National
Nitish Kumar maintains silence on Prashant Kishor’s political announcement

A day after political strategist Prashant Kishor hinted about launching a political party, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar maintained a studied silence on the development.
While interacting with media on the occasion of Eid on Tuesday, the chief minister initially ducked the question, but on being asked repeatedly, he stated that he has nothing to do with it.
On Monday, Prashant Kishor hinted at launching a political party from Bihar. Taking to his official Twitter handle, he tweeted: “My quest to be a meaningful participation in democracy and help shape pro people policy led to a 10 years rollercoaster ride.”
“As I turn this page, time to go to the Real Masters. The people to better understand the issues and to path to Jan Suraj – People good governance starting from Bihar,” he tweeted.
His tweets evoked sharp reactions by RJD and BJP, but JD-U chose not to react.
It is well known that Nitish Kumar has good relations with Prashant Kishor, which the former has admitted several times on public platforms.
Several, however, see it a political ploy of Nitish Kumar to indirectly promote PK in the state so that the parties can be merged.
Currently, JD-U is undergoing a deep crisis especially after the second expansion of the Narendra Modi government. In that expansion, R.C.P. Singh was given the charge to bargain with BJP but he opted otherwise and secured the cabinet berth for himself.
This led to other prominent leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh being upset with him. Nitish Kumar realised it and made him the party’s national president.
At present, there is a RCP Singh group, Lalan Singh group, Upendra Kushwaha group, active in JD-U.
Taking this in view, the JD-U has issued an official notification directing that every poster and advertisement will have Kumar’s photograph only. No other leaders are entitled to promote themselves through poster politics in Bihar.
It is well known that except Nitish Kumar, there is no political successor in JD-U who could hold the party together at present. Neither RCP Singh, nor Lalan Singh or Upendra Kushwaha.
In that context, the political capability of PK is well established across the country. Hence, Nitish Kumar could give ideal play ground in Bihar to grow as a party and then merge into JD-U so that it would be easy for Nitish Kumar to hand over the responsibility to hold his legacy.
Though, this is just an assumption of political analysts in Bihar, they also believe that no one, including his closest allies, know Kumar’s take on it.
Crime
‘Rise against your govt, army for encouraging terrorism,’ Sunni cleric’s appeal to Pakistanis

Lucknow, April 24: In a strong condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack, senior Sunni cleric and Imam of Aishbagh Eidgah, Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali, on Thursday called on the people of Pakistan to rise against their government and military for facilitating acts of terror on Indian soil.
The remarks come after 26 people, most of them tourists, were gunned down in a brutal targeted terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam on Tuesday.
The Resistance Front, a Pakistan-based terror outfit and offshoot of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba, is suspected to be behind the massacre.
Speaking to Media, Firangi Mahali said, “The people of Pakistan should understand that no one will support such activities. They should raise their voices against their own government and army, which are encouraging these acts of terrorism.”
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced a series of stringent measures in response to the attack.
These include the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, closure of the Attari-Wagah border, cancellation of the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) for Pakistani nationals, expulsion of Pakistan’s military attaches from New Delhi and a reduction in diplomatic staff at both High Commissions.
Calling these actions “necessary and timely,” Firangi Mahali stated, “The horrific incident of terrorism in Pahalgam has been condemned in the harshest terms. This tragic event has shaken the entire country. The steps taken by the Government of India — whether on the water agreement, diplomatic expulsions, or visa cancellations — are absolutely appropriate.”
Appealing for national unity, he urged political parties to come together on a single platform in support of the government’s decisions.
“This is not the time for political division. All parties must stand united so that a positive image of national solidarity is conveyed internationally,” he said.
The cleric also warned against communalising the tragedy. “My appeal to fellow Indians is not to view this terror incident through a religious lens. No religion condones violence or terrorism,” he said.
“Some of the posts circulating on social media are sending out a very negative message. In this hour of crisis, every Indian — regardless of religion or political affiliation — must stand together,” he added.
Crime
Why Bengal govt is taking time to implement SC’s order on cancellation of school jobs: Calcutta HC

Kolkata, April 21: The Calcutta High Court, on Monday, observed why the West Bengal government and West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) are taking time to implement the order by the Supreme Court (SC), cancelling 25,753 teaching and non-teaching jobs in state-run schools.
Acting on a contempt-of-court petition filed against the state government and WBSSC for not implementing the apex court order, Calcutta High Court’s division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi also directed the state government and the commission to explain to the court within a day.
The next hearing on the matter will be on April 23, and the state government and the commission will have to submit their explanations on the same day.
Last year, the same division bench of Justice Basak and Justice Rashidi cancelled 25,753 teaching and non-teaching jobs, which is the entire panel of WBSSC for 2016. The state government approached the SC challenging the order.
Earlier this month, the SC division bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar upheld the order of the Calcutta High Court and also accepted the observation that the entire panel had to be cancelled because of the failure on the part of the state government and the commission to segregate the “genuine” candidates from the “tainted” ones.
Thereafter, the contempt of court petition was filed at the same division bench of the Calcutta High Court, accusing the state government and the commission of not even initiating the termination of jobs of those who have already been identified as “tainted” by the commission itself.
During the hearing in the matter on Monday, the division bench observed that there will be problems if even the “tainted” candidates continue receiving their salaries.
On Monday, the division bench also raised the question of why the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials are not interrogating those candidates who have already been identified as “tainted.”
The division bench also observed that the CBI should find out how those who were paid money by the “tainted” candidates against jobs.
On Wednesday, the CBI counsel will also have to give an explanation to the court in the matter.
Exclusive
Calcutta HC allows NGO to distribute relief material in communal violence-hit Murshidabad

Kolkata, April 17: A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Thursday, permitted a non-government organisation (NGO) to visit the communal violence-hit Murshidabad and distribute relief material among the affected people.
While granting permission to the NGO christened ‘Khola Hawa (Open Air)’, which was earlier denied permission by the district administration, the single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha observed that there was no rule that organisations other than government bodies would not have permission to distribute relief materials at any place.
She also observed that the existing law and order problem could not be an excuse for denying permission, since the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were already posted in Murshidabad.
The NGO approached the bench of Justice Sinha after the Murshidabad district magistrate denied permission for its members to visit the troubled spots in the district to distribute relief there. Parts of Murshidabad district in West Bengal have been on the boil last week after protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act turned violent.
In the petition, the NGO alleged that while the district administration was allowing different political parties to reach the troubled spots with relief materials, the permission to the organisation was deliberately denied.
The matter came up for hearing on Thursday afternoon. The counsel for the NGO argued that there was no reason for the district magistrate to deny the permission since the state Director General of Police had already claimed that the situation at Murshidabad was currently more or less normal. “The NGO members want to go there to distribute relief items like tarpaulin, food, and medicines to those affected,” the counsel of Khola Hawa argued.
Although the state government opposed the arguments, Justice Sinha finally accepted the argument of the counsel of Khola Hawa and permitted the NGO to visit the troubled spots and distribute relief items there.
However, she maintained that only three members of a relief team should visit any troubled spot at a time for the time being. At the same time, these three team members would have to inform the district magistrate at least 24 hours in advance about their visit. The visiting team members, as per the court order, should also not make any provocative statements during the process of relief distribution that might trigger tension in the area again.
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