Taliban in Karnataka: Culprits must be punished
The brutal manner in which a Muslim woman was beaten with sticks and pipes outside a mosque in Davangere, Karnataka, forces us to think about the devils living in our midst in the 21st century. No civil society can tolerate such a horrendous act in the name of Shariah. It is a good sign that the Davangere police acted promptly and arrested six of the attackers soon after the video appeared on social media. Their names: Muhammed Niaz, Muhammed Ghaus Pir, Chand Basha, Inayatullah, Dastgir and T.R.Rasool. It is now the duty of the police to ensure that other individuals who were part of the mob must also be caught and brought to justice. All these culprits must be given severe punishment so that nobody could dare commit such a crime in the name of religion. This act reminds us of the brutal reign of Taliban in Afghanistan. The woman was appealing to the mob with folded hands, but the men continued beating her with sticks. The question is: Is religious fundamentalism above law in India? Have the religious radicals no fear of law? It was the woman’s husband Jameel who went to the mosque and complained that his wife had brought her cousin and male friend to the house in his absence. The maulvi cited Shariat to say that inviting an outsider male to her house was a crime and deserved punishment. There were more than two dozen people in the mob that thrashed the woman.
National Herald Case: Are Sonia and Rahul Guilty?
The Enforcement Directorate has filed a chargesheet in the National Herald money laundering case and has made seven persons accused. They include Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, his political guru Sam Pitroda and Sonia’s adviser Suman Dubey. The charge relates to acquisition of Rs 2,000 crore worth National Herald properties by Young Indian company owned by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Income tax evasion of Rs 440 crore has been mentioned in the chargesheet. Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are out of bail in this case. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in a statement said, “Seizing the assets of the National Herald is a state-sponsored crime masquerading as the rule of law. Filing chargesheets against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others is nothing but the politics of vendetta and intimidation..” On Wednesday, Congress workers staged protests in different cities. Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the charges levelled by ED against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are fake, because Young Indian company was set up to manage the properties of National Herald, and both the leaders did not make any financial profit from this transaction. But ED chargesheet says otherwise. It says, a conspiracy was hatched to acquire National Herald’s Rs 2,000 crore worth assets, for which a Rs 90 crore loan was lent by Congress. In order to recover this loan, the amount was converted into 9 crore shares which were given to Young Indian company owned by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. In exchange, Young Indian paid only Rs 50 lakhs to Congress party. In other words, the chargesheet says, the Congress party handed over Rs 2,000 crore worth immovable properties and got only Rs 50 lakhs in return. Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi own 38 per cent each shares in Young Indian company, while remaining 24 pc shares are in the name of Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, both deceased. Problems for both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi may mount after the ED chargesheet. Congress has not disputed the fact that the property of National Herald that Young Indian acquired for Rs 50 lakhs is now valued at Rs 2,000 crore. Congress’ argument is that Young Indian is a non-profit company, and the company was not floated to give financial profit to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. ED insists that Young Indian company was floated to acquire National Herald properties. Congress’ argument is that the company was floated to save National Herald newspaper launched by India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru. The reality is: National Herald newspaper ceased printing in 2008. Hence, it is for Sonia and Rahul Gandhi to tell the court now, why this company was floated and who are the beneficiaries.
Bihar Polls: Will Tejasvi face Nishant ?
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Wednesday. Yadav wanted seats allocation for this year’s Bihar assembly polls be finalized soon and his name be projected as the CM candidate. It was decided that a committee of parties belonging to RJD-led Mahagathbandhan will be set up to finalize seat allocation, but the selection of chief minister will be made only after the results are out. Mahagathbandhan leaders will meet in Patna on Thursday to chalk out their strategy. On the other hand, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar said on Tuesday that his father would be projected as the CM candidate by NDA. He said, his father was “100 per cent well and healthy”. Tejashwi Yadav is the tallest leader of Mahagathbandhan and the CM face of the alliance. The question is: whether Tejashwi Yadav and Nitish Kumar lead the two rival alliances? There is no dispute about Nitish Kumar’s leadership. Speculations began when reports came about his health a few weeks ago and rumours were floated that it will be Nitish’s son Nishant who will give a fight to Tejashwi Yadav. At the moment, Nishant Kumar is yet to join active politics.
Mysuru land scam : Pressure on CM to resign
With the Karnataka High Court dismissing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s challenge to the sanction given by Governor for probing the Mysuru Urban Development Authority land scam case involving his wife Parvathi, the opposition has started demanding his resignation. Siddramaiah’s problems have increased both legally and politically, and there is pressure on him from his party leaders too. Siddaramaiah has refused to quit saying that the High Court has only favoured a probe but “that does not mean I am guilty”.
Siddaramaiah says, he has done nothing illegal, and the land in question has been returned by him. Let us go into the merits of the case. The 3.5 acre land was purchased by Siddaramaiah’s brother-in-law in 2010, when the former was Deputy Chief Minister. His brother-in-law gifted this land to his sister (CM’s wife Parvathi). Mysuru Urban Development Authority, without acquiring village land, started developing Devanur Stage-3 layout. In 2022, when Basavaraj Bommai was BJP chief minister, Siddaramaiah’s wife acquired 38,283 square meter of plots in the posh locality of south Mysuru, in exchange for the 3.5 acre land.
Siddaramaiah’s family now faces allegation that he acquired costly plots in Mysuru’s posh locality by exchanging cheap village land. There are also allegations of forgery in some documents relating to Siddaramaiah’s family properties. When this controversy came into public focus, the chief minister returned the land, but, by that time, the matter had reached the courts.
On Tuesday, Karnataka High Court said,”if the petitioner (Siddaramaiah) was not in the seat of poer, helm of affairs, the benefit of such magnitude would not have flown…In the opinion of the court, the Chief Minister…should not fight shy of any investigation. There is lurking suspicion, looming large allegations, and the beneficiary of Rs 56 crore is the family of the chief minister.”
The main opposition party BJP demanded the chief minister’s resignation, while both Congress President Malliakarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi have maintained silence. There are speculations that the Deputy CM D K Shivakumar also wants Siddaramaiah should resign and make way for him to become the chief minister, but, for the moment, Shivakumar is playing safe.
Soon after the High Court gave its verdict, D K Shivakumar met the Chief Minister and later said that all allegations against Siddaramaiah were baseless. He said, Siddaramaiah will not resign and will fight the legal battle.