IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – January 4th, 2010

by iamcadmin on January 3, 2010

In this issue

Communal Harmony

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

Communal Harmony

Communal harmony campaign (Dec 28, 2009, Express Buzz)

A Communal Harmony Campaign was organised in DM School, Regional
Institute of Education here recently. A host of activities including
drama, dance, short skit lecture were carried out to sensitise the
students about the need for fostering communal harmony and national
integration as well as a sense of fraternity.

Principal of the
institute Prof UK Nanda addressed the students during the communal
harmony campaign while headmaster of the school A Mishra motivated
them. Activity coordinator Dr Ramdas Ray initiated the fund raising
which is one of the components of the campaign.

A sum of Rs 3600 was raised and a draft of the same amount was sent to the National Communal Harmony Foundation too.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/print.aspx?artid=5KRE8cRsksQ=

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News Headlines

To get job in Surat, Muslim took Hindu name; revealed when he was killed (Dec 29, 2009, Express India)

All Mehboob Pathan (50) of Valak village on Surat’s outskirts wanted
was a job in the city. Having a Muslim name, he felt, came in the way.
So, to get himself a job in Surat’s diamond units, he passed himself
off as Jayenti Bhatti, and managed to find work in two separate units
in the Kapodara area. Early this week, his "cover" was blown, after he
was brutally killed over a monetary dispute. As the distraught family
stepped forward to admit that Jayenti Bhatti was indeed Mehboob Pathan,
they worried that having been cremated as a Hindu, the practising
Muslim’s soul may not find peace. In the ledgers of Surat’s diamond
units, there are many leading a double life like Pathan. His son
Mushtaq is registered as Mukesh and daughter Samina as Sharmila, and
both are afraid of losing their jobs if the fact was known.

Diamond
industry sources and workers say many Muslims assume Hindu names to
find work in the city’s lucrative diamond business. One of them,
Allarakha Khan, admits to having passed himself off as a Hindu like
many others from his village. "We would not get a job if we are known
to be Muslims. We have been doing this for a long time, and we take
great care not to reveal our real names or addresses at work," he told
The Indian Express. Rohit Mehta, president of the Surat Diamond
Association, however, denied knowledge of Muslims passing themselves
off as Hindus for jobs. "We will inquire into this," he said. Pathan’s
story came to be known after his body was found in a farm at Antroli
last Monday, with the head smashed in. The police registered a case and
kept the unclaimed body in the Palsana Primary Health Centre mortuary
till Thursday. Then they arranged to give Pathan alias Bhatti a Hindu
funeral, with all the rites.

His family, who had been looking
for Pathan, had filed a missing complaint. Then, seeing news stories in
local newspapers about an unclaimed body, Mehboob’s brother-in-law
Iqbal Pathan decided to check. By that time, Pathan had been cremated,
but the brother-in-law identified him from a photo of the body. The
family says Pathan was a pious Muslim and the change of name was just
so that he and his children could find and keep a job. "We are too poor
to do anything, but how could the police dispose of his body the Hindu
way?" asks son Mushtaq. "A genital examination would have shown he was
a Muslim."

Sub-Inspector of Kadodara police V R Malhotra said
they had kept the body in the mortuary hoping someone would turn up.
"We disposed it of according to Hindu rites not knowing he was a
Muslim. The family turned up too late and we are now helpless."
Kapodara police inspector S J Tirmizi, who is probing the murder,
confirmed that Pathan had passed himself off as Bhatti for work. Manoj
Rokad, who is the manager of the Varachha unit in which Pathan’s
daughter Samina works as a diamond polisher, has reportedly confessed
to the murder.

According to the police, Rokad had become a
family friend of the Pathans and knew their real identities. Two years
ago, Pathan had reportedly loaned Rokad Rs 60,000 for an emergency,
which he never returned. Pathan used to call Rokad repeatedly asking
him to return the same, and the latter reportedly asked Pathan to meet
him on December 20. They went to Antroli village, where Rokad allegedly
killed Pathan with the help of two other diamond polishers, who have
been identified as Chhanya Rathod and Sanjay. While Rokad has been
held, and has reportedly admitted that they beat Pathan to death,
Rathod and Sanjay are on the run.

http://www.expressindia.com/story_print.php?storyId=560929

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Paswan demands ban on RSS and Bajrang Dal (Dec 27, 2009, Yahoo)

Lok Janshakti Party president Ramvilas Paswan today charged the RSS
and Bajrang Dal with disturbing communal harmony across the country and
demanded a blanket ban on them.

Charging the Nitish Kumar
government and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi with giving a free hand to
"communal organisations" to spread its wings in Bihar, Paswan, a former
Union minister, alleged, "Nitish Kumar is helpless as he is dependent
on the BJP to complete his term as chief minister of Bihar.

"He
alleged the RSS drill, conducted in Patna after a gap of 15 years, did
not augur well for the state as the drills had been followed by
communal troubles in the past.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20091227/1416/tnl-paswan-demands-ban-on-rss-and-bajran.html

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DIG raped Rajasthan woman 13 years ago, now absconding (Dec 29, 2009, Times of India)

Close on the heels of Ruchika Girhotra’s 19-year-old molestation
case making waves, another episode in which a top cop allegedly raped a
tribal woman 13 years ago but has not been brought to justice has
surfaced in Rajasthan. The victim, hailing from Rajasthan’s Dausa
district, who was allegedly abducted and raped by an IPS officer, today
sat on a dharna here along with her family members and Independent MP
Kirori Lal Meena after she was not allowed to meet Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot at his residence.

Around 50 people led by the MP are on
the dharna at civil line railway crossing demanding justice for the
victim. "Gehlot had given us appointment for the morning, but the
police officer on duty at the CM’s residence denied us entry," the
victim’s husband Khyali Ram Meena told reporters here.

The
woman was allegedly abducted and taken to Noida in Uttar Pradesh in
January 1997 where she was allegedly raped by former Deputy Inspector
General (DIG) Madhukar Tandon, then posted in police headquarters and
is now said to be absconding.

State Home Minister Shanti
Dhariwal said that the event took place some years ago and the
government will find out why the official was not arrested and whether
he is alive or dead. The government will go into the matter, he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5392355.cms

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Rathores anticipatory bail plea rejected, fresh probe on (Dec 30, 2009, Hindustan Times)

The district and sessions court in Panchkula, adjoining Chandigarh,
turned down an interim bail plea by former Haryana director general of
police S.P.S. Rathore on Wednesday, while the Haryana government formed
a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the Ruchika Girhotra
molestation case. Rathore had filed for anticipatory bail following two
fresh first information reports registered against him on Tuesday. The
court fixed January 1 for the next hearing.

The FIRs were based
on the complaints by Ruchika’s father S.C. Girhotra and her brother,
Ashu, that Rathore, after molesting the teenaged Ruchika in 1990, had
pressured the family to withdraw the charge by implicating Ashu in
false cases and trying to kill him, till she committed suicide. They
also accused Rathore of manipulating the post mortem report that
followed Ruchika’s death. A Haryana official on condition of anonymity
stated that since the SIT was headed by a senior police officer, "it
will be hard to influence or manipulate the probe".

The Home
Ministry also showed interest in the case. Ruchika’s father and his
lawyer Pankaj Bharadwaj met Home Minister P. Chidambaram in Delhi on
Wednesday. Bharadwaj told mediapersons the discussion centred on the
possibility of reopening the case, as Rathore had got away with a light
sentence of six months. In his bail plea, Rathore claimed he was being
targeted due to media activism. His lawyer wife, Abha, said not only
was petitioner Anand Prakash manipulating the media, but some
mediapersons were also playing a partisan role.

"We had sued them
(the media) when they carried similar concocted stories 19 years ago.
The cases are pending in different courts to this day," she said. All
this while, Rathore chose to keep silent at the court on Wednesday,
barring one barb for the media: "The day you satisfy me that you have
constitutional powers to decide judicial matters, I will speak to you.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/492076.aspx

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Hang Rathore, says Ruchikas father (Dec 30, 2009, Hindustan Times)

With support for teenaged molestation victim Ruchika Girhotra coming
from all quarters, her family and friends are now seeking the death
penalty for former Haryana top cop SPS Rathore, who molested her and
allegedly hounded her till she killed herself. Ruchika’s father Subhash
Chander Girhotra said that Rathore should be hanged till death. "He has
killed my daughter by misusing his official position. He has ruined my
son and my family. We are virtually homeless today. We want the death
penalty for him (Rathore)," Girhotra said here Wednesday.

Girhotra’s
family has virtually been living in hiding for over 16 years after
Ruchika was molested by Rathore, a former director general of police
(DGP) of Haryana. She committed suicide three years after the
molestation as Rathore allegedly used illegal means to harass her
family and got her brother arrested in a false car theft case. Anand
Prakash – father of Ruchika’s friend Aradhana, who fought the legal
battle against Rathore for 19 years and got his conviction in the
molestation case by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in
Chandigarh last week – also demanded the death penalty for Rathore. "We
want life for life. This man should also suffer for his deeds," Prakash
said.

Rathore, meanwhile, was slapped with two fresh first
information reports (FIRs) by the Panchkula police Tuesday evening. The
former DGP has been booked on serious and non-bailable criminal charges
like attempt to murder, criminal intimidation, forging evidence,
wrongful confinement, fabricating false evidence and criminal
conspiracy. Other police officers who had allegedly colluded with him
have also been charged. Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily Tuesday said
that his ministry was exploring all possibilities of legal action
against Rathore. He said that the Ruchika molestation case was being
treated as a "model case" for dealing with such cases in the future.

Moily
said that the law ministry was examining whether the harsher Section
305 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) – abetment of suicide of a minor,
which entails death penalty or life imprisonment – could be imposed
against Rathore instead of Section 306 (abetment of suicide). Ruchika,
15, a budding tennis player was molested by Rathore here Aug 12, 1990.
After she and her friends complained to the Haryana government, Rathore
allegedly harassed and tortured her, her brother and the rest of her
family, misusing his position as a senior police officer. Ruchika,
unable to cope with the harassment of her family, committed suicide
three years later by consuming poison.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/492052.aspx

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Manipur for CBI probe into fake encounter case (Jan 2, 2010, Express Buzz)

Manipur government is examining the legal aspects of handing over
the investigation into the killing of a youth in an alleged fake
encounter here on July 23 to the CBI, Chief Minister O Ibobo Singh has
said. "The state government is in consultation with legal experts
whether the investigation can now be handed over to CBI or not since a
related case is pending before a court," he said yesterday.

On
December 23, the Guwahati High Court (Manipur bench) passed an order
directing that the investigation be carried out by an agency not
controlled by the state government. He said the state cabinet would
take a decision to hand over the probe to CBI after getting a directive
from the court where a case was pending following a writ petition filed
by family members of the victim Chungkham Sanjit. Police claimed that
27-year-old Sanjit was killed by commandos in an encounter at Imphal
market complex on July 23.

However a major social organisation
Apunba Lup (AL) alleged that the encounter was "fake", leading to wide
protests across the state. The chief minister said talks were being
conducted with the organisation AL, which has been agitating for more
than four months demanding his "resignation on moral grounds" and
dismissal of the commandos. On three student organisations – All
Manipur Students Union (AMSU), Manipur Students’ Federation (MSF) and
Kangleipak Students’ Association (KSA) boycotting classes since
September, Singh reiterated his appeal for its withdrawal.

The
chief minister said the government was in touch with authorities of
private schools for which his government could provide security during
the day, but they had demanded security at night. Buildings of at least
four schools who had defied the ‘diktat’ of the three students bodies
had been set ablaze for holding classes.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/print.aspx?artid=I|yvkJmgXbM=

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Communal clashes at 3 districts (Dec 30, 2009, Times of India)

Tension prevailed in three districts, including Rajsamand, Bhilwara
and Pali following sporadic incidents of communal violence on Monday.
The police worked overtime to keep the situation under control. Later,
markets were closed and a protest rally was taken out in theses
districts. According to the police, some people in the Rajnagar police
station area of Rajsamand district alleged that cows were burnt on
Monday following which some Hindu organisations called a bandh.

Processions
were taken out in protest of the alleged incident. The organisations
threatened to stop tajia processions in the town until the police
arrested the people involved. Divisional commissioner Arpana Arora and
IG P K Vyas rushed to spot on Tuesday and held discussions with
representatives from both the communities. Similarly, tension prevailed
in Sanganer town in Bhilwara district on Tuesday following a clash
between two groups on Monday. SP (Bhilwara) P Ramji tried to appease
the people who refused to take out a tajia procession if the attackers
were not arrested.

In the third incident, some family members
of former MLA Amrit Parmar were allegedly beaten up in Bali town of
Pali district late on Monday night following which clashes which took
place between two groups. Some agitators clashed with policemen also.
Hindu organisations demanded arrest of those involved in the attack.
Police officials said that situation was under control in the three
districts, but additional police force has been deployed.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5393440.cms

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Cash at judges door: Court unhappy with CBI report (Dec 24, 2009, Hindustan Times)

In a new twist to the ‘cash-at-judge’s-door’ scam, a CBI court on
Thursday said it was not satisfied with the investigating agency’s
report for closure of the case and sought a response from the
complainant. Special Judge Darshan Singh observed that the CBI filed
the closure report after it failed to get permission from the Chief
Justice of India to prosecute the judge. He said the CBI could have
initiated action against the other co-accused as no sanction for their
prosecution was required.

The complainant, Amrik Singh, the camp
peon of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur, has been asked to respond to the notice
by January 11. An amount of Rs 15 lakh was delivered at the residence
of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on
August 13, 2008, following which she reported the matter to the police.

Former
Haryana Additional Advocate General Sanjeev Bansal’s clerk, the prime
accused in the case, allegedly delivered the money. The police
registered an FIR on August 16 and the case was handed over to the CBI
on August 28. High Court Judge Nirmal Yadav denied the allegation that
the money was actually meant for her. She had to proceed on leave and
is still not conducting judicial work in the court.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/490261.aspx

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AP loses property worth over Rs 250 cr over Telangana issue (Dec 27, 2009, Indian Express)

As Andhra Pradesh boils over the Telangana issue, public and private
properties worth over Rs 250 crore were destroyed by protesters in all
the three regions of the state so far, government sources said. Adding
the loss caused to businesses because of the seemingly unending spate
of shutdowns in Telangana, the figure could be a few hundred crores of
rupees more. Of the total loss to properties, about 80 per cent was
caused in Telangana region alone where people demanding a separate
state have been more "violent," the sources said. As many as 52 public
and 28 private properties were burnt while 62 public and 114 private
properties were damaged in the violence that broke out in Telangana
region from November 29 to December 9, after TRS chief K Chandrasekhar
Rao began his indefinite fast demanding separate statehood for
Telanagana.

The agitations supporting a united state recorded
37 public properties and 11 private properties being burnt and 46
public and 47 private properties damaged between December 10 and 23,
statistics compiled by the police reveal. The state-run Andhra Pradesh
Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) bore the brunt of the strife with
35 buses being burnt and another to 214 damaged. 50 private buses were
also damaged and seven were set on fire by Telangana protesters.

Pro-Telangana
groups went on a rampage and damaged as many as 268 buses in the state
capital and other districts of Telangana region on a single day
following the Centre’s announcement on the statehood issue on December
23. Besides, over 50 public and over 150 private properties were also
badly burnt or damaged in the second round of "protests" in Telangana
so far. According to Transport Minister S Vijayarama Raju, APSRTC
suffered a loss of over Rs 110 crore since November 29. "These are only
bare estimates as the destructions are still continuing in Telangana
region," a top ranking bureaucrat said.

The protesters also
targeted railway properties causing a loss of several crores of rupees
due to burning of four railway stations and other damages at various
places in all the three regions of Andhra Pradesh. The protesters
damaged railway signalling panels and equipments besides burning two
bogies and pelting stones on two Express trains. "Apart from attacks on
railway properties in view of bandhs, rail rokos and demonstrations,
railways are also losing particularly due to non-transportation of
goods and parcel which are lying at different railway stations," a
senior official of the South Central Railway (SCR) said.

The
protesters did not spare telephone exchanges, cell phone towers. They
also set fire to optical fibre cables at a BSNL warehouse in Anantapur
causing over Rs 30 lakh loss. The number of persons who ended their
lives demanding Telangana state was three times higher in the region
with 18 persons resorting to the extreme step while six persons
committed suicide in support of unified Andhra Pradesh. As many as 82
persons tried to end their lives for Telangana state while 49 attempted
suicide in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, police sources said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/559730/

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Minority for Muslim in BPL census? (Jan 2, 2010, Times of India)

The Centre is veering round to accepting the N C Saxena committee’s
methodology for identifying below poverty line (BPL) families through a
census but may go in for a crucial change

Related posts:

  1. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – January 11th, 2010
  2. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – January 25th, 2010
  3. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – January 18th, 2010
  4. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – January 5th, 2009
  5. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – January 12th, 2009

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