India News
Hafiz Saeed’s JuD and FIF no more banned organizations
Imran Khan’s government not extended presidential ordinance
The outfits of Jamaatud Dawa (JUD) and Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) headed by Pakistan’s denounced terrorist Hafiz Mohammad Saeed are no more on the list of banned outfits following the lapse of the presidential ordinance proscribing them under a UN resolution lapsed.
India considers Hafiz Saeed a most wanted terrorist because of his ties to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, Mumbai train bombings in 2006 and 2001 attack on Parliament. Saeed is listed on NIA most wanted list and India has banned his organizations LeT and JuD.
According to Dawn report published on Saturday, Hafiz Saeed’s counsels Raja Rizwan Abbasi and Sohail Warraich informed Islamabad High Court on Thursday that the presidential ordinance had lapsed and it had never been extended. Imran Khan Government has not extended the ordinance or tabled it in parliament to convert into an act.
The petitioner- Hafiz Saeed had challenged the ordinance under which his organisations had been banned for being on the watch list of the UN Security Council.
Saeed said he was kept in detention in 2009 and 2017 “due to India’s pressure” and the UNSC had passed a resolution against JuD after which the government of Pakistan put it on the watch list. He termed it against the sovereignty of Pakistan that an ordinance was issued to ban his organization.
Hafiz Saeed contended in the petition that he established JuD in 2002 and cut off all ties with the banned Lashkar-i-Taiba, but India continued to malign JuD for its past association with the banned outfit.
This year in February, Mamnoon Hussian, the former president promulgated an ordinance amending the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, with regards to proscription of terrorist individuals and organizations to include entities listed by the UNSC-in a move to declare JuD and FIF as proscribed groups.
Dawn further reports that Raja Khalid Mehmood Khan, the deputy attorney generalhas confirmed that the ordinance had lapsed. However, he declined to give a statement on behalf of the interior ministry on the subject.
Subsequently, Justice Farooq disposed of the petition saying that it became in-fructuous since the ordinance challenged by the petitioner had lapsed. Islamabad High Court has also observed that in case the government renewed this ordinance, Saeed was at liberty to file another petition.
In 2012, the US administration announced a bounty of $ 10 million on Hafiz Saeed, while UK, European Union, Russia and Australia have also banned LeT. India has demanded Saeed be handed over to New Delhi but the two countries don’t have extradition treaty.
India News
Rajya Sabha passes Women’s Reservation Bill, all it now needs is President Murmu’s assent
The Rajya Sabha passed the Women’s Reservation Bill unanimously on Thursday. A voice vote was taken with Chairman of the House Jagdeep Dhankhar declaring the ayes have it. Then it was voted on with 215 in support and zero against.
The Rajya Sabha passed the Women’s Reservation Bill unanimously on Thursday. A voice vote was taken with Chairman of the House Jagdeep Dhankhar declaring the ayes have it. Then it was voted on with 215 in support and zero against.
Just before the vote, drawing the two-day discussions in both Houses to a close, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the members and political parties for their constructive suggestions. He noted some 132 members spoke in both Houses of Parliament.
The synergy of the government and the Opposition over women’s reservation was a confidence-building measure, he said. This sends a new message to the people, he added. The Lok Sabha had cleared the Bill yesterday with 454 votes in favour and 2 against.
Earlier in the Rajya Sabha, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said with 33% reservation for women in the country, India will steal a march over developed nations which don’t have such measures.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, wondered why the reservation was being promised after Census and delimitation. He demanded that the House be told when the reservation will be in effect as to the date and month and year when it will come into force.
Kharge joked if like the Rs 15 lakh and the 2 crore job promise of the BJP ahead of elections, this would also be an election jumla as said by party leaders. He said almost every party supports you on the Bill but let our support not go waste in election propaganda of the BJP. Raising each and every point, Kharge kept repeating that he was supporting the Bill in a scene reminiscent of Mark Antony’s speech from the play Julius Caesar. Pushing for the OBC quota, he said even SC/ST officers don’t even make it to joint secretary level.
Kharge asked if you can come up with the sudden demonetisation of 2016, why didn’t you bring this Bill then? There was no Opposition to you in the first term in the Lok Sabha, he charged.
Congress MP KC Venugopal mocked the BJP for its pro-women stance by saying that its stalwarts Vajpayee, Advani and Jaswant Singh voted against women’s quota in 1989.
Earlier, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the BJP has been consistently in support of women’s reservation. She said the BJP doesn’t like to bring politics in women-related matters.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi slammed the UPA government for not supporting the Bill in the Lok Sabha. He said its allies did not want this Bill to be passed.
Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan noted that when a similar Bill was presented in the House in the presence of CPM leader Brinda Karat and late Sushma Swaraj but failed to pass. Bachchan said the SP is not against the Bill, her party has some concerns as echoed by other parties as well.
Before this, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien and Dhankhar had an altercation over time allotted to MPs to speak on the issue.
Independent MP Kapil Sibal demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah if they do not complete the process of delimitation and implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill by 2029.
India News
Mumbai Police arrest two people who kidnapped, raped 14-year-old girl in moving taxi
Police have identified the two accused as Shiv Prakash Pandey and Salman Shaikh. Both of them are aged 25 years and 27 years respectively.
Mumbai Police have registered a case against two people who kidnapped and then raped a 14 year old girl in a taxi. According to the police the girl had a fight with her family members. She decided to go in Malvani in Malad to meet her relative. On seeing the girl alone a taxi driver asked to drop her off to Malwani. The girl agreed and started going to Malwani with him.
The accused taxi driver took the taxi to Dadar. The Taxi driver stopped and made the accused Salman Shaikh sit with him. The family came to know about the girl’s disappearance. The girl’s family members contacted the Malabar Hill police station. They informed the police about the kidnapping.
A case was registered by the police as the girl was underage. A technical investigation was started by the police and came to know the girl had gone to a relative’s place in Malad. A team of police officers was sent to Malad to bring back the girl. Situation became serious when the girl revealed what happened on her way to Malad.
A police officer added two men were present inside the taxi. One was the taxi driver and the other man raped the girl at the back seat of the car. Different teams were formed to carry out the investigation in the case. The CCTV footage of the area was also used. According to the police the incident took place between Malad and Dadar.
Police have identified the two accused as Shiv Prakash Pandey and Salman Shaikh. Both of them are aged 25 years and 27 years respectively. According to the police Salman Shaikh works in a hotel in Dadar. The victim gave a statement on the basis of which a case has been registered in related POCSO section and section 376 of IPC. The accused have been produced in court where the court sent them to police custody till September 25.
India News
Punjab: CM Bhagwant Mann hands over Rs 1 crore cheques to Anantnag encounter martyrs families
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also assured all possible help and support to the families of the martyred soldiers.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday handed over cheques of Rs 1 crore each to the bereaved families of martyrs Colonel Manpreet Singh and martyr Pradeep Singh. They were among the soldiers who laid their lives in protecting the nation in Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir.
The anti-terror week-long operation in the Garol forests in the Anantnag district ended on Tuesday. The operation began when Colonel Manpreet Singh, commanding officer, 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonchak and deputy superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Humayun Bhat were killed by terrorists.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also assured all possible help and support to the families of the martyred soldiers. He expressed that martyr Colonel Manpreet Singh and martyr Pradeep Singh will always live in their memories.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the Chief Minister conveyed that he met the families of Colonel Manpreet Singh of Kharar Constituency and Shaheed Pradeep Singh of Samana Constituency. He added that the families were handed over cheques of Rs 1 crore from the government as an honorarium.
According to reports, Colonel Manpreet Singh, commanding officer of the Rashtriya Rifles (19 RR) and a recipient of the prestigious Sena Medal (Gallantry), spoke to his family, just hours before dying of gunshot wounds. He is survived by wife, 2-year-old daughter, 6-year-old son, mother and a brother.
The body of martyred soldier Pradeep Singh was recovered on Monday, after he went missing on the first day of the encounter. Martyr Pradeep Singh was with the Sikh Light Infantry and was a part of 19 Rashtriya Rifles. Reportedly, the 27-year-old soldier served in the Indian Army for seven years. He hailed from Patiala in Punjab and is survived by his wife.
Addressing a function late on Sunday evening, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha expressed that every drop of blood of the slain security personnel will be avenged and the terrorist handlers will have to pay a heavy price. He added that they have complete faith in the soldiers and the entire nation stands in solidarity with them.
