Tag: Protest

  • Protest at Kashmiri Pandit camp in Sheikhpora continues; employees demand relocation

    By PTI

    SHEIKHPORA: Fear and anger were writ large on the faces of Kashmiri Pandit employees and their family members as they continued their protest on Saturday at the Sheikhpora transit camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district against the killing of Rahul Bhat and demanding their relocation to safer places outside Kashmir Valley.

    A posse of security forces personnel stood guard outside the camp, ostensibly for their protection. The protesters, however, claimed that the security forces personnel prevented them from taking out a protest march.

    The camp, which houses the families of Bhat and other Kashmir Pandits who were employed under the prime minister’s package in 2008, has become an epicentre of protests in the aftermath of the killing Bhat, who was shot dead by terrorists in his office in Chadoora on Thursday.

    The protesters have been demanding their relocation to safe environments in the wake of a spurt in the attacks on the minority community members in the valley.

    On Saturday, over a hundred employees — men and women — sat under a large makeshift tent, in order to protect themselves from the scorching heat prevalent across the valley, as they protested against Bhat’s killing as well to press for the acceptance of their demands.

    So far, they said, there were no visible signs of any resolution to the problems. “This is the failure of both the central as well as the union territory governments. This is the ninth killing (of minority community members), we are facing huge problems, but there is no redressal,” Vimal, a Kashmiri pandit employee, told PTI at the camp.

    He said for the migrant employees to work freely, a safe and secure environment should be created. “There has to have fool-proof security arrangements for us to work. We cannot work like this and so, we are planning to submit mass resignations,” Vimal said.

    On Friday, there were reports of mass resignations by the employees, especially in the militancy-hit south Kashmir, but the government dismissed those.

    Instead, it said, their service-related issues were being addressed in a time-bound manner within a week. Vimal, however, said the government’s intentions were not clear. While many paid tributes to Bhat — a photograph of his was placed on a table — several others raised slogans against the government and the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

    A tri-colour also placed on the table. The protesters got up and rushed towards the main gate of the camp which has shut by the police since Friday night. The protesters tried to throw the gate open, but police prevailed. A police vehicle was also brought in front of the gate to stop the march of the protesters.

    The employees — who on Friday had sat on the main road connecting the district with Srinagar city as well as the airport — said they were fooled by the police into vacating the road and were now “caged” inside the transit camp.

    “We were removed from the dharna by the DIG (central Kashmir) on the assurance that the Lieutenant Governor will come to see us. However, the LG did not come. He sent his principal secretary, Nitishwar Kumar, instead around 11 pm,” Vimal said. “He (Kumar) had no solutions, no redressal to our issues,” one of the employees said.

    Sanjay Kumar, another employee, said reports about providing the migrant employees arms licenses were “fake”. The community has a solution to their problems — the government should temporarily relocate them to “safer places” till a secure atmosphere is created in the valley.

    “For the time-being, two years, three years, we should be relocated till the time they control the situation. They are not doing anything except telling us that there is no provision to relocate them,” another employee from the community, Aparna Pandit, said.

    The Kashmiri Pandits said they have never come out on roads or raised their voice, but Bhat’s killing has “shook us”.

    “Do they want us dead? We will submit mass resignations as the government has totally failed because now employees are killed inside their offices. Where is the security? Why is there no provision for us to be transferred outside Kashmir? People can come from Bihar and Maharashtra to work here, but we cannot go outside,” she said.

    They claimed their problems will continue as the government was “making us sacrificial lamb”. “Either accept our mass resignations or do something to secure our lives. Transfer us then to any other state in India. The government said they can neither accept our resignation, nor transfer us,” she said.

    Another Kashmiri pandit, who did not wish to be named, said the government wants to create an atmosphere of fear. “They do not want us to live happily here. We left our families, our children were living happily and studying well when they told us they will rehabilitate us. Is this what that rehabilitation is? Has Rahul Bhat been rehabilitated?” he said.

    “Why are we not being allowed to go to press colony (in Srinagar) to protest Bhat’s killing and to pay homage to him? Why are we being caged here? Are we stone-pelters? Are we anti-national elements, terrorists? We sat peacefully yesterday. The police is deliberately harassing us,” he said.

    While the protest continued near the main gate, the whole transit camp — which houses about 300 families — presented a grim picture.

    Many Kashmiri Pandits, especially the elderly, were busy with their daily chores, but none of them seemed to be at peace. Their faces betrayed their hearts which had, for so long, been longing to return to Kashmir.

  • FIR against BJP youth wing president after video shows him raising sword during protest in Mumbai 

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Mumbai Police have registered an FIR against former Mumbai BJP youth wing president Mohit Kamboj for allegedly wielding a sword during a protest and violation of COVID-19 norms, an official said on Thursday.

    A video surfaced on Wednesday purportedly showing Kamboj wielding a sword presented to him during a protest organised to hail the arrest of NCP leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik by the ED in a money laundering case.

    Following Malik’s arrest, some BJP workers burst crackers outside the residence of Kamboj at Santa Cruz in western suburbs.

    After the video surfaced, a police team reached the spot to look into the matter.

    The police on Wednesday night registered an FIR against Kamboj under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 188 (disobeying the order of public servant), and provisions of the Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act, the official said.

  • Farmers observe Jan 31 as ‘Vishwasghat Diwas’, accuse Centre of betraying them

    By PTI

    JAIPUR/GHAZIABAD: Farmers held protests in different parts of the country on Monday as part of their observance of ‘Vishwasghat Diwas’, accusing the Union government of betraying them over various farm issues.

    The call for a nationwide observance of ‘Betrayal Day’ was given by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday.

    He alleged that the over-year-long agitation of farmers at Delhi’s borders was suspended on basis of a letter given by the government on December 9, but those promises have not been fulfilled.

    In Rajasthan, farmers held protests at several district headquarters and major towns, including Jaipur.

    Farmers held a demonstration at Shaheed Smarak in the state capital and burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    In Sikar, former CPI(M) MLA and farmer leader Amra Ram led the protest and accused the Union government of not taking any step following the “agreement” with the farmers.

    In Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, farmers gathered at the local collectorate and handed over a memorandum to the administration, BKU’s district president Bijendra Singh told PTI.

    ALSO READ: Rakesh Tikait slams Modi government says farmers would observe ‘Betrayal Day’ on Monday

    Addressing the protesters, he said the government has not yet fulfilled various demands of the farmers, including about minimum support price for crops even though their protest was suspended over a month ago.

    The cases lodged against agitating farmers have not been withdrawn and the Uttar Pradesh government was not paying attention to the demand of martyr status to farmers who died during the agitation, Singh added.

    The protest on Delhi’s borders had started under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a farmers’ collective, in November 2020 over the main demands of withdrawal of three contentious farm laws that were introduced by the BJP-led Centre.

    The farmers, who occupied key border points of Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur for over a year, also demanded a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) of crops.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in November 2021 announced that the contentious farm laws would be rolled back, leading to the protestors eventually vacating Delhi borders in December.

  • Students declared failed in Bengal higher secondary examination hold protests

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Several Class 12 students who have been declared failed by the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE)blocked roads and ransacked furniture of a school during protests across the state on Saturday.

    Of the 8,19,202 candidates, 97.69 per cent have passed this year.

    The agitating students said with no exams having taken place this year due to the COVID-19 situation, they were baffled by the evaluation process.

    They wondered how some examinees were declared as having passed while some others were declared unsuccessful.

    An evaluation method had been worked out this year based on marks obtained by an examinee in the Madhyamik (class 10 examination) and class 11 annual test.

    Some of the agitators even proceeded to the residence of Education Minister Bratya Basu but were dissuaded by the police, an officer said.

    An official of the WBCHSE said its president Mahua Das was holding talks with the heads of several schools on the issue.

    Officials said, irate students of Inda Krishnalal Sikshaniketan in Paschim Medinipur district barged into the classrooms of their educational institute and damaged furniture demanding they be declared as passed.

    Protests were held at Hariharpara in Murshidabad district where the unsuccessful candidates of nearby Saratpur Bidyalaya burnt tyres in the middle of a road during a road blockade.

    Unsuccessful candidates also blocked roads at Habibpur in Malda district, and at Madhyamgram Chowmatha in North 24 Parganas district on similar grounds.

    “Since there was no examination this year, we should be declared as passed. Or everyone must be declared as failed,” a protesting girl student was heard screaming in Madhyamgram.

    The students, with their guardians, also demonstrated in the Barisha area of the city and near the office of the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education in the Salt Lake area.

    Some of the agitators even proceeded to the residence of Education Minister Bratya Basu but were dissuaded by the police, an officer said.

    An official of the WBCHSE said its president Mahua Das was holding talks with the heads of several schools on the issue.

    Giving a twist to the issue, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh told reporters “It appears the result this year was aimed to placate members of one community. Otherwise, why should grades be announced when there were no exams due to the pandemic.”

    Earlier this week, the West Bengal Board class 10 exam result was declared with a record 100 per cent pass percentage.