ARE YOU PLANNING TO DEMOLISH LODHI ROAD MOSQUE: HC
The Delhi High Court on April 6 asked the Centre and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to inform it if it has plans to demolish the Lal Masjid, an ancient mosque situated near Lodhi Road in the national capital. The Delhi Waqf Board sought the court’s intervention against any such demolition, saying police have informed the mosque’s imam to vacate the premises as it was going to be demolished. Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva adjourned the hearing of the case to Wednesday after the counsel representing the Centre and CRPF sought time to seek instructions. “I will give you as much time as you want, but don’t change the status. We will have it tomorrow, but you should not come tomorrow and say, ‘Sorry, we have demolished the building’. I will then haul up your officials for contempt,” observed the court. Senior advocate Sanjoy Ghose, representing the Board, told the court the matter is pending before the Waqf Tribunal, but the case has not been decided yet due to repeated adjournments and also because the statutory body is not functional, as two of the member-positions in it have remained vacant since December 2020.
COURT PERMITS ASI TO SURVEY KASHI TEMPLE, MASJID COMPLEX
A court in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on April 8 allowed the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a survey of Kashi Vishwanath Temple and the Gyanvapi Masjid complex. The directive came on a petition filed by lawyer VS Rastogi, according to News18. He sought that the land on which the Gyanvapi Masjid is located should be given to Hindus. Rastogi’s petition was filed in December 2019 on behalf of Vishweshwar, the main deity of the temple, asking the Archaeological Survey of India to undertake a survey. The Uttar Pradesh government will bear the cost of the survey, the court ruled. In January, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, the panel that manages the masjid, had filed an objection to Rastogi’s petition. In 1998, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee had moved the Allahabad High Court saying that the dispute could not be adjudicated by a civil court as it was barred by the Act. The High Court had then stayed the proceedings in the civil court.
COPS BEAT MAN MERCILESSLY OVER WEARING MASK IMPROPERLY
An incident of appalling cruelty in Madhya Pradesh has taken place following the Central and state governments’ order to enforce safety measures for Covid. A man in Indore was severely beaten up by two policemen, allegedly for his failure to wear a mask properly, a report said on April 6. The mask of Krishna Keyer, a 35-year-old auto rickshaw driver, had slipped down his nose when he was on way to meet his ailing father in a hospital. Noticing this, two policemen caught him on the road and demanded that he come to the police station. When he refused, they started beating him up. A cellphone video taken by a bystander shows them kicking and punching the man mercilessly as he lay on the ground. Though the policemen – Kamal Prajapat and Dharmendra Jat – were identified, no action was reportedly taken. Only after the video was circulated widely, they were suspended and sent to the Police Lines.
EC SUSPENDS 4 OFFICERS AFTER EVM FOUND IN BJP LEADER’S CAR
The Election Commission on April 2 suspended four poll officials and ordered repolling in a booth in Ratabari constituency of Assam, after the electronic voting machine used to cast the ballots was found in a car belonging to a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate. The presiding officer, who was responsible for the transportation of the EVM, was among those suspended. The poll panel said that one of the polling officer was missing until Thursday morning as he was hiding and a search operation was conducted all night. “This delayed the transmission of this report by a few hours,” it added.
OUTRAGE AS ASSAM BJP MINISTER THREATENS SCRIBE FOR REPORT
An audio clip of Assam minister and BJP candidate Pijush Hazarika verbally abusing and threatening a Muslim journalist has gone viral on social media, a report said on April 2. Nazrul Islam, a correspondent for the television news channel Pratidin Time has filed an FIR at the Jagiroad police station against the minister of state (independent charge) of urban development, health and family welfare . The incident took place on Thursday, April 1. In the nearly six-minute clip, Hazarika who is an MLA from the Jagiroad constituency in Assam’s Morigaon district is heard telling Islam that “he will break his legs and drag him out to the streets.” The video showed Hazarika’s wife and actor Aimee Baruah making a speech in an election campaign rally addressing a crowd of mostly Bengali Hindus.
ATTACKED TIKAIT’S CONVOY IN ALWAR TO GET PUBLICITY: ACCUSED
The attack on farmer leader Rakesh Tikait in Alwar on Friday was organised by a student leader of the Akhil Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to garner publicity. Kuldeep Yadav, a student leader associated with ABVP, currently under arrest for the attack on Tikait’s convoy, has reportedly made this confession during interrogation by the Alwar police. Though the BJP denies any links with the arrested student leader, a string of pictures that show Kuldeep Yadav with senior BJP leaders have now gone viral on social media. Among those who are seen with Kuldeep Yadav are state BJP chief, Satish Poonia, MP of Alwar, Baba Balaknath and ABVP state Secretary Hoshiar Meena. The additional SP of Alwar Gurusharan Rao remarked, “Kuldeep Yadav is trying to create a political space for himself and he has told us that he hoped to create a special identity for himself by organising this attack on Rakesh Tikait.” He further added, “Yadav had borrowed 3 lakh rupees from his uncle and spent about 50,000 on the youngsters who supported him in organising this attack.”
SIKH SOLDIER SAVED COMRADE IN CHHATTISGARH
As gunfire raged around them in the deadly ambush of security forces by Maoists in Chhattisgarh on April 3, a Sikh jawan yanked off his turban to tie it around the wound of a fellow soldier and stop the bleeding. Moments later, he was also shot. Balraj Singh of the elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) and the man he saved, Sub Inspector Abhishek Pandey, are both in hospital in Raipur. 22 security personnel were killed in action in a “u-shaped” attack by some 400 Maoists at the border between the Sukma and Bijapur districts. The CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) soldiers were severely outnumbered and surrounded.
KUMBH MIGHT BECOME COVID ‘SUPER SPREADER’
A senior official in the Central government, during a Secretary-level meeting over the COVID-19 situation in the country on April 5, expressed apprehension that the ongoing Kumbh might become a “super spreader”, a report citing a top source in the government said. The report said the government is worried about the Kumbh and discussed this at a high-level meeting on April 5. “If the government does not decide to end Kumbh before the stipulated time, it may become a COVID-19 ‘super spreader’,” a member in the high-level meeting said. “The government is forming a team that will appeal to all with the help of sadhus and religious leaders to ensure pilgrims, who are visiting the Kumbh, wear masks and follow social distancing,” he was reported as saying. “At the same time, the government also suggested that a message should be given through TV and radio, and posters should be put up at public places to create awareness amongst masses that the pandemic is not over yet,” he added.