Curb crimes in Bihar with a strong hand
Nine murders took place within a span of 24 hours in Bihar and nearly a dozen incidents of robberies and murder took place. A bank manager’s body was found inside a well in Beur locality of Patna after he was reported missing since Sunday night. The murders took place in Begusarai, Samstipur and Madhubani. Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha has said, criminals will not be spared and if required, encounters and bulldozers will be resorted to send a tough message.
Law and order is emerging as a big issue ahead of the Bihar assembly elections. Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishore questioned why criminals were not encountered during the last twenty years. Arresting one or two big fish among the criminals won’t do, he said. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the government is only making loud noises and criminals are moving around fearlessly.
In Patna, there were firings in three areas during the last 24 hours in which a lawyer was killed barely 300 metres away from Sultanganj police station. In Fulwari Sharif, a student was shot and the killers vanished. In Gaurichak, a bike mechanic was shot by criminals in the foot. The attackers had come in a car brandishing a pistol.
In Begusarai, three persons were shot in broad daylight and one youth died while two others are seriously wounded. Six ,masked gunmen came on two bikes and fired at the three victims. In Chhapra, a businessman Raju Rai was shot in his abdomen and foot, 100 metres away from the police station. In Madhubani, a youth Salman was shot dead inside his home and the assassin was caught by neighbours. In Samastipur, murderers slashed the neck of a 14-year-old boy killing him on the spot.
In Arrah, villagers attacked an excise squad which had gone to catch bootleggers. One bootlegger was killed on the spot, while villagers took a jawan of Special Auxilliary Police as hostage and stopped traffic.
Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha blamed RJD for the crime situation saying criminals have gained courage because of RJD. Congress MP Pappu Yadav alleged that officials were busy in extortion giving a go-by to maintaining law and order.
In all, there have been 50 murders in Bihar during the last 13 days. This is a serious situation. The state government does not have more time nor options in hand, except to carry out a statewide crackdown on criminals.
Merely comparing today’s situation with ‘jungle raj’ during Lalu Yadav’s regime will not do. Criminals must be crushed with a strong hand. Police must instil fear in the minds of criminals and if required, it can take resort to encounters or bulldozers.
All-out efforts must be made to curb crimes, but in order to do that, it needs backing from the political masters. The government must show a strong determination to root out crimes. It is Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s responsibility to ensure that the rule of law is ensured. If he misses, the people of Bihar will not forgive him.
Ahmedabad Air Crash : Release Final Report Soon
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has directed all airline operators using 209 Boeing aircraft, to check fuel control switch locking mechanism by July 21. This directive comes two days after the release of the preliminary report of Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau on the Ahmedabad Air India plane crash.
AAIB had issued the preliminary report on Saturday midnight in which it was mentioned that the furel control switch of Air India Dreamliner was put off, cutting off fuel supply to the engine.
In the audio, one pilot was heard asking his colleague, whether he had switched off the fuel, and the second pilot replied that he did not. On the basis of this cockpit voice recording, it is being speculated that the air crash took place because of pilot error.
Strangely, the AAIB preliminary report was published by Wall Street Journal two days before it was officially released. Western media like SkyNews, BBC, CNN and Reuters prominently published portions of this report and squarely put the blame on the ill-fated plane’s pilots.
The Pilots’ Association questioned this speculation saying that the report has been prepared with the objective of putting the pilots in the dock without carrying out a full-fledged probe. Some experts said, those probing this crash do not even know the basic functions of this aircraft and are now pointing fingers at the pilots.
Actually, the AAIB report was released at midnight without any signature or attribution. Experts say that Boeing company had issued advisory in 2019 to all operators to change the Throttle Control Module in all Boeing 787-8 aircraft, after which Air India changed TCM in 2019 and 2023. Fuel control switch falls within this module.
Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu has said, this is a preliminary report and the probe is ongoing. Hence, no final conclusion should be drawn on its basis. He also said, it will be incorrect to point fingers at pilots’ error and all should wait for the final report.
People in India and the rest of the world want to know, in a nutshell, why Air India Dreamliner plane crashed in Ahmedabad? Where was the main error? How both engines failed soon after take-off? Why the aircraft crashed within 30 seconds?
The preliminary report does not reply to any of these questions. Instead, it has raised new questions. Was the report released to shield Boeing? Was the report released to squarely put the blame on the ill-fated plane’s pilots? Why was this report released around midnight? Why did the international media made a one-sided interpretation of this report?
All these questions require answers. The probe into the Air India crash should not be made to pinpoint blame on anybody or to shield anybody. The main purpose of this probe is to find out why the unfortunate tragedy took place? So that in future, we can save people from danger.
The question is not about the fate of a single flight. It relates to all Boeing aircraft that are flying daily across the world. The detailed report must come out soonest. There should be little scope for waiting.
Omar Abdullah : Give Him Dignity & Respect
There was drama in the Valley, when Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, sneaked out of his official residence, without telling place, walked through the markets of Srinagar on Monday with his followers, scaled the wall of Mazaar-e-Shuhda to pay respects to the martyrs of 1931 who died during Dogra regime.
Martyrs Day fell on Sunday, but local administration did not permit anybody, including Omar, his father Dr Farooq Abdullah and former CM Mehbooba Mufti, Altaf Bukhari, and Sajjad Lone, to go the graves of martyrs, citing law and order issues. Most of these leaders were confined to their homes by the local administration.
On Monday, Omar Abdullah try to go the Mazaar again, he was stopped by police, there was a scuffle, and he had to return, only to sneak out of his home to reach the martyrs’ graves. His father Dr Farooq Abdullah also managed to reach the Mazaar and offered fateha prayers.
Omar Abdullah alleged that the “unelected administration of Jammu and Kashmir” at the instance of Centre, was trying to stop “elected people’s representatives” to offer prayers to martyrs. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, wrote on X: “What is wrong in visiting the graveyard of martyrs? This is not only unfortunate, it also snatches the democratic right of a citizen. What happened this morning to an elected Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is unacceptable. Shocking. Shameful.”
The manner in which police behaved with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah cannot be justified by any means. He is an elected chief minister. The manner in which the CM scaled the wall of the graveyard, leaving his security staff behind, is also risky.
There is no doubt that it was political compulsion on part of Omar Abdullah to visit Mazaar-e-Shuhda. He knows that Kashmiri Pandits also celebrate July 13 as Black Day. He knows that this could hurt the feelings of Kashmiri Pandits, but to keep him confined to his home, and prevent him from visiting the Mazaar is not a right step.
Omar Abdullah’s behaviour after becoming Chief Minister has been quite dignified. He should be dealt with dignity and respect.
Why Omar Abdullah praised Modi ?
The effusive praise lavished on Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at the opening of Sonamarg Z-Morh tunnel on Monday may not sound sweet to Rahul Gandhi’s ears, given the fact that Omar Abdullah and his party National Conference are still part of Congress-led INDIA alliance.
Omar Abdullah said, “On International Yoga Day event in Srinagar last year, Modi had promised to bridge the gap between dil (heart) and Dilli (Delhi), and he has proved it. The trust of the people of Kashmir in Modi has increased because he has kept his words … You fulfilled your promise of holding assembly elections, and there were free and fair elections in Kashmir, without any interference…The people are asking me when would Jammu & Kashmir get back its statehood. My heart is saying that very soon you will fulfil your third promise on statehood.”
Responding to Omar’s remarks, Prime Minister Modi said, “Yeh Modi hai, Waada karta hai toh nibhaata hai. Har kaam ka ek samay hai, aur sahi samay par sahi kaam hone wale hain. (Modi always keeps his promises. There’s a time for everything, and right things will happen at the right time)”.
Modi said, Jammu & Kashmir is marching towards progress. A new railway division has been created for Jammu, the Sonamarg tunnel is ready, work on Zozila tunnel is progressing fast, and the world’s tallest bridge over river Chenab is ready. Schools, colleges, hospitals, theatres, hotels and stadiums are functioning in the Valley, and the air of joy has returned to the Valley. The credit goes to the people of Kashmir who rejected terrorism and supported democracy. Kashmir is the crown of India and we want the crown should shine bright.”
The entire project is 12 km long and will be completed at a cost of Rs 2700 crore. A parallel tunnel and 7.5 metre wide exit road has been built in cases of emergency. This tunnel is part of the all-weather connectivity project that links Srinagar to Leh in Ladakh. The distance between Srinagar and Leh will be reduced from 49 km to 43 km. Tourists can access Sonamarg round the year for winter sports.
What the J&K chief minister said in the presence of Prime Minister Modi was 100 per cent correct. The situation in J&K has changed fast in the last five years. After a gap of nearly 40 years, people are going to multiplexes to watch films. Hospitals, rural roads have been built. Smart classes have begun in schools. This has changed the life of the average citizen. The commoner in the Valley has regained his trust in the system. Voters took part in the recent Lok Sabha and assembly polls in large numbers. There was record voting at several polling stations.
Omar Abdullah’s government is working in tandem with the Centre and this has shown good results on the ground. Like Delhi, J&K is a Union Territory. Omar Abdullah has the same powers as Chief Minister like Arvind Kejriwal. For ten years, Kejriwal spent much of his time blaming the Centre and Prime Minister Modi. The Lt. Governor also stopped several schemes initiated by Kejriwal, but the ultimate losers were the people of Delhi.