Attorney General of India, and the AG agrees that the year of birth can be treated as 1950.
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Categories:
Accountable, Army, Babudom, Congress, Controversy, India Tags:
Age of Army Chief, AK Antony, Army, Army Chief, Controversy, Court case, Defense, General VK Singh, Indian Amry, Supreme Court
