08:42 JNU students served showcause notice for staging gherao on Feb 27: A proctorial inquiry committee of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has issued show cause notices to around 15 students for staging a gherao, which “disrupted the normal functioning” of the university administration early this year.
The committee has also observed that staging the gherao was an act of “indiscipline” and “misconduct”.
The allegation has, however, been denied by the students.
The notice issued to the students said, ‘You have been found guilty in the following acts of indiscipline — sitting in room no. 225 of the Administration Block the whole night of February 27, despite a request by the security persons to vacate.’
If the students fail to defend themselves, they will have to face punishments, including cancellation of admission, withdrawal of degree, fines up to Rs 20,000 and rustication for two semesters, depending on the charges slapped against them.
‘Your reply should reach this office latest by October 25 (5 pm), failing which it will be presumed that you have nothing to say in your defence and this office will be free to take appropriate action against you,’ the notice said.
However, the students have dismissed the allegations and claimed that they were targeted for staging protests against the implementation of the UGC gazette, which resulted in seat cuts.
“I have been proved guilty without being shown evidence and without being given a chance to defend myself,” said one of the students.
Former JNU Students’ Union general secretary Satarupa Chakraborty alleged that the university administration was trying to instill a sense of fear among the students and discourage them from raising voice against any injustice through heavy fines, hostel transfers, suspension and blocking of academic activities.
“In the name of the UGC Gazette, they (administration) blocked the admission of nearly 1,000 students from deprived backgrounds,” she said.
Image: A file photograph of students protesting in JNU.
08:31 Update: J&K: Terrorist killed in gun battle with security forces: An unidentified terrorist was killed in a gun battle with security forces in Langet area of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir.
An encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces this morning after the latter launched a search operation in Langet, 100 km from Srinagar, an Army official said.
He said one terrorist has been killed and the encounter is still underway.
08:22 ‘Hardik a Congress agent’: Former aides slam Gujarat OBC leader: The Congress has received a boost ahead of the Gujarat assembly polls, with backward class leader Alpesh Thakor announcing his decision to join the party, after a meeting with Rahul Gandhi.
The announcement came hours after the Congress, which has been out of power in Gujarat for over two decades now, invited Patidar quota stir spearhead Hardik Patel, OBC leader Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani, a protagonist of resurgent Dalit politics in the key western state, to join the party.
Thakor, the convenor of the Gujarat OBC Ekta Manch and leader of the local Thakor Sena, has considerable influence among backward classes.
Thakor, accompanied by Congress general secretary incharge of Gujarat Ashok Gehlot and state party chief Bharatsinh Solanki, met Gandhi at his residence in New Delhi yesterday evening. Soon thereafter, Thakor said Rahul Gandhi would attend a rally organised by him on October 23 where “I will join the Congress party”.
But Hardik Patel, the Patidar leader who spearheaded a prolonged agitation for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for people of his community, was rather tepid in his response to the Congress’s invitation.
“It is a political stunt, coming as it does just before the elections. I cannot contest elections myself because of constitutional provisions, nor do I want. Since an invitation has been extended, our leaders will consider the proposal,” he told a TV news channel.
Patel, whose quota stir often turned violent resulting in the death of several people in police action, is 24 years old. The minimum age required for a person to contest an assembly or Lok Sabha election in is 25.
However, in a dramatic turn of events, Hardik Patel’s key aides — Varun Patel and Reshma Patel — have joined the BJP.
Varun and Reshma were among the prominent faces of the Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) and remained critical of the ruling BJP during the agitation. They joined the BJP after a meeting with Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and state party chief Jitu Vaghani during its parliamentary board meeting, which was also attended by BJP president Amit Shah.
After joining the BJP, the Patidar leaders told reporters that Hardik has become a “Congress agent” and was trying to use the agitation to overthrow the present state government.
“Our agitation was about getting reservations under the OBC quota, not about uprooting the BJP and bringing the Congress to power. While the BJP always supported the community and accepted a majority of our demands, Congress is only trying to use Patels as a vote bank. We do not want to be part of such malicious conspiracy,” Reshma Patel said.
“This agitation was not of Hardik Patel’s alone. He is now acting like a Congress agent. I and Varun are of the opinion that the BJP would definitely fulfil our demands,” she said.
According to Varun Patel, the Patidar community will never allow the Congress party to take over the reins of Gujarat by inciting Patel youths.
“The BJP government (in the state) held talks with us in the past to resolve various issues. However, the Congress never held such talks, as they were not committed. We have decided to join BJP because we do not want to run the agitation by becoming Congress agents,” said Varun Patel.
“The BJP government even promised us to represent the issue of reservation to the OBC Commission. BJP leaders also promised us to provide legal help in case we want to take up the matter with the Supreme Court,” he added.
Unfazed by the announcement of his key aides, Hardik Patel said in a tweet he that will continue to fight for the people.
“The centipede will continue to run even if some of his legs break. People are with me, and I will continue to fight for them,” he said.
NorthernComd_IA) tweeted at 7:38 a.m. on Sun, Oct 22, 2017: #IndianArmy One terrorist killed in #Handwara. Operation in progress.
08:05 ‘Mersal’ producer yields to BJP, says willing to cut scenes: Facing flak from the Tamil Nadu BJP over dialogues allegedly flaying the GST in Mersal, the film production house has said that if needed, it would delete scenes that have caused “misunderstanding”, even as the Congress slammed the saffron party for demanding cuts.
The producers also said that the BJP’s opposition to some dialogues in Mersal was “just” from its own perspective.
Giving indication that a truce had been reached between the production house and the state BJP, the producers claimed that BJP leaders have accepted their explanation.
Sri Thenandal Films head Murali Ramaswamy said, “From their perspective, their opposition is just. If opinions (expressed in the movie) that may lead to misunderstanding need to be removed, we are ready for that too.”
Earlier, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and senior party leader P Chidambaram had hit out at the state BJP for demanding cuts in Mersal.
“Mr Modi, Cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language. Don’t try to demon-etise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal,” Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet which was retweeted by Chidambaram.
The BJP leaders have appreciated “our honest approach to meet them in person, we thank them all”, the film’s producer said after a meeting with state BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan and other leaders.
“We explained the movie’s objective, our stand and that this movie has not been produced with an intention to hurt anyone and they have generously accepted it,” he said.
“Mersal is not against anyone. It is not a film that expresses opinions against the government either. Even an ordinary person should get access to proper medical amenities and this is the story line of the movie,” Ramaswamy said in a statement.
However, he did not elaborate whether the BJP leaders insisted on removing views they found “objectionable” or whether the producers will effect the cuts or not.
In a statement, the Tamil Film Producers Council and South Indian Artistes’ Association opposed cuts as the movie had already been censored. They claimed that it went against the right to freedom of expression and will set a bad precedent.
Meanwhile, the BJP has said while the people have right to criticise the government, they must keep their facts correct. H Raja said the BJP welcomes criticism but was only objecting to wrong facts about central government schemes being shown in the film.
“We welcome criticism. But one should not deliberately give false statement through a movie. Some facts in the movie are wrong and we have objected to it. We want rectification of the wrong statements,” he said.
Mersal, starring Tamil star Vijay, landed in a controversy after Tamilisai Soundararajan said ‘misconceptions’ were being promoted in the film about central government schemes, including GST and Digital India.
Source: Rediff