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Of Riots & Refugee Camps<\/strong><\/p>\n \n By Insaf<\/strong><\/p>\n \n Politics in West Bengal over riots and displaced citizens continues to persist. Governor C V Ananda Bose is quoted as having said on Thursday \u201cI am going to the field\u201d!\u00a0 According to Raj Bhavan after his visit to Malda (where hundreds fled to), Bose may visit Murshidabad, where three people died and over 200 people were arrested, to review the situation. This despite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealing: \u201cWe are giving 10 lakhs to family of each victim. Shall reconstruct damaged houses, will help owners whose shops have been vandalised\u2026Supreme Court has said that till next hearing, existing situation is to be maintained without changes. I would appeal to the Governor to wait for a few more days before visiting Murshidabad. Let the confidence be built first.\u201d Sadly, no confidence between the two state authorities! Bose reached Malda on Friday to meet people living in makeshift refugee camps, after sectarian violence erupted following protests by Muslim community against the Waqf Amendment Act.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Calcutta High Court has ordered setting up of a 3-member panel for identification and rehabilitation of people displaced by the violence. What leaves many aghast is Mamata again passing on the buck and terming the communal violence \u2018pre-planned\u2019, accusing a section of BSF, central agencies under Ministry of Home Affairs, and BJP of orchestrating tension by allegedly facilitating outsiders and enabling cross-border influx from Bangladesh! Absurd, to say the least. At a function, she said that \u2018despite volatile situation in Bangladesh, the Centre rushed through the Act and allowed cross-border infiltration, both of which contribute to the unrest in Bengal.\u2019 She asked her chief secretary to initiate an inquiry into the BSF\u2019s actions! Moreso, \u2018Why BJP goons from outside were allowed to come and create chaos before fleeing the scene? Accountability must be fixed\u2026\u2019 Indeed. Hers too. Training guns at others, including the INDIA bloc partner, Congress, is appalling. She claimed the areas affected fall under Congress MLA and that \u2018it should have been more proactive in those areas. If TMC was behind the violence, why were homes of three of our MLAs attacked? Why was our party office vandalised?\u201d Insufficient justification for avoiding responsibility. When will it end?<\/p>\n \n Bihar CM Face?<\/p>\n Battleground Bihar is warming up. With elections for the 243-seat Assembly scheduled for October-November, alliances remain, but the big question regarding chief ministerial candidate from either party is unresolved. The Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) of RJD, Congress, left parties and Vikassheel Insaan Party met in Patna on Wednesday and announced a coordination panel under Tejasvi Yadav, but whether the young RJD firebrand would be its CM face goes unanswered. As for NDA alliance, it\u2019s awkwardly active. With BJP\u2019s Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini saying party will win polls \u201cunder Samrat Choudhary\u2019s leadership (Nitish\u2019s deputy CM), the JD(U) has promptly put up posters across the city: \u201825 se 30, phir se Nitish\u2019 (Nitish again from 2025 to 2030)! Nitish\u2019s son Nishant too says \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt about my father continuing as CM after NDA\u2019s win in the polls. Amit Shah uncle (Union Home Minister) said so when he recently came here and so has Samrat Choudhary.\u201d Amidst all this, Prashant Kishor\u2019s Jan Suraaj party will also participate in the elections for the first time, contesting on all seats. The outcome of their efforts remains to be seen. It will be nowhere close to the hot seat but could dent prospects of claimants.<\/p>\n \n Maha Bais Checked<\/p>\n Growing prejudice against the Muslim community and Urdu in Maharashtra is mercifully being addressed by judicial intervention. One, Nagpur municipal commissioner offered an unconditional apology in Bombay high court for demolition of houses of accused in the March riots case following VHP\u2019s attempts to remove Aurangzeb\u2019s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. He claimed neither officials were aware of Supreme Court\u2019s guidelines on razing of properties, (mandates prior procedural safeguards), nor did Mahayuti government send any such circular! Lame but a perfect excuse. The Fadnavis government has two weeks to respond. Whether it will feign ignorance or be held accountable for its actions remains to be seen. Separately, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition against using Urdu on a municipality signboard in Akola district. The court stated that Urdu is a \u2018language\u2019 representing culture, \u2018not religion\u2019, highlighting the importance of respecting linguistic diversity as part of our civilisational heritage. Urdu, it said, \u2018is the finest specimen of Ganga-Jamuni tahzeeb, or the Hindustani tahzeeb\u2026\u2019 Touch\u00e9. The government must rethink its anti-minority stance.<\/p>\n \n Now To State Autonomy Fight<\/p>\n Buoyed by Supreme Court\u2019s ruling against Governor Ravi as a big victory for his and other state governments, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin is getti8ng set for another big fight. On Tuesday last, he announced a panel on state autonomy to be headed by retired Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph. Clearly, a sharp pitch to empower states against the Centre\u2019s increasing tendency to grab their rights. This followed the Aseembly observing 50 years of DMK government\u2019s \u2018historic\u2019 state autonomy resolution moved by then chief minister M Karunanidhi and aimed at \u2018re-asserting\u2019 principles in today\u2019s context. With cooperative federalism now a mantra for Opposition-ruled States, Stalin said quoting Ambedkar: \u2018Both Union and States are created by Constitution…the one is not subordinate to the other in its own field and authority of one is to co-ordinate with that of the other\u2026Yet, steady encroachment of the Union into rightful domains of States has disrupted the delicate constitutional balance…a strong Union is not built by weakening States. It\u2019s built by empowering them\u2026\u201d Reminding rival AIADMK that despite differences with DMK, its late CMs Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa never compromised on state rights, he questioned the new leadership\u2019s principles, referring to cozying up to BJP. Obviously, AIADMK hit back questioning what DMK did all these years while sharing power with Congress-led UPA? Stalin\u2019s move it claims is aimed at \u2018diverting\u2019 public attention, ahead of 2026 polls. Perhaps, as the interim report is slated for January 2026 and the final to be submitted in two years. Campaign and settling in period!<\/p>\n \n Controversial Caste Census<\/p>\n The Karnataka Cabinet is caught in a piquant situation. It\u2019s special meeting called on Thursday to decide on the controversial Social and Educational Survey report, known as \u2018caste census\u2019 was inconclusive. Parameters used for the survey, which has peeved various communities, especially the two dominant ones \u2014 Vokkaligas and Veershaiva-Lingayats, were discussed and \u2018more information and technical details\u2019 sought from officials. The report, prepared by the State Backward Classes Commission, has the influential Vokkaligara Sangha officially registering its protest, sending a stern message to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that his government will \u2018collapse if it\u2019s implemented.\u2019 The Vokkaligas have warned to unite with other communities like Veerashaiva-Lingayats, Brahmins against the \u2018injustice\u2019 done to its numerical strength and plan agitation. On the other hand, Dalits and OBCs\u2019 leaders and outfits are demanding government proceed with the report. Caught in a bind, Siddaramaiah obviously needs time and has asked ministers to give their opinion in writing or verbally before the next cabinet meeting, to good fortnight later, May 2. Will he be able to ride the tide? \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Of Riots & Refugee Camps By Insaf Politics in West Bengal over riots and displaced citizens continues to persist. Governor C V Ananda Bose is quoted as having said on Thursday \u201cI am going to the field\u201d!\u00a0 According to Raj Bhavan after his visit to Malda (where hundreds fled to), Bose may visit Murshidabad, where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-262786","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}