'Even as several groups in Chennai continue to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the City Police Commissioner AK Viswanathan promulgated an order prohibiting all protests, meetings, assemblies etc. for the next 15 dates. The Hindu reported that Monday’s order has been brought into effect under section 41 of the Tamil Nadu City Police Act 1888, which grants police the “power to regulate assemblies, meetings and processions in public places.” The order that is passed will not apply to any procession or demonstration for which permission has already been granted.
'...On Wednesday, an order similarly high on rhetoric but low on substance was passed by a court in New Delhi. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad had been in custody for 25 days for allegedly instigating violence during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Jama Masjid in New Delhi on December 20. He had initially even been denied proper medical attention when in custody, forcing the courts to intervene. He then moved a bail application...
'...On December 19, when there was a call for protest against CAA, we decided to conduct a peaceful protest at Parivartan Chowk. Suddenly, a group of boys wearing skull caps came and started pelting stones. I found it strange that, even though Section 144 had been imposed, the police couldn’t detect a group of protesters carrying bricks and petrol. I can say with responsibiity that the stone-pelting was orchestrated. Another strange thing that happened was that when the arson started, someone drove a state transport bus at the protest spot. Police kept standing but didn’t take any action.
'Mysore Bar Association on Tuesday announced that they will not represent the woman who was holding a ‘Free Kashmir’ poster during a protest in Mysore against the violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Nalini Balakumar was booked for sedition days after she was photographed holding the poster during the protest on January 8. "Some members of our bar association wrote to us saying we must not represent the person who was involved in an anti-national activity. Even her lawyer has withdrawn from representing her.
'NCRB data show fake notes of Rs 2,000 entered the market days after PM Narendra Modi's demonetisation announcement. Today they are the biggest contributors to the value of seized counterfeit currency in India... While Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 banknotes were banned overnight, the government introduced new banknotes with denominations of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. It said these banknotes have additional security features which would make them difficult to be copied by counterfeiters, hence check the menace of fake currency...
'The unintended consequence of the Supreme Court’s order on Internet Shutdowns in Kashmir — where it put down accountability norms for Internet shutdowns, and said that some essential websites should be accessible, is that it has given rise to the creation of the Great Indian Firewall: filters that control what users can and cannot access online.
'A Delhi court granted bail to Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekar Azad Wednesday in a case related to anti-CAA protests at Delhi’s Daryaganj. While hearing Azad’s bail plea today, Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau imposed certain conditions on his bail and said the Bhim Army chief should not be in Delhi for the next four weeks. The judge expressed concern about security in Delhi given elections are around the corner. “Azad has to mark his presence with SHO in Saharanpur every Saturday for the next 4 weeks.
'Without a doubt, the arrest in Kashmir of Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh as he was escorting two suspected militants in a car along the Srinagar-Jammu highway, en route to Delhi, has to be one of the biggest stories on the national security front in months, if not years. And as the man who advises the prime minister on national security, Ajit Doval, I’m sure, has been thinking of nothing else the past 48 hours
'...Within a few minutes, Saif heard commotion downstairs and looked out of the balcony to see Ikram calling for help. Ikram and his friends had been stopped by two patrol police, who wanted to know what they were doing on the road so late and where they lived. Saif, 21, approached the policemen, wanting to know what the issue was. The cops asked them for their names and ID cards. On learning that Saif was a Muslim, one of them asked him if he was a Pakistani...'
Davinder Singh is a man with a past. He is a self-confessed torturer. Most famously, he tortured Afzal Guru, who was hanged in 2013 for the 2001 Parliament Attack. Singh's own words during a subsequent interview suggest that he probably tortured many others - this was essentially his job in the SOG (special operations group) at the time. Apart from torture, he was also accused of being directly involved in terrorism. In 2004 Afzal Guru had, in writing, accused Davinder Singh of making arrangements for the parliament attack, specifically of tasking him with taking one of the attackers to Delhi and arranging his accommodation. Remarkably, Singh's possible involvement in such a major terrorist atrocity was not investigated following this accusation.
