Maharashtra
Maharashtra govt sets up panel to collate information on inter-faith couples; minister says aim is to avoid repeat of Walkar case

Mumbai, Dec 14 (PTI) The Maharashtra government has set up a committee to gather information on the inter-faith and inter-caste marriage couples and the maternal families of the women involved if they are estranged, with its head and state minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha saying the move is aimed at avoiding a repeat of the Shraddha Walkar case.
The opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) called it a “retrograde” step and said the Eknath Shinde government had no right to spy on the personal life of people.
A Government Resolution (GR) issued on Tuesday by the state’s Women and Child Development Department said the “Intercaste/Interfaith marriage-family coordination committee (state level)” will be headed by Lodha.
The committee will monitor district-level initiatives for women involved in such marriages who may be estranged from their families, so that assistance can be provided if necessary, it said.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Lodha said setting up the committee was an attempt of the state government to ensure that the Shraddha Walkar case does not happen again.
“The fact that Walkar’s family was not aware that she had died six months ago is scary…We don’t want to have another Shraddha Walkar and this is the reason why the committee is being set up to ensure women in such marriages are not away from their families,” he said.
Walkar was murdered allegedly by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala in Delhi in May this year. Poonawala allegedly strangled Shraddha and cut her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in Mehrauli in south Delhi, before dumping them across the city over several days.
The GR said that the committee will be a platform for women and their families to avail counselling and resolve issues. It added that the panel will have 13 members from government and non-government fields to study policies of the state and central government regarding welfare schemes and laws related to the matter.
The committee will hold regular meetings with district officials and collect information of registered and unregistered inter-faith and Inter-caste marriages; on such marriage that took place in places of worship and marriages took place after elopement, it said.
Meanwhile, senior NCP leader and former state minister Jitendra Awhad said in a tweet, “What’s this rubbish of committee to check inter-caste/religion marriages? Who is govt to spy on who marries whom? In liberal Maharashtra this a retrograde, nauseating step. Which way is progressive Maharashtra heading towards. Stay away from people’s private life.”
However, Eknath Shinde-led ‘Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena’ spokesman Krishna Hegde welcomed the step..
Last month, minister Lodha had asked the State Women’s Commission to set up a special squad to identify women who married without family support and are estranged from them. This decision was taken in view of the Shraddha Walkar murder case.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had recently said that his government would study laws on freedom of religion, dubbed as legislations on “love jihad”, enacted by other states, but had not yet decided on introducing a similar law in the western state.
“Love jihad” is a term often used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.
disaster
Mumbai’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sudhakar Pathare, who was posted in the Port Zone, passed away in a road accident on Saturday.

Pathare had visited Hyderabad for training. He was on his way to visit a temple with a relative when the accident occurred. Both Pathare and his relative lost their lives in the crash.
Mumbai Police have been informed about the incident.
More details are awaited.
Maharashtra
Order to demolish the tomb of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Baba in Mira Bhayander

Mumbai: The state government has issued an order to demolish the four hundred year old dargah of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Peer Rahmatullah Alaih located in Mira Bhayander. Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation has sent a letter to the collector declaring this dargah illegal and ordered action against it. As the dargah is located on forest land, communalists had started demanding the demolition of the dargah. In the House, Darranjan Daukhre had also demanded action against the dargah, after which now the state government has ordered to run a bulldozer on the dargah. An order has also been issued to remove and demolish the dargah by May.
Dargah trustee Amjad Sheikh said that this dargah is ancient and this order is illegal in itself. In this case, communal forces had launched a campaign against the dargah, after which this order was issued.
There is a dargah on the beach and citing the threat of terrorist and illegal activities and the presence of terrorists here, there was a demand to demolish the dargah. The dargah is close to the sea and in such a situation, the threat of a terrorist attack on Mumbai from the sea has been expressed, while the dargah administration has clearly denied this and said that communal organizations are running their agenda against the dargah and there is no such threat. Muslims have opposed this decision of the government and Muslims have also expressed their displeasure and anger over it.
The trustee says that this dargah is ancient and earlier the collector and the municipal corporation had given a notice, after which the illegal shed and other premises were demolished here and the dargah administration has taken this action at its own level. Now an order has been issued to demolish the dargah itself.
Maharashtra
Haji Ali Dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid due to rising sea level

Mumbai: Due to rising sea level at Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid. On March 31, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims from 12 noon to 3 pm. During this time, entry of pilgrims to the dargah will be restricted. The dargah will be closed on Tuesday, April 1 from 12:45 pm to 3:45 pm and on Wednesday, April 2 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm.
Therefore, we have appealed to the pilgrims not to gather at the dargah during these hours. This information has been released by Tahir, administrative officer of Haji Ali Dargah. Pilgrims visit Haji Ali Dargah on Eid-Basi and Tiwasi, but due to the rising water level of the sea, water gets accumulated on the way to the Dargah and entry to the Dargah is prohibited and the gate of the Dargah remains closed during these days, due to which there is a lot of crowd there. Therefore, pilgrims have been requested to come to the Dargah only at the scheduled time.
The police also remains vigilant at the Dargah during the rising sea level, as there is a crowd of pilgrims here during Eid and festivals. The Haji Ali Dargah administration has said that on the occasion of Eid, lakhs of pilgrims visit the Dargah of Haji Ali (RahmatullahAlaih). These pilgrims include pilgrims from the country and abroad, so the Dargah administration has also claimed special security arrangements on Eid. Spiritual scenes are also seen at Haji Ali Dargah during Eid prayers.
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