Over 200 reputed authors, educationists, filmmakers demand release of Umar Khalid

News Network
September 24, 2020

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New Delhi, Sept 24: More than 200 educationists, filmmakers and authors, including Noam Chomsky and Mira Nair, issued a joint statement on Wednesday demanding the Centre free Umar Khalid arrested in connection with the northeast Delhi riots.

Besides Chomsky and Nair, the signatories include actor Ratna Pathak Shah, authors Amitav Ghosh, Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy, and journalist P Sainath.

"We call on the Government of India to free Umar Khalid and all those falsely implicated and unjustly incarcerated for protesting against the CAA-NRC that denies equal citizenship rights and to ensure that the Delhi Police investigates the Delhi riots with impartiality under the oath they took as public servants bound by the Constitution of India," the statement read.

Khalid has been arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a case related to the communal violence in northeast Delhi in February this year.

"We stand in solidarity and outrage, with the brave young scholar and activist Umar Khalid, arrested in New Delhi on September 14, 2020, under fabricated charges of engineering the Delhi riots in February 2020," the statement said.

The statement said that Khalid "used the passion of his commitment to his country, marshalled his education and his voice to join the movement for equal citizenship, against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)" which introduced religion as a criterion for citizenship, and has no place in a secular nation.

The Delhi Police had on September 13 said it is investigating the role of all individuals who took part in the February riots and were behind the larger conspiracy of organising violence and inciting communal passion amongst communities.

Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava had last week said the force has collected documentary evidence, including scientific evidence, to support its case in connection with the riots.

He said that the police have so far arrested 1,571 people irrespective of their caste or religion and they are almost equally distributed among both communities.

Responding to former IPS officer Julio Ribeiro's letter in which he had questioned the Delhi police's investigation, Srivastava had said that there are several entities who have their reasons to weave a "web of deception" and push a "false narrative of bias and insensitivity" on the part of the police.

He said that police investigations in criminal cases are guided by facts and evidence, not by reputations and personalities.

"Delhi Police are serving the oath and the Constitution with conviction, integrity and sensitivity, without fear of any self-proclaimed true patriots or favour towards any class, creed or community," Srivastava had said in an email reply to Ribeiro.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between those supporting the citizenship law and those opposing it spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

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News Network
March 19,2024

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Bengaluru, Mar 19: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said that the Congress will split in three months after the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and its impact will be visible on the Siddaramaiah-led state government.

"Due to internal squabbles, the state government will not last long," the BJP leader said.

Talking to reporters on Monday, he said the sitting MP from the Gadag-Haveri constituency, Shivakumar Udasi, has done a lot of development work and implemented the Central government's schemes effectively.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will surely become the PM for the third time. The overall response has been good in the Gadag-Haveri Lok Sabha constituency," the former Karnataka chief minister said.

Asked if he was contesting the election in a half-hearted manner in the Gadag-Haveri seat, Bommai said "such a question does not arise when the party's high command gives instructions".

He said he would respect his opponent and not take anyone lightly. 

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News Network
March 13,2024

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Bengaluru, Mar 13: Karnataka government has not yet discussed the issue of implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the State, and the Cabinet will take a call on it, Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Wednesday.

The Centre on Monday announced the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, a move that comes four years after the contentious law was passed and paves the way for citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

"We have not yet discussed it. If the Chief Minister says it has to be discussed and decided in the Cabinet, we will decide it. Whether to accept or reject it has to be decided by the Cabinet," Parameshwara told reporters.

The rules were notified days ahead of the expected announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. With this, the Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to self-proclaimed persecuted non-Muslim migrants — Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians — from the three countries.

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News Network
March 18,2024

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Mangaluru, Mar 18: The rising temperature has become a growing concern for residents of coastal district of Dakshina Kannada, as the issue of drinking water shortage continues to worsen in several parts. 

Though the water supply of Mangaluru city has not been affected much, nearby urban local bodies, including Ullal, Kotekar, Bajpe and other parts on the outskirts of Mangaluru have been facing an acute shortage of drinking water.

Though the water level in the Thumbe vented dam across Nethravati River has started going down in the last few days, officials have ruled out possibility of rationing the water supply in the city.

According to officials, the water level at Thumbe dam of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) stood at 5.8 m as against the maximum storage capacity of 6m height on March 16. The water level at the dam during the same period last year was 5.3 metres. The water level reduced from 5.9 m on March 15 to 5.8 m on March 16 due to the scorching heat, causing evaporation.

The MCC has been drawing 160 MLD of water from the Thumbe vented dam. According to officials, without inflow, the maximum water stored in the dam will be sufficient for only 50 days. Meanwhile, the MCC has already started pumping backwater from downstream of the Thumbe vented dam back to the dam using pumpsets. Water from Thumbe dam can be drawn only if it has more than 1.5m of water in it.

DC Mullai Muhilan MP said that the district administration is closely monitoring water levels in all the dams that supply water.

The AMR dam located upstream of Thumbe dam has 18 m of water from sea level. If the water level in the Thumbe vented dam recedes, then water from the AMR dam will be released into the Thumbe dam. There is water in a dam at Biliyoor, which is located upstream of the AMR dam, the DC said.

“Drawing water for irrigation purposes from Thumbe and AMR dams has been banned,” the deputy commissioner said, adding that an order in this regard has already been issued. Some of the pockets in rural areas too have started facing water crisis.

“We have made arrangements to supply water through tankers in Ullal, Kotekar and Bajpe areas. We will not introduce water supply rationing in MCC limits for the time being,” he said and appealed to citizens to use water judiciously.

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