'Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath knew about the case involving real estate giant Ansal Developers and there were "orders from above" to close the case, Uttar Pradesh Minister Swati Singh has purportedly told a state police officer, demanding that she close the case. The audio clip of the conversation, which was widely circulated, had landed the minister in hot water, with the Chief Minister asking the state police chief to submit a report on the matter within 24 hours. Yogi Adityanath had also summoned the minister...'
'Cities in Uttar Pradesh may be topping the air pollution charts this season, but their police seem to have other priorities in mind. A tweet by a differently abled student to draw attention to an instance of stubble burning in his Bareilly neighbourhood backfired recently, with the local police inspector allegedly threatening to charge him under the National Security Act instead of acting on the complaint. Irshad Khan, a differently abled first-year law student, had tweeted on November 9 about a farmer in his neighbourhood burning crop stubble from his field in violation of the law.
'In August 2017, the deaths of about 60 children at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, due to oxygen supply running out, had sparked country-wide outrage, more so because the tragedy had taken place in a constituency said to be nurtured by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath. It appears now that on the same day – August 10-11, 2017 – 18 more deaths of adults reportedly took place in the hospital but went largely unnoticed.
'A case has been registered against a local BJP leader for allegedly sexually harassing a fellow party activist and threatening her in Budhana town of Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Tuesday...'
'Gulab Khan and Mohammad Kausar were acquitted by a Rampur court in the 2008 Rampur terror attack Case... “Who will wash off the blot of terrorism conferred upon me by the investigative agencies and the media?” questioned Gulab Khan, as he walked out of Bareilly Central Jail on Saturday as a free man. “I have been kept in the jail for nearly 12 years—the term being equivalent to the sentence of a murder convict. Will the court or those who destroyed not only me but my whole family help me now? Will the media make sure that people know I’m innocent?” he asked.
'This is the 11th death due to starvation in Uttar Pradesh in two months... A 60-year-old man in Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district allegedly died of starvation on Thursday night. The shocking revelation came when autopsy was conducted, and the cause of death turned out to be malnutrition and starvation. The deceased was identified as Balram. Balram's family alleged that they did not have even a grain of food at home during the past six days. His family was reportedly not receiving their monthly ration because his name was missing from the 2011 census list.
'A statue of a riot-accused, who was killed in the Bulandshahr mob violence last year, has been installed in a village to honour him as a proud gau rakshak. The plaque placed with the statue names him as "Gau Rakshak Vir Shahid Sumit Dalal". Sumit Dalal died in the mob violence at Chirangvathi police station following rumours of an alleged cow slaughter incident in Mahav village on December 3, 2018. Subodh Kumar Singh, an inspector of the Uttar Pradesh police, had also lost his life in the incident.
'There are multiple lessons to be drawn from the conduct and experience of Furqan Ali and his schoolchildren. None perhaps more significant than the need to harness the everyday togetherness of religious communities to counter the Sangh Parivar’s politics of hatred, which seeks to demonise Muslims as anti-national and isolate them. For those late on the story, here is a recap: Furqan Ali was the headmaster of the Ghayaspur primary school, in Bilaspur block of Pilibhit district, Uttar Pradesh, until he was suspended last week.
'On Friday, students of a government school in Pilibhit protested the suspension of Furqan Ali, their headmaster who was removed from his position after the VHP complained that he had made them recite a ‘religious prayer’. The students were, in fact, singing a song by Muhammad Iqbal, who also wrote ‘Sare Jahan se Accha’. According to the Indian Express, around 30 students at the government primary school in Pilibhit district’s Ghayaspur area raised slogans saying, “Desh ki Raksha kaun karega? Hum karenge (Who will protect the country? We will)” and “Kaise karenge?
'Last week I wrote about the Union home ministry’s admission under The Right to Information Act, 2005 that they do not have any information about orders issued to shutdown telecommunication channels, TV and radio reception and advisories for the return of tourists and pilgrims undertaking the Amarnath Yatra from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). They also admitted to a lack of information about arrests/detentions of politicians, social activists and RTI activists.
