'Social media can be used by a person just like a gun in his hand, observed the Supreme Court on Friday as it found favour with an order asking a Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh to stay away from social media for at least 18 months. The top court has decided to formulate guidelines on use of social media in criminal cases, especially in matters of bail. "What is wrong with an order asking you not to use social media? If a court can order an accused to stay away from a gun, it can similarly ask you to stay away from social media," said Chief Justice of India SA Bobde...'
'Launching a blistering attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, BJP president and Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that those who had raised "anti-national" slogans at the JNU deserved to be put behind bars. Questioning whether Gandhi and Kejriwal are "cousin brothers" of the "tukde tukde sloganeers", Shah told a public meeting that whosoever speaks against the country will be jailed. "In JNU, some boys had raised anti-national slogans.
'With Narendra Modi visiting West Bengal on Saturday, Left groups organised to protest against the prime minister and his government’s plans to introduce a religious criterion in India’s citizenship laws... The day started with unprecedented efforts by Kolkata Police to ensure that Modi’s route from the airport to the city was barricaded and closed to protestors. In the end, even that failed, and Modi has to take a helicopter to travel the 16 kilometre distance.
'In a rare show of solidarity, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and its principal rival, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), came together in Kerala to oppose the amended Citizenship Act, 2019 that has triggered nationwide protests. The state’s chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, and leader of the opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, on Friday said that both fronts would hold a satyagraha in Thiruvananthapuram on December 16 to demand a complete repeal of the Act...'
'The poster boy of secularism, Kanhaiya Kumar who was on a whirlwind campaign tour for the elections, mesmerized collegians with his ‘Azaadi’ anthem in Mumbra last Friday. The CPI leader, who not only canvassed for his party, but also candidates from the opposition said that ideologies and integrity were of utmost importance to him... Last week, the former Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union (JNUSU) leader was to attend a programme organised by a federation of various Dalit and student bodies and speak on the topic ‘Responsibility of the Youth in Protecting Indian Constitution’.
'Kolkata police on Monday prevented activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad from reaching the gates of Jadavpur University, spawning clashes four days after unrest first began since Union minister Babul Supriyo alleged he was heckled by college students in a nearly six-hour long standoff on campus on September 19... Angered, the ABVP activists pelted stones at police officers and tried to break barricades. Videos have been doing the rounds on social media which shows them charging at the barricades.
'AAP’s stand on article 370 has confused and disheartened many. For its workers the party has opened itself to attacks by its adversaries because of its support to stripping of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir and thus weakening its own plank for full statehood for Delhi which was its key slogan during the 2019 Lok Sabha campaign. A section of its fellow-travelers who had high hopes of the experiment, activists/scholars – who were rather enthused with its ‘participatory’ approach – also feel betrayed or disheartened now.
'Both the CBI and the ED were extremely assiduous in using a two-day window afforded by the Supreme Court’s listing for Friday of an anticipatory bail plea to arrest Chidambaram, scaling the wall to enter the premises of his house... It may be worth inquiring into what kind of due diligence these agencies have displayed in pursuing cases against those members of the BJP or its allies against whom charges of corruption have been levelled... Mukul Roy, now a leading light in the West Bengal BJP, was one of those implicated and questioned in connection with the scam.
'Amit Malviya, head of the Bharatiya Janata Pary's information and technology operations, tweeted an edited version of an old video claiming politician Yogendra Yadav, was "bragging (about) his Muslim identity" in a Muslim dominated area. The doctored clip has omitted lines which show Yadav talking about tolerance and not discriminating between religions. Malviya, on Friday tweeted the edited clip with the caption, "I usually don’t carry TV debates to social media but making an exception to expose @_YogendraYadav’s janus face.
'Referring to illegal migrants from Bangladesh as “termites”, BJP president Amit Shah on April 11 said his party will throw them out after coming to power at the Centre for a second term. Addressing a rally in Raiganj, he alleged that the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal was only interested in appeasing minorities. “The illegal immigrants are like termites. They are eating the grain that should go to the poor, they are taking our jobs. The T of TMC stands for Tushtikaran, (appeasement), M for Mafia and C for Chitfunds,” Mr. Shah said...'
