Yogi skips UP’s Eidgah event
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath did not turn up at Aishbagh Eidgah in the state capital to greet people on Eid on Monday, a tradition that was followed by majority of Uttar Pradesh chief ministers, including those from his party Bharatiya Janata Party in the past.
Adityanath’s office, however, issued the chief minister’s greetings on the occasion.
Eidgah campus in Aishbagh witnesses the biggest congregation of Muslims of Sunni sect in Lucknow offering special prayers at one place.
Yogi’s decision to skip Eidgah invited a sarcastic response from the chief of the state’s main opposition Samajwadi Party. “It’s for the chief minister to tell why he isn’t here. Despite being rejected, I am here,” said former chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav after greeting the people.
Governor Ram Naik also visited the Eidgah.
During Ramzan, neither Adityanath nor any of his ministers had hosted Iftar, the annual ritual of inviting the Muslim community to break their day’s fast (roza).
Defending the chief minister, Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said, “Why didn’t anyone notice Eid greetings of Prime Minister Modi and chief minister Yogi? The important thing is to move beyond tokenism and see if we are distinguishing between Ramzan, Eid or Diwali.”
The Vishva Hindu Parishad has attacked the National Minorities Commission’s (NCM) move to set up a helpline for Muslims, saying both the commission and the minority affairs ministry should be scrapped. Incidentally, the ministry is under NDA’s lone muslim minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
A resolution to this effect was passed on Sunday at the conclusion of the two-day central governing council’s meet held at the Swaminarayan Temple at Vadtal in Gujarat. This was a formal reiteration of the demand the VHP first made on June 20.
“Such helpline projects a picture that atrocities against Muslims have reached such proportions that the extreme step of opening a helpline had to be taken up,” said VHP joint secretary Surendra Jain in a statement.
“Isn’t the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) more than enough to safeguard the rights of all the citizens of the nation,” Jain asked.
He demanded that the NHRC should be empowered while the minorities panel be scrapped.
The VHP resolution also said that Pakistanis and separatists have been using the analogy to justify the anti-national activities. It further said events unfolding in the world prove the point that the extent of rights Muslims enjoy in India cannot be matched with Muslims of Islamic nations. It said Christian organisations have also been following into the footsteps of the commission.
The VHP alleged that there was a political agenda behind such campaigns, even as most complaints (made by minorities) in the past have been proven to be baseless. “The SC in 2005 had directed the commission should take initiatives to end this antinational practice of minorityism. Instead, it is increasing the feeling of disintegration. By showing themselves victims, Jihadis and Christian Missionaries are trying to gain sympathy. Due to this, some selfish and short-sighted politicians dare to say stone-pelters are freedom fighters,” the resolution said.
Such helpline projects a picture that atrocities against Muslims have reached such proportions that the extreme step of opening a helpline had to be taken up
Another police officer posted in Sukma said this was the first time the security forces entered an area dominated by Hidma.
On Friday and Saturday, a joint team, comprising personnel from STF, District Reserve Guard (DRG) and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), carried out anti-Maoist operation in the Chintagufa area, around 500 km from Raipur. Chintagufa is said to be the “capital of Maoists” in Bastar. The thickly forested area is considered a stronghold of the left extremist group that is fighting a decades-long bloody insurgency and has established parallel administrative set-ups in places with little government presence.