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Fadnavis applied ‘Gujarat snooping model’ in Maharashtra

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Maharashtra Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe on Monday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis had introduced a ‘Gujarat brand’ of surveillance tactics in Maharashtra and demanded a through probe into the matter.

His demand came amid the backdrop of the FIR lodged on February 26 by the Pune police against former city Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla in the illegal phone-tapping case.

“IPS officer Rashmi Shukla is merely a pawn. The real culprits are those who guided her. Fadnavis was the state chief minister and he implemented the ‘Gujarat surveillance model’ in Maharashtra,” Londhe said here.

His comments also endorsed state party president Nana Patole’s demand on Sunday that the role of Fadnavis — who was handling the home portfolio during the relevant period — must be investigated in the illegal phone tapping case.

In a significant development on Saturday, the Bundgarden Police booked Shukla, currently Additional Director-General, CRPF, at Hyderabad, in the unauthorised phone-tapping case that rocked the state polity last year, leading to the resignation and subsequent arrest of former Nationalist Congress Party’s home minister Anil Deshmukh.

The FIR against Shukla followed a recommendation by a state government panel headed by ex-DGP Sanjay Pandey, invoking the Indian Telegraph Act, Section 26 and other laws for tapping phones of prominent opposition leaders between March 2016-July 2018.

Speaking to the media here, Londhe charged that the ‘Gujarat surveillance model’ — in which the government of the adjoining state allegedly snooped on people and overheard their private conversations — was introduced in Maharashtra by Fadnavis.

“After 2017, the phone numbers of Patole, Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress leaders, ministers, certain BJP leaders and their ministers, top bureaucrats and others were tapped illegally. The snooping was ostensibly to link them with drug dealers,” said Londhe.

Patole had raised the issue in the Assembly in the past and it finally culminated in the FIR against Shukla, who was the Additional DGP, Maharashtra State Intelligence Department (SID).

Although the case has been lodged against Shukla, what is pertinent is to unravel who ordered the phone-tapping, what was the purpose, whom did she hand over the records of the phone conversations, how did it reach Fadnavis after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government came to power in November 2019.

“There are many such questions, and the government should extend the probe to cover even Fadnavis which will reveal the real masterminds,” Londhe said.

Patole said that “Shukla would not have dared to indulge in illegal phone-tapping without the blessings of a senior government functionary” and it was imperative to investigate Fadnavis’ role and bring it in the public domain.

Referring to how his own phones were tapped and how he was given a fake identity, or having links with the drug mafia, Patole said these were intended to browbeat the opposition leaders and legislators at an opportune time.

“Phone-tapping can be done only with special permission to investigate serious matters like terror or narcotics, but our phone conversations were overheard despite us having not a remote connection to such crime,” Patole pointed out.

Referring to how the BJP at the Centre was allegedly using the Pegasus software for spying on ruling or opposition parties’ leaders, ministers, judiciary and the media, Patole said it is imperative to probe the role of Fadnavis completely in the Maharashtra phone-tapping case.

In March 2021, after Fadnavis raised a hue and cry over the phone-tapping issue, pointing to an alleged racket in the transfers-postings in the police department, the SID lodged a complaint with the Mumbai Police.

Fadnavis’ contentions came after a Top Secret report submitted by Shukla to the then DGP Subodh Jaiswal on August 23, 2020, which he (Fadnavis) later followed up with the Centre demanding a CBI probe into the thriving transfers-promotions racket.

National News

Professor Dr. Qazi Rashid Anwar Appointed AYUSH Advisor for Unani Medicine, Anjuman-e-Islam Congratulates

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In a major development in the field of medicine and the promotion of Unani system of treatment, the Government of Maharashtra has nominated Prof. (Dr.) Qazi Rashid Anwar, Principal of Dr. Muhammad Ishaq Gymkhana Wala Tabiya Unani Medical College and Haji A. R. Kalsekar Tabiya Hospital (Versova, Mumbai) under Anjuman-e-Islam, to the prestigious post of Advisor on Unani Medicine (Advisor, Unani Expert) in Directorate of AYUSH, Government of Maharashtra. The appointment was formally approved by the Hon’ble Minister for Medical Education, Hon’ble Hasan Musharraf and Director of AYUSH, Dr. (Vidya) Raman Ghongralikar, felicitating Prof. Dr. Rashid Qazi on the issuance of the official order.

On this important honor, the President of Anjuman-e-Islam, a leading educational institution of the subcontinent, Padma Shri Dr. Zaheer I. Qazi, Vice President Mr. Mushtaq Antola, General Secretary Mr. Aqeel Hafeez and other members of the association as well as the Chairman of this college Imran Furniture Wala have congratulated Professor Dr. Rashid Qazi and expressed their best wishes for his new responsibility. The Arbab-e-Anjuman said that this appointment is not only a source of pride and joy for the institution but also augurs a bright future for Unani medicine in the state.

It should be noted that at present, a total of seven Unani medical colleges, including 3 government-aided (aided) colleges, are providing education and treatment services in Maharashtra, but despite this wider network, there was no expert or regular officer of Unani medicine in the Directorate of AYUSH, Government of Maharashtra, due to which a long-standing gap was being felt in policy making and technical guidance. In addition, the Maharashtra government has recently approved the establishment of the first government Unani Medical College with 100 seats and a 100-bed hospital in Savar village, Mahsala taluka (Raigad district), for which the guidance of a qualified expert was indispensable for its educational and technical formation. In this context, this step of the Maharashtra government is being viewed with great appreciation and hope in the medical community.

The President and members of Anjuman-e-Islam have expressed the hope that the vast teaching and administrative experiences of Professor Rashid Qazi, including the project of the new government college, will give a new prestige and a new dimension to Unani medicine across the state.

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Saini narrates his rise from computer operator to Haryana CM

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In 1996, while operating a computer at the BJP office in Panchkula, Nayab Singh Saini had never imagined that he would one day become the Chief Minister of Haryana.

Years later came an electoral defeat in 2009 but a decisive victory in 2014 and eventually opportunities to serve as a minister, a Member of Parliament, the state BJP President and now the Chief Minister.

Sharing his journey with young entrepreneurs at the ‘Gen-H Yuva Udyami Chaupal’ in Gurugram University in Gurugram on Friday, CM Saini said there were no shortcuts in his journey, only the steady climb of hard work.

Referring to the young participants as Gen-H, the Chief Minister gave the expression a wider meaning. “You call it Gen-H for Haryana; I would call it Gen-HB — Haryana-Bharat. Gen-HB is the heartbeat of India,” he said.

In a candid interaction, young entrepreneurs asked the Chief Minister direct questions about advancing in politics without a legacy, recovering from failure, technology, sports, employment, the challenge of drug abuse, startups, the pace of government functioning and family.

The programme was watched live across more than 4,000 institutions. Drawing from his own experiences, the Chief Minister urged young people not to allow failure to become their identity, but to let their work define them.

Rather than chasing quick success, he asked them to make consistency, credibility and patience their strengths. Asked how he had reached this far in politics despite having no one behind him, CM Saini said his journey had no lift, only stairs, and there were times when even the next step was not visible.

After entering politics, he recalled his first electoral responsibility was not to contest an election himself but to help someone else fight one.

During that election, he worked until 2 a.m. When he was asked to contest in 2009 he did not have the money, but people came forward and helped him fight the election. He lost in 2009, but decided that defeat would not become his identity; instead, he would learn from it.

The very next day, he was back among the people. There was no position in hand and no assurance of another ticket, but he had made the decision to continue working. It was this approach, he said, that led to his victory by a significant margin in 2014.

The Chief Minister also recalled 1996 when Narendra Modi was the BJP in-charge for Haryana and had sent a computer to the party office in Panchkula. CM Saini said while operating that computer at the party office he had never imagined that he would one day become Chief Minister.

Referring to the period before 2014, the Chief Minister said there was a time when the youth were used for politics, but if a young person sought to move ahead in politics, that aspiration was suppressed.

Asked what the 2009 electoral defeat had taught him, the Chief Minister said he rose again the very same day with twice the enthusiasm. For him, a position had never been important; the spirit of ‘Nation First’ had always remained paramount.

The Chief Minister said his desire to help people led to the support he received in 2014. People elected him and the party entrusted him with ministerial responsibility.

The opportunities that followed, to serve as Member of Parliament, state BJP President and the Chief Minister, were the outcome of people’s affection, his sense of responsibility towards them and the opportunities given to him by the party.

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National News

Punjab BJP criticises Congress leaders for remarks on Sajjan Kumar’s demise

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Punjab BJP President, Kewal Singh Dhillon, on Friday condemned remarks by Congress leaders describing former MP Sajjan Kumar, an accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, as a “role model.” He said that this statement once again exposed the party’s anti-Sikh mindset.Dhillon said even after 42 years of the horrific and painful 1984 riots, the wounds of the victim families remain unhealed.

At such a sensitive time, describing a key accused in the massacre as a “role model” is a condemnable attempt to rub salt into the wounds of the victim families and reopen their painful memories, he said.He further said no amount of condemnation “is enough for Congress’ anti-Sikh mindset. The Congress has repeatedly acted in a manner that has hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community”.

Dhillon asked the party to unconditionally apologise to the families of the victims and the entire Sikh community for such irresponsible and shameful statements made by its leaders.Kumar, who was serving life imprisonment in connection with the riots, died on Thursday at a Delhi hospital at the age of 80.Kumar, who was lodged in Tihar Jail, was taken to Safdarjung Hospital after his health deteriorated. Doctors declared him brought dead on arrival.

The former Congress leader had been convicted for his role in the violence in Delhi’s Palam Colony on November 1 and 2, 1984, following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards.On December 17, 2018, the Delhi High Court overturned a trial court’s 2013 verdict acquitting Kumar in the case. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The case related to the murder of five Sikh men in Raj Nagar Part I, Palam Colony, as well as the burning of a gurdwara during the widespread violence.the High Court held Kumar guilty of criminal conspiracy and abetment and directed that he remain in prison for the remainder of his natural life. In its judgment, the court had described the 1984 anti-Sikh violence as “crimes against humanity”.

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