When mainstream media hounded Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over an alleged denial of Kaffiyeh and skull cap, they failed to highlight a recent episode of absolute harmony. At one of his recent rallies of Sadbhavana Mission, Narendra Modi was offered a saffron shawl that had ‘Om Namah Shivaya” and symbols of tridents printed exquisitely on them.
via Solidarity at Sadbhavana: Muslims Greet Modi with Saffron Shawl | India Wires.
Setting a unique example of communal harmony, a Muslim trust has come forward to protect cows by setting up a shelter for the bovine.
A mausoleum of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti located in Ekalbara village near here has come forward to bring into practice the initiative.
According to Kadir Pirzada Sajjadanashin, “the mausoleum is the first in the entire country which has taken a lead in setting up a ‘Gau Shala’ (cow shelter) for protection of cows”.
via news.outlookindia.com | Muslim Trust to Set Up a Cow Shelter in Gujarat.
Nadeem Saiyed an RTI activist, was brutally murdered in Juhapura area of Ahmedabad on Saturday morning. He was stabbed 28 times by four men in broad daylight, allegedly for providing information on illegal slaughter of cattle to the police.
IF HE WAS KILLED BY A COW SLAUGHTER LOBBY WHY MISLEAD PUBLIC BY UNNECESSARILY DRAGGING HIS ROLE AS WITNESS OF 2002 RIOTS?
Chief Minister Narendra Modi has questioned the Centre’s indifference towards implementation of cow protection law even after the clear directives of the Apex Court. Chief Minister was speaking as a Chief Guest at Bhartiya Gau Raksha Mahamahotsav held at Nandgav near Pathwada district in Rajasthan.
“The present government of Gujarat struggled against the vested interests and pseudo-secularists for getting a law through Supreme Court for the protection cow-progeny. Gujarat, in its turn, has implemented this law in even stricter manner. But it is unfortunate that Centre has not taken even a single step for the protection of cows even after the orders of Supreme Court. The Centre has not even bothered to inform about its action to the Apex Court”, he said.
On the occasion, Chief Minister offered pujan and aarti to the cow and had satsang with Swami Datt Sharnanandji who is the organizer of Goloktirth. During the Bhagwat Katha of Shri Rameshbhaiji, Chief Minister talked with people about the significance of Kamdhenu and the necessity of the preservation of cow-progeny.
Mr. Modi was critical of the Central Government’s role in various humanitarian issues. Instead of protecting the cow breed, the Centre offered subsidy on beef and mutton export and allowed smuggling cattle into Bangladesh, while levying export duty on raw cotton. He said that Gujarat has enacted cow protection laws and implement them strictly, with the help of 12 mobile forensic laboratories and PASA. Gujarat arranges over 3,000 cattle fairs and is busy eradicating 112 diseases, operates cataract and dental operation on animals. Milk production has increased by 60 per cent in the state during the last decade. He called for following the saints and seers in protecting the cow progeny.
via Centre levies duty on cotton export, offers sop on beef export:Modi | DeshGujarat.Com.
Arrest of Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhwadia in the false affidavit case involving suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt looks imminent with Ghatlodia police initiating the process to apprehend him.
Top police officials told TOI that the investigation into constable K D Pant’s complaint, which led to the arrest of Bhatt and advocate V H Kanara, has revealed that there is prima facie case against Modhwadia for his involvement in the conspiracy to frame evidence implicating chief minister Narendra Modi. Kanara was arrested on October 25, but released as he had already secured anticipatory bail.
via Modhwadia’s arrest imminent in Bhatt case – The Times of India.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today asked why an India-made ink is not used in printing of currency notes.
“The central government imports the ink for printing Indian currency notes, whereas the ink produced in India is exported and used in printing of currency notes in other countries,” Modi stated, while inaugurating `Indiachem 2011′ in Gandhinagar today.
“The central government spends crores of rupees for importing the ink. Why we can not use ink produced in the country?” Modi asked.
The chief minister also urged the central government and the financial institutions to give highest priority to the investment in pro-environmental parts of the chemical and petro-chemical industry.
“It is wrong to treat the investments in environmental aspect as a dead investment,” Modi said.
He also said that Gujarat government had decided to promote manufacturing industry which gives high-end value addition.
For the chemical and petro-chemical sector, the state has decided to establish 25 centres of excellences on public-private partnership model.
Around 300 top chemical industry players participated in the event. Gujarat has the largest chemical industry in the country.
via Why is Indian ink not used in printing of currency, asks Narendra Modi – India – DNA.
New Delhi Key Team Anna member Shanti Bhushan on Tuesday called Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi “the most communal person” and said he was willing to appear for “persecuted” IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in the Supreme Court if the latter approached him. Not long ago, Anna Hazare had praised Modi for his development initiatives in rural areas of Gujarat which opened himself to criticism that he was soft on the BJP.
The Bhushan senior, when asked about the BJP’s anti-corruption campaign, also said “there are lots of leaders in the BJP who are corrupt and had taken advantage of corruption”. He referred to Karnataka and asserted that the BJP could not take a high moral ground.
His other team members — Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia — are working over time to ensure the defeat of the Congress in Hisar byelection which could ironically benefit the BJP.
On a day Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh claimed the Bhushans were always opposed to the Congress, Bhushan said nobody could say he and his son Prashant were supporters of the BJP. “Everyday we are arguing in the court against (Narendra) Modi and against Hindutva ideology of RSS.”
Elaborating, he said, “Modi is the most communal person and he was responsible for the killing of a large number of Muslims.” The Bhushan senior alleged that Bhatt was being persecuted by Modi and said “we are supporting him”. Asked how he planned to support Bhatt, he said “if the matter comes to the Supreme Court, then we would be quite willing to appear for him if he approaches us”.
“I had represented Teesta Setalvad earlier. So, therefore, let us see how the situation develops…. We can’t, of course, solicit his brief. That will be professional misconduct. But if he approaches us, we will certainly appear for him,” he said. Bhushan said Bhatt was being persecuted only because he had filed an affidavit against Modi.
When pointed out that Hazare had earlier praised Modi, he said Anna had clarified after visiting Gujarat. “He was initially informed that some good development work is happening in Gujarat’s rural areas. When he visited Gujarat, he understood it was only a propaganda. He had then said liquor flows more than milk in Gujarat and had commented about non-appointment of Lokayukta.”
Significantly, Bhushan said “we are not against the Congress”. In his words, “we are against the Congress’s act of not supporting, not making a commitment to support the Jan Lokpal Bill”. “Therefore, we are telling the electorate that you must punish them so that they learn a lesson and revise their thinking and start quickly enacting the Bill if they don’t want to be defeated in UP elections also.”
While Nitin Gadkari has given in writing that his party supports the Jan Lokpal Bill, Bhushan said the assurance given by the BJP chief had been taken at the face value. “But if he goes back on his word and doesn’t support (the Bill) in the winter session, then we will campaign against them and we will ask the people to defeat them in the elections.”
via Modi most communal, I’m ready to defend Bhatt: Bhushan – Express India.
GANDHINAGAR: The controversial Gujarat cadre IPS officer, Sanjiv Bhatt, who had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court accusing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of an anti-minority stance during the 2002 communal riots, will now have to pay Rs.1 lakh to the State government treasury within a month.
The government has decided to recover from Mr. Bhatt Rs.1 lakh as compensation due to a Rajasthan-based advocate, Sumer Singh Rajpurohit, as “directed” by the National Human Rights Commission, for an alleged false case against him in 1996, an official spokesman of the government said here on Tuesday. The amount would be recovered from Mr. Bhatt within a month, the spokesman said.
Mr. Bhatt, who was the Banaskantha District Superintendent of Police in 1996, was claimed to have falsely implicated Mr. Rajpurohit under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), allegedly with the motive of getting a rented premises vacated by him.
According to the spokesman, on a complaint filed by Mr. Rajpurohit in 1996, a criminal case was registered against Mr. Bhatt and a charge sheet filed in the court of the Special Judge, NDPS Act. As per the charge sheet, Mr. Rajpurohit was the tenant of the sister of R.R. Jain, then a sitting judge of the Gujarat High Court. To get the tenant to vacate the premises, Mr. Bhatt allegedly planted, with the help of his subordinates, more than a kg of narcotic drugs in a hotel room in Palanpur, district headquarters of Banaskantha, and showed the room to be “occupied” by Mr. Rajpurohit. The latter, at the time, was actually in Pali.
On the instruction of Mr. Bhatt, Mr. Rajpurohit was allegedly “abducted” from Pali by the Banaskantha police on the night of May 3, 1996, and brought to Palanpur, where he was threatened that he would be booked under the NDPS Act if he failed to vacate the premises. Under pressure, the advocate agreed.
Mr. Rajpurohit was remanded for seven days but five days later, Mr. Bhatt ordered his release on the grounds that he could not be “identified” in the Test Identification Parade. Petitions were also filed in the Rajasthan High Court for quashing the criminal complaints filed in the case, but were dismissed.
A criminal complaint against Mr. Bhatt is pending in the Gujarat High Court.
‘Professional misconduct’
A complaint was also filed before the NHRC against Mr. Bhatt and others by the then secretary of the Pali Bar Association, while the Gujarat Vigilance Commission, recommended, in July 2002 and October 2006, Mr. Bhatt’s suspension for “professional misconduct.”
The NHRC also, in its report in September 2010 considered it a case of “serious human rights violation” in view of the fact that the provisions under which Mr. Rajpurohit was falsely implicated could have fetched him 10 years of imprisonment, and ordered the Gujarat government to pay him a compensation of Rs.1 lakh, the spokesman said.
via The Hindu : National : Sanjiv Bhatt asked to pay Rs.1 lakh to Gujarat treasury.
n a morale-boosting performance after the Lok Sabha defeat, the ruling BJP today wrested five Assembly seats from Congress in Gujarat and won one each in Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where the party got a majority in the state Assembly.
In Gujarat, the BJP wrested Jasdan, Chotila, Dehgam, Danta and Sami-Harij from Congress while it lost Kodinar to the main opposition party which retained Dhoraji.
Out of the seven Assembly seats in Gujarat where by-polls were held on September 10, six were held by the Congress while one was with BJP. With today’s win, BJP’s strength in the 182-member Assembly goes up to 122 while that of Congress 54. Others account for six.
The by-elections results will come as a great relief for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, after the unimpressive performance in the Lok Sabha polls and defeat to Congress in Junagadh Municipal Corporation body elections. In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won 15 of the 26 seats with the rest going to the Congress.
The by-polls were considered to be test of popularity of Modi, who chose to abstain from campaigning. Party cadres and workers celebrated throughout the state.
BJP also secured a wafer-thin majority on its own in the Uttarakhand Assembly by winning the Vikasnagar seat, taking its tally to 36 in the 70-member House.
Swami Vivekananda 