Telangana Congress working chief Jagga Reddy questions Modi’s 2015 visit to Pakistan
Jagga Reddy urged people, students and intellectuals in Telangana to question the reasons for the Centre blocking the chief minister’s US visit. HYDERABAD: Defending Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy over his proposed US visit, Congress working president T Jayaprakash Reddy, alias Jagga Reddy, on Tuesday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Pakistan to attend former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s birthday celebrations. Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, Jagga Reddy alleged that the BJP-led Union government had obstructed Revanth’s US tour and questioned why he had been allowed to travel to London but prevented from visiting the US. Responding to BJP MP Eatala Rajender’s criticism that Revanth was seeking to meet people allegedly opposed to India, Jagga Reddy questioned Modi’s Pakistan visit. “Modi is the prime minister and is under a strict security protocol. Even when he travels from his bedroom to his office, security checks are conducted. How did he go to Pakistan without prior information? The prime minister should first explain why he went to an enemy country and then speak about Revanth Reddy,” he said. Add as a preferred source on Google Jagga Reddy urged people, students and intellectuals in Telangana to question the reasons for the Centre blocking the chief minister’s US visit. On reports of an “August crisis” in the Telangana Congress, Jagga Reddy said there was no crisis in either the party or the government. “There is no August crisis in the Congress. It is a TDP issue. The chief minister here is from the Congress and there is no doubt about the Congress government,” he said. He said Revanth remained committed to Rahul Gandhi’s leadership and had maintained a “neutral” and “balanced” position. Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https:/thenewindianexpress.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘They opposed Ambedkar’s Constitution, wanted Manusmriti’: Owaisi targets RSS, BJP
NEW DELHI: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has launched a sharp attack on the RSS and BJP over the Manusmriti, questioning their commitment to the Indian Constitution. He accused them of historically favouring the ancient text over the document adopted by the country. Owaisi made the remarks during his address at the Jalsa-e-Rahmatul-lil-Alameen at Darussalam .n Hyderabad on the occasion of the 1501st Eid Milad-un-Nabi. He targeted the RSS over its reported opposition to the Constitution drafted by Dr BR Ambedkar and contrasted the organisation’s position with that of Muslim freedom fighters during British rule. “I am asking those associated with the RSS about Manusmriti. Is it not true that on November 26, 1949, we adopted the Constitution? Yet, four days later, on November 30, a mouthpiece of the RSS published a complaint against it, stating that it wasn’t a constitution at all and that it should have been the Manusmriti. They had issues with the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar,” Owaisi said. The AIMIM chief also attacked Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, referring to his correspondence with the British during his imprisonment in the Andaman cellular jail. “Savarkar was in support of Manusmriti. While he was in Andaman jail, he was writing letters to the British, saying, ‘I am with you, please release me.’ But what were we doing? Allama Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi was also in jail; he endured hardships but never wrote a ‘love letter’ to the British. Instead, he issued a fatwa for Jihad against them. Even today, his grave stands in the Andaman as a testament,” he asserted. Owaisi further sought to highlight the role of Muslim figures in India’s freedom struggle. He claimed that the first prisoner sent to the Andaman Islands was Maulvi Alauddin, the Imam of Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid. “Listen, BJP and RSS people, who was the first prisoner in Andaman? It was not your father, grandfather, or ancestor. It was Hyderabad’s Maulvi Alauddin, the Imam of Mecca Masjid. He was the first prisoner,” Owaisi told the gathering. His remarks come amid an intensifying political confrontation between the BJP and Congress over the Manusmriti and its place in India’s social and constitutional discourse. The BJP has recently targeted Congress leader and Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi over his criticism of the Manusmriti. It accused Rahul of making statements that undermine India’s traditions, cultural heritage and democratic institutions. Several BJP leaders, including chief ministers, have alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s remarks sought to “belittle” India’s civilisational values. At an event titled ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ in Pune, Rahul Gandhi criticised a passage attributed to the Manusmriti concerning women’s independence. “This is a direct quote from the Manusmriti, and these words are a shame, because these words should never ever have been spoken,” Gandhi said after quoting the passage: “In childhood, a female belongs to her father. In youth, she belongs to her husband. When her lord is dead, she belongs to her sons. A woman must never be independent.” Rahul also called for an end to patriarchal structures, telling female students that the country needs to “smash the prevailing patriarchy” to achieve genuine empowerment for women. The exchange has brought the Manusmriti back into the centre of a wider political debate over constitutional values, social equality and competing interpretations of India’s cultural and political history. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Baghel meets Rahul, Priyanka amid Punjab Congress infighting
Chandigarh: Bhupesh Baghel, the AICC general secretary and in charge for Punjab, met the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Delhi on Monday. During the meeting, issues relating to the continuing differences within the Punjab Congress and Rahul Gandhi’s proposed bus journey in the poll-bound state were discussed. The trio also discussed possible ways of addressing the differences within the state unit. Baghel, however, did not disclose details of the discussions on organisational issues after the meeting. The meeting comes amid continuing differences within the Punjab Congress, particularly between a group of leaders associated with the former chief minister and Congress MP, Charanjit Singh Channi, and the camp led by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. The Channi camp has been pressing for the removal of Warring from the post of president. Last week, Baghel ruled out any change in the state unit’s existing organisational structure and said the focus would be on expanding the announced committees and bringing more functionaries into the party’s election preparations. “There will be no changes now. Only expansion will take place,” Baghel had said, indicating that the existing committees would be enlarged by adding more members, and that new committees could also be constituted as part of the party’s organisational preparations. After Monday’s meeting, Baghel said the expansion of the committees would take place shortly. However, he did not give details of the discussions on internal issues in Punjab. He said the primary focus of the meeting was Rahul Gandhi’s proposed bus journey in Punjab and related preparations. “I met both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. The main topic was the bus journey planned for Punjab. I wanted to seek permission for the tour, specifically regarding the journey Rahul Gandhi is to undertake. They granted me time and asked me to submit a proposal outlining the schedule for the week, after which they will finalise the timing,” Baghel said. The former Chhattisgarh chief minister indicated that the proposed programme would not take place this week. He also hinted at a major tour covering Punjab. Baghel said a detailed programme would be prepared and shared with the party leadership before the schedule and timing were finalised. The proposed bus journey is being planned as part of the Congress’s preparations for the 2027 Punjab assembly elections. According to party sources, Rahul Gandhi is likely to begin the programme from Amritsar after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple. The tentative plan is for the first phase to cover the Amritsar-Hussainiwala stretch. Baghel also indicated that the proposed yatra would involve party functionaries from across Punjab. He said all party representatives would join the yatra, and national leaders would also participate in the programme. The proposed bus journey is likely to bring senior Punjab Congress functionaries together on a common platform as the party intensifies its preparations for the 2027 elections. AICC secretary and Punjab co-in charge Suraj Singh Thakur, who was also present at the meeting, said, “This is our family, and within a family, there has always been a good relationship between the younger and elder brothers. There are discussions over certain issues, and that is a matter within our party. We will resolve it by working together with everyone and taking everyone along, as has always been the Congress party’s approach and our principle. We will contest the Punjab elections together with everyone,” he said. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Surprise protests, GenZ outreach: Rahul Gandhi’s new playbook after CJP’s success
NEW DELHI: “I will not leave till you lodge an FIR. He has pellet injuries on his body, has lost his eye, and we are demanding an FIR for this… I will go outside and sit there until you lodge an FIR. I will sit for 10 days, 20 days, 30 days, 50 days, six months. Your government will have a problem.” There is a visible change in how Rahul Gandhi pushes through issues now. The leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha has a new weapon in his political arsenal: impromptu protests. For the second time in a month, the Congress leader caught the authorities and, to some extent, even his own party, off guard by taking to the streets of the national capital without prior warning. When Rahul reached the DCP office in Delhi on August 21 demanding an FIR for Sahil Lohchab, who sustained pellet injuries during the July 20 student protest, it was Act 2 of his new playbook of street protest politics. When the cops dilly-dallied, Rahul refused to budge and staged a sit-in protest outside the police station. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined him. Congress leaders began arriving. Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed outside. A visit to a police office turned into a high-voltage political stand-off and, after six hours of dharna, Delhi Police registered an FIR over the pellet firing. The BJP reacted sharply, calling Rahul’s sit-in the ‘politics of anarchy’. It argued that an FIR relating to the wider July 20 incident already existed, an investigation was under way and the Congress leader was turning police procedure into a political spectacle. For Lohchab, however, there was a sense of relief. His family had been trying to get his complaint registered since August 14, shuttling between police stations. The 19-year-old, who underwent surgery after pellets struck his right eye, finally had an FIR registered after Rahul’s intervention. For years, opponents have labelled Rahul Gandhi a ‘part-time politician’ who would raise an issue and then disappear. But this incident reinforced something that has changed about Rahul’s tactics over the past year. He is no longer content merely to raise an issue. He increasingly wants to enter it, stay with it and, if necessary, physically occupy the space. Rahul’s new playbook The first display of this surprise street-politics instinct had come a month earlier during the NEET student protests. On July 21, a day after police used force to stop thousands of students attempting a ‘Sansad Chalo’ march over exam irregularities, Rahul suddenly headed towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence and staged a sit-in. Police had reportedly made arrangements anticipating a Congress protest at Vijay Chowk. Rahul went to Lok Kalyan Marg instead. The move caught security officials by surprise. Rahul, Priyanka and several other opposition leaders were later detained. The visual that immediately took over the news was hard to ignore: the leader of opposition physically struggling with police officers, being dragged away and getting a nosebleed in the chaos. It came at a time when the Congress was desperately trying to make its presence felt, with Abhijeet Dipke’s Cockroach Janata Party and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk already leading a massive student protest against the NEET paper leak. Congress had initially kept its distance, preferring to run its own youth outreach campaign, ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’. But people asked a simple question: If Congress claimed to support student issues, why was it missing from the biggest student movement in Delhi? When the July 20 Jantar Mantar protest took place and massive outrage erupted over police action against the student protesters, Rahul’s approach changed. The very next day, he moved to the front lines. He stood outside the Prime Minister’s house, Congress leaders visited injured students, and police action became a major national debate. Rahul took the issue to Parliament and continued raising the pitch over injuries suffered by students. And when the larger protest began to recede from the headlines, Rahul stayed with one part of it: the use of pellet guns. He has affirmed that his party will keep raising the issue and demand accountability. Rahul’s changing style The first major image makeover was when Rahul Gandhi embarked on the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in 2022. Sceptics and rivals wondered if he would complete the journey. By the time he reached Kashmir months later, after walking thousands of kilometres in his now-signature white T-shirt, one charge had become considerably harder to make: that Rahul was unwilling to put in the physical grind that it takes in politics. The yatra, on its own, did not help the Congress much. What it did was change the way Rahul himself was seen as a politician. For months, people saw him walking with the common public rather than delivering a scripted speech from a podium. He met farmers, labourers and students, stopped for conversations, entered homes and sat and ate with people. The yatra experience also laid the foundation for his growing social media popularity. His online presence today increasingly relies on short, conversational exchanges that can easily travel as reels and clips. The second shift came in 2024, when he became the leader of the opposition. Since then, we have seen a more combative Rahul Gandhi. Whether one agrees with his politics or the issues he raises, he appears considerably more comfortable with confrontation than he once did. Congress’s protests in the Parliament complex have also become more visual and experimental under Rahul. He repeatedly joined opposition MPs at Makar Dwar over the Election Commission’s SIR exercise in Bihar, with MPs carrying ‘vote chori’ placards and demanding its rollback. The protest later moved beyond the Parliament gates, with Rahul and other opposition leaders marching towards the Election Commission before being stopped and detained. Rahul provokes ministers across the aisle and stays for the response. He takes an argument from the street into Parliament and, increasingly, carries it back outside again. This is also a part of his renewed Gen Z outreach. Rahul’s GenZ
‘Pellet injury shattered my Delhi Police dream’: Youth whose FIR came after Rahul’s protest
Jhajjar: The young man for whom Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi staged a protest at a Delhi police station on Friday had once dreamt of joining the Delhi Police. Jhajjar resident Sahil Lochab says that dream came crashing down on July 20, when he was allegedly hit by pellets during a protest at Jantar Mantar and lost vision in his right eye. Sahil, from Bhupania village, drove a taxi alongside his studies to support his family and was preparing for Delhi Police recruitment. He had enrolled in a graduation programme through Delhi University’s School of Open Learning to balance his studies with work. Sahil’s family moved to Najafgarh around 10 years ago. His father Deepak has been disabled since childhood and had worked occasionally as a private taxi driver. Sahil says he began driving at a young age, contributing to household expenses and helping fund his younger brother’s education. Recounting the Jantar Mantar incident, Sahil said he suddenly felt pellets strike his chest, arm and right eye. “When I turned around, I saw a person in a blue uniform carrying a large firearm, from which several pellets were fired,” he alleged. His face, hand, chest and eye began bleeding and he lost vision in the right eye, he said. He was initially taken to a nearby hospital before being referred to Safdarjung Hospital and subsequently AIIMS. Sahil alleged that paramilitary personnel used pellet guns during the protest and he had sought an impartial investigation to establish who fired the pellets and under what circumstances. During his treatment at AIIMS, Sahil said, a team associated with Rahul Gandhi contacted him and helped arrange treatment and assistance for his family. He said Rahul Gandhi met him twice, once during a press conference and later at Parliament Street police station on Friday, when the FIR was registered. Sahil alleged that he approached Connaught Place and Parliament Street police stations several times seeking action but was sent back without the response he expected. He claimed that after Rahul Gandhi reached the Parliament Street police station, an FIR against unidentified persons was registered about six hours later. For Sahil, the injury has put his career plans and his family’s finances at risk. “I used to drive a taxi alongside my studies to support my family. I had dreamed of joining the Delhi Police. After losing the sight in my eye, it feels as if everything is over,” Sahil said. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Parliament monsoon session yet to be prorogued, BJP, Congress face off over women’s bill
NEW DELHI: BJP on Sunday sought to play back to Rahul Gandhi his pitch for women’s empowerment, by questioning his strident opposition to govt’s push for an early implementation of quota for them in Lok Sabha and assemblies. “He does not want to give rights to women. His words don’t match his actions,” Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said. BJP’s framing its attack on Rahul around the women’s quota coupled with the fact that monsoon session is yet to be prorogued gave another indication of the possibility of govt summoning the two Houses at short notice to take up its Constitution amendment bill for implementation of quota from 2029 with a nearly 50% rise in Lok Sabha seats. “What explains the abnormal delay now? Is the Union home minister still in search of his super-tainted 2/3rd majority to get the constitutional amendment bill on delimitation passed in a special session,” Congress’s Jairam Ramesh asked. Congress, too, was mindful of the possibility of a short upcoming session and claimed that BJP is still searching for “super tainted” majority in Lok Sabha, in what was a swipe at govt’s alleged attempts to split opposition parties to reach the two-thirds majority in the House needed for the bill’s passage. Ramesh said the gap between Parliament’s adjournment and its prorogation is generally two to four days. But the monsoon session, which ended on Aug 13, has not been prorogued yet. When a session is prorogued, govt has to go through the protocol for calling a new session that conventionally requires a gap of 15 to 20 days. Stepping up BJP’s attack on Rahul Gandhi, Fadnavis said he spoke about women’s empowerment from a public platform but has opposed the most revolutionary step to give women their due. BJP’s Smriti Irani said Rahul should positively respond to PM Modi’s appeal to political parties to support the implementation of women’s quota. On the Vande Mataram row, she said Congress should allow rendition of the song’s full version. While speculation has swirled over the revival of the bill to amend women’s quota law, which was defeated in April, govt has officially remained non-committal over any such move except acknowledging that it had sought Rahul’s view. The LoP in Lok Sabha reiterated his stand against it. Congress and its allies have said Lok Sabha’s strength should be frozen at its existing number and the quota should be executed within it. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘You don’t belong to anyone else, but yourself’: Rahul Gandhi’s message to young women
NEW DELHI: The fourth event of Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme kicked off in Pune on Saturday. The Congress leader is set to address a large women’s rally at the AISSMS College Ground in Pune, Maharashtra. In his address, he invoked a verse from the Manusmriti and contrasted it with his call for the empowerment and autonomy of women. Referring to the verse, he highlighted the notion that, “A woman in her childhood belongs to her father, after marriage belongs to her husband and in her old age belongs to her son.” Rejecting this idea, he asserted that a woman belongs to no one but herself. While acknowledging that the relationships in a woman’s life are important, he stressed that they do not determine her identity or ownership, which, he said, rests exclusively with her. However, the event follows a political storm and clashes between student organisations. The programme was preceded by a midnight clash between the NSUI and ABVP at the COEP Technological University hostel. It happened after ABVP claimed that female students were being forced to attend the event. Meanwhile, Congress leaders countered the claims, saying two female students, who had earlier expressed their support for the event, were threatened and confined inside the hostel. BJP has also accused Congress of paying influencers and manufacturing crowds for the event. Meanwhile, Congress has alleged that the ruling establishment was attempting to disrupt Rahul Gandhi’s student outreach. NSUI-ABVP clash erupts at COEP hostel Tensions escalated on Friday night when NSUI and ABVP members clashed at the COEP hostel campus ahead of the LoP’s interaction. Police resorted to a lathi charge to control the situation, while several injured activists were taken to Sancheti Hospital. According to police sources cited in the material, the Shivajinagar Police registered cases against 50 to 60 people, including six named NSUI and Youth Congress activists, following a complaint by an ABVP member. The confrontation reportedly centred on student participation in LoP Rahul Gandhi’s programme. NSUI activists said they were responding to distress calls from female students, while ABVP alleged that Congress-linked workers were forcibly encouraging hostellers to register for the event. Congress alleges female students were intimidated Congress leaders accused ABVP workers of entering the girls’ hostel and intimidating students who had expressed support for the event. Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe alleged that a female student was cornered and forced to apologise on camera. NSUI state president Sagar Salunke claimed that students had called the organisation for help and alleged that CCTV cameras had been switched off before NSUI members arrived. Salunke also alleged that students, including orphaned students, had been pressured to record videos praising the college administration. The case registered by police followed a complaint from 21-year-old student Malhar Nilesh Patil, who alleged that a student’s video statement had been recorded under pressure at the hostel. Pawan Khera alleges conspiracy to disrupt event Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged that there had been a conspiracy to disrupt LoP’s Pune programme, claiming that the response among young people had rattled those in power. Khera linked the controversy to the issues female students were expected to raise with Rahul, including alleged diversion of scholarship funds. He accused ABVP workers of intimidating students and said the incident reflected an attempt to keep women away from public decision-making. He also invoked Pune’s history as the city where Savitribai Phule pioneered women’s education, arguing that the theme of the event was particularly relevant to the city. BJP calls event ‘Paise Ki Goonj’ The BJP launched a separate attack on the programme, accusing the Congress of paying influencers to mobilise attendance and promote Rahul Gandhi’s event on social media. BJP Maharashtra spokesperson Navnath Ban alleged that influencers were being offered Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 each, along with travel expenses, and claimed that the overall expenditure could reach Rs 9 crore to Rs 10 crore if around 3,000 people were paid. Ban dubbed the programme ‘Paise Ki Goonj’ instead of ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ and demanded an investigation into the source of the alleged funds. BJP leader Keshav Upadhyay separately accused Rahul Gandhi of using student issues as a political platform. Congress hits back, says BJP ‘rattled’ by youth response The Congress rejected the BJP’s allegations and accused it of trying to create obstacles to LoP Rahul Gandhi’s programme because of his growing support among young people. Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant claimed that the BJP was particularly apprehensive about Rahul’s appeal among Gen Z and alleged that authorities and ABVP members had attempted to disrupt the programme. NCP (SP) leader Mahesh Tapase also criticised the BJP, saying there was no reason to oppose a programme focused on issues affecting students and young people. What is ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ about? Rahul’s Pune interaction with female students is centred on student and youth concerns, with issues such as paper leaks, unemployment and the education system expected to feature in the programme. The Congress has sought to position the initiative as a platform for students to directly raise their concerns, while the BJP has characterised it as a political campaign by the Leader of the Opposition. The Pune event, therefore, has begun against the backdrop of an escalating political battle over who controls the narrative around student and youth concerns. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, BJP to start nationwide Vande campaign
NEW DELHI: BJP cited Mahatma Gandhi’s “we have fallen on evil days” lament over the opposition built up against Vande Mataram Saturday to set the stage for an intense political battle with Congress and the wider ‘secular’ class for their objections to the national song’s full version by announcing a nationwide campaign. The campaign, approved at a meeting of the new office-bearers under party chief Nitin Nabin, will focus on the song’s association with freedom struggle, opposition by Pakistan’s founder M A Jinnah and other Muslim hardliners which led Congress to prune it and “communal pressure or narrow vote-bank considerations” driving the current protests against the national song. The meeting adopted a four-page resolution, accusing Congress of “bowing before the same politics of appeasement” to which it had yielded in 1937, enabling Jinnah-led Muslim League to impose communal demands even upon national symbols. BJP’s decision to launch the 10-point campaign comes after Congress asserted that it will stick to its 1937 resolution that had adopted the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram to signal its defiance of the notification restoring its full version for all official events and Parliament passing a law making any insult to the song a penal offence. With Gen Z emerging as an axis of political mobilisation for its rivals after their successful protest over paper leaks, the campaign also seeks to target its pitch for Vande Mataram at the youth. PM Modi visited party headquarters to interact with the new team. Organisational meetings are all about new ideas aimed at strengthening the party and deepening connection with the people, he said. In its resolution, BJP marshalled comments of stalwarts like Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari to hit back at its rivals, who have accused it of stoking political divide over the song. It framed its campaign as a contest between the song’s rich legacy versus a bid to truncate it to appease Muslim fundamentalists. It cited Gandhi’s 1939 comments: “I associated the purest national spirit with it (Vande Mataram). It never occurred to me that it was a Hindu song or meant only for Hindus. Unfortunately, now we have fallen on evil days.” Nabin accused Congress of sowing the same seeds of division that it did in 1937 by adopting a truncated version under the Muslim League’s pressure. Month-long campaign for PM Modi’s birthday Several youth-centric programmes will be part of BJP’s month-long campaign from Modi’s birthday on Sept 17, with the annual “sewa” programme turning special this time as he will also be completing 25 years as head of a govt. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘No problem when boys do it but PM Modi gets ‘cultural shock’ if girls use cuss words’: Rahul Gandhi in Pune
PUNE: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at what he described as a patriarchal mindset, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “culturally shocked” when girls used cuss words during a protest, while having no objection to boys using similar language. Addressing a gathering of thousands of women and girl students at AISSMS College ground as part of the Congress’ ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ campaign, Gandhi said the fight was against a system that gives men greater freedom while placing restrictions on women. He referred to a video of Modi that he said was released after a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar. “The Prime Minister was culturally shocked when girls protesting at Jantar Mantar used cuss words, but had no problem with boys using the same words,” Gandhi said. “Our fight is against such a mindset. We do not want a country which gives all the freedom to men, while women continue to live in a controlled environment. We will work together to end the patriarchal system in India,” he said. ‘Woman belongs to nobody except herself’ Gandhi also invoked the Manusmriti while speaking about women’s independence and said women should not be defined by their relationship with men. “Manusmriti mentions that a woman must never be independent. Such words should never be used to describe a woman. The woman belongs to nobody except herself,” he said. He said women continued to face restrictions through violence, disrespect and curbs on their movements. Sharing statistics with the audience, Gandhi claimed that 99% of sexual violence cases in the country go unreported. He said society uses different methods to control women, including violence, disrespect and imposing restrictions on their timings. ‘Paper leaks affect women differently’ Gandhi also spoke about the impact of examination paper leaks on women, saying they faced additional pressure because of family expectations around marriage. Sharayu Chopade, one of the students who interacted with him, spoke about being dejected after the recent FDA inspector examination paper leak in Pune. “It was quite heartbreaking,” she said, appealing to Gandhi to look into the issue. Responding to her, Gandhi said paper leaks could have a different impact on men and women. “While men have more time in hand to reappear for the exam, women have a deadline for the same as the family may force them to marry,” he said. Another participant, Suchitra Pagi from Palghar, spoke about facing sexual harassment by three men from a neighbouring village. She said villagers opposed her when she lodged a police complaint, while her family supported her education and enabled her to pursue higher studies in Pune. Rahul interacts with women on stage The Pune event was the fourth edition of the Congress’ ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ student outreach programme, following editions in Kota, Dehradun and Prayagraj. Gandhi invited women and girl students on stage to share their experiences of sexual harassment, challenges in pursuing education and problems linked to examination paper leaks. Bhojpuri satirist Neha Rahod also performed satirical songs targeting patriarchy and the government. She said she faced an FIR after presenting issues women face through her songs. “I also have been receiving a lot of abuse for the last many years,” Gandhi responded. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
1 lakh candidates to compete for 629 AEE posts in AP
Of the total 629 posts, APTRANSCO accounts for 200, APEPDCL for 135, APSPDCL for 134, APGENCO for 100, and APCPDCL for 60. VIJAYAWADA: In a major employment drive across AP’s power generation, transmission, and distribution sectors, APTRANSCO, APGENCO, APSPDCL, APEPDCL, and APCPDCL, are conducting a common recruitment examination for 629 Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) positions. Almost 1,05,566 candidates registered till July 20. Of the total 629 posts, APTRANSCO accounts for 200, APEPDCL for 135, APSPDCL for 134, APGENCO for 100, and APCPDCL for 60. Selected candidates will earn a consolidated pay of Rs 75,000 per month during a two-year probation before shifting to regular pay scales. The CBT runs from August 23 to 27, across 94 centres (81 in AP and 13 outside). Hall tickets on apvidyutrecruitment.apcfss.in. The schedule starts on August 23 with Civil Engineering, followed by Mechanical Engineering on August 24. Telecom/Electronics on August 25, while Electrical Engineering on August 26 and 27. Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https:/thenewindianexpress.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights