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Tag: Bharatiya Janata Party

  • Rahul Gandhi accuses India’s Prime Minister Modi over Manipur crisis

    Rahul Gandhi accuses India’s Prime Minister Modi over Manipur crisis

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused by Rahul Gandhi, the leader of India’s opposition, of “murdering Mother India” in the violent Manipur state.

    India was murdered in Manipur. In the face of protests from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr. Gandhi declared in parliament that “their politics killed India in Manipur.

    He was speaking while the opposition debated a no-confidence motion against Mr. Modi’s administration.

    The motion is to be put to a vote on Thursday after the discussion.

    Due to the majority that Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies hold in parliament, his administration won’t lose the vote.

    Opposition leaders assert that Mr. Modi will be forced to address the continuing ethnic conflicts in Manipur state during the discussion.

    Since the beginning of May, when ethnic violence between the Meitei majority group and the tribal Kuki minority group erupted, more than 150 people have killed and tens of thousands have been displaced in Manipur. Only after a video of two women being paraded naked by a crowd generated anger across the world did Mr. Modi officially address the brutality.

    Speaking before the house, Mr. Gandhi claimed that Manipur was not a priority for Mr. Modi. Because Manipur is not considered to be a part of India, our prime minister chose not to visit the state.

    The leader of the Congress party said, “In Manipur, they slaughtered India. Not only has their politics destroyed Manipur, but it has also destroyed India in Manipur. India was slain in Manipur.

    BJP leaders protested Mr. Gandhi’s remarks, claiming he had trivialised India’s name.

    India is not corrupt, so you are not India. India does not believe in dynasties, according to Smriti Irani, a federal minister and BJP member. The remark made reference to the Nehru-Gandhi family, one of India’s most illustrious political families, who ruled India for a significant portion of its history following independence in 1947.

    Days before to his address, Mr. Gandhi had made his first appearance in parliament following his conviction in a criminal defamation case.

    After being given a two-year prison term in March, he had lost his status as a legislator. On Monday, two days after the Supreme Court postponed his sentence, he was re-elected as a member of parliament.

    He paid tribute to the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the complex on Monday before going to the parliament building, where he was greeted by opposition leaders.

    Opposition leaders have protested throughout the parliament session, which started on July 20, calling for Mr. Modi to address the house about the violence in Manipur.

    Since taking office in 2014, Mr. Modi’s administration has faced a motion of no confidence twice. A resolution to grant Andhra Pradesh state special category status was made by a politician in 2018. After a 12-hour argument, it was lost.

    The ongoing no-confidence vote is also an opportunity for INDIA, a freshly established opposition coalition of 26 parties, to show their cohesion. The coalition, which was established in July, intends to challenge Mr. Modi’s BJP in the upcoming general elections.

  • Indian wrestling’s top official accused of sexual harassment

    Indian wrestling’s top official accused of sexual harassment

    Following weeks of demonstrations by female athletes over allegations of sexual harassment, Delhi police on Thursday formally filed charges against Indian wrestling‘s top official, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

    According to top Delhi police official Suman Nalwa, Singh has been charged with assault, stalking, and sexual harassment.

    The charge sheet has been sent to the court, and the remaining proceedings will now take place there, where the court will frame the charges and conduct the trial, the witness stated.

    Singh has not been detained despite his denial of all charges of sexual harassment.

    While Singh was initially accused of harassing a minor, he has not been charged under India’s child abuse laws because the alleged victim and their father had revoked their accusations, Nalwa said.

    CNN has reached out to Singh and some wrestlers who have participated in the protests for comment.

    The charges come months after some of India’s top female wrestlers accused Singh – who is also a powerful politician from the country’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – of sexual harassment, staging weeks of protests and demanding his arrest.

    Delhi police were initially criticized for being slow to act on the allegations, but launched an investigation in late April following an intervention by the Supreme Court.

    Singh has alleged – without providing evidence – that opposition parties were behind the protests.

    The wrestlers’ protest has become a flashpoint of criticism against the ruling establishment, with rights activists and opposition politicians accusing the authorities of blocking the course of justice.

    Among those leading the protests were Olympians Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, whose rise to prominence in the male-dominated sport brought joy and pride to millions in the country.

    But for months, their faces have been plastered across television screens for very different reasons.

    Late last month, they were detained by police as they attempted to march to New Delhi’s historic center, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inaugurating the country’s new Parliament building – an event Singh attended.

    In a chaotic escalation of events, officers “forcefully dragged and detained” the protesters, Malik told reporters from inside a police vehicle before being driven away. Police said they had failed to follow officers’ orders.

    The protesters were released shortly after, but their protest site has been dismantled by the police, forcing them to stop their demonstrations.

    In the days following their detention, and in an act of desperation, some of the wrestlers vowed to throw their Olympic medals in the Ganges river.

    “These medals decorating our necks no longer mean anything,” they said in a statement. “What is the point of life when you compromise on dignity?”

    Video and photos showed the wrestlers sobbing on the banks of the holy river, stopping short of relinquishing their medals after an intervention by an influential farmers’ union leader.

    But the dramatic scenes set the stage for a final countdown for charges to be leveled against Singh, with demonstrators urging police to act quickly.

    The allegations against Singh came to light in January, when several leading wrestlers demanded an inquiry into claims of sexual harassment by younger athletes against him.

    In a letter addressed to the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and shared on Twitter, five leading wrestlers said they wanted to create a “safe and secure place” for young wrestlers, especially sportswomen.

    Soon after the letter was made public, Phogat and others took to the streets, demanding Singh’s dismissal. At the time, the WFI denied the allegations but said an inquiry was underway.