My Opinion

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bold decision of taking Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes out of circulation will surely break the spine of hawala traders, drugs and terror networks that are operating on a big scale across the country.

These old currency notes will now be merely pieces of paper. The bold decision will also effectively put out of circulation several lakh crores worth fake Indian currency notes, thus giving a boost to the Indian economy.

Those citizens who have huge amounts of black and unaccounted money in Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations, will have to face the flak.

One should help that the system will operate smoothly after banks and ATMs reopen. My appeal to all people is: those who have legal money with them, DO NOT PANIC.

Your currency notes will be exchanged at all banks and post offices, if you provide your residence proof. Beware of unscrupulous people who may try to fool ordinary people by promising them quick exchange of currency notes at a discount. There is no need to panic.

It was the unanimous view of members of the Congress Working Committee on Monday that the party should immediately declare Rahul Gandhi as the party president, but there was a minor technical hitch.

The current incumbent, Sonia Gandhi was not present at the meeting of the CWC, as doctors had advised her to stay at home and avoid travelling through the smog outside.

Had the announcement of Rahul as party chief been made in the absence of Sonia Gandhi, it could have sent wrong signals to the world outside.

Hence, it was decided that senior members of CWC would now meet party chief Sonia Gandhi and communicate the unanimous view of the working committee.

Only after this, party chief Sonia Gandhi will make the formal announcement anointing her son as party president.

It is now clear that the reins of party will now be in the hands of Rahul Gandhi, with assembly polls in UP, Punjab and Uttarakhand looming on the horizon.

Our security forces, whether on the border or fighting insurgency or terrorism, work under tremendous stress. When terrorists are killed in encounters, the knee-jerk reaction always has been to allege that the encounters were fake.

The audio of police wireless conversations during the encounter with 8 SIMI terrorists in Bhopal makes one thing clear: how the encounter took place, how police officers were giving directions to their juniors, etc.

There seems to be no scope for manipulation. The audio makes it clear that the SIMI terrorists, who had escaped from jail, were armed and they were firing at the police.

Now since questions are being raised about the encounter, a judicial probe has been ordered and it will conclude whether the encounter was genuine or not. My view is that, if we have to fight terrorism, we should come out of this mentality of blaming our security forces.

Ex-serviceman retired Subedar Ramkishen Grewal came to Delhi with three of his colleagues, consumed poison, then rang up his son to tell him that he was committing suicide, even as his colleagues watched…raise several questions.

The audio of the telephonic conversation raises more questions than answers.

Since this was an ex-serviceman’s suicide over an emotive issue like One Rank One Pension, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal immediately tried to take political advantage because of mistakes on part of Delhi Police.

Had Delhi Police allowed Rahul and Kejriwal to meet Grewal’s relatives, the matter would have ended there itself. Moreover, what Retd Gen V K Singh has said is vital.

He has said that Grewal’s suicide had less to do with OROP and more to do with the local bank branch which was paying him less amount.

However, in the present scenario, political leaders do not seem to be speaking on facts, they are creating an emotional issue, which, for them, is essential for politics.

Heavens would not have fallen had the Delhi police allowed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to meet ex-serviceman Ramkishen Grewal’s relatives in hospital.

The first mistake on the part of Delhi Police was to stop Rahul Gandhi.

The second error by police was to detain the father, son and son-in-law of the deceased ex-serviceman.

The third mistake was improper handling of political protests over the suicide.

All these mistakes compounded and complicated the issue and gave Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders a handle to criticize the government.

By evening, competition broke out between the Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s party as to who can launch more vicious attacks on the government over One Rank One Pension issue.

As far as Grewal’s suicide is concerned, this matter needs a thorough investigation. It should be probed why Ramkishen Grewal had to commit suicide and what was the actual cause.

Why Ramkishen spoke to his son over phone soon after consuming poison, who were the persons who were with him at the time of suicide, why didn’t they rush him to hospital, why was Ramkishen’s last telephonic conversation recorded.

All these questions need logical answers so that his family can get justice.

As UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav prepares to begin his solo rathyatra, with his ‘rath’ (chariot) showcasing his government’s achievements, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav is toying with the idea of a grand alliance, like the Mahagathbandhan that won the assembly polls in Bihar.

It was in this context that the Congress party strategist Prashant Kishore met Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh in Delhi on Tuesday.

However, Akhilesh wants his party to go alone in the UP assembly elections and he is ready to defy his father and uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav.

On the other hand, the party supremo is working on a proposed grand alliance which may include Congress, Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal, Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United.

If such a grand alliance is forged, it will effectively reduce Akhilesh’s stature and may project Mulayam Singh as a leader of the alliance.

All these efforts towards a grand alliance are meant to stem the flow of Muslim voters from SP to BSP.

Terrorists have no religion, and leaders should refrain from indulging in political mudslinging on such sensitive issues, whether from the ruling party or from the opposition.

Let the National Investigation Agency conduct its probe into the Bhopal jailbreak encounter and come to conclusions.

Premature remarks on the encounter can only demoralize our forces, who take risks to kill terrorists, and yet doubts are being cast over their role.

If one goes through all the four videos that have emerged about the Bhopal encounter, the entire sequence can be established.

Actually, the confusion arose when a brief video emerged of a policeman shooting at a terrorist who had fallen, and allegations from political leaders flew thick and fast.

This is unacceptable. Let all of us wait for the conclusions from NIA probe.

Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has rightly said that only dialogue is the way out from the current impasse, but the initiative will have to come from Pakistan. One has to understand why Pakistan is shying away from dialogue and resorting to heaving shelling on the border. There are three main reasons: one, everybody knows cross-border infiltration will come to a trickle once it starts snowing in the Valley, and that’s the reason why Pakistan is resorting to cover firing to push as many infiltrators as possible, two, Pakistan wants Kashmir issue to be internationalized, and three, domestic political compulsions for Nawaz Sharif. The Pakistani PM’s family is facing corruption charges after Panama Papers leak, he is confronting challenges from the army, and Imran Khan has planned a lockdown in Islamabad. The only way out for Nawaz Sharif is to create tension on the Indian border, to divert people’s attention from domestic issues.
Compare this with the role of Mehbooba Mufti, who has been saying that if children in the Valley resort to stoning and stop studying, what will happen to their future. Mehbooba is also raising question as to why poor kids die in clashes with security forces, and rich kids from families of Hurriyat leaders live a safe and sheltered life. For 111 consecutive days, life in the Valley has come to a standstill. While Hurriyat leaders sit safely inside their homes, the common man has lost all avenues of earnings and they are living a hand-to-mouth existence. Children of Hurriyat leaders study outside Kashmir, while the poor kids are being deprived of education, with separatists now setting fire to school buildings. Ultimately, the people will turn their wrath on Hurriyat Conference.

On Wednesday, UP Samajwadi Party chief Ramgopal Yadav expelled a minister from the party for six years, and asked Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to follow suit and remove him from his cabinet, but a defiant CM has refused to comply.

It appears the two are now fighting a proxy war, using party workers to take potshots at the other. Those close to Akhilesh are out of the party, while those close to Shivpal are out of the government. It’s now clear Ramgopal controls the party, while Akhilesh controls the government.

This is a dangerous trend and it is bound to harm the party in the long run. While both Akhilesh and Ramgopal constantly say in public that they will obey Mulayam Singh Yadav, the ground reality is that neither camp is ready to listen to the party supremo.

From day one, Mulayam has been trying to solve the rift within his family and prevent the feud from spilling on to the party ranks, but he appears to have failed. The Samajwadi Party will complete 25 years of its existence after ten days, and by then it will be clear whether the party will split or remain united.

For any keen observer of Indian politics, it is very difficult to understand the full picture that emerges from the internecine squabbles that are taking place in Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family and his Samajwadi party. There are too many characters, too many issues, too many past records, and an uncertain future. However, the main question that arises is: who will benefit from these squabbles? The party that was at the top position in UP elections, now appears to have slipped to the third. If the squabbles continue, Muslim voters in UP may begin to feel that the Samajwadi Party will no more be able to defeat the BJP, and in that event, they may swing towards Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party. In that case, the BSP could emerge from the current third spot to the top position in the UP poll stakes.

Pakistani forces near the Line of Control are making desperate attempts to infiltrate terrorists into India as winter is fast approaching. Once snowfall begins in Kashmir, it would be almost impossible for terrorists to infiltrate. This seems to be the main reason behind continuous unprovoked firings from the Pakistani side. Pakistani forces are specifically targeting Indian posts and civilian areas to deflect our jawans’ attention. However our jawans are on full alert and are giving a befitting reply to all ceasefire violations.

The purported video of BJP MP Varun Gandhi is not new. It is an old video and some important persons in public life had already knowledge about this. On Thursday, lawyer Prashant Bhushan made it public at a press conference. Three facts emerge out of this: one, Varun Gandhi had availed of ‘escort service’, two, notorious arms dealer Abhishek Verma allegedly blackmailed Varun over this, and three, which is most important, there is no proof so far of Varun’s director involvement in any arms deal. In fact, Varun Gandhi was never in any influential post or position to swing a defence deal. Yet, one should wait for all the facts to emerge, once a probe is fully conducted.