My Opinion

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday replied to all queries raised by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on the Rafale aircraft deal. Jaitley made it quite clear that details of defence deals are never made public due to security reasons, and this had been the convention over the years. When Pranab Mukherjee was Defence Minister, his party MP Janardhan Poojary had sought details on all defence deals during the preceding three years, but Mukherjee declined to reveal details citing reasons of national security.

In 2007-08 when A K Antony was Defence Minister in the UPA government, CPI-M MP Sitaram Yechury had sought details about the missile deal with Israel, but Antony declined to divulge details. There are nearly 15 instances during the Congress regime, when the Defence Ministers declined to share details on grounds of national security.

There could be two reasons behind this. One, if details of weapons are shared in the public domain, the enemies will have access to all details relating to the armaments. Two, in most of the defence details, there is a provision in the agreement which clearly stipulates that the details of the deal will not be made public. Rahul Gandhi will have to understand that declining to divulge details of defence deals does not mean there is corruption. If there are issues of corruption, then questions will also be raised about Pranab Mukherjee and Antony not sharing details of defence deals during their regime.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in his elements in both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, and his hard-hitting speeches against the Congress and Nehru-Gandhi dynasty rattled the opposition party. For the first time, the Prime Minister narrated on the floor of Lok Sabha how Congress party denied the prime minister post to Sardar Patel and gave it to Nehru disregarding the wishes of state party chiefs, how Rajiv Gandhi insulted his own party’s Dalit chief minister T. Anjaiah publicly in Andhra Pradesh hurting Telugu pride leading to the creation of NTR’s Telugu Desam party, how Rahul Gandhi publicly tore up the Cabinet resolution of the then PM Dr Manmohan Singh. He rubbed more salt into the wounds by saying that had Sardar Patel been the PM, the entire J&K would have been part of India. Modi said, the nation is paying the price for what he called the “sins” of Congress.

The Prime Minister replied to most of the queries raised by the Opposition, some old and some new, but the most important fact he disclosed related to the mounting non-performing assets of public sector banks during UPA rule. Modi cited figures to show that while in 2008, NPAs of public sector banks were Rs 18 lakh crore, it went up to a whopping Rs 52 lakh crore by 2014. And yet, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been alleging that the Modi government was favouring five or six top industrialists. This is a matter to ponder over.

Rahul Gandhi had been questioning why the details of the purchase of 36 Rafale aircrafts from France were being kept secret. The Defence Ministry, on Wednesday, disclosed some of the details, but declined to reveal details of hi-tech equipments and armaments to be fitted on these aircraft, saying it could harm national security. During the UPA government, the then Defence Minister A K Antony had refused to share details of missile deal with Israel citing security concerns.

Modi gave a hard-hitting speech on Wednesday because Rahul Gandhi had been making personal attacks against him of late. Political semantics apart, I would like to point out one thing: it is the time-honored convention of Parliament that whenever the Prime Minister speaks, he is never heckled, but on Wednesday, Congress MPs went on shouting during the entire length of PM’s speech, and Rahul Gandhi, who was present in the House, did not try to stop them. This is an insult to democracy and democratic conventions. It amounts to denigration of the Constitutional post of Prime Minister.

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The huge crowds that turned out at the funerals of two Kashmiri policemen, Babar Ahmad Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed on Tuesday evening after the terrorist attack on a Srinagar hospital highlights the common man’s anger against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. The two policemen alongwith their colleague were escorting six militants to SMHS Hospital for a medical checkup, when terrorists struck. One Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Naveed Jhatt alias Abu Hinzala, escaped with the attackers. Naveed was one of the commanders of Lashkar-e-Toiba in the valley. He had come from Pakistan to foment violence.

We should salute the courage of Jammu and Kashmir policemen who foiled the terrorists’ plan to carry out mayhem inside the hospital. The information about the terrorists being escorted for medical checkup was somewhat leaked, and the attackers were waiting for them to arrive at the hospital. Nobody had imagined that terrorists would target a hospital.

In my Aaj Ki Baat show on Tuesday night, I showed images of serving Pakistani armymen sneaking into the Valley in the guise of terrorists. Pakistan’s role in fomenting terrorism in Kashmir has now become brazen. Pakistan army openly trains terrorists, sets up launch pads, and then push them into India under cover of firing at the Line Of Control. Even US President Donald Trump has realized that the Pakistan army is openly backing terrorists both on its Afghan and Indian borders. He has consequently stopped payment of US funds to Pakistan because of its role in fomenting terrorism. Pakistan has openly set up ‘factories’ that are rolling out terrorists who are spreading violence and mayhem in both Afghanistan and India. It is now time that the world wakes up to this fact and take corrective measures against this failed state.

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Pakistani army continues to shell Indian positions on the Line Of Control, and in the latest incident in Rajouri sector, it has martyred an Indian captain and three jawans. Reports from army sources say, Pakistan may have used the Bakhtar Shiqan anti-tank guided missile to target Indian bunkers which caused these casualties. This Bakhtar Shiqan missile is the Pakistani variant of the Chinese HJ8 anti-tank missiles, which the latter had given to Pakistan and had shared its technology.

India has warned Pakistan many times about ceasefire violations, there had been talks between both sides, and a surgical strike was carried out to destroy terrorist launching pads. Our jawans are replying to Pakistani shelling with more vigour. And yet, Pakistan refuses to calm down. The people of India hope that the army will now give Pakistan a stinging reply.

There is growing demands from several quarters that India must carry out another big surgical strike on Pakistan at a time of its own choosing. Naturally, such an operation is always kept secret by those who wait for the right time and opportunity. The nation should exercise patience and let the armed forces do their job.

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In my journalistic career spanning 35 years, I have seen many Finance Ministers presenting the Union Budget and their Prime Ministers complimenting them. But, for the first time I watched a Prime Minister giving a 25-minute long speech in praise of his Finance Minister’s budget. Dr. Manmohan Singh was a great economist, but he never praised his Finance Minister’s budget so effusively. While praising the budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi detailed every scheme, mentioned fund allocations for every major sector and explained the logic behind them.

For the first time in my 35-year-long career, I watched the tallest leader of the Opposition walk away without saying a word, after the budget was presented. Congress President Rahul Gandhi may be knowing the reason behind his silence and it is for him to decide in which way he should react.

During all previous budgets, the general discussion used to centre around which goods and services have become cheaper or costlier. This time it was not. Only policies and projects were discussed after the presentation of budget. Finance Minister Jaitley outlined the government’s plans for agriculture, health, education, infrastructure and social welfare. The stamp of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas” was clearly discernible in this budget. That is why PM Modi said this budget has laid the foundation of a New India. Overall, the budget has passed the stringent test with flying colours.

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has questioned the manner in which the government proposes to fund the National Health Protection Scheme which will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families providing coverage upto Rs 5 lakhs per family per year. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has clearly mentioned that this will be the world’s largest government funded health care programme, and adequate funds will be provided for smooth implementation of the same. The scheme is big, the aim behind the scheme is truly big, but it will not be so easy to implement. I however do not agree with Chidambaram’s query as to from where government will provide funds. The Centre has adequate funds at its disposal. The problem may arise with the availability of doctors. The government has announced it will open 24 medical college hospitals, but it will require at least five years to be opened. Medical education will then start, and doctors will pass out after another five years. Till then, the government will have to manage with the available infrastructure, and this is not an easy task.

Particular attention has been paid to farmers in this budget. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had secured the votes of farmers, who had great expectations from Modi. But the overall conditions of farmers have not improved. Agrarian distress clearly expressed itself during the recent Gujarat assembly polls. The Congress made the prices of groundnuts and cotton an election issue. Farmers and fishermen in Banaskantha, Amreli, Junagarh, Gir Somnath and Morbi distanced themselves from the BJP, and supported Congress. This was a lesson for Modi, and that is why farmers, fishermen and livestock owners were paid special attention in the budget this time.

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This is surely a worrying phenomenon. Youths belonging to both communities in UP’s Kasganj town had challenged each other through social media to come out on the streets on Republic Day. These threats and counter-threats were made a week before the violence actually took place on Republic Day. The local police SP, the UP police chief, chief minister and even the Home Minister were informed about the impending violence through social media, but police did not take timely preventive action. The district SP replied to one of the youths on Facebook that he was “busy”.

After the communal violence on Jan 26, social media again became active. This time, fake pictures and fake audio were used to blame one another. The sentiments of both the communities were raised to a feverish pitch, but timely action both by the police and the national media prevented the situation from going out of hand. A youth, whose dead body was shown in a pic on social media, was brought before the media by police. He was not in Kasganj on the day of riots.

Normally social media, like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, etc. provide a platform for people to connect with one another, and raise issues. But if social media tools are misused, it can cause a raging fire. I would again appeal to all our viewers not to trust all videos that are posted on social media, because many of these could be fake, or morphed, or photoshopped. Please do not trust rumours peddled as news, because all these are unverified. At India TV, it is always our endeavor to ensure that all news are first verified and then disseminated, and this is not an easy task.

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The vice-chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Personal Law Board and the Deputy Grand Mufti of the state Nasirul Islam has asked Muslims in India to demand a separate country, alleging that the minorities are being harassed in the name of ‘love jihad’, cow vigilantism and triple talaq.

We should know some facts about Mufti Nasirul Islam. His father is the Grand Mufti Bashiruddin in Kashmir. Mufti Bashiruddin had opposed the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley. Mufti Nasirul Islam had earlier opposed the Supreme Court verdict which had declared Shariah courts in the valley as illegal. And now, Mufti Nasirul Islam is speaking about a second Partition.

It should be clear to everybody that Muslims in India will never support Mufti Nasirul Islam’s venomous remarks. Muslims are equal citizens like others in this great country. Had the Mufti made the same statement in Pakistan, he would have been whisked away by the Pakistan army. By making such intemperate remarks, Mufti Nasirul Islam has only exposed himself. His remark should be treated with the contempt it deserves.

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On January 26 afternoon, a group of Muslims in Kasganj town of Uttar Pradesh were about to hoist the national tricolour in a small locality. At the same time, a Tiranga rally led by bike-borne young men wanted to pass through the area. After some verbal duels, somebody from the crowd shot Chandan Gupta, who succumbed to injuries. Soon mayhem spread, and shops and vehicles were set ablaze. The local police was late in reacting to the situation as it unfolded. The next day, a local leader came to the area, and soon after Chandan’s funeral, there were more instances of arson. The situation was later brought under control.

In the meanwhile, social media went on overdrive. I want to point out how morphed pictures and fake audio created the multiplier effect as rumours began to spread across western UP. A rumour was spread that some people shouted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. Later it was found that the audio was superimposed on a video. Similarly, a picture of one Rahul Upadhyay went viral showing him lying dead. This picture was widely circulated on social media.

On Monday, the local police produced Rahul before the media. Rahul said he was in his village, and had not visited Kasganj on Republic Day. That nailed another lie. But think about the losses that common men had to suffer because of violence and arson.

This is not the first time that lies were spread through social media. I remember how several years ago, people from North-east left Bengaluru in panic, by trains, planes and buses, after a message was spread through social media that they would not be spared. People who want to divide our society are using social media to sow seeds of confusion and hatred. We should be collectively on our guard. The Kasganj police has promised to arrest those who spread such false videos on social media. My appeal to all of you: Please be alert. Do not trust every video that is spread on social media. Nobody knows how much of it is true or false.

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I did not like that  the national president of India’s oldest political party  was made to sit in the sixth row at the 69th Republic Day parade at Rajpath. Three times that visual appearedon TV and it didn’t leave a good taste. Why should national president of India’s oldest party not be given place in the front row? One argument forwarded was  that its nothing new. In the past BJP presidents Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari were offered seats in the 11th row with the bureaucrats.  And the government was carrying on the same tradition. But if that is true why was Sonia Gandhi offered place in the front row during last three years of BJP government. Why did this change for Rahul Gandhi ? The second reason that was given was that Rahul was never a minister at the Centre, and that’s why he was given a seat at the back. Then the question arises: Sonia Gandhi, too, was never a minister, and yet she sat on the front row at the parade for the last three years. All these reasons that are now being given are meaningless. We should understand that Rahul is now the national president of India’s oldest political party and he is the head of the main opposition party. The role of opposition in a democracy is vital. The opposition should get its due respect. Those in the government, at whatever level they be in, should keep this in mind while deciding about seating arrangement. The common man, who watched the parade live on television, may not have liked seeing Rahul sitting in the back row. One should however praise Rahul for opting to sit at the back row, despite knowing a day before that he had been allotted the fourth row. He attended the parade, and he did not look annoyed. He did not make an issue out of it, when he was asked to sit in the sixth row instead of the fourth. One should appreciate Ghulam Nabi Azad, the leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, also for sitting with Rahul at the back and not making any fuss about it. I think that it would have been appreciated by public if Rahul was given due respect irrespective of how Congress government treated past BJP Presidents.

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It was heartening to note that more than a million cinegoers across the country bought tickets and watched the movie Padmaavat peacefully and came out in praise of the actors and the director. On the other hand, the Shree Rajput Karni Sena leaders looked crestfallen at the end of the day and they admitted that they failed to gauge the response of the general public.

One thing is clear from the first day of screening: wherever the state government and police remained extra alert, vandals and hooligans failed to indulge in unruly acts. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanaath made it clear from Day One that he would keep the sentiments of Rajput community in mind, and if required, would stay the screening of the movie. But once the Supreme Court gave the green signal, the chief minister made it clear that violence would not be tolerated at any cost.

It goes to the credit of Yogi that he sensed the mood of the general public, but the same cannot be said about the governments of Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. It is because of their pusillanimity that vandals indulged in arson and stoning. Haryana government, in particular, took a long time in waking up. It was only after there was nationwide outrage over the stoning of a school bus that the state police took a tough stance against miscreants and arrested some of their leaders.

The ultimate winner in the entire sordid episode was the common cinegoer. He or she paid money to buy tickets, watched the movie and came out to give a thumbsup to the movie makers. The common cinegoer had nothing to do with any political party nor any caste combination. He or she came out of the theatre to certify that there was not a single scene or dialogue that hurt Rajput pride and valour.

It is now upto the Karni Sena leaders to stop vacillating, watch the movie themselves and call off their agitation which they had launched on a non-issue.

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Exactly a day before the movie Padmaavat was set to be screened in cinema theatres across India, multiplex theatre owners came out with their decision not to screen the movie in four states: Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. The cinema hall owners have been watching the situation as it unfolded and have found to their dismay that the state governments and their police were not acting tough against the protesters, who have been indulging in vandalism, stoning of buses and arson.

The most despicable incident took place in Gurugram, where vandals stoned a school bus and children had to hide behind the seats to save their lives. In Gujarat, an ambulance was attacked by protesters. No true Rajput will indulge in such condemnable acts. Descendants of Rana Pratap will never attack school children or an ambulance. Those who did this must be brought to book. Such vandals bring a bad name to the Rajput community, and not Padmaavat.

The movie Padmaavat has been cleared both by the Censor Board and the Supreme Court, and the cinema going public, by and large, is in favour of allowing it to be screened, but a handful of protesters are still indulging in vandalism, without any fear of being arrested. These vandals are tarnishing India’s image across the world, and there is nobody to stop them.

I think votebank politics has a major role to play behind the stance of state governments. Political parties in these states are worried about their Rajput vote banks. It was because of this that the governments of four states had declared, much before the SC order, that they would not allow screening of Padmaavat, in UP, Haryana, MP and Rajasthan. The Supreme Court specifically asked these state governments to remove the ban. The state governments filed their review petitions and these too were set aside. By doing this, the state governments are trying to convey to their vote banks that they tried to their best to prevent the screening of the movie. The state governments provided security at multiplexes, but police was told to be soft while dealing with the protesters.

There could be two reasons behind this. One, the message would go to the Rajput community that the government strongly sympathises with them, and, two, if the police acted tough, the outfit called Karni Sena would gain an upper hand by making a big issue out of it. The Gujarat government has already seen the consequence of police using its power against Dalits. In Haryana, during the Jat reservation agitation, police resorted to lathicharge and firing, and yet the agitation intensified. The state governments are therefore wary of taking tough measures, and Karni Sena is taking full advantage of this. I still believe the protests will die down, once the protesters watch the movie themselves.

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Handful of protesters ransacking cinema theatres in different cities to stop the screening of the movie ‘Padmaavat’ are posing a challenge to the authority of the state, and trying to create an atmosphere of fear, which is unacceptable. These protesters are trying to intimidate both cinema theatre owners and filmgoers.

It is the duty of each state government, to abide by the Supreme Court order, and provide full security to such cinema halls. The visuals that we have been seeing for the last two days clearly show that the security arrangements are inadequate. People trying to create disturbance must be arrested.

If people refuse to accept the Censor Board’s decision, and if every person tries to become a censor himself, no film can be released. If people do not follow the country’s apex court order, how can there be rule of law? And what is the controversy? A film should not be screened. And who are those people making this demand? Those who have not seen the film themselves.

There are crores of filmgoers who deserve the freedom to watch the movie. This is a question of freedom for all citizens, and that freedom must be respected. The institutions of the state and the law must be obeyed. I will again appeal to people who are setting fire to tyres on road and are damaging public property, to watch the movie first, so that their doubts are cleared.

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