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Smiling Without Answering: Rajnath confident of return of normalcy to Valley

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Smiling Without Answering: Rajnath confident of return of normalcy to Valley

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Home Minister took all questions without answering most of them

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr

The majority of questions at Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s press briefing on Saturday to mark three years of the Narendra Modi government centered on the deteriorating situation in the Kashmir Valley. The questioners wanted to know whether the government would take a tough stand against Pakistan, whether there would be talks with hardliners and whether the solution is to be found in military or political terms.

In a rare instance with a member of this government, Singh took all the questions on board, deflected most of them, and expressed in bland terms that the situation is “improving” in the Valley and it would become stable soon enough. He did not snub any of the questioners for pressing on with the K questions because it seemed that all the questioners were sufficiently anti-separatist and anti-Pakistan in their tone of questioning.

One of the reporters of a channel told the minister about the sting operation carried out by the channel showing Hurriyat leaders accepting money from Pakistan sources, and persisted in knowing whether government would take stern action against them now that proof of wrong-doing has been established. Singh did not walk into the trap but he seemed pleased by the line of questioning.

The journalists wanted Singh’s response to the fact that the protests in the Valley were not any more Pakistan-centric as much as they were Islam-centric. Singh amiably evaded an answer. He refused to answer whether the Army chief’s support for Major Leetul Gogoi for using a Kashmiri civilian as a shield was right, and what his view was in the matter, and he was told that his cabinet colleague M. Venkaiah Naidu supported the army action. All that Singh said was that Naidu was right.

Singh adopted a politically correct stance and said that youth of Kashmir were the future of the country as well as Kashmir, and it is not right that they should be using their hands for pelting stones. He squarely blamed Pakistan for misleading and inciting the students. He said a Pakistan which could not manage to hold Balochistan, Federal Authority of Tribal Areas (FATA), Sindh and Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa, and which had earlier failed to keep its eastern part (now Bangladesh). He also said that the government was willing to speak to any group in the Valley which was willing to talk, and that no one was excluded.

He admitted the Kashmir problem cannot be solved in a jiffy because it has been there since 1947, and he said that the solution will have to be an integrated, and not a piecemeal, one.

The Home Minister was quite at home with the media, and he did not hesitate even to banter, recognizing many of them by name. Members of the Modi government, following the prime minister’s stay-away-from-the-media policy, have been quite wary of media interaction. But Singh let his guard down as it were, and interacted rather freely with the reporters.

His other areas of focus were the Left-wing extremism affected areas, which he glibly referred to as LW and the North-East. When there was a pointed question about the recent Sukma ambush where policemen were killed, he passed over the question. When asked about the settlement of Rohingya Muslims in Jammu, there was a visible fumble when he said it was for the state government to handle.

When asked for his reaction on the NIA raids in Kashmir, Singh refused to comment, saying he didn’t want to comment on it because it was an autonomous agency.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Centre issues notice to Wikipedia on complaints of bias, inaccuracies

The government also questioned why Wikipedia should not be classified as a publisher, rather than an intermediary.

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Centre issues notice to Wikipedia on complaints of bias, inaccuracies

The Centre on Tuesday has issued a notice to Wikipedia over multiple complaints about bias and inaccuracies on the platform. The government in its letter to Wikipedia highlighted that a small group of editors appears to have significant control over the contents, particularly influencing its neutrality. 

Reports said that the government also questioned why Wikipedia should not be classified as a publisher, rather than an intermediary. However, neither Wikipedia nor the government has issued an official statement on the matter so far. 

Wikipedia, popularly known as free online encyclopedia, allows volunteers to create and edit pages on a wide variety of topics, including people, issues and various fields of knowledge. This recent development follows two months after the Delhi High Court slammed Wikipedia and also warned it of a potential ban in India during a case filed by news agency ANI, which alleged that its Wikipedia page contained inaccuracies and defamatory content. 

In the last hearing, Justice Subramonium Prasad further observed that Wikipedia might not be entitled to defend the defamatory edits since it claims to be only an intermediary. The Delhi HIgh Court also questioned if Wikipedia is an intermediary, why is it bothered? It added that if somebody else has edited and that addition is without basis, then it comes down.

It further stated that Wikipedia is not here to protect the editors but is a mere wall. The court opined that it will only see whether the opinion given in the encyclopaedia does not depict the correct picture, as not true representation of the article. However, Wikipedia clarified that it was not defending the statements or edits made on Wikipedia’s page about ANI. It further sought to assist the court in the matter, particularly with regard to the architecture of the platform. 

Notably, Wikipedia has faced growing criticism for alleged bias and inaccuracies, especially amid the ongoing US presidential elections. Elon Musk, owner of X, has publicly accused Wikipedia of supporting far-left ideologies. He also urged the public to stop donating to Wikipedia, claiming it is controlled by far-left activists.

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JMM-RJD-Congress are supporters of Bangladesh infiltrators: PM Modi at Jharkhand rally

Narendra Modi further claimed that if the bad policies of JMM, Congress and RJD continue, the adivasi society in Jharkhand will shrink

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JMM-RJD-Congress are supporters of Bangladesh infiltrators: PM Modi at Jharkhand rally

Ahead of the Jharkhand Assembly election, PM Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the incumbent Hemant Soren government, accusing it to put appeasement at the top of its agenda.

While addressing a rally in Jharkhand’s Garhwa, the Prime Minister said the coalition government of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and RJD are supporters of Bangladesh infiltrators. He said that the JMM-RJD-Congress government has taken appeasement to its peak, and that these parties are destroying the state’s social harmony. He alleged that the parties are supporters of infiltrators, and to get votes of Bangladesh infiltrators, they are getting them settled across Jharkhand.

The Prime Minister stated that when schools disallow Saraswati Vandana, one can imagine how big the danger is. When there is stone-pelting during festivals, Maa Durga is stopped and curfew is imposed, one knows how dangerous it is, he continued. The Prime Minister also added that when the issue of infiltration goes to court and the administration denies, it becomes clear that the government machinery has been infiltrated. PM Modi was referring to allegations that a Muslim teacher stopped prayers to Goddess Saraswati at a school in Jharkhand’s Giridih.

Narendra Modi further claimed that if the bad policies of JMM, Congress and RJD continue, the adivasi society in Jharkhand will shrink, and advised people to use their vote to uproot this infiltrator coalition. He maintained that Jharkhand’s swift development is possible only if it has a government that expedites the implementation of central schemes.

Referring to the JMM’s decision to replace Champai Soren as Chief Minister after Hemant Soren was granted bail in a money laundering case, PM Modi said that the party has left no stones unturned in humiliating an adivasi son. He asked how the party will take care of the people of the state when nothing matters to them more than family. He added that he does not have a family, and the people are his family. He also mentioned that Champai Soren, once a trusted lieutenant of Hemant Soren, is now with the BJP.

Slamming the ruling coalition of corruption, he said that corruption hollows out the country like termites, and destroys the poor, Dalits, people from backward classes and tribals. He claimed that Jharkhand has seen for five years the corruption of the JMM-Congress-RJD government.

He also referred to the massive cash haul from the home of Congress’s former Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu last year. Mentioning that mountains of cash are recovered from the home of Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP, he questioned if this money didn’t belong to Jharkhand.

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Ruckus in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly over resolution against Article 370 abrogation

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah addressing the session, said that the resolution has no importance and it is only for the cameras.

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Ruckus in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly over resolution against Article 370 abrogation

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Monday witnessed chaos after People’s Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Waheed Para moved a resolution opposing the abrogation of Article 370 and called for restoring the union territory’s special status.

Waheed Para, the PDP MLA from the Pulwama Assembly seat, submitted the resolution to newly elected Speaker, Abdul Rahim Rather and requested for a discussion on the matter during the five-day session, despite not being a part of the agenda.

It was submitted that although the agenda of the House has been finalised, they believe that the authority as the Speaker allows the inclusion of the resolution, as it reflects the sentiment of the people at large. After the resolution was submitted, all 28 Jammu and Kashmir BJP MLAs stood up to oppose the move, leading to noisy scenes inside the Assembly.

As the members protested, BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma demanded Para’s suspension for bringing the resolution in violation of Assembly rules. The agitation continued even after the Speaker repeatedly requested the protesting members to take their seats. He asserted the resolution has not come to him yet and when it does, he would examine it.

While the BJP members refused to call off their protest, National Conference MLAs slammed them for interrupting the proceedings of the House. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah addressing the session, said that the resolution has no importance and it is only for the cameras.

The Chief Minister added that how the House will reflect and discuss this matter will not be decided by any one member. If there was a purpose behind the resolution, then they would have discussed this with the government before, he continued.

Nonetheless, CM Abdullah also admitted that the people of Jammu and Kashmir do not approve of the decision taken on August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also said that his government will make all efforts for the restoration of full statehood. He mentioned that restoration of full statehood would be a reciprocation of the faith reposed by the people of Jammu and Kashmir in democratic institutions.

Meanwhile, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti expressed that she was proud of Waheed Para for submitting the resolution.

Notably, Article 370 was a provision in the Constitution that granted special autonomy to the region of Jammu and Kashmir. It also allowed the state to have its own constitution, flag, and autonomy over internal matters except defense, communications, and foreign affairs.

However, the Centre on August 5, 2019 revoked Article 370, effectively removing the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and reorganising it into two Union Territories namely, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

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