DIDI: BJP USING RATH YATRA TO DIVIDE SOCIETY

Raiganj/Malda, Feb. 10: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday mocked BJP leaders for travelling on raths “as if they are gods”, and alleged saffron party’s rath yatra is meant to create division in the society on the basis of religion.

Accusing the saffron party of resorting to “lies” about Hinduism, Banerjee said the desperation to defeat her has stemmed from the BJP’s ambition to wipe out the last opposition bastion in the country.

Addressing two backto-back rallies in the minority Muslims dominated Uttar Dinajpur and Malda districts, Banerjee appealed to the voters to ensure victory of the TMC candidate and not waste their votes by casting them in favour of “stooge of BJP from Hyderabad”, in a swipe at Asaduddin Owaisi AIMIM. After impressive showing in the neighbouring Bihar, AIMIM is preparing to fight Assembly elections in Bengal where Muslim voters form a sizeable section of the electorate.

“Rath yatra is a religious festival. All of us have participated in this festival. We know Lord Jagannath, Balaram and Goddess Subhadra travel in those chariots.

“But, the BJP leaders are using this rath yatra for their own political purposes to divide the society and pit one against the other. BJP leaders are travelling on raths as if they are gods,” she said.

Not often in the recent past has Parliament been invaded by an outbreak of civility. But when it did, as in extremely emotional speeches by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rajya Sabha Opposition Leader Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress, it augured well for a sense of dignity and decorum to be ushered back into India’s increasingly polarised polity. Before a Prime Ministerial image makeover, Modi was stateliness personified, as in his opening speech as PM to both Houses of Parliament. Since then, in a fractured political scene, he has been seen more in confrontational mode, attacking opponents in India and when he goes abroad and in the House too when he mocked Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul.

The spirit of give and take seemed to have evaporated in Parliament with many sessions lost to the “in the Well” attitude of the Opposition ranged against the intransigence of the Treasury benches when it came to lending an ear to diverse points of view. Civil debates on national issues have been few and far between but the ruling BJP is not the only party guilty of reducing Parliament into a non-functional laggard. This could change, much as it should, during the debate on the farmers’ stir and into the future when political parties on sharply divergent ideological paths can be expected to only drift further apart thanks to the compulsions of poll politics and the seeming need for harsh language at the hustings.

Clever interpretations of acronyms appear to be the current fad as politicians attack each other, which is why such fulsome praise of opponents, which Mr Modi and Mr Azad showered on each other on the eve of the former Kashmir CM retiring from Parliament, is to be seen as a breakthrough. Brushing aside cynical views of the use of words of praise being opportunistic and rare, we must wish that civility stays in Parliament where government and Opposition members meet most often and in debates that make the legislature one of the pillars of democracy. Politicians of all hues would do well to remember that cordiality costs nothing and that the nation and the Constitution always come first.

London, Feb. 10: Police have arrested 10 people in the UK, Belgium and Malta for allegedly hijacking mobile phones belonging to US celebrities including internet influencers, sports stars and musicians to steal personal information and millions in cryptocurrency, authorities said.

The European Union police agency Europol said Wednesday that the gang is believed to have stolen more than $100 million in cryptocurrencies by using so-called SIM swap attacks.

These attacks involve deactivating a victim’s mobile phone SIM card, either by tricking the phone company or using a corrupt insider, so that the number can be transferred to another card under the gang's control.

The arrests were the result of a joint investigation by UK, US, Canadian, Belgian and Maltese police, Europol said. Europol didn’t specify the nationalities of those caught in the sweep, but the UK’s National Crime Agency said a day earlier that eight men were arrested in England and Scotland.

Two others were arrested previously in Belgium and Malta, Europol said.

Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk posted a near six-fold increase in net profit for 2020, as demand during the pandemic rebounded strongly from an initial slump, sending freight rates soaring. A shortage of containers in Asia during the pandemic has led to a surge in freight rates. For the full-year 2020, Maersk recorded a net profit of $2.9 billion (2.4 billion euros) in its ongoing operations.