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The two Congressmen who paid the political price of 26/11

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As the nation mourns the bravehearts and civilians who lost their lives in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, and a controversy rages on Congress leader Manish Tewari’s new book, ’10 Flashpoints; 20 Years’, where he has targeted the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government for not taking any decisive action, two names of two Maharashtra Congressmen — Shivraj Patil and Vilasrao Deshmukh — stand out as the first political heads to roll in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The mild-mannered Patil, who was known for more for his sartorial sensibilities than for his administrative capabilities had to resign as Union Home Minister a day after the NSG’s Operation Tornado brought an end to the three-day siege on India’s commercial capital by Pakistani terrorists.

In secret U.S. Embassy cables exposed by Wikileaks, the then American ambassador, David Mulford, had described Patil as “spectacularly inept” and reported to the State Department that in his last four years as Union Home Minister, “he has been asleep on the watch” and each time there were calls to remove him, “Sonia Gandhi has protected him”.

But no one could stop Patil from being singed by the 26/11 attacks. The joke doing the rounds about him was that he was getting a change of clothes ironed for television appearances even as Mumbai was in the grip of terror. He was promptly replaced by the then Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram.

Interestingly, Patil, who represented Latur (Maharashtra) in the Lok Sabha and held ministerial positions in New Delhi off and on since 1980, airbrushed the 26/11 attacks from his autobiography, ‘Odyssey of My Life’, although he wrote at length about the 1999 hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight IC-814.

In 2010, Patil was rehabilitated and appointed the Governor of Punjab and Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, an office he demitted after completing his term in 2015. For a man who was Lok Sabha Speaker and Union Home Minister, it was evidently a demotion. And he has not been able to make a political comeback since then.

Following Patil, another politician from Latur, the late Vilasrao Deshmukh, who had become Maharashtra’s chief minister for the second time in November 1, 2004 (his first term was cut short by factionalism in the party and he to make way for Sushilkumar Shinde in January 2003).

Deshmukh lost his job on December 6, 2008, along with the state’s then home minister, R.R. Patil. He was succeeded by another Congressman, Ashok Chavan, who is at present Maharashtra’s PWD Minister in the Maha Aghadi government.

The then chief minister was under fire, but no action was taken against him immediately after the terror attacks. What tilted the scales against him was the “conducted tour” he gave to the noted film director Ram Gopal Verma around the devastated Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai. Deshmukh’s architect son, Riteish, is a well-known Bollywood actor known for playing comic roles.

Verma went on to make a film titled ‘The Attacks of 26/11’ (2013), starring Nana Patekar, who played Rakesh Maria, Mumbai’s former top cop who was given the charge of investigating the event and interrogating the Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab.

The Congress gave Deshmukh a Rajya Sabha ticket and he moved to New Delhi in May 2009 as a minister in Manmohan Singh’s second UPA government. He died in harness in Chennai in 2012.

Thirteen years after 26/11, its repercussions are still felt within the Congress as the BJP has found a new issue to flog after the sensational observations of Manish Tewari in his new book, which is to be officially released on December 2.

“For a state that has no compunctions in brutally slaughtering hundreds of innocent people, restraint is not a sign of strength; it is perceived as a symbol of weakness,” Tewari writes in his book. “There comes a time when actions must speak louder than words. 26/11 was one such time when it just should have been done. It, therefore, is my considered opinion that India should have actioned a kinetic response in the days following India’s 9/11.”

These words will haunt the Congress for some time, but they offer little solace to the families and friends of the more than 160 people killed by terrorists from Pakistan on November 26, 2008.

International News

Milton’s Storm Surge Floods Homes, Roads In Florida

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Water flowed into homes and over roads as Hurricane Milton neared landfall in Florida Wednesday. Here’s a look at what was happening in the community of El Jobean near Charlotte Harbor, in Southwest Florida.

Milton hits Florida: Hurricane Milton has made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, as a dangerous Category 3 storm before weakening to a Category 1 as it moves over the state, according to the National Hurricane Center. It is the fifth hurricane to make landfall in the US this year. you can track Milton’s path with CNN’s strom tracker.

A thousand-year flood: Milton has dropped about 16 inches of rain on St. Petersburg, representing a more than a 1 in 1000 year rainfall for the area. Meanwhile, there are “multiple fatalities” in St. Lucie County, Florida, from a tornado outbreak earlier in the day, CNN affiliate WPTV reports

Devastating effects: Milton, the third hurricane to hit Florida this year, has knocked out power for more than 2 million people in the state. Additionally, wind gusts of 100 mph were recorded near Tampa, where  a flash flood emergency was issued a emergency services have been halted.

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EAM S Jaishankar To Visit Pakistan To Attend SCO Meeting On October 15-16, Announces MEA

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EAM S Jaishankar To Visit Pakistan To Attend SCO Meeting On October 15-16, Announces MEA

India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM), S Jaishankar will travel to Pakistan to attend the SCO meeting this month, announced the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday (October 4). The SCO meeting will be held in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on October 15-16.

“The External Affairs Minister will lead our delegation to Pakistan to participate in the SCO summit which will be held in Islamabad on October 15-16,” said the MEA spokesperson.

As per reports, the Federal government in Pakistan has decided to deploy rangers in Islamabad ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, as part of security measures in place for the summit.

The paramilitary rangers will continue to be deployed in the capital city till the conclusion of the summit, reported Pakistani media.

What Is SCO Summit?

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation established on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Currently, the SCO countries include nine member states: India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

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Fugitive Radical Preacher Zakir Naik Arrives In Pakistan, Will Deliver Islamic Lectures & Lead Friday Prayers In Major Cities

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Fugitive radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik landed in Pakistan’s Islamabad on Monday for his lectures in several major cities including Karachi and Lahore. He will conclude his visit with a lecture in Islamabad on October 28. 

As per reports, he will also lead and address Friday prayer congregations in these cities.

The Prime Minister’s Youth Program Chairman Rana Mashhood, the Parliamentary Secretary for Religious Affairs Shamsher Ali Mazari, the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Syed Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman, and others greeted him upon his arrival at the New Islamabad Airport.

Naik announced his trip through his social media handles and shared details of the public lectures he will deliver in Pakistan. 

He is set to begin his tour on October 5, starting with Karachi, then Lahore, and finishing in Islamabad.

Earlier on Monday, Zakir Naik took to X and shared a video explaining why he has reduced the frequency of his public lectures. 

“The number of individuals attending public speeches has grown every year if you count them. I used to travel to a city and give presentations for five days, maybe 15, or two weeks and give talks for 20, but these days I travel to a nation and give talks solely on the weekends. However, the combined attendance for those two sessions is far higher than that of 10 talks. That is only one explanation, though not the only one.”

He continued, saying, “We also record this on the media, and when it goes on the social media, the social media people watch to a larger number, on social media and on the satellite channel. So when we started the satellite channel in 2006, our main focus was to see to it that programs on the satellite channels are good. So my talks became less, but the reach became more.”

Who is Zakir Naik?

Zakir Naik, who is well-known for his divisive opinions, has encountered legal issues in India, including charges of inciting hate and money laundering. In 2016, he escaped to Malaysia and has remained a contentious figure ever since.

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