As the 2nd phase of Lok Sabha elections is underway, Congress leader Pawan Khera on April 26 hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for speaking lies during the election campaigns. “The first phase of voting for 102 seats, scared the PM and thus he lies, today, the second phase will end, where PM Modi’s sources tell him that this too has gone out of hands. Through you, I would like to warn the people of this country that lies will increase, and new lies will come up from the PM’s mouth. So, countrymen should stay alert and just like they have stopped believing in WhatsApp messages, they have also stopped believing in whatever the PM says. The PM himself has created this liar image of himself,” said Pawan Khera.
Tag: Pawan Khera
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Congress demands white paper from Modi government on ‘plight of Kashmiri Pandits’
By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the alleged exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from south Kashmir’s Shopian district, saying that while he is “enjoying power”, the members of the minority community remain refugees in their own country.
The Opposition party also demanded that the Modi government release a white paper on the plight of the minority community during its eight-year rule.
“This year, there have been 30 targeted killings in Kashmir. The exodus of Pandits is increasing rapidly. The BJP has ruined the good work done by the UPA,” former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
इस साल, कश्मीर में 30 टार्गेटिड किलिंग्स हो चुकी हैं। पंडितों का पलायन तेज़ी से बढ़ रहा है।भाजपा ने यूपीए द्वारा किए गए अच्छे कामों को बर्बाद कर दिया है।सत्ता में आने से पहले बड़ी-बड़ी बातें करने वाले PM सत्ता भोग रहे हैं और कश्मीरी पंडित अपने ही देश में शरणार्थी बने हुए हैं।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 27, 2022
“The PM, who spoke big things before coming to power, is enjoying power and Kashmiri Pandits remain refugees in their own country,” he said.As terrorists carried out a number of targeted killings recently, 10 Kashmiri Pandit families left their village, Choudharygund, in Shopian out of fear and reached Jammu, according to residents.
Members of the minority community, who have since been camping in Jammu, ruled out any plan to return to the Valley.
However, authorities in Shopian have attempted to put on a brave face by claiming no exodus of Kashmiri Pandits has taken place from the district.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress’ media department head Pawan Khera said that when the first migration of Kashmiri Pandits took place in 1989, V P Singh’s government was in office with the BJP’s support.
“In 1986, when the first riot against Kashmiri Pandits took place, Rajiv Gandhi’s government was in office at the Centre. Kashmiri Pandits walked from the national stadium to Rajiv Gandhi’s office, he heard them and Ghulam Mohammad Shah’s government was brought down,” Khera said.
The BJP only talks of zero tolerance but what it actually means was shown by Rajiv Gandhi, he claimed.
Slamming the Centre, Khera said 70 ministers of the government are carrying out an outreach programme in Kashmir and asked if any of them visited a camp of Kashmiri Pandits.
“What is this outreach when you cannot reach out to the Kashmiri Pandits living in the camps there,” he asked.
Citing an order, the Congress leader also alleged that Kashmiri Pandit employees are being “threatened” to return to work against their wishes.
There have been 30 targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits from January to October this year, he claimed.
“We demand a white paper from the Modi government on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. In the last eight years, all that has been done and not been done by this government should come out in that white paper,” Khera said.
“You (the government) will have to answer for the 80 killings. How is this normal, answer this,” he added.
Asked about Union minister Kiren Rijiju’s article titled ’75th Anniversary of Five Nehruvian Blunders on Kashmir’, Khera said those leaders of the BJP who are students of “WhatsApp nursery” need to revisit their history classes.
“If all that they are saying is true, how is it that during the Manmohan Singh era, targeted killings stopped and 75 per cent of the people would participate in the democratic process of elections in the state? We would be happy to get the answer to that,” he said.
The BJP leaders have no idea of the contemporary history of the country, he said.
It is very easy to blame Jawaharlal Nehru for this, Indira Gandhi for something else, P V Narasimha Rao for something else and Manmohan Singh for the rest, Khera said.
“Give us answers. You have been in power for eight years. What has been your achievement in those years in Jammu and Kashmir? You cannot hold elections. You cannot protect Kashmiri Pandits. Is that your achievement? You must apologise for what happened in 1989, you must apologise for what is happening now,” he said, attacking the BJP-led Centre.
Kashmiri Pandit Puran Krishan Bhat was gunned down by terrorists outside his ancestral house in Shopian’s Choudharygund village on October 15.
On October 18, Monish Kumar and Ram Sagar were killed in a grenade attack by terrorists while they were asleep in their rented accommodation in Shopian.
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the alleged exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from south Kashmir’s Shopian district, saying that while he is “enjoying power”, the members of the minority community remain refugees in their own country.
The Opposition party also demanded that the Modi government release a white paper on the plight of the minority community during its eight-year rule.
“This year, there have been 30 targeted killings in Kashmir. The exodus of Pandits is increasing rapidly. The BJP has ruined the good work done by the UPA,” former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
इस साल, कश्मीर में 30 टार्गेटिड किलिंग्स हो चुकी हैं। पंडितों का पलायन तेज़ी से बढ़ रहा है।
भाजपा ने यूपीए द्वारा किए गए अच्छे कामों को बर्बाद कर दिया है।
सत्ता में आने से पहले बड़ी-बड़ी बातें करने वाले PM सत्ता भोग रहे हैं और कश्मीरी पंडित अपने ही देश में शरणार्थी बने हुए हैं।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 27, 2022
“The PM, who spoke big things before coming to power, is enjoying power and Kashmiri Pandits remain refugees in their own country,” he said.As terrorists carried out a number of targeted killings recently, 10 Kashmiri Pandit families left their village, Choudharygund, in Shopian out of fear and reached Jammu, according to residents.
Members of the minority community, who have since been camping in Jammu, ruled out any plan to return to the Valley.
However, authorities in Shopian have attempted to put on a brave face by claiming no exodus of Kashmiri Pandits has taken place from the district.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress’ media department head Pawan Khera said that when the first migration of Kashmiri Pandits took place in 1989, V P Singh’s government was in office with the BJP’s support.
“In 1986, when the first riot against Kashmiri Pandits took place, Rajiv Gandhi’s government was in office at the Centre. Kashmiri Pandits walked from the national stadium to Rajiv Gandhi’s office, he heard them and Ghulam Mohammad Shah’s government was brought down,” Khera said.
The BJP only talks of zero tolerance but what it actually means was shown by Rajiv Gandhi, he claimed.
Slamming the Centre, Khera said 70 ministers of the government are carrying out an outreach programme in Kashmir and asked if any of them visited a camp of Kashmiri Pandits.
“What is this outreach when you cannot reach out to the Kashmiri Pandits living in the camps there,” he asked.
Citing an order, the Congress leader also alleged that Kashmiri Pandit employees are being “threatened” to return to work against their wishes.
There have been 30 targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits from January to October this year, he claimed.
“We demand a white paper from the Modi government on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. In the last eight years, all that has been done and not been done by this government should come out in that white paper,” Khera said.
“You (the government) will have to answer for the 80 killings. How is this normal, answer this,” he added.
Asked about Union minister Kiren Rijiju’s article titled ’75th Anniversary of Five Nehruvian Blunders on Kashmir’, Khera said those leaders of the BJP who are students of “WhatsApp nursery” need to revisit their history classes.
“If all that they are saying is true, how is it that during the Manmohan Singh era, targeted killings stopped and 75 per cent of the people would participate in the democratic process of elections in the state? We would be happy to get the answer to that,” he said.
The BJP leaders have no idea of the contemporary history of the country, he said.
It is very easy to blame Jawaharlal Nehru for this, Indira Gandhi for something else, P V Narasimha Rao for something else and Manmohan Singh for the rest, Khera said.
“Give us answers. You have been in power for eight years. What has been your achievement in those years in Jammu and Kashmir? You cannot hold elections. You cannot protect Kashmiri Pandits. Is that your achievement? You must apologise for what happened in 1989, you must apologise for what is happening now,” he said, attacking the BJP-led Centre.
Kashmiri Pandit Puran Krishan Bhat was gunned down by terrorists outside his ancestral house in Shopian’s Choudharygund village on October 15.
On October 18, Monish Kumar and Ram Sagar were killed in a grenade attack by terrorists while they were asleep in their rented accommodation in Shopian.
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‘Made allegations against Irani family on Goa restaurant based on their acknowledgement of connection’: Congress leaders to HC
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D’Souza have told the Delhi High Court that they had made allegations against Union Minister Smriti Irani based on multiple and repeated positions taken by her and her family allegedly “acknowledging the ownership or connection” with a restaurant in Goa.
The Congress leaders, in a common written statement filed in response to Irani’s defamation suit against them, claimed they made a “fair comment” in public interest and it was the moral and constitutional duty of the Opposition to hold members of the ruling government to account.
Irani has filed the suit against the Congress leaders for allegedly making baseless and false accusations against her and her 18-year-old daughter.
The Congress leaders alleged that the suit was an “abuse of process of law” and the minister deliberately and knowingly suppressed documents, information and linkages and intentionally placed distorted and concocted facts before the court.
The statement said the BJP leader has miserably failed to show any pre-planned conspiracy being hatched by the Congress leaders.
“The answering defendants (Congress leaders) had made the allegations based on multiple and repeated positions taken by the plaintiff (Irani) herself and her family acknowledging ownership/ connection with. (restaurant).”
“These declarations have been in the public domain for several months and the plaintiff has taken absolutely no steps to correct this record if it was incorrect. In fact, to the contrary the plaintiff has shared social media posts and endorsed the content,” it said.
The high court, on July 29, issued summonses to three Congress leaders on the civil defamation suit and had also asked them to take down tweets and other social media posts on allegations levelled against the union minister and her daughter.
The Congress leaders said despite the various misleading statements in the plaint, it is pertinent to mention that the plaintiff herself has admitted to the existence of “an old social media post” which “very conveniently has been suppressed” from the court.
It is this “social media post” and other relevant material available in the public domain, which draw a clear connection between the subject matter restaurant and the plaintiff and her family members, the written statement said.
“The statements made by answering defendants, clearly fall within the ambit of ‘fair comment,’ as the statements were made in public interest and in relation to a public issue, that is, a restaurant being operated on a licence renewed in the name of a deceased person and being obtained through fraudulent means.”
“With all the above-mentioned evidence connecting the plaintiff with the restaurant being available in public domain, it was in public interest to make fair comments and question the plaintiff on her linkage with the restaurant,” it claimed.
The Congress leaders submitted that Irani, the Minister for Women and Child Development, did not have any prima facie case to seek the ad-interim stay and the balance of convenience also does not lie in her favour as she has “clearly misled” the court and in the process “tried to throttle the answering defendants from voicing their concern on matters of public importance”.
They said it was clear that the BJP leader has sought relief for her family members, however, neither have the family members been impleaded nor has she filed any application or suit seeking to represent her family members’ interest.
“It is humbly submitted that the answering defendants are also citizens of India, and they expect the Council of Ministers advising the Prime Minister to be above-board and not indulge in illegal activities. In view of the same, the defendants raised questions which till date remain unanswered,” the statement said and sought dismissal of the suit and also to award the cost of the suit in their favour.
The high court had earlier noted in its order that Irani and her daughter are neither the owners of the restaurant in Goa nor they ever applied for licence for food and beverages at the eatery, as alleged by the Congress leaders in a July press conference.
The court has also passed an interim injunction directing the Congress leaders to remove from social media the allegations made against Irani and her daughter.
The court said in case the defendants fail to comply with its directions to remove tweets, retweets, posts, videos and photos from social media in relation to the allegations made against Irani, and her daughter within 24 hours, social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and YouTube shall take down the material.
Irani’s action came after the Congress targeted her daughter Zoish Irani and demanded the sacking of the minister.
The Union minister approached the court after the Congress leaders failed to respond to the legal notice sent to them by her.
NEW DELHI: Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D’Souza have told the Delhi High Court that they had made allegations against Union Minister Smriti Irani based on multiple and repeated positions taken by her and her family allegedly “acknowledging the ownership or connection” with a restaurant in Goa.
The Congress leaders, in a common written statement filed in response to Irani’s defamation suit against them, claimed they made a “fair comment” in public interest and it was the moral and constitutional duty of the Opposition to hold members of the ruling government to account.
Irani has filed the suit against the Congress leaders for allegedly making baseless and false accusations against her and her 18-year-old daughter.
The Congress leaders alleged that the suit was an “abuse of process of law” and the minister deliberately and knowingly suppressed documents, information and linkages and intentionally placed distorted and concocted facts before the court.
The statement said the BJP leader has miserably failed to show any pre-planned conspiracy being hatched by the Congress leaders.
“The answering defendants (Congress leaders) had made the allegations based on multiple and repeated positions taken by the plaintiff (Irani) herself and her family acknowledging ownership/ connection with. (restaurant).”
“These declarations have been in the public domain for several months and the plaintiff has taken absolutely no steps to correct this record if it was incorrect. In fact, to the contrary the plaintiff has shared social media posts and endorsed the content,” it said.
The high court, on July 29, issued summonses to three Congress leaders on the civil defamation suit and had also asked them to take down tweets and other social media posts on allegations levelled against the union minister and her daughter.
The Congress leaders said despite the various misleading statements in the plaint, it is pertinent to mention that the plaintiff herself has admitted to the existence of “an old social media post” which “very conveniently has been suppressed” from the court.
It is this “social media post” and other relevant material available in the public domain, which draw a clear connection between the subject matter restaurant and the plaintiff and her family members, the written statement said.
“The statements made by answering defendants, clearly fall within the ambit of ‘fair comment,’ as the statements were made in public interest and in relation to a public issue, that is, a restaurant being operated on a licence renewed in the name of a deceased person and being obtained through fraudulent means.”
“With all the above-mentioned evidence connecting the plaintiff with the restaurant being available in public domain, it was in public interest to make fair comments and question the plaintiff on her linkage with the restaurant,” it claimed.
The Congress leaders submitted that Irani, the Minister for Women and Child Development, did not have any prima facie case to seek the ad-interim stay and the balance of convenience also does not lie in her favour as she has “clearly misled” the court and in the process “tried to throttle the answering defendants from voicing their concern on matters of public importance”.
They said it was clear that the BJP leader has sought relief for her family members, however, neither have the family members been impleaded nor has she filed any application or suit seeking to represent her family members’ interest.
“It is humbly submitted that the answering defendants are also citizens of India, and they expect the Council of Ministers advising the Prime Minister to be above-board and not indulge in illegal activities. In view of the same, the defendants raised questions which till date remain unanswered,” the statement said and sought dismissal of the suit and also to award the cost of the suit in their favour.
The high court had earlier noted in its order that Irani and her daughter are neither the owners of the restaurant in Goa nor they ever applied for licence for food and beverages at the eatery, as alleged by the Congress leaders in a July press conference.
The court has also passed an interim injunction directing the Congress leaders to remove from social media the allegations made against Irani and her daughter.
The court said in case the defendants fail to comply with its directions to remove tweets, retweets, posts, videos and photos from social media in relation to the allegations made against Irani, and her daughter within 24 hours, social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and YouTube shall take down the material.
Irani’s action came after the Congress targeted her daughter Zoish Irani and demanded the sacking of the minister.
The Union minister approached the court after the Congress leaders failed to respond to the legal notice sent to them by her.
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Kanhaiya Kumar, Pawan Khera among ‘Bharat Yatris’ to walk 3,500 km during Congress’ foot march
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Congress leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Pawan Khera and former Punjab minister Vijay Inder Singla feature in a tentative list of “Bharat Yatris”, who will walk throughout the 3,500-km stretch of the party’s Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir “Bharat Jodo Yatra” starting September 7.
Former Youth Congress president Keshav Chandra Yadav and Vaibhav Walia, secretary of the communication department of the Uttarakhand Congress, besides a host of other young leaders will walk all along the yatra.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will flag off the yatra with a rally from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu in the evening of September 7.
Gandhi will also walk for most part of the yatra while taking breaks for canvassing for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat Assembly elections.
The Congress has drawn up a tentative list that features 117 leaders categorised as “Bharat Yatris”.
Chairman of the yatra organising committee Digvijaya Singh had earlier explained the concept of Bharat Yatris, saying they will walk the entire stretch of 3,500 km passing through 12 states.
Kanhaiya Kumar is a former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) and Khera is the chairman of the Congress’s media department.
A number of women workers and leaders of the party will also be Bharat Yatris, sources said.
NEW DELHI: Congress leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Pawan Khera and former Punjab minister Vijay Inder Singla feature in a tentative list of “Bharat Yatris”, who will walk throughout the 3,500-km stretch of the party’s Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir “Bharat Jodo Yatra” starting September 7.
Former Youth Congress president Keshav Chandra Yadav and Vaibhav Walia, secretary of the communication department of the Uttarakhand Congress, besides a host of other young leaders will walk all along the yatra.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will flag off the yatra with a rally from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu in the evening of September 7.
Gandhi will also walk for most part of the yatra while taking breaks for canvassing for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat Assembly elections.
The Congress has drawn up a tentative list that features 117 leaders categorised as “Bharat Yatris”.
Chairman of the yatra organising committee Digvijaya Singh had earlier explained the concept of Bharat Yatris, saying they will walk the entire stretch of 3,500 km passing through 12 states.
Kanhaiya Kumar is a former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) and Khera is the chairman of the Congress’s media department.
A number of women workers and leaders of the party will also be Bharat Yatris, sources said.
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Union minister V Muraleedharan, opposition face-off at seminar on democracy
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Union minister V Muraleedharan on Friday made a slew of suggestions to opposition parties, including on internal democracy and promoting talent, at a seminar and left soon citing “pressing engagements”, sparking protests from other participants.
The Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs was speaking at a seminar ‘Challenges Before Democracy’ to celebrate the 86th birth anniversary of late M P Veerendra Kumar, a socialist leader and Chairman of the Mathrubhumi Media Group.
The other speakers at the seminar were senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, Congress spokesman Pawan Khera, RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha, CPI(M) leader John Brittas, BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta and activist Yogendra Yadav.
“In the present context, the opposition feels that any achievement of India will go into the account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hence it chooses not to applaud it. Is it good for democracy,” Muraleedharan asked.
In his 30-minute speech, mostly in Malayalam, Muraleedharan said in a democracy everyone has the right to criticise, but in his home state Kerala, a person could be put in jail for criticising the chief minister.
In an apparent jibe at the Congress, he said people protest on the roads across the country saying ‘democracy is in peril’ when central government agencies summon a person for questioning following the due process of the law.
As Muraleedharan began to leave, Khera and Yadav asked him to at least hear the opposition response to the points he had raised in his speech.
“You call this democracy when the government is not ready to listen to what we have to say? This is not acceptable,” Khera said.
In his keynote speech, Bhushan said the role of money power in democracy had increased manifold with the introduction of electoral bonds, removal of limit on contributions to political parties by big corporations and allowing subsidiaries of foreign companies to make donations to political parties.
He also referred to lack of access to justice, delay in court cases and not having competent judges also posed challenges before democracy.
“If we have to reclaim democracy there will have to be a very robust citizen’s movement across the country. That movement will have to create its own media organisation that can be used by citizens to spread the right information,” Bhushan said.
“Our republic has been brought to the brink and if we do not rise to the challenge the situation will become irretrievable,” he said.
Khera said Congress alone will not be able to fight this battle to reclaim democracy without the participation of the civil society or the media.
Jha, the Rajya Sabha member from RJD, said the real challenge was not to realise that there were challenges to democracy in the country.
Yadav, who heads Swaraj Abhiyan, said when solemn memorial lectures are used to score petty political points one realises something was really wrong with democracy.
NEW DELHI: Union minister V Muraleedharan on Friday made a slew of suggestions to opposition parties, including on internal democracy and promoting talent, at a seminar and left soon citing “pressing engagements”, sparking protests from other participants.
The Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs was speaking at a seminar ‘Challenges Before Democracy’ to celebrate the 86th birth anniversary of late M P Veerendra Kumar, a socialist leader and Chairman of the Mathrubhumi Media Group.
The other speakers at the seminar were senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, Congress spokesman Pawan Khera, RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha, CPI(M) leader John Brittas, BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta and activist Yogendra Yadav.
“In the present context, the opposition feels that any achievement of India will go into the account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hence it chooses not to applaud it. Is it good for democracy,” Muraleedharan asked.
In his 30-minute speech, mostly in Malayalam, Muraleedharan said in a democracy everyone has the right to criticise, but in his home state Kerala, a person could be put in jail for criticising the chief minister.
In an apparent jibe at the Congress, he said people protest on the roads across the country saying ‘democracy is in peril’ when central government agencies summon a person for questioning following the due process of the law.
As Muraleedharan began to leave, Khera and Yadav asked him to at least hear the opposition response to the points he had raised in his speech.
“You call this democracy when the government is not ready to listen to what we have to say? This is not acceptable,” Khera said.
In his keynote speech, Bhushan said the role of money power in democracy had increased manifold with the introduction of electoral bonds, removal of limit on contributions to political parties by big corporations and allowing subsidiaries of foreign companies to make donations to political parties.
He also referred to lack of access to justice, delay in court cases and not having competent judges also posed challenges before democracy.
“If we have to reclaim democracy there will have to be a very robust citizen’s movement across the country. That movement will have to create its own media organisation that can be used by citizens to spread the right information,” Bhushan said.
“Our republic has been brought to the brink and if we do not rise to the challenge the situation will become irretrievable,” he said.
Khera said Congress alone will not be able to fight this battle to reclaim democracy without the participation of the civil society or the media.
Jha, the Rajya Sabha member from RJD, said the real challenge was not to realise that there were challenges to democracy in the country.
Yadav, who heads Swaraj Abhiyan, said when solemn memorial lectures are used to score petty political points one realises something was really wrong with democracy.
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Government trying to divert attention from real issues like price rise: Congress
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged that prices of commodities of daily use are sky-rocketing due to which the masses are suffering.
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Congress demands JPC probe in Rafale deal, alleges PM Modi interfered at every step of the deal
By PTI
HYDERABAD: Reiterating the Congress demand that the Rafale aircraft deal with France be investigated by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), party spokesperson Pawan Khera here on Tuesday alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s direct involvement in the “Defence scam”.
Khera referred to the French investigative portal Mediapart, which, in a fresh set of revelations, exposed how middleman Sushen Gupta got hold of confidential documents belonging to the Indian Negotiating Team (INT) in 2015 from the Ministry of Defence detailing the stance of the Indian negotiators, during the final lap of negotiation and in particular how they calculated the price of the aircraft, giving a clear advantage to Dassault Aviation (Rafale).
He alleged “the latest revelations in “Operation Cover-up” reveal the dubious nexus between Modi Government-CBI-ED to bury the Rafale Corruption”.
ALSO READ | Why Narendra Modi government is not forming JPC for Rafale probe: Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel
Mediapart, in its fresh revelations, alleged bogus invoices were used that enabled French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation pay at least 7.5 million Euros in secret commissions to a middleman to help it secure the Rafale deal with India.
The report claimed that commissions were paid between 2007 and 2012, when the Congress-led UPA government was in power at the Centre, for securing the multi-billion Rafale deal with India.
Addressing a press conference here, Khera said that over the last few years Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other party leaders have spoken on the issue of “scam” in the Rafale deal and since then several new facts have emerged.
ALSO READ | ‘Rafale kickback happened during Congress regime’: BJP retorts as row erupts over new report
“The latest facts prove it beyond doubt that the corruption in multi-crore Rafale deal goes right upto the doorstep of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, Khera alleged.
”The BJP government sacrificed national security, jeopardised the interests of the Indian Air Force and caused losses worth thousands of crores of Rupees to our exchequer,” he alleged.
“We have been demanding a JPC in this matter. These are new facts, which prove beyond doubt, the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in interfering at every step of the deal….therefore the new facts have to be taken to the people’s court,” Khera said.
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BJP national executive should speak on India-China border issues: Congress
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Questioning the BJP’s “silence” on border issues with China, the Congress on Sunday dubbed the ruling party as “pseudo nationalist” and asked if it would speak out the “truth” about the “threat on our borders” and China’s growing influence in the neighbourhood.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera cited a news report about China getting active and building infrastructure in Chumbi valley which poses a serious threat to the Siliguri corridor that connects the northeastern states to the rest of the country.
“Today we demand from the so-called national executive of this pseudo nationalists’ party to come out and say something on China and share with the country the deadline on when will you be able to push China back from our territory and what are you doing to reduce Chinese influence in our neighbourhood,” he told reporters.
He said the developments in Afghanistan are only helping Pakistan and China, while India pays a price for whatever happens in its neighbourhood.
“But, we don’t hear a word being spoken by this government,” he said.
”This is an occasion to ask the pseudo nationalist” whether they will open their mouth and say something on the growing threat from China across all our borders,” he asked at a press conference, after the BJP’s national executive meeting here.
Earlier in the day, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju hit out at the Congress for allegedly quoting a foreign media report to question the “credibility” of the government on the India-China border issue.
In a series of tweets, the BJP leaders claimed that “some mischievous media” wrote in bold that China has built a village inside Arunachal “and then slightly mentioned ‘at the area occupied by China in 1959’. What’s your purpose?”
Rijiju said that “these people” deliberately don’t believe the Indian Army but quickly quoted a foreign story to “create a misleading headline to question the credibility of our government and strength of our army with a malicious motive to demoralise the nation.”
He also once again posted a short video of the then defence minister AK Antony’s purported remarks on China in Lok Sabha during the Congress-led UPA rule.
In a 2013 clip, Antony told the House that independent India had a policy for many years that the best defence is not to develop the border.
An undeveloped border is safer than a developed border, the then defence minister said, adding that China on the other had improved its infrastructure on the border.
The Congress had on Saturday sought an apology from Prime Minister Modi and asked him to “withdraw” his “clean chit” to China as it cited a Pentagon report that claims China has entered 4.5 km into Arunachal Pradesh.
“Why is the Indian government silent. The prime minister does not open his mouth and does not listen to the experts, veterans and the opposition and instead gives a clean chit to China,” Khera asked on Sunday.
“The massive price the country has paid due to this clean chit will go down in history as the biggest blunder of this prime minister,” he also said.
He said that trade with China has increased by 67 percent since last year and claimed it reflected the BJP’s pseudo nationalism as “they are not concerned about the safety of our borders”.
He also cited several instances of growing Chinese influence in the neighbourhood and said China has constructed a highway connecting the Bhutan and Nepal border and signed an MoU with Bhutan and tied up with it directly but the Indian government is silent.
“China is active against our interests and is building ties with the Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka besides Pakistan and is active there, still the Government of India is silent, and is instead giving it a clean chit,”‘ the Congress leader alleged.
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Congress seeks JPC probe into Facebook’s alleged role in ‘influencing’ polls
By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday accused Facebook of “influencing” India’s elections and “undermining” democracy and demanded a joint parliamentary committee probe into it.
“Facebook has reduced itself to a Fakebook,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said while raising the purported leaked internal reports of the social media giant on not initiating action against hate speech posts on its platform in India.
There was no response from Facebook India to the allegations.
The Congress leader also alleged that Facebook was acting as an ally of the ruling BJP and pushing its agenda.
ALSO READ: Rising tide of leaks threatens to inundate Facebook
Khera referred to research documents by whistleblower Frances Haugen, who has worked at Facebook, and alleged that it took no decisive action against the perpetrators of such hate posts in Hindi and Bengali.
He alleged that Facebook’s internal reports have identified fake accounts with over a million impressions, yet it did nothing about it.
“We demand a JPC probe to look into the role of Facebook in influencing our elections,” Khera told reporters.
He alleged that Facebook was trying to “‘compromise and undermine our democracy in trying to shape through fake posts the opinions of people”‘.
He alleged that BJP workers and those of its affiliates have infiltrated into the structure and functioning of Facebook.
“What right does Facebook have to push a particular ideology through fake posts, pictures and a narrative. It is shocking how only 0.2 per cent of hate speech is removed by Facebook, which despite making the most money from India, does not have the mechanism to filter posts in Hindi or Bengali,” he said.
ALSO READ: Internal Facebook documents show struggle with misinformation and hate speech in India
Khera said just nine percent of users in India are in English and yet they do not have systems to filter the posts of regional languages.
Alleging that the role of Facebook during Delhi riots and West Bengal elections has been under suspicion, he said “The role of Facebook can no longer be dismissed as an error of omission as they are knowingly furthering the agenda of the ruling party and its ideology which is hate-filled, bigotry and dividing society.”
“Why should we not accuse Facebook of interfering in our elections by influencing the voting behaviour of its consumers. This is serious election fraud and this is serious interference in our elections by a foreign company,” he alleged.
“Why is Facebook quiet on these accusations which have come from within it. Why is the government silent on this, just because it suits their agenda and Facebook has become a tool in the hands of the BJP and its affiliates,” he asked.
Khera alleged that in the wake of an expose by its own former employee, there are many questions that Facebook and the government need to answer.
“Despite knowing all of this, why hasn’t Facebook designated RSS and Bajrang Dal as ‘dangerous organisations’ based on its own internal reports? “While the Government of India had been extremely proactive against Twitter citing Social Media safety compliance, why are they not uttering a word now,” he asked.
He also alleged that internal reports and recommendations of Facebook’s security team went against the recommendations of Facebook’s safety team, insofar as they prioritised commercial interests over the safety of Indian citizens, and yet no action has been taken by the Government.
“Doesn’t this clearly implicate the presence of a ‘quid pro quo’,” he asked.
Internal documents at Facebook show “a struggle with misinformation, hate speech and celebrations of violence” in India, the company’s biggest market, with researchers at the social media giant pointing out that there are groups and pages “replete with inflammatory and misleading anti-Muslim content” on its platform, US media reports have said.
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Congress says RSS cannot talk on national issues
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: A day after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s annual Dussehra address in Nagpur, Congress termed the outfit an unregistered cultural organisation. The party also asked in what capacity does the RSS chief speak about national and international issues.
National spokesperson of Congress Pawan Khera at a media interface on Friday said: “The RSS is a cultural organisation, still unregistered and Mohan Bhagwat is its self-proclaimed head speaking on issues the government should have spoken.”
Replying to a media query on the RSS chief’s statements on Pakistan, China and Taliban, Khera lashed out asking, “How is RSS not different from SPICMACY and other cultural organisations? How the RSS chief’s address is streamed live while others’ are not.”
Khera said that the RSS is by its own admission to Sadar Vallabhbhai Patel, a cultural organisation that has given in writing it will not indulge in politics. “Bhagwat says he regrets and feels pains at the partition of nation. There should also be repentance. Sanghis (referring to RSS) and the Leagues (Indian Muslim League) should also tender apologies to the people displace by partition.”
READ HERE | RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat seeks policy revamp on population
Questioning the Centre’s silence on a viral video, released by the Chinese PLF of Galwan valley, showing an army in captivity, Khera said that the government of India should come out and state the facts.Speaking on the brutal murder of a 35-year-old person near Delhi’s Singhu border on Friday, Khera demanded a proper investigation, saying there is no place for violence in the country. “India is run by laws. Therefore, there is no room for violence or crime in this country. Now it is up to the government to get proper investigation done into the murder at Delhi’s Singhu border”, Khera concluded.
Sangh procession denied nod in RajNew Delhi: In Congress-ruled Rajasthan, the government refused permission to the RSS to hold its traditional procession on the festival of Dussehra. BJP reacted sharply and alleged that the government has misused Corona guidelines as an excuse. Senior BJP leader Arun Chaturvedi said in the last few days, there were many demonstrations in Jaipur in which ministers were involved, but there was no talk of Corona. “It reflects the political thinking of the Congress government,” he said. This, Chaturvedi claimed, is injustice as RSS officials had assured they would follow Corona guidelines.