CONG LIBERATED NATION, MODI FREES RAM BHOOMI

The entire temple town was decked with yellow flowers and saffron flags, to mark a watershed moment in one of the longest campaigns post-independence, one that found resonance with millions in the country and abroad.

Beginning his address with "Siyavar Ram Chandra ki Jai!" and "Jai Siya Ram" chants against the BJP’s usual “Jai Shri Ram,” minus wife Sita or Siya, PM Modi said, “Ram belongs to everyone. Ram resides in everyone. Ram lives in Bharat’s beliefs and its ideals. Ram is in India’s divinity and philosophy…..It is an emotional moment for India. A long wait ends today. A grand temple will now be built for Lord Ram who had been living under a tent for many years….We have to build this temple with a feeling of brotherhood.”

The prime minister ’s likening of Lord Ram as a national mascot and a great unifier appeared to be an interesting metamorphosis, because the BJP had virtually established proprietary rights over Ram's name, thereby emerging as a votary of Hindu resurgence, even as it alienated the Muslim community, in the run up to the demolition. But skeptics abound. “Rather than indicating a paradigm shif t in the BJP’s policy, the talk of brotherhood and amity seems more like a belated attempt to justify his participation in the religious ceremony at Ayodhya despite holding a constitutional post,” the editor of an English daily said. AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and several political analysts had criticised the PM earlier, asking him not to attend the event as he holds a constitutional post and India’s constitution is avowedly secular. Ramesh Dixit, political analyst, based in Uttar Pradesh, says, “We should not take the PM's words seriously. Neither he nor the BJP is going to change a bit. This is merely political posturing.” Dixit, a retired professor of Lucknow University, says, “The building of temple has got nothing to do with Hindu religion. It is a blatant demonstration of brute force and almost a barbaric triumph of majoritarianism. The BJP will not allow closure even af ter building the Ram temple. They will immediately rake up Kashi and Mathura temples to complete the process of division and disintegration of Indian society.’’

Congress leader Anshu Awasthi concurs. “PM Modi said ‘Jai Siya Ram’ and ‘ Ram is in everyone’ only because our leader Priyanka Gandhi had said the same the day before. The BJP and the RSS don’t respect women. Whatever the PM said today was only for media consumption. The BJP’s policy will always be divisive, anti-women and anti-Dalit and anti-adivasi.”

Awasthi even referred to a controversial meme doing the rounds in social media in which the PM Modi was seen chaperoning a toddler Ram into the temple. “This picture says all about the BJP’s politics over Ram temple.”

There are temples and temples but this one the most unique Living with a sectarian past will prevent any prospect of a peaceful present and mar the future of the coming generations. If the temple in Ayodhya applies closure to the campaign for righting the-wrongs-ofhistory, if it leaves untouched similar structures in Mathura and Kashi, the two communities should shed the emotional baggage of bitterness and ugly recriminations and join hands to together fight

poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy. Poverty is endemic to both communities. Men of goodwill on both sides need to take the lead in applying the salve of humanity to the religious wounds. The armchair secular-liberal elements do harm to the cause they purportedly uphold by constantly pontificating about what ought to have been, instead of realising the ground reality of a nascent democratic society, as vulnerable as people in other, far older democracies are, to the raw, emotional appeal of religion and other such issues. However, if the construction of the temple in Ayodhya succeeds in inspiring the people to devote themselves anew to the task of nation-building, it wouldn’t have been all a wasteful effort.

The nation now needs to move on. And grapple with Covid-19, a sputtering economy, a threatening China on the border, etc., etc. The grand temple to Lord Rama might win a few more elections but by itself won’t solve the nation’s growing problems of economic and social distress. For that we need to build many more temples of the kind the first Prime Minister referred to but failed woefully in that onerous task.

Sushant case goes to CBI

The recommendation for CBI intervention had been made by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday, af ter Rajput’s father accused the Mumbai Police of not responding when he mentioned a threat to his son's life in February.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, who is representing the Bihar Government, welcomed the decision. The truth behind the death of the "gif ted and talented" artist should come out, the apex court observed on Wednesday and gave Maharashtra, Bihar and Rajput's father three days to respond to the plea by Chakraborty for transfer of case. The court did not react to the Centre's announcement that it was instituting a CBI probe and has merely asked for a status report from the Mumbai Police, which is probing the death of the actor. The case will be heard next week.

Only last Thursday, a PIL by a Patna lawyer, urging a CBI probe in the matter, was turned down by a 3-judge Apex Court Bench headed by Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde.

Solicitor General Advocate Vikas Singh, who is representing Sushant's father, claimed the Mumbai Police was destroying evidence in the case. Rhea's lawyer Satish Mane Shinde countered that Bihar lacked jurisdiction to recommend a CBI probe into a case related to Maharashtra. He contended: "There cannot be a transfer of a case which has no legal basis, to begin with, for the Bihar Police to get involved. At the most, it would be a Zero FIR which would then be transferred to Mumbai Police."

However, Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey defended the state government's decision in the wake of the "inaction" of the Mumbai Police in the case.

"What was Mumbai police doing these 50 days. They were not cooperating with our police. When Bihar home secretary phoned his Maharashtra counterpart, he would not answer the call. All channels of communication were blocked. We doubt your (Mumbai police's) intentions," he said.

There has been a tussle between the Mumbai and Bihar Police, with the latter accusing the former of deliberately thwarting their efforts to investigate the case. The "forced quarantine" of Bihar IPS officer Vinay Tiwari on Sunday had reinforced Bihar Police's claims.

If you have any leads, give them

In a statement issued on Wednesday, police have asked people to approach the senior officers of Malvani Police, or the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) or the Additional Commissioner of Police (AddlCP) in this matter.

On June 8, Salian had been attending a party at her fiance's apartment on the 12th floor of Regent Galaxy near Jankalyan Nagar in Malvani, Malad west. Police said, Salian, her fiance and friends had been consuming alcohol and partying, during which the talent manager was reported to have been visibly upset. Around 1.10am, she allegedly jumped off the bedroom window and fell to the ground. Rajput's suicide occurred six days later, on June 14, spinning off various rumours and conspiracy theories linking the duo's deaths. Mumbai Police had then said there was no truth in the rumours about a link between the two deaths. Salian's family members too had issued a statement saying they did not suspect any foul play and had no complaint against anybody.

On Wednesday, Salian's father wrote to the Mumbai Police, complaining about the harassment and victimisation of his family as a result of misleading reports by journalists. He said in the letter that on July 13, a formal complaint was lodged and a police statement was given.

"It could be an accident or she could have fallen, there was a lot of work pressure. We have already given our statement to the police that we do not suspect anyone with foul play. News of her involvement with any politician, rape and murder are all cooked up stories and hold no truth. These reports are misleading the people and tarnishing my daughter's image," read the letter.

Meanwhile, a senior Mumbai police officer claimed that Rajput's brother-in-law, an IPS officer, had asked him to pressurise the late actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty to end their relationship between February 18 and 25. Rajput's family had informally requested the then zonal DCP to intervene, without lodging a formal complaint. The DCP had politely turned down the request, saying it was not in line with the protocol for the probe.

J&K LG quits, will Mehrishi step in?

"What’s with all this chatter surrounding the LG of J&K? Came out of nowhere a few hours ago and suddenly it’s all over social media and WhatsApp in J&K," Abdullah wrote on Twitter.

Murmu is a 1985 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre. Before his stint as the first L-G of the UT, he served as the expenditure secretary in the Ministry of Finance. He also served as the principal secretary to PM Narendra Modi during his tenure as the chief minister of Gujarat. The post of the Comptroller Auditor General, meanwhile, is expected to fall vacant shortly as incumbent Rajiv Mehrishi turns 65. "Rajiv Mehrishi is turning 65 on August 8. That is why the government is in a hurry to look for a replacement," a senior bureaucrat in the Cabinet secretariat told NDTV.

No such thing as free power: HC

"Thus, concessions as sought, cannot be allowed. No consumer can be given any concession in paying the bills," CJ Datta said in his orders, adding, "The service providers are bound to follow the norms and the tariff order of the MSEDC. They will have to implement the orders in letter and spirit."