My Opinion

Undoubtedly the lathi-charge on female students of Benares Hindu University by policemen on Saturday night was a wrong step and it needs to be condemned. The UP government has done the right thing in transferring three magistrates and two police officials after the incident. But we are yet to get the answer to the question: if there were anti-social elements, how did they enter the BHU campus? If you look at the sprawling BHU campus, you will find a hospital functioning inside, with roads open and no bar on entry of outsiders into the campus. Any outsider can enter the campus and create a ruckus leading to law and order problems. Such things happened in the past too. The Vice-Chancellor cannot escape the blame by saying that he was helpless. A prestigious university like the BHU must have a quiet campus located in an isolated area. That will be the biggest guarantee of safety for students studying there.

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With billionaire fake godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim cooling his heels inside jail for the next 20 years, and another one, Falahari Baba arrested by Rajasthan police on Saturday in a rape case, the time has now come to awaken the society about the evils of such fake babas.

Fake godmen are enemies of society. These criminals, in the guise of religion, fool gullible people and get themselves photographed with influential political leaders to insulate themselves from the hands of the law. People start fearing these babas, and the babas, in turn, start exploiting them.

Had the brave ex-sadhvis not come forward to expose Gurmeet Singh alias Ram Rahim in court, with the support of a courageous CBI officer, the baba would have continued to rule his vast ill-gotten empire, raping women and getting his opponents killed. With the sentencing of Gurmeet Ram Rahim, people who have been duped and tortured have regained the courage to speak up against the babas. We should now hope that more and more fake godmen, from all religions, are exposed before the people and their real face should be seen by all.

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The Calcutta High Court on Thursday revoked West Bengal government’s notification prohibiting Durga idol immersions from 10 pm of September 30 till midnight of October 1, the day of Muharram, citing law and order reasons. The earlier prohibition was from 6 pm of September 30 till October 1. The High Court has now permitted idol immersion on all days till midnight and has directed police to ensure that the routes of idol immersions and Muharram processions do not clash. The Acting Chief Justice Rakesh Tiwary clearly said that a mere assumption that a law and order situation might arise, owing to Vijaya Dashami and Muharram falling on the same date, cannot be the basis for imposing curbs on idol immersion timings. The Acting Chief Justice said, “let Hindus and Muslims live in harmony, do not create a line between them”. This is clearly a slap in the face of Mamata Banerjee government which was trying to appease Muslim vote bank by imposing restrictions on idol immersions. Her government had imposed similar prohibitions last year too, and also prevented Hanuman Jayanti processions and worship of arms by Hindu organizations. The state government’s actions have caused serious apprehensions in the minds of Hindus in West Bengal. The action of Calcutta High Court is welcome and timely. It is time for Mamata Banerjee to understand the feelings of people, but, as Union Minister Babul Supriyo said, Mamata ‘didi’ will not try to understand because she cares more for her Muslim vote bank, and not the interests of the state.

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Cricketer S. Sreesanth, on whom the BCCI had clamped a lifetime ban in the wake of IPL spot-fixing scandal in 2013, has been cleared of all charges by a Delhi sessions court. The Kerala High Court, in August, ordered BCCI to lift the life ban imposed on him, but the BCCI has filed an appeal in the same High Court against the single judge bench order. The board has told the high court that it cannot withdraw the ban merely because of the fact that he was exonerated by a Delhi sessions court. Sreesanth had to spend time in Tihar jail soon after his arrest in 2013, and since then he has been banned from cricket. He is now 34. In an interview to India TV, Sreesanth has said ‘I am not begging, I only want my livelihood back… People know what type of cricket I play and what type of a cricketer I am’.

In short, Delhi police failed to prove spot-fixing charges against Sreesanth, and the man who was part of two World Cup winning teams, the T20 World Cup in 2007 and ODI World Cup in 2011, is completely out of the cricket scene. His entire career has been ground to dust because of a single incident. This loss to his career and fame cannot be compensated, but it should be investigated as to who were the police officers who conspired against him, if he was innocent. Who were the enemies of cricket who destroyed Sreesanth’s career and his reputation?

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Already the jihadi groups in Pakistan are girding up their loins to take ‘revenge’ for the atrocities committed on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Hate speeches are already being made at mosques in Pakistan and terror conspiracies are afoot. I had made it very clear that there are some extremists among Rohingya Muslims, who have contacts with terrorists in the subcontinent. Already we, as a nation, have many problems, and we need not add one more problem from our neighbors. It is also true that the issue of stateless Rohingyas needs to be seen through the prism of humanity, and every country should help these unfortunate people. But helping them does not mean that Rohingya Muslims should be allowed to settle in India. Our first attempt should be: to speak to the Myanmar government to ensure that conditions improve in Rakhine state, where most of the Rohingyas live. We can provide them humanitarian aid like food, medicines, etc, but allowing them to settle in India will not be a wise step. I, therefore, support our government’s stand which was amply made clear by the Home Ministry in its affidavit before the Supreme Court on Monday.

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New Delhi, Sept 15: Former India opener Virender Sehwag has revealed that he was never interested in coaching the Indian cricket team and he would not have applied for the job had he known Ravi Shastri would also file his application.

The 38-year-old player – one of India’s greatest game changers – was touted as one of the top contestants for the Indian Cricket Team coach’s post after the resignation of Anil Kumble, who stepped down citing differences with captain Virat Kohli.

However, Sehwag missed out to Ravi Shastri, who was chosen after much drama and days of speculation post a turbulent phase which saw the rift between Kohli and Kumble come out in the open.

Shastri, however, had initially not applied for the post, but did it only after the BCCI extended the deadline to accept applications.

Sehwag, who has joined India TV as a cricket expert on its hugely popular show “Cricket Ki Baat”, said he was not interested in the job and was convinced only after the BCCI top brass requested him to apply.

“I never thought of coaching the Indian cricket team. I was given the offer… BCCI secretary Amitabh Chaudhury and MV Sridhar came to me and requested me to think on the offer. I took my time and then applied for the position,” Sehwag told India TV. The show will be telecast today at 7 pm.

Sehwag, who doesn’t have any prior coaching experience apart from mentoring IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab, said he also had a word with Kohli before sending his application and was asked by the captain to go for it.

“I also had a word with Virat Kohli, he asked me to go for it. It was only then that I applied. If you ask for my opinion, I would say that I was never interested,” he said.

Sehwag, one of India’s biggest match-winners and a part of the 2011 World Cup winning team, said he thought of helping the BCCI when they came to meet him. He also said that he will never ever apply for the coach’s job in future.

“I thought since they are requesting me, I should help them. I never thought of applying on my own nor I will ever apply in future.”

When asked why he was not chosen for the job, Sehwag gave a tongue-in-cheek reply: “See, I didn’t have any setting.”

Sehwag, who played 104 Tests and 251 ODIs for India scoring 8586 and 8273 runs respectively, said had he known that Shastri would apply, there would not have been any chance of him applying for the post.

“When I was in England during the Champions Trophy, I had asked Ravi Shastri that why he hasn’t applied for the post? Shastri then told me that he will not repeat the mistake which he had already made once.

“If Ravi Shastri had applied earlier, then I don’t think there would have been any chance of me applying for the post. I would have never applied,” he said.

The chilling account of sex pervert Gurmeet Ram Rahim narrated on India TV on Wednesday night by a former sadhvi brings out the weaknesses inherent in our society. The sadhvi alleged that the baba used to rape a woman every six hours and he must have raped nearly 2,000 women till date. One thing is clear: Gurmeet Ram Rahim was a criminal disguised as a fake godman. His followers knew about his shenanigans and dark secrets, but Gurmeet Singh had created an atmosphere of terror among his followers and nobody dared to speak out. Anybody who did so was liquidated. One question arises: when followers knew that the baba was a serial rapist, a criminal and a murderer, why did more than a lakh people gather in Panchkula in a show of solidarity? Why did these followers tell the media that they had come to have a ‘darshan’ (glimpse) of the baba, whom they called ‘pita’ (father)? What can one say about such blind devotion? The moot question is: what can we, as a society, can do to save people from blind devotion? How can we create awareness in our society against such fake godmen?

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the visiting Japanese PM Shinzo Abe took out a roadshow from the airport in Ahmedabad yesterday and were greeted by thousands of admirers. Those who understand politics know that Abe’s visit will prove to be beneficial to BJP in the forthcoming Gujarat assembly elections. But what happened in Ahmedabad on Wednesday was a trailer. The real picture was unveiled on Thursday, when Abe and Modi laid the foundation for the bullet train project. The date for launching the first bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad has been fixed at August 15, 2022. Since the Japanese have taken up the project in their hands, one hopes the project will be completed on time. Japan has been running its bullet train for the last 50 years. It is so punctual that any body can coordinate one’s watch with its arrival and departure timings. In its 50-year-long history, the Japanese bullet train was seldom delayed by barely one minute. Japan will be giving a soft loan of Rs 88,000 crore to India for this Rs 1,10,000 cr project. The loan will be repaid in fifty years, and the repayment will begin after 15 years. The interest rate is at its lowest 0.01 per cent. Naturally, the bullet train will not be a drain on the nation’s treasury or on public finances. The bullet train will take two hours to cover the distance between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The project will provide jobs to more than 20,000 people.

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Many of the questions relating to the brutal murder of Pradyumna seem to have been resolved as of now. There was only one killer, the child’s neck was slashed twice with a knife, the victim could not scream because his vocal chord was bleeding, and the killer helped in taking the child to the hospital in order to show that he had nothing to do with murder. The killer was caught, but one vital question begs an answer. What was the motive? Why did the murderer kill the child? He had no enmity with the child, nor was there any sign of sexual assault. The accused had no previous criminal record. What was the reason that triggered the attack? What did the victim see which the killer did not want the world to know. Police is still trying to find the real motive, and we hope the answer will come soon.

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The brutal murder of seven-year-old Pradyumna in Ryan International School, Bhondsi near Gurugram is a stark reminder of the dangers lurking before our school going children across India. There have been many reports of murders, unnatural deaths and sexual assault of minors in schools and other institutions. After nationwide outrage on the streets and in media, the Haryana police has constituted 14 teams to investigate the gruesome murder. Two officials of Ryan group have been arrested. One team has reached Mumbai to question the promoters of the group.

As more revelations are awaited, this reminds us of the infamous Ayushi murder case in Noida several years ago. Ayushi was at her home with parents. She was murdered in cold blood in her bed, but nobody knew. Her body was found the following morning. Till date, the circumstances leading to that murder remain a mystery.

Similarly, facts leading to the murder of Pradyumna seem to be shocking. There were nearly 1,000 students and teachers along with non-teaching staff in the school that day, but nobody heard or saw the boy’s throat being slit inside a washroom. Haryana police have arrested a bus conductor, but police in our country have created such an image about themselves that people seldom trust their investigation. In this case, the conductor was charged with murder within hours and sent to custody. It seems the police hurried up its investigation without tying up all the loose ends. This has raised doubts in the minds of parents. It is not the question of a mother. Every mother has a question about her children studying in schools. Safety of students in schools must be of prime concern to all.

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On Thursday, the TADA court in Mumbai sentenced two accused Tahir Merchant and Firoz Khan to death, two others Abu Salem and Karimullah Khan to life term imprisonment and a fifth accused Riyaz Siddiqui to 10 years imprisonment. One accused Abdul Sheikh was acquitted of all charges. I have one comment to make in this regard. It took 24 long years to convict criminals accused of killing 257 innocent people. Those who have been given death sentences have the options to move the High Court and the Supreme Court, and later seek clemency from the President. It is really shameful that the due process of law took such a long time to punish the guilty. Justice delayed is justice denied is an oft-quoted saying. In this case, justice has been delayed for an inordinately long period. This could have been avoided.

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Surprises never cease when one enters Ram Rahim’s sprawling ‘dera’ (ashram) in Sirsa, Haryana. India TV reporter Abhishek Upadhyay was the first to sneak into the dera on Tuesday and Wednesday, even before police and the High Court-appointed team was to enter. After careful study of the visuals of the dera, one arrives at a conclusion that there were two main faces of Ram Rahim’s dera. One: when Ram Rahim’s predecessors opened school, college, hospital, eye bank and meditation centre to provide succour to their followers, and Two: the swanky ‘wonderland’ where cheap replicas of Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, St. Peter’s Basilica and Disneyland were erected, along with a huge cricket stadium, a shopping mall and a cinema theatre, among other such luxuries. Ram Rahim spent billions and amassed all the luxuries of life to dazzle the world, particularly his followers. He also built a mysterious cave, a place where he indulged in carnal pleasures, that included rapes and sexual assaults. In short, Ram Rahim converted an ashram doing social work into a vast, sprawling space to mint millions of rupees. Simple, gullible followers went to the dera in search of spiritual enlightenment and education for their offspring, took patients there for treatment, but were befooled in return by their guru. With the masses at his beck and call, Ram Rahim considered himself God, or Messenger of God, and the anti-climax came when the guardians of law caught up with him. He will now have to spend twenty years behind bars.

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