Panaji: A Goa lawmaker today called for a ban on Sanatan Sanstha, a state-based rightwing organisation whose members are being accused by police in Maharashtra and Karnataka of killing Leftist leader Govind Pansare in Kolhapur in February this year.

Speaking to IANS, Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker from St. Andre Vishnu Wagh said that while Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik, who he claimed was charged with lesser offences, could be banned from entering Goa, the Sanstha which has its headquarters in Ramnathi village, 35 km from Panaji, must also be banned.

“In democracy, there is no scope for violence. All those who try to use bullets to threaten the voice of opposition are terrorists, because they try to frighten the opposition.

“It is evident in the Pansare and the Kalburgi cases that the Sanatan Sanstha is doing just that. Their hand is evident in these cases,” alleged Mr Wagh, known to be close to Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.

Kannada scholar MM Kalburgi was shot dead by unidentified men on August 30.

Founded by clinical hypnotherapist Jayant Athavale, the Sanatan Sanstha has several thousand members primarily from Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

It publishes a newspaper and a range of magazines and books propagating the organisation’s ideology, which is summed up as destruction of evil-doers and reinstatement of divine rule.

Many top politicians, including some Cabinet ministers in the BJP-led coalition in Goa have backed the organisation in public fora.

The Sanstha, through statements issued in Panaji, has repeatedly rejected the allegations that its members were involved in the attack on Mr Pansare, even as a Special Investigation Team probing the murder, has arrested Sanstha member Sameer Gaikwad and is on the lookout for another member Rudra Patil, who is absconding since a 2009 blast in Goa’s Margao town.

While the Sanstha was not indicted in the conspiracy, six people — Vinay Talekar, Vinayak Patil, Dhananjay Ashtekar, Dilip Mangaokar, Prashant Juvekar and Jay Prakash, all of them members of the same organisation — were acquitted by a trial court in 2013.

But Rudra Patil and Sandeep Akolkar, who were missing during the investigation, were declared absconders, with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) even issuing a red corner notice in connection with Patil.

Mr Wagh said that if the Goa government banned Muthalik from entering the state, based on the arson of a pub in Mangaluru in 2009, then a ban on the Sanatan Sanstha was also warranted.

“All Goans came together and the government declared ban on Muthalik. But Muthalik has not shot anyone, he ransacked a pub. But the Sanatan Sanstha people have been accused of greater crimes. They should also be banned,” he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Usha Thakur said Friday that true Muslims should not visit any Durga pandal as the Quran prohibits idol worship.

“The Quran says that the worshipping of idols is prohibited. Therefore, any true Muslim should not go to any Durga pandal,” Thakur told media here. Thakur said Durga Puja and Garba are not sources of entertainment, but a reflection of the faith Hindus have on their goddess.

Judiciary cannot monitor the business of Parliament as doing so would be “overstepping” its boundary and crossing the ‘lakshman rekha’, the Supreme Court observed on Thursday while dismissing a petition seeking guidelines to ensure uninterrupted functioning of Parliament.

“We cannot monitor Parliament. The Speaker of the House knows how to manage the function of the House. We should know our ‘lakshman rekha’. We should never cross the ‘lakshman rekha’. We should not be overstepping our boundary to say Parliament be conducted in this manner and not in that manner. No, we cannot say,” the bench said.

Further, it said, “in democracy, the parliamentarians know how to function. We are not here to teach them. They know better,” the bench said while rejecting a public interest litigation (PIL) of NGO, Foundation for Restoration of National Values. The PIL said over the last six Parliament sessions, nearly 2,162 hours of business have been lost. Seeking guidelines from the apex court, it said that in the absence of a law, there is total vacuum to deal with the issue of non- functioning of Parliament as was witnessed in the recent monsoon session when large part of the proceedings were washed out due to opposition protests.

“Sustained disruptions, unruly protests” and abstentions by elected members have led to losses to the public exchequer,” the PIL contended. Making it clear that it cannot intervene on such issues, the court said, “We cannot start advising Parliament and they know what they have to do. They are experienced people and people with wisdom. They know and understand their responsibility well.”

Objecting to bringing up such a matter before it, the apex court asked the counsel arguing on the issue, “Have you kept your house (courts) clean”. “You may not know. As Chief Justice of India, I know. How many houses (courts) you have kept clean,” Chief Justice H L Dattu told the counsel, in an apparent reference to the recent incidents in Madras High Court where lawyers disrupted the court proceedings by raising slogans against the High Court Chief Justice.

When the counsel tried to pacify the CJI by saying that “the highest court of the country is clean,” the bench, also comprising Justice Amitava Roy, interrupted him and explained that any indulgence by the apex court in the matter of Parliament proceedings would amount to “over-stepping.” The bench suggested that a representation should be made to the Speaker about the lacunae in law so that it can be taken care of.
When advocate Ravi Prakash Mehrotra drew the attention of the court on concerns voiced by President Pranab Mukherjee on disruption and non-functioning of Parliament, the bench said, “the first citizen of the country has already advised them and they would take the advise seriously.”

Darjeeling- Top leaders of both the Hill Trinamul Congress (TMC) and the All India Gorkha League (AIGL), have blamed Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) chief Bimal Gurung for the resignation of two Hill MLAs from the party.

While Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chettri quit the party on 18 September, Dewan quit the party as well as the state Assembly on Monday.

Pratap Khati, the spokesperson for the AIGL alleged that Gurung is not sincere with the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland and that an intellectual person as Trilok Dewan must have realized it.

“Sensible people are resigning from the party. Other intellectual persons will also step down in the coming days. This proves that there is no writ of Bimal Gurung within the party,” he said.

Binny Sharma, the top leader of the Hill TMC, said, “At least now the people have started realizing the truth–what and who Bimal Gurung is. Now they know that they were in the wrong place. The GJMM was created out of a mere fit of emotional wave.”

Asked whether the two former MLAs of Kalimpong and Darjeeling will be joining the TMC, Sharma said, “Nothing like that. But if they want to join, they are most welcome.”

Trilok Dewan himself claimed on Monday that there is no democracy in the GJMM, and further said that the two MLAs’ resignation from the party should be taken as a wake-up call by the GJMM. According to Dewan, although he had been appointed the Chief Advisor of the party, he was never consulted on important decisions.

“I was like a souvenir that was there only for show. I had no role to play in the party,” he said on Monday.

He further claimed that Gurung is always surrounded by “undesired elements.”

Asked how the GJMM will now function in his absence and in the absence of Chettri, he said Gurung will now be “devoid of high level intellectual inputs.”

“He will not get intellectual inputs while dealing with the state government or playing political games. He will only get local inputs,” said Dewan.

The General Secretary of the GJMM and Executive Member of the GTA, Roshan Giri, said he will comment on the resignation only after receiving a formal letter from Trilok Dewan.

Leader of the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), NB Chettri did not wish to comment when asked about the resignations.

Meanwhile, CRPF personnel were seen patrolling Trilok Dewan’s house below Chowrastha in Darjeeling on Monday. Darjeeling Superintendent of Police (SP) Amit P Javalgi said the police are keeping track of the developments. “We will talk to Trilok Dewan once he returns, and if he requests us for police protection, we will do the needful,” he said.”

The demise of Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, eldest son of UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Saturday at the young age of 33 was quite sudden. He was born on November 12, 1981 and completed his schooling in Dubai, before graduating from the Sandhurst Military Academy in United Kingdom in 2002.

As a well-known sports figure in UAE, he went on to become the President of the UAE Olympic Committee in 2008 and had won several accolades before that. He had won 2 Gold medals in the 2006 Doha Asian Olympics 120 km Endurance individual mixed and 120 km Endurance Team Mixed events. Serving for two years as President, he resigned from the position in 2010. He was also the owner of Zabeel Racing International where it’s said he had about 428 wins.

Apart from his immense interest in sports and he was also an ardent Manchester United fan and the owner of United Holdings Group, Dubai and was a principal partner of several companies like Noor Investment Group, Noor Islamic Bank and Dubai Holding Company.

The 33-year-old Sheikh was voted as one of the 20 Hottest Young Royals in the world by Forbes magazine in 2011 and estimated his net worth in 2010 at $1.9 billion. He was also voted as one of the 20 Most Eligible Royals in the world in 2010 by Esquire magazine and was voted as one of the 20 Sexiest Arab Men for the 5th time in 2010.

He was Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s second child, among his 24 children and on his death a three-day mourning period has been called for in Dubai.

In the latest update to the back and forth of open letters written between eminent journalist Rajdeep Sardesai and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, the former IBN head has responded yet again.

On Tuesday, Fadnavis had responded to an open letter written by Rajdeep Sardesai.

Following are the excerpts of what Rajdeep wrote in his blog.

On beef and meat bans:

Rajdeep Sardesai said that Fadnavis government acted in a unilateral fashion and that it had affected the livelihood of a huge section of the population, predominantly that of the minority community. Regarding the meet ban, Rajdeep writes that while the earlier Congress government also issued notification, it was driven by a spirit of volunteerism. But, he said, that only this year the BJP-backed Mira- Bhayandar Municipal Corporation sought to implement the ban strictly and that emboldened other BJP councillors to enforce it in Mumbai also. According to the senior journo, the saffron party backed down only when it understood the enormity of public outrage regarding the issue.

On Rakesh Maria’s transfer:

Rajdeep Sardesai writes that he refused to believe the argument posed by Devendra Fadnavis that Maria’s was a routine transfer. He said that none of the police officers whom he has interacted with bought this reason. He raised a couple of pertinent questions relating to the transfer and asks why was Maria given the charge of probing the Sheena Bora murder case shortly after he was transferred from the post of Police Commissioner. Rajdeep also asks if the Mumbai police had clinching evidence and why the case had been suddenly transferred to the CBI.

Sedition circular:

According to Devendra Fadnavis, the Maharashtra government had just dutifully translated in Marathi a previously issued circular and the entire issue was blown out of proportion.

However Rajdeep Sardesai questions this theory and ask why the Maharashtra government didn’t simply withdraw the circular. Now that Bombay High Court has asked the government to reply on the circular, according to Rajdeep this round has been won by those who are worried about potential misuse of the circular.

Farmers plight:

Devendra Fadnavis said that farmers plight due to the drought was owing to faulty policies of the state government for the last 15 years. According to Rajdeep, while long term plans may result in change in the future, as of now there was very little improvement on ground.

Further, Rajdeep hit out at the pseudo-liberal, leftist jibe by Fadnavis, saying that he was merely trying to do his duty for the last three decades.

Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma has been in the eye of the storm since he made a handful of comments about ‘Indian culture’.

He had said about former APJ Abdul Kalam: “Aurangzeb Road ka naam bhi badal kar ek aise mahapurush ke naam par kiya hai jo Musalman hote hue bhi inta bada rashtravadi aur manavtavadi insaan tha (We have renamed it after someone who was a humanitarian and a nationalist despite being a Muslim).”

He also said: “Western culture is not bad but it may not be good for us. Here, 15-year-old children don’t leave their parents. A 14-year-old girl wanting a night out maybe all right elsewhere but not in India.”
Speaking about the RSS’ role in governance he had said: “If at all saffronisation has been done, it has been done by the 125 crore people of the country who gave us a huge mandate. They knew what is RSS, what is BJP. They have given us a mandate to run the country.”

Here’s how Twitter reacted to the Mahesh Sharma’s comment

ashok varkey ‏@akaesh Sep 19

@VishalDadlani dude ,I suggest you send your female family members out every night for a week & see what the neighbours say …that is

View other replies
VISHAL DADLANI ‏@VishalDadlani Sep 19

The women in my family are strong & independent. No one “sends” them anywhere/”lets” them do anything. They make their own choices! @akaesh

CK says Nation First ‏@I_m__CK Sep 19

@VishalDadlani Take example of any middle class fmly n exp livin wid them.Evry parent stops gals of goin out in night.U calling all rapists?

An influential section of the Patel community on Sunday said they are opposed to a planned rally against Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visits the US this week while another group in the Silicon Valley said they would hold protests against him over the handling of the recent reservation agitation in Gujarat.

In a media statement, the group of Patels, said they believe that the agitation in India is politically motivated and these protests do not represent the voice of the entire Patidar (Patel) community.

“We Patels in the US are not taking any sides. Our intention is to make everybody aware that not every Patidar is against Prime Minister Modi. We do not support people who are tarnishing the reputation of our community and great country of India,” said Danny Patel, CEO of Peach State Hospitality.

There are about 150,000 Patels living in the US and those supporting the rally against Modi at the UN are a minuscule number who are misrepresenting the community, said the statement.

“Modi is coming here to further a bigger vision that he holds for India and instead of supporting his vision some people are trying to thwart his vision for petty political gains which the majority of us feel is not right,” said Ravi Patel of Sree Hotels.

“Patidars in the US are an industrious and peace loving community that has the progress of India close to their hearts,” the statement added.

“As members of the overseas Patidar community, we condemn it. This is an exercise in political mudslinging and we do not want to be a part of it,” said Baldev Thakor, president of Maya Hotels and a Patel community member.

“We wholeheartedly support Modi in his initiatives to take the country to greater heights,” he added.

Meanwhile, another section of the Patel community held a meeting in Silicon Valley to organise the protest rally against Modi when he visits California next week.

“While we are honoured to have the Prime Minster of India and fellow Gujarati Narendra Modi in Silicon Valley next week, we must not ignore the facts that gross violations of human rights and brutality by Gujarat police has occurred and the state and central governments have failed to serve and protect innocent civilians,” they said in an emailed statement to community members.

“Please note that this is not against or pro any political party. This is not against Modi. However, as the Prime Minister of India, we need Modi to recognise that those who are responsible for unconstitutional brutal actions must be punished. We demand justice,” they said.