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PM Modi asks West Bengal youth to understand significance of June 20 as Foundation Day

Kolkata, June 20 (IANS) The current youth generation in West Bengal needs to be aware of the history behind the relevance of June 20 as “Bengal Foundation Day” and the contribution of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee towards it, which, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress, the Communists and subsequently the Trinamool Congress deliberately tried to erase from the memories of the people of the state.

“First, the Congress regime in West Bengal, then that of the Left Front and finally the Trinamool Congress regime in the state made West Bengal a free land for illegal infiltrators. All these three forces tried to suppress the role played by Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee in keeping West Bengal a part of India. But the current generation of youth in West Bengal need to be aware of the circumstances prevailing in 1947, when, on this date that year, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee moved a proposal in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly to partition the province, integrating West Bengal into India,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a public gathering at Tarakeswar in Hooghly district of West Bengal on Saturday.

According to the Prime Minister, the celebration of “Bengal Foundation Day” on June 20 is an occasion to recollect history.

“In the past, there were deliberate attempts to suppress history. Bengal had endured riots, division and bloodshed. Many people died in the Noakhali riots. Congress succumbed to the conspiracy. Only Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was vocal against the conspiracy,” the Prime Minister said.

However, he added that the new BJP government in West Bengal is not only determined to prevent illegal infiltration but also to free the state of illegal infiltrators.

“There have been instances of illegal infiltration in West Bengal during the tenures of the Congress, the Left Front and the Trinamool Congress. Now the work of installing barbed wire on the border has started,” the Prime Minister said.

The previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal used to celebrate “Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year Day)” as Bengal Foundation Day, and hence there was no fixed day on the English calendar for observing the occasion.

However, the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has decided that June 20 will be celebrated as Bengal Foundation Day, considering the historical relevance of the date.

While former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee opposed celebrating Bengal Foundation Day on June 20 because of the pain associated with Partition for many people, the BJP argued that the foundation day of a state should be linked to the historical relevance associated with the date.

Speaking at the public meeting in Tarakeswar, the Prime Minister said that the positive impact of the results of the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections could already be felt by the people of the state.

“The people of West Bengal have been freed from the shackles of subjugation. The people of West Bengal are now independent. The old glory of West Bengal is returning. Does the change feel good? The double-engine government has started working. Work on many stalled projects has started. West Bengal is moving towards development at a super-fast pace,” the Prime Minister said.

–IANS

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Thane teen’s rape-murder: Accused Gawli couple sent to a week’s police custody (Ld)

Thane (Maharashtra), Dec 26 (IANS) A Special POCSO Court in Kalyan town granted Vishal Gawli and his wife Sakshi Gawli to police custody for a week till January 2 in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl who was reported missing since Monday, officials said here on Thursday.

Thane district was rocked by a sensational sex crime perpetrated on the girl, who had stepped out of her home to buy some provisions but then went ‘missing’ till her body was found on December 25 (Wednesday).

Coming nearly five months after the Badlapur sexual assault on two nursery class girls in August, this is the second case that has sparked outrage with people demanding the death penalty for the alleged perpetrators — Vishal Gawli, 35, and his wife Sakshi Gawli, 25.

Vishal Gawli is accused of kidnapping the girl from near her home, forcibly taking her in an autorickshaw to his house, assaulting, raping, killing and then dumping her body near a cemetery in the neighbouring Bhiwandi town, nearly 8 km away.

As the girl failed to return home for several hours, the family had lodged a missing complaint and a probe had started on Monday night, with the needle of suspicion pointing at the Gawli couple after the girl’s body was found.

The Thane Police formed six teams to hunt him down, but Vishal Gawli had already fled to Shegaon in Buldhana district, where his in-laws reside.

There, he was spotted in a crowded restaurant through CCTV footage buying liquor, and the Shegaon police caught up with him in a local hair-cutting salon where he had gone for a clean shave, ostensibly to conceal his identity.

This morning (December 26), the Kalyan Police which registered the case, took custody of Vishal Gawli from Shegaon police while his wife Sakshi, who is said to be a party to the heinous crime, was nabbed from outside her house in Kalyan, late on Tuesday.

During police questioning, Sakshi revealed that her husband Vishal had committed the crime and kept the girl’s body at their home till she returned around 7 p.m. on Monday.

Later, Vishal asked a friend to lend him his autorickshaw and along with Sakshi went to the Bapgaon area in Bhiwandi where they dumped the girl’s body in a desolate area near a cemetery before decamping from there.

After taking in custody by Buldhana Police, Vishal Gawli was handed over to the Kolsewadi police station in Kalyan town (Thane) on Thursday and he was produced before a Kalyan Magistrate Court which remanded the couple to police custody till January 2.

The police prosecutor said that they wanted to probe the circumstances leading to the crime, how he kidnapped the victim, took her in the autorickshaw, the killing, his escape and involvement of any others besides his wife, and other angles in the case.

Initial probe revealed that Vishal Gawli was a history-sheeter in sex crimes, facing three molestation cases involving two women and a minor girl, plus two assault cases.

Arrested in a POCSO case lodged in August 2023, he was released on bail and had been married thrice, with Sakshi being his third wife.

As the matter assumed political colours, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke to the Thane Superintendent of Police and directed that no efforts should be spared to ensure the death penalty for the accused, and the case should be transferred to a fast-track court.

Ruling ally Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde — in whose Lok Sabha constituency the tragedy occurred — met the victim’s family and assured that the government would ensure that the accused is tried and hanged.

The incident attracted huge flak from the opposition parties, including Shiv Sena -UBT’s Sanjay Raut, who said that Thane — the native district of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde — has become a hotbed of gruesome crimes against women and young girls.

Earlier on Thursday, several relatives of the victim and other women carried out a silent protest outside the police station, seeking the death penalty and refusing to take the girl’s body till the accused was hanged.

–IANS

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Shiv Sena-BJP calls 2006 Mumbai train blast verdict ‘unfortunate’, AIMIM welcomes it

Mumbai, July 21 (IANS) The Bombay High Court’s verdict acquitting all 12 men convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case has triggered sharp political reactions on Monday.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam called the verdict “very unfortunate” and questioned the implications of the acquittal.

“We do not accept this decision. Nearly 180 Mumbaikars lost their lives — and this was a well-planned conspiracy. The police investigated, people were arrested, and the lower court sentenced them, even issuing death sentences. If now the High Court says none of them were responsible, then who did it? Are we heading toward a situation like the ‘No one killed Jessica Lal’ case?” Nirupam said.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya echoed similar sentiments, saying the High Court verdict has been “deeply disappointing and shocking.”

“There were serious shortcomings in the investigation or the prosecution’s legal strategy. I have appealed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to constitute a legal team of experts to study the judgment and file an appeal in the Supreme Court. The real culprits must not be allowed to go scot-free,” he said.

In contrast, AIMIM leader Waris Pathan welcomed the decision, calling it a rare but powerful example of truth prevailing after years of injustice.

“This is a very welcome judgment. 12 innocent people have finally been acquitted after spending 17-18 years in prison. Some lost their parents, others their youth, and their families were broken. Who will repay them for these lost years? Will it be the government? Will the ATS be held accountable?” Pathan added.

He criticised the indiscriminate use of stringent laws like the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), alleging that they were misused against minorities.

“Based on mere suspicion, lives were destroyed. Justice delayed is justice denied. The previous court ruling was deeply flawed, and that’s why it couldn’t stand up to scrutiny in the High Court,” he said.

The 2006 serial blasts – one of the worst terror attacks on Mumbai’s lifeline – left 189 dead and over 800 injured. In just 11 minutes, seven pressure cooker bombs filled with RDX and ammonium nitrate tore through first-class compartments of packed local trains running between Churchgate and Borivali.

A special court had convicted 12 of the 13 accused in 2015, awarding five of them the death penalty and sentencing the rest to life imprisonment. But on Monday, a division bench comprising Justice Anil Kilor and Justice S. Chandak overturned all convictions, citing a lack of evidence, and ordered the immediate release of the 12 men.

The High Court’s decision marks a significant setback for the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which had filed charges under MCOCA and UAPA in 2006. The court’s acquittal effectively nullifies years of investigation and legal proceedings that were once seen as a major success in cracking a terror conspiracy believed to be backed by Pakistani-based militants.

Of the 13 men initially accused, one had already been acquitted by the special court. The remaining 12, including the five sentenced to death, are now set to walk free after spending nearly two decades in jail.

–IANS

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