My Opinion

In one of his strongest attacks on RJD and Congress in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday told a rally in Purnea that both these parties are trying to protect infiltrators, but his government would not allow this to happen.
Modi said: “Today, from this land of Purnea, I want to explain one thing to these people clearly. RJD and Congress people, listen to me with open ears. Whoever is an infiltrator will have to go. It is the firm responsibility of the NDA to stop infiltration.”
Modi chose Purnea because it has a Muslim population of more than 40 per cent and is considered a bastion of RJD-Congress-led Mahagathbandhan. He inaugurated and laid the foundation of projects relating to railway, irrigation, airport and power to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore. The crowd waited for the PM for nearly three hours as Modi was late in reaching Purnea from Kolkata.
Modi alleged that during RJD rule, the ‘Hand’(Congress symbol) in connivance with ‘Lantern’(RJD symbol) was looting the public exchequer and benefiting “dynastic parties”.
Purnea is the region where the maximum number of names of voters has been deleted during the recently held SIR (Special Intensive Revision) of electoral rolls by the Election Commission.
By launching new Vande Bharat and Amrit Bharat trains from Purnea and by opening the new terminal of Purnea airport, Modi has ensured electoral advantage for his party in the forthcoming Bihar elections.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, at the rally, read out the full list of public welfare schemes implemented and asked people to stand up in ovation for Modi.
On the other hand, RJD and Congress seem to be contented patting those who hurled abuses at Modi’s late mother. They have been describing Nitish Kumar as a weak chief minister. Nitish Kumar replied back in his own style.
Purnea MP Pappu Yadav, who was present at the rally, thanked PM Modi for the new airport and new trains. It is now up to the Congress and RJD to ask Pappu Yadav why he praised Prime Minister Modi publicly at the rally.

How Team India rubbed salt into Pakistan’s wounds

Pakistan got a rap on its knuckles on Tuesday when the International Cricket Council rejected its demand to remove Andy Pycroft from the Asia Cup match referee panel for allowing Indian players not to shake hands with Pakistanis during the Sunday match.
Pakistan Cricket Board had threatened to walk out of the tournament, but, according to latest reports, it has decided not to boycott.
It was a double whammy for Pakistan, when it was defeated by Team India easily by a margin of seven wickets and soon after the victory, Indian players walked back to the pavilion without doing the traditional handshake with Pakistani players.
Also, after the toss, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands with Pakistani skipper Salman Ali Agha.
Yadav dedicated it to the Indian Army jawans who taught Pakistan a lesson during Operation Sindoor and also to the victims of Pahalgam who were killed in cold blood by Pakistani terrorists.
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s Home Minister and chairman of Asian Cricket Council, alleged that India violated the ICC Code of Conduct by refusing to shake hands with rival players. He suspended the PCB international cricket director Usman Wahla for delay in lodging the complaint against India.
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav said, some matters are more important than sportsman spirit and cricketing courtesy, like the Pahalgam massacre. He justified his team’s stand in not shaking hands with the rival players.
Yadav said, “we are Indians first and the entire team stands with the families of terror victims and we dedicate our win to our armed forces.”
Former Pakistani players like Tanveer Ahmed, Moin Khan and Shoaib Akhtar chafed at India for refusing to shake hands. Tanvir Ahmed and Moin Khan said, PCB officials should now refuse to shake hands with BCCI counterparts. Shoaib Akhtar said, Pakistani players stand with their army and it would be better if such matters are kept away from the playground.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said, India has already decided not to play bilateral matches with Pakistan, but at international tournaments, it is not India which decides whom to play against. “What our players did was a correct reflection of the sentiments of our nation”, the minister said.
Let me put matters in perspective. One, India should not have played the match against Pakistan. Now that Pakistan has been defeated, public anger has somewhat softened, but Pakistan has this habit of crying after every defeat, whether on the cricket pitch or in the theatre of war.
It would have been better if Pakistan had confined itself to express sadness over its defeat. Instead, it is crying hoarse over why Indians did not shake hands with its players. Had our players shook hands with their counterparts, Pakistan would have hollered, why Indians did not hug us.
Pakistan’s team should be more worried over why its batters and bowlers failed. But they are crying why the doors of the Indian dressing room was kept shut. The doors were shut the day Pakistani cricketers supported those terrorists who killed our innocent people in cold blood.
I would like to praise Suryakumar Yadav for dedicating this win to our army and to the victims of Pahalgam.

Vantara : A Triumph of Justice, Victory for the Voiceless

The Supreme Court on Monday gave a clean chit to Reliance Foundation’s animal rescue and rehabilitation centre, Vantara. A bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice P B Varale cleared Vantara of all charges relating to smuggling, money laundering and violation of statutory laws in sourcing animals.
The apex court said, no court or administrative forum in the country will henceforth entertain any complaint or proceedings on these allegations in future.
The court order was based on a special investigation team (SIT) report prepared by former Supreme Court judge J. Chelameswar along with three other members, former Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court Raghavendra Chauhan, former Mumbal police commissioner Hemant Nagrale and former IRS officer Anish Gupta.
In a press statement, Vantara has described the apex court order as a triumph of justice.
Supreme Court was right when it ordered setting up of an SIT to investigate all allegations against Vantara, being run by Anant Ambani. The head of the SIT was former Justice Chelameshwar, about whom nobody can say that he is pro-government. Nobody can now say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi saved Ambani in this matter.
The point to note is that Anant Ambani built a world class facility for rescue and rehabilitation of sick and invalid animals in a natural environment.
Anant Ambani could have invested this money in building hotels or casinos or in any other business and could have earned millions of rupees. But he devoted his time, money and mind to save animals and birds by providing them proper care in a natural environment.
These voiceless animals will never be able to say ‘Thank You’ to him, but their eyes will surely light up with gratitude and love.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a speech filled with tears and emotion, said on Tuesday that his mother was abused during the Congress-RJD rally in Bihar and this act has insulted every mother and sister of the country.
Addressing nearly 20 lakh women through video conferencing while launching the Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh, Modi reminisced about his late mother Hiraben.
Modi said in an emotional voice: “My mother used to work even when she was sick. She saved every paisa to buy clothes for us. There are crores of such hardworking mothers. In India, a mother is placed on a pedestal higher than that of a goddess… The abuses that were hurled at my mother from a Congress-RJD stage was not just for her, but for crores of mothers and sisters. Princes born in rich families with a golden or silver spoon in their mouth, will never understand the sufferings of a poor mother and her son’s struggles. …I want to tell the people of Bihar, Modi may forgive this insult, but the land of Bihar and India will never tolerate such an insult to a mother”.
Soon after the PM’s speech, protests were held in different parts of the country and the NDA gave a call for Bihar Bandh on November 4.
The emotional touch with which Modi spoke displayed the immense hurt that was caused to him by Congress workers who shouted filthy abuse in Darbhanga. Congress and RJD leaders in Bihar are now on the defensive.
The hurt caused to Narendra Modi is understandable. Any son will feel hurt if he hears people abusing one’s mother. Modi’s mother Hiraben passed away three years ago. She was never in politics. She did not hurt anybody. Was she abused only because her son is the Prime Minister?
Had Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav condemned this act by their supporters on that very day itself, heavens would not have fallen. They continued with their yatra. Had they expressed regret, it wouldn’t have snowballed into a big issue.
Probably the two leaders have large-sized egos. Soon after the incident, a Congress leader described it as a conspiracy, another leader said it was the work of an ordinary party worker. Soon after, other leaders indulged in whataboutery listing out the times when who abused whom.
In politics, there is no place for filthy abuses. It must be condemned. To indulge in whataboutery by alleging who had abused whom in the past, Congress leaders cannot say they have got the licence to abuse. The people of India do not approve filthy language. Politically, Tejashwi Yadav may have to face loss because of this. He will have to pay the price for insulting a departed mother.

Who will hear the cries of Gurugram ?

Flood situation has worsened in Punjab after heavy discharge of water from Bhakra and Pong dams, with the state government declaring flood as a state calamity. Flood in Punjab has claimed 30 lives and had caused distress to over 3.5 lakh people.
In Haryana, Yamuna, Ghagghar and other rivers are in spate and several hundred villages have been inundated. Crops on several lakh hectares of land have been damaged.
The Millenium City of Gurugram faced waterlogging in most parts of the city after incessant rains for the past three days. Long traffic jams were witnessed on Monday and Tuesday because of waterlogged roads at Rajiv Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk, Iffco Chowk and Khirki Daula toll plaza.
Thousands of people living in posh multi-storeyed apartments and gated enclaves have remained locked inside their homes. They are unable to move out. Employees working in top multinational companies have been asked to work from home.
Techies vent out their anger through memes and stinging remarks on social media saying the city that contributes millions of crores as revenue to the government is now at a standstill. Local governance has almost completely failed. People who bought posh apartments for several crores of rupees are being forced to live the life of an insect.
What is the fault of the residents of Gurugram? Why do they have to wait in several kilometer long traffic jams for hours because of waterlogging?
Is it their fault that they contribute more than Rs 1 lakh crore as tax to the exchequer? Is it their fault that Haryana collects 45 pc of its GST from Gurugram alone, and Haryana’s GST collection is almost five times that of Punjab?
Is it the fault of Gurugram residents that they contribute 27 pc of Haryana’s revenue as excise? Residents of Gurugram pay crores in road tax, toll fee and all other taxes and yet their roads become rivers when its rains continuously. Those living in apartments worth Rs 50 crore are unable to move out of their homes.
Gurugram is the home for several top multinational companies where people from big cities of the world come and work. What is the message that is being sought to be conveyed to the rest of the world?
Who is bringing a bad name to Gurugram? Such waterlogging and traffic snarls have not taken place once. It has become an annual feature.
Who will change this situation? Who will take care of the residents of Gurugram? There are no answers to these questions.
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