Kozhikode: The IUML today slammed Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan for his reported statement that radical outfit, the
Popular Front of India, was encouraging youth from other communities to convert to Islam and persuade them to marry muslim girls to increase muslim population.
'The statement is in bad taste,' IUML Kerala unit General Secretary, P K Kunhalikutty told reporters here today.
Achuthanandan had allegedly made the statement at a press conference at Delhi yesterday.
Both PFI and Abdul Nassar Madhani-led People's Democratic Party (PDP) has become a liability for the community, he said, adding because of these organisations, mosques and other institutions were being raided by the police.
'If the PFI was indulging in activities as alleged by Achuthanandan, then stringent action should be taken against them', he said, adding 'but, to accuse the community as a whole was in bad taste'. In the last state assembly elections, CPI(M) had aligned with
such forces, he charged.
'CPI(M) should not carry PDP on its shoulders with the objective of weakening the IUML,' he said. PTI
Sunday, July 25, 2010
PFI aims to convert kerala into Muslim majority state: VS
New Delhi : Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan here on Saturday charged the Popular Front of India with aiming to convert Kerala into a Muslim-majority state in the next twenty years.
To achieve their goal, the front leaders were attracting youth in their fold by giving them money and weapons, he alleged.
Addressing a news conference here, the Chief Minister said the Front was indulging in conversions by persuading the youth in the state to marry Muslim women.
He justified his government's crackdown on the Front's activists, saying ''They want to make Kerala a Muslim majority state. They even plan to form a political party by next election.'' The crackdown on PFI activists came in the wake of the attack earlier this month on college professor T J Joseph, which is suspected to be carried out by its members.
Mr Joseph was on his way home, after Sunday Mass, with his mother and sister when he was pulled out of his car, pinned to the ground and his right hand hacked off with an axe by a car-borne gang. He had incorporated a question in his college's internal Malayalam examination that was considered disrespectful to Islamic faith.
The Chief Minister added that the Front was attracting youth in its fold by giving them money and weapons and providing them the necessary training and instructing them to kill its opponents.
To achieve their goal, the front leaders were attracting youth in their fold by giving them money and weapons, he alleged.
Addressing a news conference here, the Chief Minister said the Front was indulging in conversions by persuading the youth in the state to marry Muslim women.
He justified his government's crackdown on the Front's activists, saying ''They want to make Kerala a Muslim majority state. They even plan to form a political party by next election.'' The crackdown on PFI activists came in the wake of the attack earlier this month on college professor T J Joseph, which is suspected to be carried out by its members.
Mr Joseph was on his way home, after Sunday Mass, with his mother and sister when he was pulled out of his car, pinned to the ground and his right hand hacked off with an axe by a car-borne gang. He had incorporated a question in his college's internal Malayalam examination that was considered disrespectful to Islamic faith.
The Chief Minister added that the Front was attracting youth in its fold by giving them money and weapons and providing them the necessary training and instructing them to kill its opponents.
Sohrabuddin had several cases in MP - Times of India Report on May 7 - 2007
PTI, May 7, 2007
INDORE: Gujarat fake encounter victim Sohrabuddin Sheikh had several criminal cases filed against him in Madhya Pradesh besides those in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
One of them relates to the recovery of 26 AK-56 assault rifles allegedly from a well next to Sheikh's family land in Jhirinya village of ujjain district, police sources said here.
The rifles were recovered by gujarat police in november 1995 following a tip-off by an arrested indore-based person, the sources said.
Sheikh had dumped the rifles in the well situated on a government land to avoid suspicion, a senior police officer told PTI.
It was a smart move by Sheikh (to dump the arms in the well) which ultimately led to his acquittal in the case, he said.
It still remains a mystery how such a big cache of sophisticated weapons reached the non-descript village, the sources said.
Madhya pradesh police has records of Sheikh's alleged involvement in a number of crimes, including extortion and transportation of deadly weapons at the behest of Latif, a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, for spreading terror in the aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, the sources added.
INDORE: Gujarat fake encounter victim Sohrabuddin Sheikh had several criminal cases filed against him in Madhya Pradesh besides those in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
One of them relates to the recovery of 26 AK-56 assault rifles allegedly from a well next to Sheikh's family land in Jhirinya village of ujjain district, police sources said here.
The rifles were recovered by gujarat police in november 1995 following a tip-off by an arrested indore-based person, the sources said.
Sheikh had dumped the rifles in the well situated on a government land to avoid suspicion, a senior police officer told PTI.
It was a smart move by Sheikh (to dump the arms in the well) which ultimately led to his acquittal in the case, he said.
It still remains a mystery how such a big cache of sophisticated weapons reached the non-descript village, the sources said.
Madhya pradesh police has records of Sheikh's alleged involvement in a number of crimes, including extortion and transportation of deadly weapons at the behest of Latif, a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, for spreading terror in the aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, the sources added.
Some Congress leaders had described Sohrabuddin Sheikh as a “small-time criminal.”
CBI acting as a tool of Centre, alleges former Minister
AHMEDABAD:Four days after he was first issued summons by the CBI on Thursday for questioning, the former Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah, made a dramatic appearance before the media on Sunday to present “his side” on the Sohrabuddin-Kausarbi episode. He expressed the apprehension that the CBI was acting as a “tool” in the hands of the UPA government to “fabricate” charges against him.
“I am totally innocent and all the charges against me are false, fabricated, formulated from a fit of imagination and are politically-motivated. The charge sheet against me is nothing but a Congress-inspired bundle of lies,” he said.
Stating that he had full confidence in and respect for the judiciary, he said the charge sheet would not stand legal scrutiny “even for a minute” and that he was confident of getting justice from the judiciary and in the process would “expose” the “pressure groups” behind the CBI.
The press conference was hurriedly convened by the BJP to be addressed by its State unit president R. C. Faldu, where Mr. Shah made the sudden appearance. He refused to say where he had been in the last four days since the first summons was issued when he remained untraceable. “I was with some friends and seeking legal advice.” He also denied that he was on the run or trying to evade the CBI.
Mr. Shah said the actions of the CBI in filing the charge sheet even before questioning him gave credence to the apprehension that summoning him was only a “big drama” and unrelated to “fabricating charges” against him “apparently at the behest of some quarters” as a part of “conspiracy” to defame and destabilise the Narendra Modi-led government.
It was humanly impossible to prepare a 30,000-page charge sheet in just three hours from 1 p.m., the deadline he was given to appear before the CBI on Friday, to 4 p.m. when the charge sheet was filed in the court the same day, he said.
“It is clear that everything was ready in advance and the CBI was only playing a big drama to summon me to question.” He said he avoided appearing on Friday because he had come to know the previous night that the CBI was already taking photo copies of the charge sheet.
Mr. Shah said he and all other accused were yet to receive a copy of the charge sheet. What he learnt from media reports about its contents was clear that all the charges were false and fabricated. He claimed that he was summoned for questioning under chapter 14 of the Cr. P.C., which was used against a person charged with pressuring and threatening witnesses, but in the charge sheet he was shown as a “murderer, conspirator, kidnapper, extortionist and what not.” He said he was shocked that the CBI could do such wrongs.
Attacking the Congress, Mr. Shah regretted that some of its leaders had described Sohrabuddin Sheikh as a “small-time criminal.” How could a person from whose residence in Madhya Pradesh the Gujarat police had recovered more than 40 AK 47 rifles, hundreds of hand-grenades and over a lakh live cartridges, who was “wanted” in five States and against whom more than 40 criminal cases had been pending could be called a “small criminal?”
He also wondered why everyone was ignoring the “fact” that the same police officers implicated in the Sohrabuddin encounter had actually arrested and produced in court some 400 terrorists who were still in jails.
“There were six encounters in Gujarat, but over 1,700 encounters all over the country. But the UPA government has only singled out Gujarat and one such encounter to defame the BJP government in the State.”
Mr. Shah demanded that his appearance before the CBI be “fully video-recorded.” He said he had apprehensions that his replies could be “distorted” by the CBI to “its own advantage” as it did in case of several others who appeared before the investigating agency and whose “statements” were used to frame charges against him. The CBI, however, later did not give any such opportunity and took him to the court without any questioning.
When pointed out that some of the police officers arrested earlier in this connection had named him the brain behind the entire episode, during some conversations which were recorded secretly by one of the police officers, Mr Shah said recording any conversation in the jail was itself an illegal act and could not form the basis of any trial. “The person who recorded the conversation should be punished.”
Both Mr. Shah and earlier Mr. Faldu said the BJP would take the “political fight” to the streets while fighting the legal battle in courts.
The party would expose before the people the “misdeeds” of the Congress, which after losing elections at all levels from the panchayat to the Assembly in the last 20 years in the State, found that a “political encounter” of the Modi administration was the only way to destabilise the BJP, Mr. Faldu said.
The Congress was apparently “scared and worried” over Mr. Modi's “increasing popularity” all over the country, he said.
“Silent rally”
Soon after Mr. Shah was lodged in jail, BJP workers took out a “silent rally” in protest in Ahmedabad.
State party general secretary and spokesman Vijay Rupani said similar rallies would be taken out at all the six major urban centres in the State on Monday and later at the district and taluk levels.
AHMEDABAD:Four days after he was first issued summons by the CBI on Thursday for questioning, the former Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah, made a dramatic appearance before the media on Sunday to present “his side” on the Sohrabuddin-Kausarbi episode. He expressed the apprehension that the CBI was acting as a “tool” in the hands of the UPA government to “fabricate” charges against him.
“I am totally innocent and all the charges against me are false, fabricated, formulated from a fit of imagination and are politically-motivated. The charge sheet against me is nothing but a Congress-inspired bundle of lies,” he said.
Stating that he had full confidence in and respect for the judiciary, he said the charge sheet would not stand legal scrutiny “even for a minute” and that he was confident of getting justice from the judiciary and in the process would “expose” the “pressure groups” behind the CBI.
The press conference was hurriedly convened by the BJP to be addressed by its State unit president R. C. Faldu, where Mr. Shah made the sudden appearance. He refused to say where he had been in the last four days since the first summons was issued when he remained untraceable. “I was with some friends and seeking legal advice.” He also denied that he was on the run or trying to evade the CBI.
Mr. Shah said the actions of the CBI in filing the charge sheet even before questioning him gave credence to the apprehension that summoning him was only a “big drama” and unrelated to “fabricating charges” against him “apparently at the behest of some quarters” as a part of “conspiracy” to defame and destabilise the Narendra Modi-led government.
It was humanly impossible to prepare a 30,000-page charge sheet in just three hours from 1 p.m., the deadline he was given to appear before the CBI on Friday, to 4 p.m. when the charge sheet was filed in the court the same day, he said.
“It is clear that everything was ready in advance and the CBI was only playing a big drama to summon me to question.” He said he avoided appearing on Friday because he had come to know the previous night that the CBI was already taking photo copies of the charge sheet.
Mr. Shah said he and all other accused were yet to receive a copy of the charge sheet. What he learnt from media reports about its contents was clear that all the charges were false and fabricated. He claimed that he was summoned for questioning under chapter 14 of the Cr. P.C., which was used against a person charged with pressuring and threatening witnesses, but in the charge sheet he was shown as a “murderer, conspirator, kidnapper, extortionist and what not.” He said he was shocked that the CBI could do such wrongs.
Attacking the Congress, Mr. Shah regretted that some of its leaders had described Sohrabuddin Sheikh as a “small-time criminal.” How could a person from whose residence in Madhya Pradesh the Gujarat police had recovered more than 40 AK 47 rifles, hundreds of hand-grenades and over a lakh live cartridges, who was “wanted” in five States and against whom more than 40 criminal cases had been pending could be called a “small criminal?”
He also wondered why everyone was ignoring the “fact” that the same police officers implicated in the Sohrabuddin encounter had actually arrested and produced in court some 400 terrorists who were still in jails.
“There were six encounters in Gujarat, but over 1,700 encounters all over the country. But the UPA government has only singled out Gujarat and one such encounter to defame the BJP government in the State.”
Mr. Shah demanded that his appearance before the CBI be “fully video-recorded.” He said he had apprehensions that his replies could be “distorted” by the CBI to “its own advantage” as it did in case of several others who appeared before the investigating agency and whose “statements” were used to frame charges against him. The CBI, however, later did not give any such opportunity and took him to the court without any questioning.
When pointed out that some of the police officers arrested earlier in this connection had named him the brain behind the entire episode, during some conversations which were recorded secretly by one of the police officers, Mr Shah said recording any conversation in the jail was itself an illegal act and could not form the basis of any trial. “The person who recorded the conversation should be punished.”
Both Mr. Shah and earlier Mr. Faldu said the BJP would take the “political fight” to the streets while fighting the legal battle in courts.
The party would expose before the people the “misdeeds” of the Congress, which after losing elections at all levels from the panchayat to the Assembly in the last 20 years in the State, found that a “political encounter” of the Modi administration was the only way to destabilise the BJP, Mr. Faldu said.
The Congress was apparently “scared and worried” over Mr. Modi's “increasing popularity” all over the country, he said.
“Silent rally”
Soon after Mr. Shah was lodged in jail, BJP workers took out a “silent rally” in protest in Ahmedabad.
State party general secretary and spokesman Vijay Rupani said similar rallies would be taken out at all the six major urban centres in the State on Monday and later at the district and taluk levels.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Mangrove park violated coastal rules: Expert committee
Kannur: The expert committee which was appointed to study the environment threats caused by Pappinisseri mangrove park has found that the park violated the Coastal Regulatory Zone rules. For the construction of the park natural mangroves around three acres were destroyed. Construction work worth Rs 2 crore have taken place without the panchayat sanction. The park is being constructed in such a way that it disrupts the usual flow of water. The primary report of the committee stated that the park was being constructed to make way for a theme park. It has been constructed on tidal flats, mangroves and abandoned filtration ponds.
The committee would visit the spot again on July 27 and submit the final report to the central government. The park was closed last Monday as per the direction of the Union Ministry of Environment. The committee comprises Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority member Dr B Madhusoodhana Kurup, scientists from Thiruvananthapuram Centre for Earth Science Studies Dr K V Thomas and Dr C N Mohanan, Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment joint director Dr Kamalakshan Kokkal and scientist Dr P Harinarayanan, scientist of Kozhikode Centre for Water Resources Development and Management Dr C Sushanth and a representative from the forest department.
The Pappinisseri Eco Tourism Society under the CPM constructed the park claiming that the park was being set up to protect mangroves. The committee had conducted the study on the environmental threats caused by the park.
The committee would visit the spot again on July 27 and submit the final report to the central government. The park was closed last Monday as per the direction of the Union Ministry of Environment. The committee comprises Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority member Dr B Madhusoodhana Kurup, scientists from Thiruvananthapuram Centre for Earth Science Studies Dr K V Thomas and Dr C N Mohanan, Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment joint director Dr Kamalakshan Kokkal and scientist Dr P Harinarayanan, scientist of Kozhikode Centre for Water Resources Development and Management Dr C Sushanth and a representative from the forest department.
The Pappinisseri Eco Tourism Society under the CPM constructed the park claiming that the park was being set up to protect mangroves. The committee had conducted the study on the environmental threats caused by the park.
Justice Ramachandran Nair slams govt for 'threats'
Thiruvananthapuram: Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair of the Kerala High Court Friday slammed the state government for filing a petition seeking to replace him on the bench that will hear a review petition against the holding of public meetings by the roadside.
Citing that legal procedures maintain that a review petition should be heard by the same judge who pronounced the verdict, Nair asked the government to 'stop the threats' against him and said he would 'not succumb to such threats'.
Nair said the government's review petition 'means that the government has no concern for the people'.
He said the government has a feeling that judges are fools and asked why the review petition was filed by the additional chief secretary instead of the chief secretary.
The government had filed a petition Friday in the high court seeking the replacement of Nair because he had defended his judgment outside the court.
The government, in its petition, said that a division bench of the Kerala High Court on June 23 prohibited holding of public meetings by the roadside.
The bench, comprising Justice Nair and Justice P.S. Gopinathan, had directed the police, civic bodies, local self-government and revenue departments to refuse permission for holding such meetings.
In its verdict last month, the court said it issued the order to ensure free flow of traffic on public roads and also for the safety of the public.
Coming down heavily on the government, Nair asked if the cabinet had discussed if a review petition should be filed and also if the assembly which is in session had discussed this issue.
Nair told the government that if they were not happy with the verdict, they could come out with a new law.
The hearing will continue next week, when the verdict on the review petition would be given
Citing that legal procedures maintain that a review petition should be heard by the same judge who pronounced the verdict, Nair asked the government to 'stop the threats' against him and said he would 'not succumb to such threats'.
Nair said the government's review petition 'means that the government has no concern for the people'.
He said the government has a feeling that judges are fools and asked why the review petition was filed by the additional chief secretary instead of the chief secretary.
The government had filed a petition Friday in the high court seeking the replacement of Nair because he had defended his judgment outside the court.
The government, in its petition, said that a division bench of the Kerala High Court on June 23 prohibited holding of public meetings by the roadside.
The bench, comprising Justice Nair and Justice P.S. Gopinathan, had directed the police, civic bodies, local self-government and revenue departments to refuse permission for holding such meetings.
In its verdict last month, the court said it issued the order to ensure free flow of traffic on public roads and also for the safety of the public.
Coming down heavily on the government, Nair asked if the cabinet had discussed if a review petition should be filed and also if the assembly which is in session had discussed this issue.
Nair told the government that if they were not happy with the verdict, they could come out with a new law.
The hearing will continue next week, when the verdict on the review petition would be given
Thursday, July 22, 2010
CPM ruining Railways image by putting cockroaches in food: Mamata
KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has suggested CPM's hand in the train accident in Sainthia and the Jnaneswari Express mishap and ruled out resigning on moral grounds.
'I am prepared to resign if the CPM guarantees that it will not indulge in sabotage,' she said slamming the Marxists for demanding her resignation in the wake of Monday's accident in Birbhum district which left 66 persons dead.
Banerjee, who had resigned twice earlier as union minister, said people were ringing her up to tell her not to walk into CPM's trap by quitting.
'They have been planning sabotage. They are trying to ruin the (reputation of) Railways by letting cockroaches into food. It is time for the CPM to go. The Jnaneswari Express accident took place on May 28 two before the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections,' she pointed out.
Banerjee was addressing her party's mammoth Martyr's Day rally organised in the memory of 13 Youth Congress workers killed in a police firing here on this day in 1993.
'The accident at Sainthia occurred on July 19 before our Martyr's Day rally today. Both took place around 2:00 am. Many people were killed. This should be probed. The CBI is investigating the earlier accident.
'They (Marxists) are not planning development, but opening clips on tracks. Some comrades are drawing up scientific plans. After the Jnaneswari (accident) they strung up a poster claiming that it was an accident. Who were behind it should be investigated. It is sabotage,' she said.
'I am prepared to resign if the CPM guarantees that it will not indulge in sabotage,' she said slamming the Marxists for demanding her resignation in the wake of Monday's accident in Birbhum district which left 66 persons dead.
Banerjee, who had resigned twice earlier as union minister, said people were ringing her up to tell her not to walk into CPM's trap by quitting.
'They have been planning sabotage. They are trying to ruin the (reputation of) Railways by letting cockroaches into food. It is time for the CPM to go. The Jnaneswari Express accident took place on May 28 two before the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections,' she pointed out.
Banerjee was addressing her party's mammoth Martyr's Day rally organised in the memory of 13 Youth Congress workers killed in a police firing here on this day in 1993.
'The accident at Sainthia occurred on July 19 before our Martyr's Day rally today. Both took place around 2:00 am. Many people were killed. This should be probed. The CBI is investigating the earlier accident.
'They (Marxists) are not planning development, but opening clips on tracks. Some comrades are drawing up scientific plans. After the Jnaneswari (accident) they strung up a poster claiming that it was an accident. Who were behind it should be investigated. It is sabotage,' she said.
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