Connect with us
Friday,06-June-2025
Breaking News

Maharashtra

Kamra row: Criticism, soul of democracy trampled, says Shiv Sena(UBT)

Published

on

Mumbai, March 26: Shiv Sena(UBT) has slammed the Mahayuti government, Mumbai Police and the Shiv Sena over the ransacking of the studio over the controversial remarks by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, saying that the criticism, which is the soul of democracy as advocated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trampled.

Shiv Sena(UBT), in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ editorial, questioned what the Maharashtra Home Minister and police were doing while chaos was going on in Mumbai city.

“PM Modi says criticism is the soul of democracy. Here, both democracy and the soul have been trampled underfoot by PM Modi’s supporters and are exposed. Instead of taking action against the goons who attacked the podcast studio, the Home Minister asked Kunal Kamra to apologise to Shinde and settle the matter. There is no such thing as freedom of expression. Fadnavis’ ancestors fought against the strangulation of freedom of expression during the Emergency. It no longer seems true that these people went to jail against the Emergency and fought against Indira Gandhi,” reads the editorial.

“Using the pretext of criticism, the pro-Modi Shinde group attacked a ‘podcast studio’. They destroyed the studio and the platform of freedom of expression. They threatened to kill ‘podcast’ artist Kunal Kamra. What was the Maharashtra Home Minister doing and what were his police doing while this chaos was going on in Mumbai city?” says the editorial.

“Was the police a silent spectator while the vandalism was going on or were they in a role of cooperating with the vandals? As soon as the pro-Modi Shinde group vandalized Kamra’s studio, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation woke up and reached the studio with a dormant bulldozer. The civic body decided that many works in the studio were illegal and demolished it. BMC realised that there was illegal construction done inside the studio only after the stand-up comedian, without taking anyone’s name, read out his poem full of sarcasm. The BMC’s action should also be called a joke,” says the editorial.

The editorial further says, “Apologise and go away seems to be the policy of the current Chief Minister. If the podcaster has made a wrong and defamatory criticism, legal action can be taken against him, but threats, beatings and vandalism before the crime are proven hooliganism. Home Minister Fadnavis is openly supporting this hooliganism.”

Thackeray faction, while stepping up attacks against Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ remarks, asks, “Shinde’s supporters attacked Kunal Kamra, but they are not ready to say a single word against a journalist Prashant Koratkar who insulted Shivaji. So has the Maharashtra government granted Koratkar the freedom of expression to insult Shivaji?”

The Shiv Sena(UBT) asks whether the Shinde faction will march at Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray’s residence and question him over his statement that ”There are many ‘Khokyabhai’ sitting in the Vidhan Sabha.”

“This statement reflects reality. Raj Thackeray called all those who defected with 50 boxes and got elected on the strength of those boxes ‘Khokyabhai’. The government belongs to these ‘Khokyabhai’s’. Are Shinde’s people going to march towards Raj Thackeray’s house today because he gave the analogy of ‘Khokyabhai’?” reads the Saamana.

Maharashtra

Mumbai: MLA and SP leader Abu Asim Azmi appeals to avoid sacrificing animals in the open on Eid-ul-Azha

Published

on

Mumbai: Mumbai Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi has appealed to Muslims not to perform Qurbani in the open and also follow BMC and government guidelines. Cleanliness is half of faith, so take special care of cleanliness. Not only this, it is mandatory to follow all the guidelines and guiding principles set regarding Qurbani. Take special care of cleanliness and ensure that the brothers and sisters of the country do not face any kind of trouble on Eid-ul-Azha. This is the real teaching of Islam. Celebrate Eid with mutual love, brotherhood and following Sunnat Ibrahimi. Azmi said that the waste of Qurbani on Eid should also be kept in bags and thrown in the dustbin.

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

Mumbai Congress delegation meets Municipal Commissioner, expresses grave concern over poor condition of city

Published

on

Mumbai: Today, a high-level Congress delegation led by Mumbai Congress President and MP Prof. Varsha Tai Gaikwad met BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani. The delegation included MLA Aslam Shaikh, MLA Amin Patel, MLA Dr. Jyoti Tai Gaikwad, former corporator Haji Babbu Khan and other former corporators of Mumbai Congress.

Several important issues were raised in the meeting on administrative collapse, corruption and deterioration of public amenities in Mumbai.

‎🛑 Highlights of the meeting:

‎🔸 Increase in property tax without public approval
Violating the directions of the Supreme Court, the BMC increased property tax in the absence of elected representatives. The Congress strongly opposed this unconstitutional move and called it a financial burden on the people of Mumbai.

‎Scams in road construction
‎There is a possibility of massive corruption in the concreting of roads. Only 25% of the work has been completed so far and that too has been hampered by poor quality, damage to pipelines and serious irregularities in tendering – particularly in the inorganic phosphate based geo-polymer concrete tender.

‎🔸 Drain cleaning scam

Drain cleaning before the monsoon has become a sham. All the work has been handed over to contractors, no monitoring, no accountability. The Congress has demanded immediate and strict action.

‎🔸 Medical facilities in ICUs

BMC hospitals – like Baba, Rajawadi, Shatabdi and Bhagwati – are in a shambles. Patients are being forcibly sent to private hospitals, while privatisation of hospitals and delay in development work have worsened the problems.

‎🔸 Waste management
‎The sanitation system is already failing and now the BMC is considering imposing a “garbage tax”. In areas like Kurla and Borivali, the sewer line work has been incomplete for years.

‎🔸 Failure of the education system:

BMC school children have not yet been given books and uniforms. The commissioner has given a deadline of June 15. If this work is not completed, the Congress will again come out with questions on June 16.

‎🔸 Delay in housing schemes and PAP projects:

Housing schemes, PAP and redevelopment projects in areas like Andheri, Vakola, Khar have been victims of builder fraud, misuse of TDR and government negligence.

‎🔸 Other important issues

Corruption in central procurement process

Delay in approving hawking policy

Acute lack of facilities in Muslim graveyards

🗣️ Congress demands:

✅ ACB should investigate contractor mafia in BMC

✅ Independent audit of drain cleaning and road construction works

✅ Independent monitoring body should be formed for BMC tenders

Mumbai cannot be left at the mercy of a neglected and corrupt system. Congress will continue to fight at every level by becoming the voice of the people of Mumbai!

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

Pakistani PIO spy Ravinder Verma in judicial custody

Published

on

Mumbai: The court has ordered the remand of Pakistan Intelligence Operative PIO spy Ravinder Verma from ATS remand to judicial custody. Ravinder Verma of the police station is accused of providing secret information to Pakistan, after which the ATS arrested him. Ravinder Verma’s defense lawyer Rupali Shinde said that her client does not have any secret money more than Rs 2,000 in his account, but the ATS opposed it and said that money was also transferred to him from other accounts, after which the court ordered the accused to be kept in judicial custody for 14 days. The defense lawyer said that the girl with whom Ravinder Verma was in contact is not Preeti Jaiswal, but Jaspreet, and he was in contact with her and was affected by the honey trap and this girl is from Punjab and Delhi. The ATS has interrogated the accused, in which the ATS has been provided with many important details.

Continue Reading

Trending