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Shahid Samman Yatra: MoS alleges arrest in Bengal, police deny
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/shahid-samman-yatra-mos-alleges-arrest-
in-bengal-police-deny-101629225218528.html Union minister of state
Shantanu Thakur said on Tuesday that he was among several Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers to be arrested for taking
part in the Shahid Samman Yatra, in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas
district. However, the police denied Thakur’s charge. “I came to
offer puja and was arrested by the police,” the Union minister of
state for ports, shipping and waterways said. However, the police
denied the charge. “Cars were kept at the airport for Thakur since
he is a Union minister. BJP workers started a snap demonstration
and we had to stop them. Thakur forcefully boarded the bus in which
the BJP workers were being taken away... He was not arrested,” an
officer of the airport police station said. The BJP has alleged
that 36 of its workers have been killed in Bengal since the
assembly poll results were announced on May 2. The state government
has told the Calcutta high court - which asked the NHRC to probe
the allegations of post-poll violence - that the report is biased
and prepared with a political motive. “The BJP has no base in
Bengal. Why will the police arrest a Union minister? This is a
lie...,” said Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy.
Meanwhile, police said it arrested over 30 BJP workers in various
districts across the state for violating Covid-19 restrictions, but
later released them. However, Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik
Bhattacharya said, “The TMC government was informed in advance that
our programme would be held in compliance with Covid curbs and yet
our workers and leaders were arrested.”
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Bengal BJP to Hold Shahid Samman Yatra from Today, Kolkata Police
Says No Permission for Rally
http://www.news18.com/news/politics/bengal-bjp-to-hold-shahid-samman-yatra-from-
today-kolkata-police-says-no-permission-for-rally-4094723.html BJP
in West Bengal have sought permission from the central leadership
to hold Shahid Samman Yatra from today, party’s state president
said. “Central Ministers from our party will go and visit people
who are victims of post poll violence. They will go and visit them
and find out how they are doing,” BJP state president Dilip Ghosh
said. The BJP is celebrating Ashirvad Yatra throughout the country,
but the BJP in the state will instead celebrate it as Shahid Samman
Yatra. According to BJP, 55 workers have been killed during post
poll violence. Party leaders including Nishith Pramanik, John
Barla, Subhas Sarkar, Shantanu Thakur and others all will be
visiting victim family in their respective areas. After poll
results in Bengal earlier this year, BJP claimed that there was
huge violence. They have also moved to court, resulting which, NHRC
team was directed to enquire into the matter and NHRC gave strong
report in court. BJP in order to highlight the issue is taking out
a Nationwide Ashirbad Yatra in Bengal as Shahid Samman Yatra. TMC
on the other hand has criticised this yatra taking a dig at the
party on rising prices and snooping issue. “BJP Prime Minister
identified Matangini Hazra from Assam, we do not know which Shahid
BJP will be referring here. Throughout the country BJP is doing
Ashirbad Yatra but my point is what for they are seeking blessing?
The fact that all public sectors are privatised? For skyrocketing
price hike or for using military spyware for opposition?” TMC’s
Sukhendu Shekhar Roy told News18. Meanwhile, huge police force has
been deployed in front of BJP headquarter in Kolkata and police
says that Kolkata Shahid Samman Yatra has no permission.
NEWS 18, Online, 18.8.2021 Page No. 0, Size:(0)cms X (0)cms.
Mawlai for NHRC, against judicial probe
https://theshillongtimes.com/2021/08/18/mawlai-for-nhrc-against-judicial-probe/
The agitating residents of Mawlai have rejected the decision of the
state government to hold a judicial enquiry into the death of
Cheristerfield Thangkhiew saying that they have no faith in such a
probe. Instead, they want the National Human Rights Commission be
entrusted with the job. The newly formed organisation “Ka Sur u
Paidbah Mawlai” (the voice of Mawlai people) on Tuesday also
declined to be associated with the peace process initiated by the
government unless those responsible for surrendered HNLC supremo’s
death were brought to justice. Talking to reporters after a meeting
on Tuesday, Mawlai Town Dorbar (MTD) Coordinator, Herlambok War
said that the state government should hand over the probe to the
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) since they do not have
faith in a judicial inquiry. “We are of the view that the NHRC
would be able to carry out an impartial probe into the death of
Thangkhiew,” War, who is also the Rangbah Shnong of Mawlai
Iewrynghep, said. Meanwhile, he said that that they have also
decided not to be part of the Peace Committee constituted by the
state government under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister,
Prestone Tynsong. War said that that the state government should
first suspend all the police personnel involved in the killing of
Thangkhiew. “The government should also book these erring police
personnel under various provisions of the law. Only then we will be
part of the peace committee,” he added. Appeal to return seized
weapons Ka Sur u Paidbah Mawlai urged the youths to surrender the
three INSAS rifles which they had snatched from cops from the
Umshing-Mawkynroh police outpost along with an SUV on Sunday
afternoon. The MTD general secretary said that they are making this
appeal following a request from Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma
and East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner, Isawanda Laloo. He
claimed that the youths had snatched the weapons and the vehicle
out of anger and disappointment at the manner in which Thangkhiew
was killed. War asked the youths to surrender the arms to any
person they trust including the local MLA, MDC or even the headmen.
He made it clear that Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma has assured
that the government will not take action against these youths and
said that their identity would not be disclosed. The MTD
coordinator also clarified that they were only making an appeal and
not taking any responsibility for the surrender of the weapons
since it was not their job. Seng Samla Mawlai Pyllun (SSMP) general
secretary, Samram Syiem said that they are taking this initiative
to make this appeal since it is a collective responsibility to
ensure that the law and order does not deteriorate. “There is a
fear that there would be a misuse of these arms,” Syiem added.
Asserting that it is job of the police to locate these arms, HYC
Mawlai Circle president Donbok Kharlyngdoh said that they don’t
know if these arms have crossed over to Bangladesh.
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Three police personnel have been suspended and the government is
initiating an inquiry against them. On Monday, the Chief Minister
had made an appeal to the unidentified persons to return the
weapons.
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Suicides of jobless youths are government murders: YS Sharmila
https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/2021/aug/18/suicides-of-jobless-
youths-are-government-murders-ys-sharmila-2346148.html YSR
Telangana Party (YSRTP) president YS Sharmila on Tuesday began a
fast in Gundenga village of Gudur mandal in Mahabubabad district,
demanding the State government to fill vacancies in government
departments. She demanded the government to release the
notification for 1.91 lakh jobs in the State. Sharmila, after
beginning a ‘Nirudyoga Nirahara Deeksha,’ consoled family members
of Sunil Naik, who died by suicide due to being unemployed.
Speaking to mediapersons, she appealed to the youth to not take
such extreme steps and said her party would fight against CM K
Chandrasekhar Rao’s attitude. “I stand for the unemployed. I’m the
daughter of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, who provided 11 lakh jobs across
the State. Our family does not go back on promises, unlike the
Chief Minister,” she said. She said that the National Human Rights
Commission and the Telangana High Court had reminded the government
several times about the unemployment issue, and raised concerns
about suicides of unemployed youths, but the CM had ignored them.
She appealed to the CM to create employment by releasing
notifications for jobs, and labelled suicides of youths as
‘government murders.’
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Blast from the past: Militant group returns from the dead and
throws Meghalaya in crisis
https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/08/17/blast-from-the-past-militant-group-returns-
from-the-dead-and-throws-meghalaya-in-crisis This past week, ending
with Independence Day, was a strangely eventful one in Shillong,
the capital of Meghalaya. On August 10, around 1.30 pm, a loud
blast reverberated through the busy neighbourhood of Laitumkhrah in
the heart of the city. The police, followed by a bomb disposal
squad, arrived. It soon emerged that a small improvised explosive
device had caused the explosion. Two people received relatively
minor injuries. Nonetheless, the blast, claimed by a militant group
called the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council, or HNLC, was a
cause of some excitement and consternation. The once-feared group
had been largely inactive for well over a decade. Then, on August
13, around 3 am, a Meghalaya police team reached the house of a
former militant commander, HNLC’s “retired” general secretary
Cherishterfield Thangkhiew, 56, who had formally surrendered in
2018. Thangkhiew lived on the upper floor of a two-storied house
with two of his sons. The police barged into the house and
proceeded to put a single bullet into him at close range, allegedly
after he attacked the police team with a knife. His death, which
Thangkhiew’s sons alleged was in a fake encounter, brought
protesting mobs out on the streets for his funeral on August 15.
The stone-pelting mobs attacked passing vehicles, including those
of the police and the Central Reserve Police Force. Some of the
masked protesters captured a Scorpio SUV owned by the police, with
three rifles inside, and drove it around town in the middle of the
day, brandishing the weapons, before setting it on fire. By
evening, Shillong was under curfew, mobile internet had been
suspended in four districts of the state, and home minister Lakhmen
Rymbui of the local United Democratic Party had written to chief
minister Conrad Sangma to be relieved of his duties while demanding
a judicial inquiry into the alleged fake encounter which he was at
pains to distance himself from. That night, Sangma’s private
residence came under attack, with a petrol bomb thrown into the
compound. The chief minister and his family do not currently stay
there. Other political parties were equally quick in their
condemnation, because the former militant’s killing had angered
powerful organisations representing the local Khasi tribe. BJP
legislator and Sangma’s former minister Alexander Hek said the
police account of the raid didn’t sound right, and demanded a
judicial inquiry. Congress leader and former minister Ampareen
Lyngdoh, in whose constituency the Shillong blast took place,
demanded an inquiry by the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission.
Sangma, who leads a coalition government headed by his National
People’s Party, has said a police report has been submitted to the
National Human Rights Commission, which will inquire into the
matter. He has also ordered a judicial inquiry. A human rights
organisation based in Delhi, the Rights and Risks Analysis Group,
has sought a CBI inquiry into the case.
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Shillong remained under curfew at the time of writing this report.
Pressure groups in Meghalaya now want the state’s police chief, R
Chandranathan, to be removed from his post. Chandranathan has
defended the police’s actions claiming there was “incontrovertible
evidence” of Thangkhiew’s involvement in an earlier IED blast on
July 14 that targeted a police reserve in the coal mining town of
Khliehriat in the Jaintia Hills, and evidence of his links to the
Shillong blast as well. There were no casualties in the Khliehriat
blast, which security sources say was triggered using a
remote-control mechanism, unlike the Shillong one which used a
timer. The ability of the HNLC to demonstrate capability of
carrying out blasts that do negligible damage has been a feature of
its sudden return from the dead. The group was practically unheard
of in Shillong for the past 17-18 years. The predominantly Khasi
group suddenly began making noises in the Jaintia Hills area of
Meghalaya about a year ago, with extortion demands to coal traders
and cement companies. An incident of gunfire and a couple of small
blasts followed as the group sought to back up its demands for
“income tax” with threats of violence. The group’s sudden return
was greeted by politicians across parties speaking to the press
about possible peace talks between the HNLC and the Indian
government, an absurdity given that the group, according to a
statement by the police chief, has 16 active members, all in
Bangladesh, and a handful of overground supporters numbering about
30. Those arrested after the latest blasts include a man named
Ranjit Kumar, described by the police as a drug addict who had been
paid to carry out the Khliehriat blast. Nonetheless the sudden and
unexpected return of the near-defunct group has already had its
impact on the state’s politics, with the home minister quitting.
The chief minister is yet to relieve him of his charge and has said
he will decide on the matter at an appropriate time. The political
pressure is building up on the state government, which was forced
into a corner first by the blasts, and then by the clumsy encounter
killing and the strong reaction to it. The government weathered a
crisis early in its tenure when an altercation between a few
individuals from different communities blew up into riots targeting
Shillong’s tiny Dalit Sikh community. The then home minister,
Conrad Sangma’s brother James, asked to be relieved of the
portfolio a year and a half later amidst pressure from allies over
another controversy related to the transport of coal which had
allegedly been mined illegally. Rymbui, who succeeded him in the
job, lasted one and a half years before asking to be relieved of
the portfolio. The state now awaits the appointment of its third
home minister in as many years, and clarity on the actual
circumstances and reasons surrounding Thankgkhiew’s violent
death.
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in-bengal-ministers-mps-and-mlas-will-go-to-the-homes-of-workers-killed-in-violence-
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