Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav has questioned recent police encounters and demolitions of the properties of those accused in Umesh Pal murder case. He has said it is the responsibility of courts, not the police, to punish criminals. The fact is, the roots of mafia gangs in UP are so deep that strong action, rather than conventional measures, is required. Till now, Yogi Adityanath’s government has either demolished or attached more than Rs 1100 crore worth properties of Atiq Ahmed and his associates, but it didn’t completely stop the activities of his criminal gang. Sitting 1200 km away in Sabarmati Jail, Atiq Ahmed masterminded the killing of Umesh Pal in Prayagraj. Yogi is working in the right direction. He has decided to finish off the terror unleashed by criminal gangs, whether they belong to Atiq Ahmed or Mukhtar Ansari. There are reports of even some policemen helping these gangs. Jails have become protective asylums for these criminal dons. Gangster Mukhtar Ansari’s son Abbas Ansari used to order officials inside Chitrakoot jail. His wife was allowed easy access to meet him in a closed room. During a recent raid, it was found that officials, right from jailors to jail superintendent, were in cahoots with the gangster. Money, gifts and other luxuries were being provided to Mukhtar’s son inside jail. On Monday, the jail superintendent, jailor and warden were arrested. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is going to complete six years of his rule. According to official statistics, in the last six years, UP police carried out 10,760 operations against criminals, and 178 criminals were killed in encounters. Nearly 4,900 criminals were injured and more than 23,000 criminals were arrested. Fifteen UP policemen were martyred and 1,425 were injured in encounters. Those who allege fake encounters by UP Police must go through these statistics carefully. The moot point is that there is now rule of law in UP, the common man is living in peace and there is no fear when people move out of their homes. Women in UP also feel secure and this is a big achievement for any chief minister.
RAHUL GANDHI IN UK
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi continued to criticize Narendra Modi’s government in the United Kingdom in his speech at Cambridge University or while addressing Indian diaspora. He alleged that the voice of opposition in Parliament is being stifled. I have no objection to Rahul Gandhi saying this on foreign soil. In this age of global digital media, it matters the least where one speaks . Anybody from anywhere across the globe can watch somebody saying from anywhere. I feel people in London must have been surprised when they watched Rahul say that there is no freedom of speech in India and that the opposition’s voice is being muzzled. People in UK must have watched Rahul making his points while undertaking his Bharat Jodo Yatra. They must have watched his speeches in Parliament. People in UK know Rahul has spoken on all issues in India, whether it was demonetization, GST, pandemic lockdown and China. He spoke on all these issues and nobody stopped him. When Rahul spoke on these issues in Parliament, most of the news channels telecast his speech live. People can watch his speeches even today on YouTube and different websites. So, nobody will believe Rahul’s allegation that there is no freedom of speech in India. Rather, people will say that Rahul speaks the same words, delivers the same dialogues, and levels the same allegations, without any change in nuances. Only the locations change, not the character. It would have been better had Rahul spoken something new, something sharp, backed by facts and figures. Then nobody could have got the chance to raise questions.
CBI, RABRI DEVI AND OPPOSITION
On Monday, in Patna, CBI sleuths questioned Rabri Devi for four hours at her residence in the ‘land for jobs’ scam. This was not a sudden one. CBI had given notice in advance, it had summoned her but Rabri Devi, citing health issues, requested the CBI to question her at home. The time, place and date were decided by Rabri Devi. CBI also went to Lalu’s daughter Misa Bharati’s residence in Delhi on Tuesday to question ailing RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is convalescing after a major surgery in Singapore. On Monday, several opposition leaders Sharad Pawar, Sanjay Raut, Arvind Kejriwal, Priyanka Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav denounced this questioning and alleged that Modi government is trying to harass political rivals.
Kejriwal is worried because his close aide Manish Sisodia has been sent to Tihar jail till March 20 by a Delhi court in connection with Delhi liquor excise scam. Kejriwal wants to forge an anti-Modi front with other parties like NCP, Shiv Sena, SP, RJD, NC, TMC, BRS. He has got the support of Tejashwi Yadav, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, K Chandrashekhar Rao, Dr Farooq Abdullah, Akhilesh Yadav and Uddhav Thackeray, but Congress and Janata Dal (United) are not in this list. Congress says, CBI and ED action in some matters could be politically motivated, but in the case of Manish Sisodia, CBI action was appropriate. In Punjab, Congress, which is in opposition, has alleged that the AAP government is misusing investigative agencies to target opposition leaders. While Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann describes his vigilance department’s action as legal, he brands CBI and ED’s action in Delhi as illegal and politically motivated. This is nothing but double standards.