Soldiers are actually dying because of politicians: Shehla Rashid

March 12, 2016

Bengaluru: Mar 12: Who is responsible for the death of brave soldiers like Lance Naik Hanmanthappa, asked Shehla Rashid Shora, vice-president, JNU Students Union, who was in the City on?Friday.

“Soldiers think they are dying for the country but they are actually dying for politicians. Border disputes are kept alive. Politicians and bureaucrats talk to each other in top hotels. All this is a farce,” Shehla, who was here on an invitation from the Journalists' Study Centre, Karnataka, said.

Shehla became the first Kashmiri to win the JNU elections that were held last year. An engineering graduate, she has also done a short course on “India-Women Leadership” from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. She now studies at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, JNU.

Even as JNU?president Kanhaiya Kumar stoked fresh controversy with his comments about the army raping women in Kashmir, Shehla reiterated that JNUSU supported soldiers.

The argument, she however said, was much more than that. “We are with the soldiers and any pro-soldier approach is anti-war. However, we need to rethink a number of issues such as the way the arms trade is being conducted and the defence budget is being reduced,” she said, implying that this endangered soldiers' lives. At the same time, JNUSU does not shy away from raising slogans against long-standing issues involving the army such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and custodial rapes, she added.

Shehla, who affiliates herself with the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, said she did have political aspirations, but for the moment there were “broader challenges”. “We contest elections and many of our members have been contesting elections from Bihar. At the moment, we are about saving the ideals of the Constitution. This government has been anti-dalit, anti-women and anti-poor. It is trying to wipe out any opposition as evident even in the FTII,” she said.

While everyone was busy hounding students from the JNU for their “anti-national” slogans, Akbar Chaudhry, another student leader highlighted the part played by JNU students in a number of recent movements. “During the Nirbhaya protests, we were at the forefront. At the Occupy UGC (University Grants Commission)' movement, we protested for 100 days. Even during the Rohith Vemula's incident, we were on a hunger strike,” he said.

Comments

Just Ms. Shehla is connected with CPM, she cannot be criticized. Khaunhein Bangalore, you cannot issue diktats to this lady as she is free person.

If you have guts, you should have attended her press briefing and countered her, instead writing in this forum.

for what u have joined jnu do that first, u need not to worry about soldier, if u have that much guts join army and study their situation and protest, u dont know anything and your khaunhain(khanhaiya)

You are 100% correct. No doubt at all.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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