Kashmir.Watch

Category: National

  • Rahul steps down formally

    More than a month after declaring his intention, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday formally resigned as Congress president, saying he is responsible for the loss in the Lok Sabha election and accountability is critical for the party’s future growth.

    In a four-page open letter, Gandhi urged the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to entrust a group of people with the task of finding a new president as it would not be proper for him to do so.

    The 49-year-old — who has been adamant on his decision to quit as party president since 25 May, two days after the results in which his party won 52 seats — also stressed on the need for the Congress to “radically transform itself”.

    Heralding what could be a new era in his party, Gandhi said it had been a honour to serve the Congress, whose values and ideals have served as the lifeblood of “this beautiful nation”.

    In a letter that was emotive in places and combative in others, he said he owed the country and his organisation a debt of tremendous gratitude and love.

    “As President of the Congress Party, I am responsible for the loss of the 2019 election. Accountability is critical for the future growth of our party. It is for this reason that I have resigned as Congress President,” he said.

    “Rebuilding the party requires hard decisions and numerous people will have to be made accountable for the failure of 2019. It would be unjust to hold others accountable but ignore my own responsibility as President of the party,” he said in the letter shared on his Twitter account.

    Gandhi, the most visible face of his party’s election campaign, noted that he personally fought Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the RSS and the institutions they have captured with all his being.

    “I fought because I love India… At times I stood completely alone and am extremely proud of it,” he said. 

    The Indian nation must unite to reclaim and resuscitate its institutions, Gandhi said. And the instrument of this resuscitation, he added, will be the Congress.

    The MP from Wayanad, who lost his Amethi seat, also claimed he did not fight a political party in the 2019 election but the entire machinery of the Indian state.

    Taking moral responsibility for the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi resigned as Congress president on 25 May but the CWC rejected his resignation and authorised him to initiate changes in the party to revamp and restructure it at all levels.

    “Immediately after resigning, I suggested to my colleagues in the Congress Working Committee that the way forward would be to entrust a group of people with the task of beginning the search for a new President. I have empowered them to do so and committed my full support to this process and a smooth transition,” he said.

    Earlier in the day, Gandhi told reporters the CWC should immediately meet to decide on his successor.

    Thanking the thousands of people who have written to him, Gandhi said in his letter that he would continue to fight for the ideals of the Congress with all his strength and will be available to the party whenever his services are required.

    “It is a habit in India that the powerful cling to power, no one sacrifices power. But we will not defeat our opponents without sacrificing the desire for power and fighting a deeper ideological battle. I was born a Congressman, this party has always been with me and is my lifeblood and forever that way it shall remain,” Gandhi said.

    He noted that a free and fair election requires the neutrality of a country’s institutions and an election cannot be fair without arbiters a free press, an independent judiciary, and a transparent election commission that is objective and neutral.

    “Nor can an election be free if one party has a complete monopoly on financial resources,” he noted.

    Congress leaders at various levels have been appealing to Gandhi to take back his resignation but he has been unrelenting. Some party workers are sitting on a ‘dharna’ outside the Congress headquarters, asking him to continue as president. There have also been several resignations of middle-rung leaders. And two days ago, the chief ministers of Congress-ruled states met Gandhi in an effort to make him change his mind.

  • IIT Hyderabad Student Who Committed Suicide After Failing to Land a Job Leaves Behind Heart-Breaking Letter for Friends: ‘Don’t Forget to Live’

    In a shocking incident, a masters student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Hyderabad committed suicide as he failed to secure a job. He killed himself after leaving behind a note for his friends. He wrote an eight-page long suicide letter pouring out his heart. He wrote about his views on life, the low phase of his life, his failure to find a job. According to the extracts of the letter which was acquired by The Times of India, he tells his friends ‘don’t forget to live, ek hi zindagi hain’ (there is only one life). 24-year-old Mark Andrews Charles from Varanasi completed his Masters in Designing from IIT a few days ago.

    The letter says, “I did have dreams, just like everyone. But now, it’s pretty empty. All this positivity, the constant smiling, telling people that I am ok, even though I am not’ he explains about depression and low feeling on not being able to secure a job. Police have filed a case under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the incident.

    He apologised to all his friends and mentioned that last two months were the best time of his life. He advised them to not waste their lives in the IT industry. He wrote, “IT me kaam karte karte apni life matt bhil jana. Live a little everyday.”

    As per the police report, “In wee hours of Tuesday, Charles hanged himself to death in his room inside the campus hostel. His friends informed us about the incident. We have recovered a suicide note from his room in which he apologised to his parents and friends for taking the extreme step. The body has been shifted to the local government hospital for post mortem.”

    In the recent past, Hyderabad has been witnessing an increase in the number of suicides by students. There were also cases of students committing suicide after failing to pass JEE Main and in return not being able to secure a seat in IITs. A few months ago, a total of 50 students from various cities committed suicide as they failed to clear Intermediate Examinations. After the results of various exams were declared in the past two months, various cities have been witnessing an increase in the suicide rate.

  • BJP Mahila Morcha Leader Says Hindus Should Gangrape Muslim Women; Gets Expelled

    Sunita Singh Gaur said Muslim mothers and sisters should have their “honour looted” as there is “no other way” to “protect India”.

    New Delhi: Sunita Singh Gaur, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party Mahila Morcha in Uttar Pradesh’s Ramkola, has reportedly been removed from her position after she posted on Facebook that Hindu men should enter Muslim homes and rape the women.

    “There is only one solution for them (Muslims). Hindu brothers should make a group of 10 and gang rape their (Muslims) mothers and sisters openly on the streets and then then hang them in the middle of the bazaar for others to see,” Gaur’s post in Hindi says.

    She goes on to say that Muslim mothers and sisters should have their “honour looted” as there is “no other way” to “protect India”.

    Lallantop reported that the comment has since been deleted and The Wire was unable to ascertain the exact date of the comment. Screenshots of the post have since gone viral on social media.

    Vijaya Rahatkar, national president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, responded to a tweet about Gaur’s posts by saying that such “hateful comments” would not be tolerated and Gaur has been expelled.

    According to the press release Rahatkar tweeted, Gaur was removed from her post on June 27.

    While this would not be the first time BJP leaders have been accused of propagating hate online or offline, the fact that a Mahila Morcha leader was instigating rape and gruesome sexual violence shocked many on social media.

  • “Always Had Faith In People”: PM In First Mann Ki Baat Of Second Term

    Mann Ki Baat: “When I had said in February that I will meet you again in a few months, people said I am over confident. However, I always had faith in the people of India,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi

    New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, in his last Mann Ki Baat promised to return before long, today said he could make the promise because he “had faith in the people”. In the first edition of his popular radio address after the BJP’s mega victory in the national election, he said: “When I had said in February that I will meet you again in a few months, people said I am ‘overconfident’. However, I always had faith in the people of India”.
    “For Mann Ki Baat, I receive so many letters and telephone-calls but there are hardly any elements of complain. Also, in the last five years, I haven’t come across any letter where people demand anything for themselves. Can you imagine such a thing? People writing letters to the Prime Minister demanding nothing for themselves! Such is the greatness of crores of countrymen,” PM Modi said.

    “In the 2019 general elections of India, over 61 crore people voted. The number may seem small but if, barring China, we take the world into perspective, then it is more than population of any country in the world. The number of voters who voted in 2019 Lok Sabha elections is almost double the population of American and more than the population of entire Europe,” PM Modi said.

    He focussed a large portion of his monthly radio address today on the issue of water crisis, asking citizens to find ways to save water.
    “Over the last few months, so many people have written about water related issues. I am happy to see greater awareness on water conservation… I wrote a letter to Gram Pradhans on the importance of water conservation and how to take steps to create awareness on the subject across rural India,” he said.

    “There is no fixed way to conserve water. In different parts, different methods may be adopted but the aim is same – to conserve every drop of water.”

    The PM’s message to save water comes amid a severe water crisis in Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country. The southern state has been reeling under water stress for the past several months after four reservoirs including the Chembarambakkam lake – the largest reached its lowest level. The scorching heat and delayed monsoon further worsened the situation.

    PM Modi’s BJP scored a victory in the national election this year bigger than in 2014 to emerge as the single-largest party. The party kept its core states – the Hindi heartland, Gujarat and Maharashtra – while posting fresh victories in West Bengal, Odisha and the northeast. It also scored a huge win in Karnataka – a state the Congress rules jointly with HD Kumaraswamy.

  • 800,000,000 lives at risk as Himalayas are melting faster than before

    Srinagar, June 22: The melting of Himalayan glaciers has “accelerated” drastically over the past 40 years as a result of global warming. As the ice melts and retreats, the long-lost bodies and bones of dead mountaineers start to surface.

    Satellite observation over China, India, Nepal and Bhutan reveal the glaciers have been loosing more than 18 inches or 1.5ft of ice per year since 2000. Climate change experts at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in the US, fear glaciers are now loosing twice as much ice as between 1975 and 2000.

    averaged 1C degrees hotter than between 1975 and 2000.

    Scientists presented these findings in a paper in the June 19 issue of the journal Science Advances.

    The study was published under the title of Acceleration of ice loss across the Himalayas over the past 40 years.

    Lead author Joshua Maurer, a PhD candidate at Columbia, said: “This is the clearest picture yet of how fast Himalayan glaciers are melting over this time interval, and why.”

    There are many dangers associated with the rapid loss of ice in the Himalayas – primarily the potential loss of life from flooding.

    The Himalayas, which are home to the world’s tallest mountain Mount Everest, hold an approximate 600 billion tonnes of ice and are often dubbed the Third Pole.

    But in the last 40 years alone, Mr Maurer said the Himalayan glaciers may have lost a quarter of their mass.

    And a report published by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development this year warned the glaciers could be gone by the year 2100.

    With this comes the increased risk of disrupting water supplies and floods for those living in the shadow of the icy mountain range.

    Some 800 million people depend on seasonal runoffs of freshwater from the Himalayas to drink, nourish their farms and provide hydroelectric power.

    But as the glacial ice continues to melt and disappear, the danger is two-fold – access to drinking water will become scarce and melting ice will naturally pool into volatile reservoirs of water.

    These reservoirs will form when melting ice water gets trapped behind rocks and obstacles, growing in size until they spill over and run down mountains in the form of “glacial lake outburst floods” (GLOFs).

    A 2017 study in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia warns: “GLOFs clearly may also have catastrophic societal impacts, if they affect settled areas.

    “Fatal GLOFs have been documented in the Andes and in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region.

    “With ongoing climate change, the risk of GLOFs has been predicted to increase, due to the formation and evolution of different subtypes of new, potentially hazardous, glacial lakes, often hand in hand with both the increasing vulnerability of the elements at risk and low adaptive capacity.”

    Joseph Shea, a glacial geographer from the University of Northern British Columbia who was not part of the original study, argued the glaciers are directly responding to the burning of fossil fuels.

    The climate expert told Columbia’s Earth Institute: “In the long term, this will lead to changes in the timing and magnitude of streamflow in a heavily populated region.

  • Vote Against Palestinian NGO Not Against Palestine Cause: Foreign Ministry

    In a rare move, India on June 6 voted in favour of Israel in the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to deny the Palestinian non-governmental organisation “Shahed” the observer status

    Foreign ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that India has made such votes before

    New Delhi: India’s vote in the UN’s ECOSOC against a Palestinian NGO should not in any way be construed as a vote against the Palestinian cause, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.
    In a rare move, India on June 6 voted in favour of Israel in the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to deny the Palestinian non-governmental organisation “Shahed” the observer status, after Israel said the organisation did not disclose its ties with Hamas.

    MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the vote should not be in any way be construed as a vote against the Palestinian cause.

    “We voted in favour of a proposal which was submitted by Israel at the Economic and Social Council of the UN for further scrutiny by the committee on NGOs. The proposal was submitted by Israel based on information that the NGO allegedly has close contacts with terrorist organisations,” he said.

    Mr Kumar said the vote was is in line with India’s position on greater scrutiny by the NGO committee of the consultive status application for possible terrorist linkages and to screen the NGO application with the sanctions list of the UN Security Council before ECOSOC NGO status is granted to them.

    “Again, it should not be seen as something linked to the Palestinian cause. It is something we have done in the past. It was done so that proper vetting is done before it is admitted as an ECOSOC observer,” the MEA spokesperson said.

    The ECOSOC vote, which took place at the UN, saw countries such as the US, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK, South Korea and Canada polling in favour of Israel, while China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and others voted against it

    The proposal made by the Palestinian NGO “Shahed” to obtain observer status in the UN was rejected by a 28-14 vote.

  • My father harassing me for having Muslim boyfriend, brother not helping either: Hrithik’s sister

    Actor Hrithik Roshan’s sister Sunaina Roshan has claimed that her family is making her life unbearable just because she is in love with a Muslim man.

    “I am living in hell as usual. I read Rangoli’s tweets and I don’t care because that is the truth. I am fine with her tweeting because I want the truth to come out. I have always supported the truth and I will always support it. I am meeting Kangana and Rangoli today as they are bringing me justice. I know this stance of mine will go against me but I don’t care,” she said.

    Sunaina alleged that her father Rakesh Roshan slapped her because she is in relationship with Muslim guy. Reportedly Sunaina is in relationship with Journalist Ruhail Amin.

    “Because I was in love with a Muslim guy, my father slapped me and told me that the guy I loved was a terrorist, which Ruhail isn’t. If he was one, would he go scot-free and work in the media? Wouldn’t he have been behind bars?” she asked.

    The celebrity sister said that her parents, Rakesh Roshan and Pinkie Roshan, do not want her to meet Ruhail. “I didn’t want to talk about this but I want them to accept Ruhail right now because they are making my life hell and I cannot tolerate it… They don’t want me to meet him. I don’t know about marriage but right now I want to be with Ruhail. Just because he is Muslim, they cannot accept him. If he was a terrorist, why would he be open in the media? Why would he be all over Google?” she said.

    When asked what Hrithik had to say about her relationship, Sunaina said, “Hrithik has no take as he is under my father’s guidance right now. Nobody is okay with my relationship, neither Hrithik nor my father. Hrithik had promised me that he would get me a house of my own, wherever that I wanted in Mumbai, but he has not done that. When I found a rented apartment for myself in Lokhandwala, he said it’s too expensive for me. Is 2.5 lakhs rent too expensive for him? I don’t think so. He didn’t stick to his words. Everybody is harassing me today.”

    Notably Hrithik’s ex wife Suzanne Khan is a Muslim.

  • Congress govt missed opportunity to resolve Kashmir issue in 1971: PM Modi

    SRINAGAR, APR 21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that congress govt missed opportunity to resolve Kashmir issue .

    During election rally in Barmer PM Modi said Cong govt missed opportunity to resolve Kashmir issue in 1971 by releasing 90000 Pakistani soldiers who surrendered.

    PM Modi accused Congress of losing the upper hand India had after the 1971 war with Pakistan by surrendering the advantage at the Shimla round table conference.

    PM added India has stopped the policy of getting scared of Pakistan’s threats. Every other day they used to say “We’ve nuclear button, we’ve nuclear button” … What do we have then? Have we kept it for Diwali?

    Following the eight tragic blasts in Sri Lanka on Sunday, where 207 are reported to be killed and around 450 injured, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tweeted condemning the horrific blasts, extending India’s solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka. He also shared his thoughts and prayers with the victims’ families and the injured.

    He added “Terrorist activities were normal in India as Pakistan was given a free hand. Today terrorists killed innocent people in Sri Lanka. I have decided to teach the terror handlers a lesson; I hit them in their hideouts. (PTK)

  • India should try to resolve issues with Pakistan: P Chidambaram

    SRINAGAR, APR 21: Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said that it wants talks with Pakistan and also batted for people to people contact between citizens of India and Pakistan.

    P Chidambaram has said India should encourage citizens of the country and Pakistan to travel to one another’s nation. He also referred to the Pulwama attack which was carried by Pakistan backed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) as an “aberration”.

    He said “We should encourage more people from India to travel to Pakistan and allow more people from Pakistan to come to India. Not only those people who require medical attention”.

    “Why did we suspend trade 2-3 days ago? If there are any aberrations then address that. We should try to resolve issues with Pakistan. Kartarpur is a good beginning but it is being stalled. Why can’t we complete the task? There are ways in which we can make it clear to them to change their attitude towards us,” he said. (PTK)

  • Had warned Pak of consequences if pilot not returned: PM

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday said he had warned Pakistan of consequences if it had not returned Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.

    Addressing a poll rally at Patan in his home state Gujarat, he also took a jibe at NCP leader Sharad Pawar, saying if he is unaware of his next move, then how Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan can gauge what he will do.

    Following the air strike at Balakot terror camp in Pakistan, there was a dogfight between Indian and Pakistani fighter planes on February 27 in which IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by the neighbouring country.

    Loading…
    Before his jet was hit, the IAF pilot downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan. He was released on the night of March 1 by Pakistan.

    Referring to it, Modi said after the pilot was caught, the opposition started seeking a reply from him over this.

    “We conducted a press conference and warned Pakistan that if anything happened to our pilot, you will keep telling the world that Modi did this to you,” he said.

    “A senior American official said on the second day that Modi has kept ready 12 missiles and might attack and the situation will deteriorate. Pakistan announced to return the pilot on the second day, else it was going to be a “qatal ki raat’,” Modi said.

    “This was said by America, I have nothing to say about this now, I will speak about it when the time will come,” he added.

    Asserting his government’s commitment towards national security, Modi said whether the prime minister’s chair remains or not, he has decided that either he will be alive or terrorists will remain alive.

    He also took a swipe at Pawar, who on Saturday said he was “terribly afraid” as to what Modi, who once called Pawar his mentor in politics, would do next.

    “Sharad Pawar says I don’t know what will Modi do. If he is unaware of what Modi will do tomorrow, how will Imran Khan know? Modi said.

    The prime minister also appealed to people of Gujarat to make the BJP victorious on all 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state, where polling will be held on Tuesday

    “It is the duty of people of my home state to take care of the ‘son of the soil’, give all 26 seats in Gujarat to me,” he said.

    “My government will come back to power for sure, but if Gujarat doesn’t give 26 seats (to BJP), the TV discussions on May 23 will be why it happened?” he said. @PTI