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Lucknow, Oct 2 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will lead the 'Invest in Brand UP campaign' aimed at attracting entrepreneurs from across the world to capitalise the business potential in the state which is "scripting and powering New India".

According to the government spokesman, the chief minister is scheduled to travel to at least four countries in November to lead the UP Global Investor Summit 2023 road shows.

As per the tentative programme, Yogi Adityanath will travel to Russia, the US, Mauritius and Thailand.

The road shows will pass through 21 cities across 19 countries via nine routes, ahead of the Global Investors' Summit.

The tentative itinerary indicates that the chief minister may lead the road show in New York on November 10 while his road show in Bangkok is proposed to take place on November 16. The proposed dates for Moscow and Port Louis (Mauritius) are November 22 and 29 respectively.

The chief minister is expected to be accompanied by chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra besides officials selected by him from his secretariat and Invest UP.

For all international roadshows, the strength of the team is likely to be around 10, but may add or drop one or two depending on the need.

Industries and infrastructure development minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi will cover countries of Sweden, Belgium and Germany and hold road shows in Munich (November 23) Brussels (November 25) and Stockholm (November 28).

Both the deputy CMs (the UK, France and Netherlands) and (the US, Canada and Brazil), finance minister (Singapore and Australia), textile minister (Russia), tourism minister (Mauritius and South Africa) and agriculture minister (Israel) are also scheduled to hold road shows.

The focus sectors being targeted include electronics, manufacturing, retail, automobile, EV manufacturing, defence, textile, agro and food processing and transport among others.

--IANS
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By Mohammad Suaib Khan
New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Saturday that he fails to understand as to why the G-23 leaders, who earlier talked about polls in the party, are now backing off and talking about general consensus.


It's going to be Mallikarjun Kharge versus Shashi Tharoor in the Congress Presidential polls scheduled on October 17. And Kharge has got the support of not only the senior leadership of the party, but the G-23 leaders as well.

Talking exclusively to IANS, Tharoor said that polls for the post of Congress President are being held after five years. The last election was held in 2017, which Rahul Gandhi had won unanimously. The last contested election was held in 2000, when Sonia Gandhi defeated Jitendra Prasada by a huge margin.

The Gandhi family has decided that it will not endorse any candidate this time. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi both are of the view that polls will strengthen the party, which is very good, Tharoor said.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Q: Are you disappointed for not getting G-23 leaders' support?

A: G-23 is not an organisation. Senior leaders who had sent a letter to Sonia Gandhi had sought support from 100 people, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the letter could not get that many signatures. So the letter was sent to Sonia Gandhi with the signature of 23 leaders.

Three main persons who had signed that letter have quit the party. I was not a representative of G-23 and I do not intend to be one either. But I supported their thinking and one of their thoughts was that polls should be held in the party. Now I am contesting for the party chief's post, and I also feel that elections should be held for the working committee as well.

However, those who had said that polls should be held in the party are now saying that there should be a general consensus and elections should not be held. I fail to understand how their mind changed. But I am contesting the elections. Whatever I had written in the letter, I still stand by that.

Q. Are you disappointed that the G23 leaders didn't back you? Or by the way the senior leadership took you into confidence and the then suggested Khadge's name?

A. People are free to make their choice and express their views. I am not disappointed because we are all in one party, we are friends and colleagues. If the G23 leaders felt differently, it is their take.

Q. Any chance of you withdrawing the nomination?

A. How can I withdraw the nomination when 60 members have signed it and given me the chance? How can I betray the faith they have posed on me? I will fight the elections and become their voice, though my signature list does not have big names as Kharge's. I cannot withdraw my nomination as Congress workers are with me.

Q How you are building your support base?

A. In the coming 15 days, I will go to 12 cities and seek support from the party workers. I will reach out to the people, hold public meetings and meet people in person. I will reach out to the people via different mediums and seek their support.

But since I do not have the phone numbers of 90 per cent delegates mentioned in the list provided to me, reaching out to them is not going to be easy.

Q. What is your take on the sequence of events in Rajasthan?

A. Whatever happened in Rajasthan is really sad. But I can't give any reaction as I did not attend any of the meetings. I am not in the know of the things as to what exactly transpired there.

Q. You are seeking vote for 'change' in the Congress. Do you think that if Kharge is elected the President, he will work as a puppet and the party will continue to function in the same manner?

A. Of course not, I am not against anyone. See, we are not fighting a war. We are all colleagues who have always worked together. In the future also, we will work together. If I become the party President, will Khargeji not work for the betterment of the party? If you ask anyone about senior Congress leaders outside the Gandhi family, every list will have Kahrgeji's name.

--IANS
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By Arun Lakshman
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 1 (IANS) Life was smooth for Prof T.J. Joseph who was teaching the Malayalam language at New Man College, Thodupuzha in Kerala.


It all changed one morning when he along with his family was returning home on July 4, 2010, after attending the Holy Sunday services at a nearby church in his hometown Muvattupuzha. A group of eight men in an Omni van waylaid him, blocked his car, dragged him out and chopped off his right palm.

The reason: He had set a question paper for the second year B.com students of Newman College in which the Islamists claimed he had used derogatory words against Prophet Mohammed. The dastardly act that shocked the state was committed by the Popular Front of India activists after the alleged verdict of an illegal court functioning in Erattupetta in Kottayam district.

Life took a turn for the worse for Joseph, who was sacked from the college by the Christian management. His wife, Salomi committed suicide in 2014 leaving him shattered.

His autobiography, "Attupokatha Ormakal" (Unforgettable Memories) is a hard account of what he had undergone in life and won the Kerala Sahithya Academy award. It has been translated into English, "A Thousand Cuts: An Innocent Question and Deadly Answers"

After the Central government imposed a ban on the PFI for five years with the Kerala police sealing its offices and almost all its top leadership behind bars, Joseph spoke to IANS in a short interview. He was not keen to speak much.

IANS: What is your opinion about the Government of India's ban on the Popular Front of India?

Joseph: I was a victim of their action on July 4, 2010, as you all know and how can a victim speak on the matter. If I was an ordinary citizen, I have clear viewpoints on the same. I don't have much to comment about the ban imposed on the Popular Front of India by the Government of India. At times it is better to keep silent and many of the victims of the Popular Front's attacks are not alive now and in solidarity with them, I am also not speaking.

They can't speak and similarly, I am also keeping quiet. However the Government of India's was a political decision, something related to national security and it is better for political leaders, organisations, and others to speak on the same.

IANS: After the Popular Front was banned, there is an ecosystem developing in Kerala and the rest of the country that the PFI and RSS are two sides of the same coin and the RSS should also have been banned. Your comment.

Joseph: How can you equate a nationalist organization like the RSS with the Popular Front of India? The RSS is a nationalist organization with a fierce love for the country, with its culture and its yearning to make our great nation one of the best in the world.

The Popular Front is having a different viewpoint and everyone knows what they have done here. The charge sheet given during the ban is itself a clear pointer as to what they were up to.

IANS: You were not in India and to my knowledge you were in Ireland. What was the programme there?

Joseph: I was in Ireland with my daughter and came back a few days ago. I had addressed more than ten short gatherings in Ireland. In fact, they were gatherings of Keralites in Ireland. While coming back, I attended five meetings in the United Kingdom also.

IANS: Do you feel that the ban on the PFI will reduce the extremist nature of such a group of people?

Joseph: The Government of India has banned that organization for specific reasons that may be related to national security. If the government and other agencies keep a proper tab on the activities of such people, then the possibility of regrouping is much less.

--IANS
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By Arul Louis
United Nations, Oct 1 (IANS) Mahatma Gandhi "came" to the UN Trusteeship Council chamber with the message of holistic education.


He came on Friday as a holographic avatar, to animate a discussion on "Education for Human Flourishing" at the UN's observance of the International Day of Nonviolence.

And while he spoke of education creating new people and a world of peace, at the nearby Security Council chamber mighty nations were clashing over an intractable war and its violence.

India's UN Mission and UNESCO's Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) brought him to the UN for the observance of the International Day of Nonviolence, and who better to learn nonviolence and the education for the creative change it inspires.

A lifesize, speaking, gesticulating presence on the stage, the avatar provoked, prodded and challenged a panel made up of an activist, a diplomat, a youth and an economist to delve into the meaning of education for humanity.

The avatar was created with digital graphic files merged with motion graphics to produce the high-definition hologram that spoke authentic, researched statements made by the Mahatma himself in the context of the topic.

The Mahatma Gandhi Digital Museum made the hologram to spread his message creatively, said Anantha Duraiappah, the director UNESCO's Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), who moderated the panel discussion.

The Gandhi avatar, bringing his words with vocal clarity, said that "education is merely an instrument, and an instrument may be well used or abused. The same instrument that may be used to cure a patient may be used to take his life".

"We want to provide only such education as would enable the student to earn more. We hardly give any thought to the improvement of the character of the educated. Schools and colleges and really a factory of turning out clerks for the government," Gandhi's words reverberated.

"On the contrary, real education consists in drawing the best out of yourself. What better book can there be than the book of humanity?"

The Gandhi avatar also questioned the value of even literacy if it is without values.

"Literacy is not the end of education or even the beginning," the avatar repeated his words.

For him, education meant "an all-round growing" bringing out the best in the child's "body, mind and spirit", spiritual training and "education of the heart, the training of the Spirit".

India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj, who was a panellist, summed it up saying that Gandhi "was very big on holistic education" and "education for the upliftment and dignity of all".

The New Education Policy introduced in India reflects this approach with an emphasis on "holistic development across the sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities and sports" blending "the systems and traditions that have been a part of the rich legacy of India", she said.

The policy "lays special emphasis on the socially and economically disadvantaged groups" and facilitates "multiple pathways to learning involving both formal and non-formal education modes" with a lot of emphasis on digital education platforms", she said.

Bernice King, the daughter of Gandhi-inspired civil rights icon Martin Luther King, said that for her father the "chief aim of education was to save people from the morass of propaganda".

He said that education's "function, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and critically, but if it stops with efficiency, it may prove the greatest menace to society".

"We must remember that intelligence is not enough Intelligence plus character is the true goal of education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate," she quoted him.

Bernice King said that the current education system is "doing a disservice to our young people and to our society, because we're not developing people, enough people who have the level of compassion and courage and conscientiousness to create a just, humane, equitable and peaceful world".

But changing the education system is going to take "some radical action" when a "critical mass of people decide, let's organise, mobilise and strategise and begin to make demands".

She said in the footsteps of Gandhi and King, the people would have to resort to nonviolent resistance and noncooperation to bring about the change.

Princess Hayu, the daughter of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and youth representative on digital education transformation, said that "each culture has its own local wisdom" even though the underlying values are universal.

"That cannot be forgotten, so that has to be continually taught as well because otherwise we are just going to blend in and by becoming just one identity we lose our identity," she said.

Omar Hilale, the Permanent Representative of Morocco said, Gandhi inspired the "constitutional building of our nations and of the United Nations" because "his notion is that peace can be achieved in a very unique manner, nonviolently and with extreme courage, and sacrifice and tolerance".

(Arul Louis can be contacted at aru.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

--IANS
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Film: 'Vikram Vedha' (To be released in theatres on September 30). Duration: 156 minutes.
Directors: Pushkar-Gayathri. Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Radhika Apte, Sharib Hashmi and Rohit Saraf.
IANS Rating: ***1/2

By Akshay Acharya

Mumbai, Sep 29 (IANS) At a time when only content from South India seems to be working at the box office, Bollywood has come up with a story in the form of 'Vikram Vedha', which has its roots in a Tamil hit film and a two-hero structure much like the earlier release of this year, 'RRR', which turned out to be a blockbuster.

The film, which has two of Bollywood's best-looking men -- Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan -- in titular roles, is a remake of the 2017 Tamil film of the same name, which saw Tamil cinema's Makkal Selvan ('national treasure') Vijay Sethupathi and R. Madhavan in action.

The husband-wife director duo Pushkar-Gayathri, who helmed the original, has steered the Hindi version too, changing the backdrop to Kanpur and Lucknow.

Saif plays the encounter specialist Vikram, who learns about the grey nature of humans and the vehicle for this epiphany is Hrithik's character of Vedha. This is perhaps the first time that Hrithik plays a menacing gangster on screen, and boy, he does it with absolute finesse!

The actor, who has been mostly cast in urban roles, returns to the grunge and rustic dimensions with Vedha after his 2017 release 'Super 30', and seems to be owning the screen, be it in the high-speed shots or the rack focus from his gun-holding arm to his face in his intro.

There are hardly any body shots of Hrithik flexing his muscles, yet he shoulders the film with his portrayal. A little more work on the North Indian accent and diction by the actor, though, could have taken the film a notch higher.

If Hrithik's Vedha is the simmering volcano waiting to unleash destruction. then Saif's tough-as-nails cop Vikram is the tornado that acts as the counter force to Vedha.

Their camaraderie on screen is a delight to watch, something that can be summed up with the line, "That's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano" from Eminem and Rihanna's track 'Love The Way You Lie'.

Radhika Apte reunites with her 'Sacred Games' co-star Saif. She plays Vedha's defence lawyer, who is at a cross-roads in her life along with her husband Vikram.

A mass entertainer, the film shows some sturdy technical work, especially the pithy camerawork. The lines between right and wrong blur in the film, so the cinematographer P.S. Vinod effectively brings out the essence of Kanpur and Lucknow as he holds the pulse of the leading lines in his frames.

The Awadhi architecture and the complex lanes of the cities have been so beautifully captured by the cinematographer that he does merit a shoutout: "P.S. (Vinod), we love you."

The film also features a taut background score, which is very urban in its approach with a generous use of guitars and drums with prominent kick and tom punches.

The music and choreography, though, are the weakest links of the film. The songs obstruct the narrative flow and play absolutely no part in advancing the plot. If the music is forgettable, the choreography is absolutely disastrous. To do that when you have Hrithik performing for the camera is an unforgivable crime.

'Vikram Vedha' could further salvage Bollywood's reputation at the box office after 'Brahmastra' if it strikes at the right chords. By the looks of it, it will.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 27 (IANS) Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana has been creating a buzz of late about his upcoming movie 'Doctor G', which will mark the directorial debut of Anurag Kashyap's sister, Anubhuti.

A few days back the actor shared photos on his social media where he could be seen seated inside an airplane.

What caught viewers' attention was the appearance of headless people around him on the flight. The mystery has finally been solved. The photos were not from a real airplane but a set that was specially constructed for promotional purposes.

'Doctor G', which also has Rakul Preet Singh in a lead role, is slated for an October 14 release.

--IANS
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By Venkatachari Jagannathan
Chennai, Sep 26 (IANS) A freight train on Vande Bharat Express platform may not be economically viable while other economical options are available for the targetted segments, said retired General Manger of Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Sudhanshu Mani.



Mani is considered as the father of the Indian Railways' modern train Vande Bharat Express, a only passenger carrying train that can run at 160 kmph.

The ICF is developing a cargo carrier called Gati Shakti Freight Train on Vande Bharat passenger train platform.

Simply put, Vande Bharat is similar to the electric multiple unit (EMU) train without a separate engine.

It is learnt, the ICF is planning to make a cabin with one or two wagons to test the proposed freight train's pulling power.

Queried about building a freight train on Vande Bharat passenger train platform Mani told IANS: "What animal would this freight EMU be? To be run at 160 km/h? The cost of a 16-coach train would be Rs 60 crore plus. It may have reefers-refrigerated coaches. Other coaches would perhaps carry small containers. The target goods would seem to be FMCG, hardware and perishable products for which clients would pay handsomely for fast delivery from one point to another."

Mani wondered how the freight train on Vande Bharat platform be any better than a Millennium type locomotive hauled train usually with 20 luggage/parcel vans pulled by one, or if top speed and acceleration are so important, two locomotives?

"Such a train can be rigged together faster by using existing parcel vans or converting ICF coaches and two older locomotives by spending far less than the 60 crore for the freight EMU," Mani said.

"The vibes on Indian Railways (IR) are progressive after this minis ter (Ashwini Vaishnaw) took over but even in such upbeat times, some irrationality keeps cropping up," he added.

"The parcel traffic for Indian Railway is less than one per cent of its earnings, and going down, so have we thought of something to address the corrupt interface encompassing all departments?" Mani posed.

He also wondered whether the Indian Railways has identified the routes which would offer to and fro traffic, given that many parcel vans run empty in one direction.

"Have we taken some freight forwarders on board or merely hoping to get business through the fly by night middle men? What became of the ten odd Reefers manufactured in the early 2000s? If Indian Railways has good answers for these questions, so be it but otherwise the project appears to be infructuous.," Mani remarked.

Even if some companies like Amazon have tied up for patronizing such trains, a Millenium type parcel train would work as well with much lower cost to Indian Railways, he opined.

Reefers are a separate development, in any case, and can be attached to such a loco-hauled train too.

"Moreover, where would we handle the cargo of these trains? On passenger platforms? Such massive handling on platforms defies logic when even the parcels and luggage we transport and handle today at the ends of the platforms is so cumbersome and unfriendly for both passengers and freight clients alike," Mani pointed out.

He categorically ruled out commercial viability of the 16/20 coach cargo EMU considering the huge capital expenditure.

I believe ICF is working on a 16-coach and a 20-coach configuration. Considering the huge capital expenditure, I cannot see any commercial viability of such trains.

The Vande Bharat passenger train has a capacity to carry 1,128 persons.

In terms of hauling tonnage, it will be about 110 at an average weight per passenger plus luggage.

"Marginal increase in axle load is possible but it may reduce the speed. Operational cost for energy is 10 per cent lower in apple to apple comparison with conventional trains but maintenance cost is higher than conventional trains," Mani said.

"Train 18/Vande Bharat essentially has a platform for a semi-high-speed passenger-carrying coach. I see no technical advantage in converting its platform as a flat-bed freight wagon," Mani added.

According to him, one or two luggage vans can be added in front or rear of Vande Bharat passenger trains as test cases to check out commercial viability, although it does not add great value if the travel time is cut down by some hours.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

--IANS
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By Vinod Mirani
This has been an eventful week. From the North of India to the South, news related to the film industries have dominated the discussions on television news channels as well as the social media. That is because there is some positive news and there is also news that fails to make sense.


The best news of the week is the return of cinema screens in Srinagar. The IMAX chain has revived the cinema business in Kashmir after a gap of 30 years following the start of militancy and terrorism in the late 1980s. The Kashmir valley had as many as nine cinema halls. That was the single-screen era.

Jammu and Kashmir was a part of the East Punjab territory as it was known in the film trade (West Punjab having gone to Pakistan). The valley was fittingly described as heaven on earth where a lot many films were shot. In fact, it was a favourite location to shoot romantic songs as well as the place where romances started. Also, the contribution of Jammu and Kashmir to the talent pool of the film industry was commendable.

Three decades ago, when there was peace, like the rest of the country, Kashmiris too enjoyed the movie-watching experience. My job at that time was to transcribe the cinema collections that came through telegrams and, later on fax, for a trade paper I worked for. There was nothing abnormal, the Kashmiri loved or rejected a film just like any other circuit. But things changed. There were no collection figures from Kashmir to compile.

When the insurgency began, the idea seemed to create panic and cinemas being public places were targeted. A bomb blast at one of the cinemas put paid to the exhibition trade. Efforts to revive the cinemas in the 1990s were not successful.

Built by Vijay Dhar, the cinema will add to the IMAX chain and will bring the movie-viewing experience back for the people of Srinagar and the nearby areas when it opens to the public on September 30 with 'Vikram Vedha' and Mani Ratnam's 'Ponniyin Selvan' (PS)-1.

'Chhello Show': A bolt from the blue

It was time for the nomination for an Indian entry in the Best International Film category at the Oscars. Usually, the Indian choice to send a film for the Oscar race is treated as a joke. Some or the other lobby is at work not only when it comes to Oscars or other such international honours, but also for the local, so-called popular film awards.

What is a popular award? A film the people took to and was a success at the box office. Some two films have been successful this year, one of them being 'The Kashmir Files'. The film does not even find a mention in any category of nominations.

The films in discussion all over for India's choice were two, 'RRR' and 'The Kashmir Files'. Realistically, there were no other contenders as far as the people at large and those on social media were concerned. There was no other film that the netizen could think of.

Yet, there were 13 films vying for the honour -- six in Hindi: 'The Kashmir Files', 'Rocketry', 'Badhaai Ho', 'Jhund', 'Anek' and 'Brahmastra'; two in Telugu: 'RRR' and 'Sita Ramam'; and one each in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Dimasa (a dialect spoken in Assam) and Gujarati: 'Iravin Nizhai', 'Aparajito', 'Ariyippu', 'Semkhor' and 'Chhello Show', respectively.

But a rank outsider, for the people at least, 'Chhello Show' (Gujarati), was the choice of the selection committee. An outsider, because few had heard of this film, which did not get any media exposure till it was chosen as India's official selection for the Oscars. The film is said to be inspired from the 1988 Italian film, 'Cinema Paradiso', about a small-town boy who is enamoured of the cinema.

'Cinema Paradiso' or not, I would say the film identifies equally or more with the film's director Pan Nalin's life journey. Coming from a small village named Adtala (population less than 2,000) near Amreli in Saurashtra, it was creditable that Nalin graduated from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, an institution as highly regarded as any IIM or IIT in its field. All the time cinema fascinated him.

Nalin has worked and made films in many tie-ups and made his reputation all over. 'Chhello Show' springs a surprise on film buffs. It will be worthwhile to see if it springs a surprise at the Oscars. When the selection committee is neutral sans vested interests, a surprise can always be expected. Like the one sprung with the choice of 'Hellaro', a Gujarati film, for the 66th National Award a couple of years ago.

Tamil industry's half-baked ideas

This news is from the South. It is a no-brainer. Since the Telugu film industry has set certain norms for members as well as the stars and the cinemas through the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC), the Tamil Film Producer Council (TFPC) has decided to prove that it is the dormant body.

How else does the TFPC plan to ask the film critics to refrain from writing / publishing reviews of new films till Sunday?! The major media, as in daily broadsheets, always reviewed films in the Sunday editions. The Sunday editions of the papers were meant for leisurely reading with opinions, features on various subjects as well as film reviews. Did that save a film from failing?

The business of movie reviews was all about passing of envelopes. Gradually, someone thought that giving stars to a film made better business sense. Four and five stars carried a decent price tag.

There were critics who had high praise if it was a film by Gulzar or Hrishikesh Mukherjee, but ran down the films by Manmohan Desai and other such commercial makers. One critic whom I knew praised Kamal Amrohi's 'Razia Sultan' to the skies ending his review with something to the effect that the film was worth every paisa you spent on the ticket. By the second show, the Rs 5 tickets were being sold by black marketers for 50 paise. It was a distress sale for there were no takers. I told the critic how right he was!

A film released on a Friday is accepted or rejected after the first show. Critics and their reviews have never mattered to the masses; they only helped massage the egos of the film stars and producers. What always mattered was the word of mouth and, today, social media does that job.

High admission rates fail a film Finally, the cinemas offered tickets at a flat rate of Rs 75 on Friday, September 23, and drew full houses all ove (the offer was valid for seats other than those in the premium zones).

I hope the cinema managements have learnt from their own experiment that it is often the high admission rates that fail a film. In the present scenario, only the stars and the cinemas make money, the producer only struggles and has to depend on other outlets such as OTT platforms and satellite rights, where, again, the price depends on a film's box office performance!

--IANS
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By Ujwal Jalali
New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Member of Legislative Assembly from Delhi's Okhla constituency Amanatullah Khan was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch on September 16 in a case pertaining to alleged financial misappropriation and other irregularities in the functioning of Delhi Waqf Board.



Like always, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, blamed their staunch opponent -- Bharatiya Janata Party -- for targeting its leaders and linked the police action to the upcoming polls in Gujarat. Similarly the BJP launched a scathing attack and demanded that the accused MLA shall be immediately sacked.

However, keeping aside the political mudslinging, what were the financial irregularities that ultimately led to the Okhla MLA's arrest?

According to the top Anti-Corruption Branch sources, the first FIR into the case was registered in January 2020 under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act read with section 120 B of the Indian Penal Code. Later section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act as well as section 409 of the IPC were added into the case.

During the investigation of the case with regard to tenancy of Waqf properties, one person came forward to make the statement. The witness told the ACB that during the year 2021, he had submitted his bid for a Waqf board shop at Fatehpuri Masjid. His bid was declared to be the highest for Rs 30,000 and he was called to the Delhi Waqf Board office to complete the formalities.

"He was asked to pay a sum of Rs 10 lakhs, to which he objected and was directed to withdraw himself from the bidding process. Amanatullah Khan accepted the bid of another bidder who had quoted a much lesser sum of Rs 19,000 only. Thus, a financial loss has been caused to the exchequer of Delhi Waqf Board," as informed by the Investigative Officer of the case to the Court.

The ACB was even able to get a statement from a female employee of the Delhi Waqf Board, who told them that the files relating to the Waqf Assets Management System of India (WAMSI) projects were removed at the instance of Amanatullah Khan as he allegedly "did not want transparency in the matters related to Waqf Board properties as it would result in putting a check on his illegal activities".

Notably, the WAMSI project was introduced by the government for computerizing the properties of the Waqf Board.

Following the two-year-old case, the Anti-Corruption Branch had summoned the legislator, on September 16 while it parallely conducted raids at four locations connected to him and found incriminating material at multiple places.

After the raids, three separate FIRs were lodged and AAP MLA's close aide Hamid Ali Khan (54), a resident of Jamia Nagar, was arrested.

One FIR was lodged against Hamid Ali as the police recovered one illegal weapon and some live cartridges from his place. The accused Hamid Ali disclosed that the illicit weapon and cash recovered from his residence belonged to Amanatullah Khan.

The second FIR was registered against Kaushar Imam Siddique alias Laddan, a resident of Jogabai Extension in Arms Act. "A country-made pistol and three live rounds were recovered from his place," a senior official informed. He was on Wednesday nabbed from Telangana.

The third FIR was lodged for obstructing the raiding party of ACB in discharge of government work and four people were apprehended in this connection.

MLA Khan was arrested and later sent to four-day police custody, but, during the raids, the ACB says that they found very crucial evidence -- a diary -- from the residence of Kausar Imam Siddiqui alias Laddan.

The said diarym, as per ACB, contains the names of many persons who have made transactions of very large sums of money running in crores.

"One of the major recipients of a large amount has been found to be one Zeeshan Haider. It has been revealed that Zeeshan Haider has been associated with Amanatullah Khan for a long. But it has come to notice that after the raid on the accused and his accomplices on September 16, Zeeshan Haider and many persons have gone underground," an official document prepared by IO of the case read.

On September 21, a local Court sent MLA Amanatullah Khan to five more days of police custody as the ACB told the court that the legislator was interrogated for only two days in the four days' custody due to his health conditions which deteriorated and he had to be admitted to hospital.

The court extended the police custody remand citing multiple reasons. The first and foremost was that the ACB did not get enough time to interrogate the accused legislator.

Secondly, it said, the premises from where the alleged diary was recovered belonged to Kausar Imam Siddiqui, who was earlier absconding. However, now, he has been arrested from Telangana and ACB needs to confront the said Laddan with the present accused and also with the said diary to find out the purpose of making such entries, source of money and the reason of receiving the money from different persons and for giving the money to different persons, including present accused, as mentioned in the diary and the link between the so called Laddan and accused, if any.

"The so-called alleged 37 persons named in the diary are required to be traced at the instance of Kausar Imam Siddiqui and they are required to be interrogated with the present accused," the court said.

Now, the AAP legislator will remain in police custody till September 26 where he will be confronted with other accused people.

(Ujwal Jalali can be reached at ujwal.j@ians.in)

--IANS
uj/dpb

By Amjad Ayub Mirza
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly's (UNGA) 77th session.


On September 23 he will address the UNGA. Talking to Pakistan media in New York, Sharif said that his aim would be to make the world community aware of the devastation that monsoon rain has caused in his country, one-third of which remains submerged under floodwater.

The devastation caused by the recent floods in Pakistan is no doubt catastrophic. Nearly 40 million have become homeless, thousands of kilometres of roads and scores of bridges have swept away, millions of rupees' worth of livestock is dead, crops have gone and thousands are suffering from diseases such as dengue, dysentery, cholera, malaria and typhoid.

But the Pakistani Prime Minister mentioned to the press something that was totally out of context. He said that the 'Kashmir issue' will also be mentioned during his address to the UNGA.

This reminded me of a story in which a scorpion approaches a frog and asks it to carry him on its back across the river. The frog hesitates and tells the scorpion that he does not trust it since he might sting the frog.

The scorpion begs the frog to take him across and promises that he will cause no harm to the frog. As the frog carries the scorpion on its back, gets to the middle of the river, the scorpion stings the frog releasing his poison in under the skin of the frog.

The frog asks the scorpion why did it sting him despite promising that the scorpion would not sting him. To this the scorpion said apologetically, "I just couldn't help it, you see to sting is my nature."

Pakistan shares the same nature. No matter how many times one trusts Pakistan it always stings it benefactor. At the time of partition of Indian sub-continent in August 1947, Pakistan had signed a stand-still agreement with the Maharaja of the state of Jammu and Kashmir promising to accept the sovereignty of the state. Yet on October 22, 1947, Pakistan attacked the state of Jammu and Kashmir!

In 1999 when Nawaz Sharif was Pakistan's Prime Minister and was expressing his profound desire to trade with India, his Army Chief attacked our territory in Kargil.

Pakistan was created in the name of religion and communal division. Something that it nurtures even to this day. In order to remain relevant, the Pakistan military establishment has to keep the threat of an Indian attack and an imaginary suppression of Muslims in Kashmir and wider India alive.

Shehbaz Sharif's coalition government that has been allegedly propped up by the anti-Imran Khan section of the Pakistan military establishment led by its chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, is only dedicatedly following the official foreign policy line designed for nearly seven decades by the Pakistan military establishment.

On September 29, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, Imran Khan is due to address a public rally in Muzaffarabad, the capital city of Pakistan-Occupied-Jammu Kashmir. He will very subtly be portraying India as a hurdle in achieving regional peace by using the Kashmir card and will use the Islamic communal hate card to garner support and prove himself to be a great Islamic warrior who could turn Pakistan into a great fort of Islam, thus laying the ground for future generation to carry the Ghazwa-e-Hind across the India sub-continent.

On September 23, the Pakistani Prime Minister will be asking for the Kashmir issue to be resolved and continently forgetting that it is Pakistan and not India which remains the root cause of the break-up of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and must withdraw its military from Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan.

To talk about Kashmir at a forum extended to Pakistan by the world community to make an appeal to help it with the cost of the damages caused by flood is akin to the story of the frog and the scorpion. To mention anti-Indian communal hate narrative in the backdrop of Kashmir is in Pakistan's nature.

(Amjad Ayub Mirza is an author and a human rights activist from Mirpur in PoJK. He currently lives in exile in the UK)

--IANS
amjad/khz/