Azamgarh Railway Station.................

Priyanka storms Akhilesh'' citadel, meets kin of jailed anti-CAA protestors

12 FEBRUARY 2020  Last Updated at 5:14 PM | SOURCE: PTI

Azamgarh (UP), Feb 12 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday visited Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav parliamentary constituency Azamgarh and met family members of jailed anti-CAA protesters, asserting that raising voice in a democracy was not a crime.

Accusing the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh of trying to destroy the Constitution, she dubbed both governments as "anti-poor and anti-people".

Addressing people at Bilhariaganj locality here from the rooftop of her SUV, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Whatever happened with you was wrong, was an injustice. All of us will stand against the injustice. The government which is at the Centre, and the one which is in UP, is anti-people and anti-poor, and is working to destroy the Constitution.

"If you and we do not save it, the Constitution will be destroyed," she cautioned the people.

"You have seen the BJP government in Uttarakhand said the reservation is not a constitutional right," she said, alleging that the state government was talking of destroying the Constitution.

"You all have to stand up because all the laws which they are planning to bring in are not against one community, but against the entire Constitution," she said amid slogan shouting by the crowd.

Asserting that the Congress party will stand with peaceful protesters, the party general secretary said, "I heard the women folk. I had gone to Bijnor, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Lucknow and Varanasi and other places where the police and the administration committed atrocities. A report was drafted by our party and given to the NHRC."

She said she would also send names of policemen who committed atrocities in Azamgarh.

"The Congress party stands by you today, it will stand by you tomorrow, and will continue to stand by you until you get justice," she added.

Several Muslim women had staged a protest at Maulana Jauhar Park area here last week against the amended Citizenship Act and the proposed creation of a National Register of Citizens (NRC) but were dispersed by the police.

An FIR was registered against 35 identified and over 100 unidentified people involved in the protests that day.

Of them, 20 people were arrested, police had said.

This is the Congress general secretary''s second visit to eastern UP in less than a week after her Varanasi trip on Sunday on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti.

Source

Six cops from whose custody accused escaped in Varanasi suspended

By: Express News Service | Mumbai | Published: February 27, 2020 5:13:12 am

The Mumbai Police suspended six policemen after an accused, booked in a fraud case, in their custody allegedly escaped when they took him for a hearing to Varanasi. The accused, who was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch, managed to persuade the officials to take him to his hometown in Azamgarh for a family function and fled from the back door of his residence, police said.

Police have identified the six suspended policemen as Assistant Inspector Gajanan Chormal, Constables Rambhau Chakor, Anil Mahajan, Balu Mahajan, Sandeep Shinde and Avinash Nagre.

According to police, the six policemen and the accused, identified as Manoj Singh, left Mumbai on February 9. They were to produce Manoj before the Azamgarh court the next day, following which they booked a train ticket the same evening.

Police said after the court appearance, Manoj persuaded three of the policemen to take him to his native place in the evening on the pretext of a family function and fled after they reached there. 

Late on February 10, the three policemen, posted at the local arms department of the Mumbai Police, informed the police in Azamgarh that Manoj had escaped, after which they began a search operation, police added. 

An FIR was filed at Deedarganj police station under sections 223 (escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by public servant) and 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the Indian Penal Code. 

After a preliminary inquiry, the three policemen, who escorted Manoj to Azamgarh, were arrested for illegally taking him to his native place. The remaining three policemen, who stayed back in Varanasi, are yet to be traced. 

The arrested policemen were later released on bail. A senior IPS officer from the Mumbai Police confirmed the suspension and refused to further comment on the matter. 

Source

"Always Be My Brave Girl": Priyanka Gandhi's Letter To 6-Year-Old

A six-year-old girl in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, has received a surprise letter and gifts from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Anabia Imaan received the handwritten letter and gifts - including a school bag, a teddy bear, a lunch box and chocolates - on Wednesday afternoon, reports Deccan Herald.  

Priyanka Gandhi, 48, had met Anabia last week when she visited family members of jailed anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters in Azamgarh. Anabia had been present at the protest site with her aunt when police had forcibly removed the protestors.

During her meeting with the Congress leader, the six-year-old had broken down when asked how she was doing. A video of Priyanka Gandhi consoling her had been widely shared online.

In her letter, signed "Priyanka Aunty", the Congress leader asked Anabia to be a brave girl and call her whenever she wanted to.

"Dear Anabia, I have bought a few things for you. I hope you like them," she wrote in Hindi. "Always remain my 'brave girl' and call me whenever you want to. Lots of love, Priyanka Aunty."

According to National Herald, the letter and gifts were delivered to Anabia by the head of the Uttar Pradesh-Congress minority cell, Shahnawaz Alam.

Priyanka Gandhi had visited Azamgarh last Wednesday. Asserting that the Congress would stand with peaceful protesters, the party general secretary said, "I heard stories of women. I went to Bijnor, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Lucknow and Varanasi and other places where the police and the administration committed atrocities. A report was drafted by our party and given to the NHRC.

"The Congress party stands by you today, it will stand by you tomorrow, and will continue to stand by you until you get justice," she added.

Source

In thick of Owaisi’s Dalit-Muslim plans, a Hindu salesman from Azamgarh

Gautam created stir after getting elected as AIMIM candidate from Ward number 32 of Azamgarh, which is SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Lok Sabha constituency.

Written by Faisal Fareed | Lucknow | Published:November 6, 2015 12:00 am

Not many in AIMIM would miss a call from Asaduddin Owaisi. But Kailash Kumar Gautam (34), who won the recent zila panchayat elections from Azamgarh, was not around when his party chief called up to congratulate him on his win.

“I was busy with some work and I missed the call and did not call back. Then our state president Shaukat told me that Owaisi saheb had called me to congratulate for the victory,” he told The Indian Express.

Gautam created stir after getting elected as AIMIM candidate from Ward number 32 of Azamgarh, which is SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Lok Sabha constituency. Now, being taken seriously, AIMIM is even considering Gautam for the 2017 Assembly polls in the state.

Already, the party wants Gautam to address public meetings so that he can be projected as the AIMIM mascot for its Dalit-Muslim combination, with its slogan ‘Jai Bheem, Jai Meem’. “Owaisi saheb had told party workers that it is a good sign to start from Azamgarh… He will visit us soon,” he said.

A first-time entrant in politics, Gautam works as a salesman in a private company in Azamgarh. After deciding to enter the fray, he preferred to contest as a AIMIM candidate. “I approached AIMIM state president Shaukat Ali through our local president Kalim Jamei. They chose me as the candidate,” he said.

“There are a good number of Dalits and a few Muslims in my ward. For me, the Dalit-Muslim combination worked. AIMIM gave me a platform to raise my voice for these two communities. I gave no thought about joining any other party,” Gautam said.

He added: “If I had contested as a SP candidate, there was no chance of winning. Muslims readily supported me and Dalits too had no apprehension, as AIMIM also raised their issues.”

On contesting the Assembly polls, Gautam said: “With our combination of Dalit-Muslim intact, our party stands a chance.”

Source

Supporting panchayat candidates helped party: BJP

Lucknow:- BJP today defended its decision to officially support candidates in the just concluded Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls, claiming that it “benefited” the party 10 times more than expected.

“Decision to contest pachayat polls was a political decision taken during state executive meeting at Mathura. It was decided that the party will contest all elections even that of cooperatives,” state BJP president Laxmi Kant Bajpai told reporters here.

He also rejected report that the party lost in Jayapur village adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi.

“From Jayapur two block development committee members backed by the party have won,” he said.

Bajpai claimed the BJP was the only party that officially declared the list of candidates its supported.

“We have even disclosed the number of winning candidates backed by the BJP. We have won 536 seats which is 10 times higher than the past, when party workers used to contest the polls unofficially,” he said.

The state president said that contesting panchayat polls infused fresh blood, provided new youth leadership to the party and it got success in entering even at the lowest level.

“Ask SP and BSP. Did they declare the list of their candidates? Now there is a competition between the two and they are claiming even independent candidates as their own which is immoral,” he said.

Bajpai said that SP lost both the seats to BSP in a Azamgarh village, which has been adopted by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

“A number of relatives and family members of ministers and senior SP leaders lost. If they have any morality left then they should resign or the government should drop them,” he demanded.

While accusing the state government on failing on several fronts, the BJP state president demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

“He should resign on the basis of inefficiency and SP supremo should replace him with some other person,” he said.

Source

SP suffers jolt in UP panchayat polls, BSP fares well

know: Ruling Samajwadi Party suffered a jolt in pockets of Uttar Pradesh with many relatives of ministers and senior leaders losing in the zila panchayat elections while BJP-supported candidates won only in 8 of the 48 seats in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Varanasi 

As ballots cast in the four-phase polling were counted today, Opposition BSP emerged as the surprise front-runner in the elections with most of the candidates it supported, registering victory.

In Varanasi's Jayapur, the village adopted by Modi, BJP candidate Arun Singh was defeated by BSP's Ramesh Tiwari.

The SP claimed to have won 25 seats in Varanasi district while Congress won 2, BSP 3, BJP ally Apna Dal 4 and Independents 6. In the last elections, BJP had won 3 seats.

The panchayat elections are not contested on party symbols and major parties chose not to officially announce the candidates it had endorsed.

Polling was held for 3,112 posts of district panchayats and 77,576 membership post in block panchayats and counting was done at 819 block headquarters amid tight security.

BJP, which had supported candidates in zila panchayat and kshetra panchayat polls for the first time, could not make a significant impact.

The results assume significance as they have come just about a year before the assembly elections.

BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said, "The results indicate that people of the state, especially in villages, have decided to bid goodbye to the corrupt and inefficient Samajwadi Party government."

Accusing the ruling SP of misusing government machinery, he said that a review of the results would be done for which report has been sought from every district.

Samajwadi Party, however, discounted reports of losing the polls with its spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary claiming that the electorate have approved the government's policies and programmes during last three-and-a-half years of its rule.

He said people have rejected BJP in a big way.

In Azamgarh, the Lok Sabha seat represented by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, the party-supported candidate was defeated even in Tamausi village, which has been adopted by Mulayam.

Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen opened its account in Azamgarh by winning a seat in Maksudia.

State Election Commission said that after holding the elections of the Kshetra and district panchayat members in four phases, it would now prepare for the crucial pradhan and village panchayat polls in four phases from November 27 to December 9 with counting of votes on December 12. Notification for the pradhan polls would be issued on November 7.

Source

UP panchayat election results a boost for BSP

BY LISA BRYAN - AT NOVEMBER 05, 2015

"It was decided that the party will contest all elections even that of cooperatives", state BJP president Laxmi Kant Bajpai told reporters here.

As ballots cast in the four-phase polling were counted today, Opposition BSP emerged as the surprise front-runner in the elections with most of the candidates it supported, registering victory.

"The results are a clear signal that the people are favouring the development-oriented politics and governance of (Chief Minister) Akhilesh Yadav", party spokesman and cabinet minister Rajendra Chowdhary said.

Though several of the senior UP politicians of all the political parties have got success in helping their kins to win the elections, but on the other hand a few of them had to lick the dust.

Panchayat polls are not fought on party symbols but the contestants alwasy are always influenced or backed by a few political leaders.

Likewise, there is reason for alarm for the BJP as candidates supported by the party have been routed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi. BJP claims to have won 535 and Congress 81 out of 1500-odd it had declared its candidates for while SP didn't official announce the list of candidates it was supporting.

The results assume significance as they have come just about a year before the assembly elections.

Om Mathur, BJP party in-charge has convened a meeting in Lucknow on November 3 to discuss the results.

Accusing the ruling SP of misusing government machinery, he said that a review of the results would be done for which report has been sought from every district.

A candidate supported by Asaduddin Owaisi's Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen or MIM, has won a seat in Azamgarh, the parliamentary constituency of Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh -- touted as a semi-final ahead of the next assembly elections - have jolted both the Congress and the BJP. Notification for the pradhan polls would be issued on November 7.

Source : http://wirelessgoodness.com/2015/11/05/up-panchayat-election-results-a-boost-for-bsp8955/

The Terror Of The Terror Label

No prospects at home. The fear of moving out. Discrimination and stereotyping. The branding of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh as a terror hub leaves its beleagured youth in despair.

ASAD ASHRAF

2015-10-24 , Issue 43 Volume 12

It was the last Friday of the holy month of Ramzan, seven years ago on 19 September 2008, when gun shots broke the eerie silence at the time of Juma(Friday prayers) in Batla House, a predominantly Muslim ghetto located in the banks of Yamuna in south Delhi. Even before the residents could enquire, TV channels started flashing news that an encounter was ongoing between allegedIndian Mujahideen (IM) operatives and the special cell of Delhi police.

It was soon declared that two terrorists, Atif and Sajid, were gunned down by the police. It was reported that some were arrested while others managed to flee. The common thread linking them all was that they belonged to Azamgarh in easternUttar Pradesh. This one incident was to set a precedent. Azamgarh, once known for its literary heritage, would now be commonly known as Atankgarh(terror hub).

Seven years later, there is no physical reminiscence of the alleged encounter; the flat in the building L-18 no longer has blood stains on its wall, the area is no more cordoned off and people are no longer scared of wandering at night. However, the memories are still fresh and many consider it as cold-blooded murder. This keeps them going in their demands for a free and fair judicial enquiry into the alleged encounter despite National Human Rights Commission giving a clean chit to the Delhi Police.

This year again, on 19 September, the narrow lanes of Batla House echoed with slogans demanding judicial enquiry into the allegedly fake encounter. In the fading light of the evening, the flame of torches as well as the hope of the protestors kept these alleys bright. However, for many other residents, it is just a ritual that is being carried out for the last seven years, ever since the alleged encounter killed inspector Mohan Chand Sharma and the two ‘terrorists’.

Similar protests were also organised in Lucknow by civil right activists, who, like the residents of Batla House, doubt that encounter was fake and demand a judicial enquiry. But hundreds of kilometers away from Batla House and Lucknow, there was a stirring silence in Azamgarh. The evening was like any other and there were no torches in sight.

Azamgarh and Delhi are separated by a distance of more than 500 km. But if there could be a mechanism to measure the distance in time, it could well go into decades, if not centuries. Unlike the glittery nights of Delhi, the ones in this town are empty. It is past 8 pm and the shops have already shut down.

This correspondent met the father of one of the alleged Indian Mujahideenoperatives, Mohammad Saif, who now languishes in a jail in Delhi on many terror charges that fall under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act). His house looks like a small villa by metro standards. Mohammad Shadab, Saif’s father, welcomed us with a cup of lemon tea and tales that do not fall in the mainstream narratives of the encounter. He claims that his son was as innocent as any other boy of his age and he has still not been able to comprehend the reason why things went so wrong.

In an attempt to stop himself from breaking down, he passes a smile that is barely visible in the dim light of the lantern, lights up a smoke and hums the famous Dev Anand song, har fikr ko dhuein mein uda ta chala gaya… (I blew away all my worries in smoke… ). Our conversation moved on from the specific case of Saif to others involved in the encounter and eventually to the fate of the whole city.

“People once recognised Azamgarh as a centre of culture, art and academics. People such as Shibli Nomani (Islamic scholar), Maulana Wahiuddin Khan(Islamic scholar), Kaifi Aazmi(poet), Shabana Aazmi (actress), Ram Naresh Yadav (Governor of Madhya Pradesh) and Frank F Islam (US based entrepreneur) belonged to this place. But the media has stereotyped this place as a terror hub. They did not even wait for the courts to pronounce their judgments in the cases of our kids. Instead, they ran stories on how this place is breeding terrorists,” he says.

Shadab does break down when he narrates the story of two brothers, who had gone to meet Salman (another terror accused) in Jaipur. He says the duo, who were brothers, were also arrested and cases under IPC 109 and 151 were registered against them. “Now does that mean that we can’t even meet our kids languishing in jails?” he asks.

“We were once proud to be a resident of Azamgarh, to be associated with a place that has been a part of the ancient Kosala kingdom. It was known as the land of sage Durvasa, whose Ashram was located here. What a pity that people have started recognising it as a place that breeds people who indulge in anti–national activities. Somehow, State agencies relate every act of terror to here or Darbhanga in Bihar,” says another resident who joined us in the conversation.

“Residents of Azamgarh have for long been known for migrating to the Gulf and other countries to earn and send money back home,” Shadab says. “Initially, a lot of people shifted to Pakistan during partition and later to Bangladesh. The trend of migrating to the Gulf started in the 1980s. And this kept the city prosperous despite the lack of industries and educational opportunities,” he adds.

However, in the 1990s, Indian market was opened to the world and jobs were created along with a boom in the education industry. Students from Azamgarhstarted migrating to other cities for jobs and education rather than going to African and Gulf countries. However, this didn’t continue for long.

Source

Owaisi’s entry into UP politics may upset Muslim vote apple cart

SHARAT PRADHAN @sharatpradhan21

The entry of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi into the political arena of Uttar Pradesh appears to pose a threat to some major political parties which have thrived so far essentially on the strength of the Muslim vote.

With Owaisi not mincing words in questioning the genuine secular credentials of such parties, he was being looked at with much scepticism, particularly by the ruling Samajwadi Party, which has somehow – post Babri Masjid demolition – considered its claim over the Muslim vote as some kind of birthright.

Now with Owaisi busy asking why the SP has been taking Muslims for granted, the party has found another way of attacking him - by terming him as a “Narendra Modi agent”, whose main agenda is to divide the Muslim vote. And that itself conveys that the young sherwani-clad, skull cap-donning Hyderabad-based Muslim leader is now changing the way conventional parties have exploited the Muslim vote.

Unlike smaller regional parties that usually prefer to make their debut in the politics of another state through the state Assembly route, the AIMIM has chosen the more practical path – panchayat elections which began on October 9 and would conclude by the end of the month.

In fact, well before the state election commission announced dates for the panchayat elections in the country’s most populous state, the AIMIM made it a point to be seen on ground zero. With Owaisi having already done some spadework, he did not waste time in announcing his decision to contest some 50 panchayat seats. Sure enough, it was aimed at paving the way for the party to make its entry into the state’s Assembly election fray in 2017.

The names of 44 candidates were already announced and contrary to the common impression that the party was just a Muslim outfit, Owaisi has made it a point to field a dozen Hindus. “We have picked up essentially Dalits, who I feel are as deprived as Muslims”, Owaisi told this scribe over a telephonic conversation on October 9.

Owaisi did not try spreading his wings across the length and breadth of the sprawling state at the very outset. Instead, he has chosen to remain pragmatic and limit himself to certain pockets of both eastern and western Uttar Pradesh, where the Muslim population is dominant. Areas with high Dalit population have also been tapped very selectively.

The party has fielded the maximum number of (ten) candidates from Azamgarh, which is the parliamentary constituency of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and has a 74-member panchayat. Evidently, Owaisi’s aim is to tear into Mulayam’s self projection as the ultimate “messiah” of Muslims, whose support over the decades has scripted the SP’s success story.

The AIMIM chief pointed out, “I simply wish to draw the attention of people of this state to certain facts which will automatically dispel this falsely created impression that Samajwadi Party or its president was the 'true protector or messiah of Muslims'.”

And with that he went on to cite statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report which shows the sharp rise in communal incidents during the Samajwadi Party regime over the last three-and-a-half years. And that would be his key message to Muslims who, he feels, have been taken for granted by Mulayam and party. “It is only for the Muslim vote that Mulayam does all the lip service, but when it comes to really doing something, he cannot look beyond Yadavs,” quipped Owaisi, while citing the much debated nomination of a retired High Court judge for a new Lok Ayukta. “Four times, the chief justice objected to the same Yadav name being sent by the UP chief minister, who could never think of any retired Muslim judge,” he pointed out.

A top SP leader sought to dismiss Owaisi as just another “vote katua” or someone whose aim was to eat into the votes of others. However, the same leadership went out of its way to disallow the AIMIM chief from holding a single rally anywhere in Uttar Pradesh, which reflects their inner apprehensions.

Despite the odds, Owaisi appears to have made some inroads by setting up his party units in several places in the state. Significantly, the newly named AIMIM state chief Shaukat Ali hails from Mulayam’s constituency, Azamgarh, where even a small dent in the Muslim vote bank would mean a blow to the SP.

In the post-Congress era, particularly since Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati was looked at with suspicion following her three-time alignment with BJP, the bulk of the Muslim vote has been going to the SP. Therefore, Owaisi’s key target was the SP and he was clearly working on bigger plans to embarrass Mulayam and the SP government’s most prominent Muslim face and senior minister Azam Khan. “Azam Khan saheb may be busy seeking United Nations’ intervention to ensure safety and security of Muslims in UP, but I would want to know from him whether it is the UN’s job to maintain law and order in UP or it is that of his government,” said Owaisi.

“If life of Muslims is not secure in Uttar Pradesh, then who other than the Samajwadi Party government is answerable? And if Azam feels that Muslims are not secure under his government, he should resign instead of doing the melodrama of shooting off letters to UN. Furthermore, Mulayam Singh Yadav who has not only been chief minister three times but also the country’s defence minister, ought to be knowing that if Muslims were not secure in his son Akhilesh Yadav-ruled state (sic), then the government had failed to fulfil its constitutional obligations. So there was no point in him covering it up through all kinds of alibi,” he roared.

“I would also like to ask Mulayam about the promises he has been making to Muslims – providing reservation in jobs and withdrawing cases against the Muslim youth falsely implicated in terror incidents,” Owaisi warned.

He also has an answer to the oft-repeated accusation that he was "BJP plant". “Well, if I become a BJP plant by contesting just six of the 243 Assembly seats in Bihar, then what is Mulayam Singh Yadav who has fielded candidates on each of the 243 seats in a state where SP is of no consequence,” he asked. “I would also like to know how and why Mulayam failed to ensure victory of a single Muslim nominee at the 2014 Lok Sabha election in UP, where the BJP grabbed as many as 71 of the 80 seats and its ally also got two, while SP’s winners were only the five family members of Mulayam Singh Yadav,” he added.

Owaisi also accuses the Yadavs of rarely supporting Muslim candidates, even as, according to him, Mulayam has always ensured the full backing of Muslims for his Yadav nominees. How the SP supremo, who once acquired the sobriquet of “Maulana Mulayam”, would answer these questions remains a million dollar question. But whether Owaisi would be able to wean away any meaningful chunk of the precious Muslim vote or he would only end up splitting it to eventually give the BJP an edge was something that time would tell.

Source : http://www.dailyo.in/politics/asaduddin-owaisi-muslims-aimim-azam-khan-samajwadi-party-mulayam-singh-yadav/story/1/6702.html

At least 16 Indian expats in West Asia join IS

By Rahul Tripathi, ET Bureau | 15 Oct, 2015, 12.52PM IST 

NEW DELHI: At least 16 Indian expatriates in West Asia are estimated to have joined the Islamic State, a latest report with India's intelligence agencies shows.These people have joined the IS from countries such as Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, where they were working or have gone seeking job. The estimate is based on information shared between India's Research & Analysis Wing and its counterparts in other countries, an intelligence official said. Most of these people are young men and women who are radicalised by IS through Internet using hate propaganda, the official added.
As per an analysis carried out by Indian agencies, the Indians who joined the IS do not "perceive" any sense of injustice in India. However, they have deep seethed anger towards the West.Law enforcement agencies say they are unable to do anything when Indians already living abroad join the IS.
"We have managed to stop hundreds of youths from leaving India and joining the IS by roping in their families and friends. The cases of those staying abroad is different as we are unable to do anything unless they return to India or caught in the country of their stay," said the intelligence official.
Based on this experience, the government on Wednesday blocked two websites which were being used to spread IS propaganda. "We had earlier requested these websites to remove the objectionable contents. However, there was no response from them following which they were blocked. Similarly , two Facebook accounts which were being operated under anonymous names for luring youths to join militancy has also been blocked," said a se nior home ministry official. 

However, in cases like where a young man from Azamgarh in UP went to Turkey and joined the IS, the agencies were caught unaware. "We recently came to know through his family members that he wanted to return to India. Like this case, we do not know how many know how many people are joining IS after leaving India unless they come back," the official said. 

This is a serious challenge as the number of Indians joining the radical outfit from foreign countries where they have gone for jobs or other purpose is growing, said officials. Security agencies also fear these people may pose a danger when they re turn as they are highly radicalised. 

"It is for these reasons that we had to tread cautiously in the case of Kalyan youth Areeb Ma jeed after he came back," said a National Investigation Agency official probing the matter. 

There have also been instances where Indians living in Austra lia, Singapore and Bangladesh have joined the IS, said officials. 

A majority of these people have either gone on work visas or for education purposes. 

Read more at:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/49376800.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

SP rally from Azamgarh on October 29

The ruling SP will organise rallies in 18 divisions of the state starting from Azamgarh on October 29. The rallies will be addressed by SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav and CM Akhilesh Yadav. SP's state parliamentary board, which met in Lucknow Wednesday took the decision. Azamgarh has been lucky for SP in the past, and it began its campaign from Azamgarh on 1 January last year. CM Akhilesh Yadav, who chaired the meeting, also reviewed the party's preparations for legislative council polls in graduate and teachers constituencies. These elections will be held next year.

लोहरा गांव पुलिस छावनी में तब्दील

अमिलो (आजमगढ़) : जिले का लोहरा गांव बकरीद पर्व पर सुरक्षा की दृष्टि से पुलिस छावनी में तब्दील कर दी गई है। मुबारकपुर थाना क्षेत्र के इस गांव में किसी भी अप्रिय स्थिति से निबटने के लिए गांव में 34वीं वाहिनी पीएसी की एक कंपनी जवान भी कैंप कर रहे हैं। 1 प्रशासन हर घर को खंगालने में लगा था। यही नहीं परिवार के सभी सदस्यों का ब्योरा भी एकत्र किया गया। इसके पीछे कारण यह रहा कि गांव में कोई बाहरी व्यक्ति प्रवेश न करने पाए। बाहरी व्यक्तियों पर पैनी नजर रखी जा रही थी और यह चौकसी मंगलवार से गुरुवार तक बनी रहेगी। यहां कुर्बानी पर कई साल से प्रतिबंध लगाया गया है। 1कहीं किसी घर में कुर्बानी के लिए मवेशी छिपाकर न रखे गए हों और त्योहार के दिन कुर्बानी से क्षेत्र का माहौल न खराब हो, इस संभावना को देखते हुए घरों में मवेशियों की तलाशी ली गई। 1सतर्कता यह बरती गई कि पुलिस पर कोई अनायास आरोप न लगे। पूरे गांव के मवेशियों को प्रशासन ने अपने कब्जे में लेने के साथ गांव के बाहर बने अहातों में कैद कर दिया। अब इनकी सुपुर्दगी तीन दिन बाद ही होगी। वैसे तो प्रशासन ने सभी क्षेत्रों में चौकसी बरतने का निर्देश दिया है लेकिन मुबारकपुर थाना क्षेत्र के चर्चित गांव लोहरा पर खासतौर पर उसका ध्यान केंद्रित दिख रहा है। 1लोहरा गांव में वर्ष 1990 में कुर्बानी को लेकर उपजे दो पक्षों के बीच तनाव के चलते प्रशासन ने यहां कुर्बानी पर रोक लगा रखी है। इसी के चलते प्रशासनिक अमले की सतर्कता बकरीद पर काफी बढ़ जाती है। किसी भी स्थिति से निबटने के लिए गांव में पीएसी जहां कैंप कर रही है वहीं चार उप निरीक्षक, 40 सिपाही, चार महिला आरक्षी, 20 होमगार्ड तैनात किए गए हैं। 1मुकामी थाने के अलावा जहानागंज, सिधारी एसओ को भी शांति की जिम्मेदारी सौंपी गई है। इन थानों के पुलिसकर्मी भी गांव में रहेंगे। सीओ सदर मनोज कुमार यादव व एसडीएम मनोज कुमार सिंह भी कैंप कर रहे हैं। गांव के माहौल पर खुद एसपी अरविंद सेन भी नजर रख रहे हैं। गांव में बाहर से आने वाले संदिग्ध व्यक्तियों के प्रवेश पर रोक रहेगी।मुबारकपुर के लोहरा गांव में जांच करते एसडीएम व सीओ सदर के साथ पुलिस टीम।1

SP changes four Lok Sabha candidates, three got ‘poor feedback’

Lucknow, May 31 (IANS) The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh Friday changed four candidates for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav said grassroot workers had offered “negative feedback” on three of the four.

According to a party communique, Aamir Aalam replaces Anuradha Chowdhary in Bijnor, Zafar Alam is the new SP candidate from Aligarh in place of Kajal Sharma, and Rahul Shukla is the new party candidate from Gonda, replacing Kirtivardhan Singh.

Hawaldar Singh is the new candidate from Azamgarh, replacing Balram Yadav, a minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government.

Balram Yadav had expressed his reluctance to take the plunge and told the party leadership so.

There were rumours that SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger son Prateek Yadav would contest polls from Azamgarh. Several local party workers had staged a sit-in, pitching for his candidature, but as the Yadav clan refused to let Prateek go into politics, the party settled for another candidate.

The party has also announced Firoz Aftab as its candidate from Saharanpur.

Ram Gopal Yadav said the party would be releasing its final list for the Lok Sabha polls next week.

The party has already announced the names of more than 60 candidates for the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha.

IANS 2013-05-31 12:48:50

Azamgarh boy tops B Ed entrance exam

TNN May 28, 2013, 04.01AM IST

LUCKNOW: Boys took the top slot in the joint entrance examination for admissions to Bachelor of Education ( UPBEd-JEE) - 2013, results of which were declared on Sunday. Officials at the Deen Dayal Updhayay Gorakhpur University-the body conducting Bed-2013- said the top 36 positions have been occupied by boys.

Scoring 301 marks out of 400, Santosh Yadav from Azamgarh emerged topper. In the girl's category, the highest place was secured by Divya Srivastava, a native of Deoria who scored 279.6 marks. State coordinator, B Ed 2013, Surendra Dubey said, "Divya's general rank is 37. Before this, all slots have been grabbed by boys. The results are surprising as usually girls outshine boys.''

As many as 3,78,012 candidates had registered for the exam that was held on April 24 at 689 centres in 26 cities. In Lucknow, 18,837 candidates took the exam at 40 centres. Nearly 30,949 candidates took the exam in Allahabad, 31,513 candidates in Agra, 28,399 candidates in Varanasi, 30,234 candidates in Kanpur. The counseling will begin from June 5. According to Dubey, there are 1,20,811 seats in 1,098 B Ed colleges across the state. "Every one has qualified the exam. But admissions will depend on the number of seats,'' said he.

Shock, anguish in Azamgarh as Khalid Mujahid buried in hometown

Sunday May 19, 2013 8:51 PM, ummid.com & Agencies

Lucknow: Hundreds of people from Azamgarh, Bhadoi and Varanasi on Sunday thronged to Madhiyahu village in Azamgarh to participate in the funeral prayers of Khalid Mujahid - an accused in the 2007 serial blast case, who died in mysterious condition yesterday.

"The entire village and nearby areas are in shock. Markets and bazaars are closed. People have come from different parts of Jaunpur and neighboring districts. They silently and peacefully buried the body of Khalid Mujahid," Mohammad Junaid, an official of Jamiat Ahle Hadees, has been quoted in the media.
The funeral took place today at around 05:30 in the afternoon.

Junaid said no government official from Lucknow came to console the bereaved family.
Khalid Mujahid, an accused in the serial blasts at Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad in 2007, died of 'heat stroke' Saturday when he was being taken back to the Lucknow prison after a hearing at a Faizabad court.

For every hearing, Mujahid, along with other accused - Tariq Qazmi, Mohammad Akhtar and Sajjad ur Rehman - were taken to the Faizabad court under high security from Lucknow prison.

Khalid along with Tariq Qasmi was arrested by Special Task Force (STF) on 20 December 2007 from Barabanki. Huge explosives were also shown as recovered from his possession. STF claimed that he was involved in the serial blasts which occurred in Gorakhpur, Faizabad and Lucknow.

Later, Nimesh Commission was constituted headed by Justice R D Nimesh who in its report questioned STF's claim about the place of arrest.

The Akhilesh governmet had recently decided to withdraw the cases against Mujahid and Tariq Qasmi. The state government, in its petition before the court, had pleaded that it had decided to set the two accused free to "promote communal harmony and public interest".

The Barabanki district court dismissed on May 10 ts request to withdraw cases against the two.
The court, while rejecting the state's plea, said the government has failed to specify and define the two terms used as the reason for appealing to free the two accused.

MADRASSA TURNS TECH-SAVVY

A CENTURY-OLD ISLAMIC SEMINARY IN AZAMGARH HAS A CURRICULUM THAT INCLUDES SCIENCE AND COMPUTERS TO KEEP UP WITH THE TIMES



AZAMGARH: Re-inventing itself to keep pace with the times, a century-old Islamic seminary in Azamgarh district not only has a broadbased curriculum with science and computers but also a polytechnic to equip its students with vocational skills.

Apart from the Quran, the madrassa also imparts knowledge in English, science, mathematics, political science, economics, Hindi and computers. Several alumni are doing research in various universities in India and abroad.

Fakhrul Islam Islahi, vice rector of Islah, says that modern education is not incompatible with Islam.

“ We don’t believe in differentiating between education,” said Islah, who also heads the department of Arabic of Shibli National Post Graduate College in Azamgarh city.

“ Science and mathematics are helpful to understand Islam and obey its commandments.

It is difficult to solve inheritance questions and disputes without knowing mathematics,” he said.

The Islamic law of inheritance is an important subject of Islam that is necessarily taught in madrassas.

English has come a long way here and is no more viewed from the pre- independence lens as the language of the oppressor

What makes the madrassa stand out is that it is located in a place often associated with terror and Islamic fundamentalism.


Azamgarh made headlines after the Batla House shootout of 2008 in Delhi in the immediate aftermath of the serial blasts in the capital. Two suspected militants, both Azamgarh natives, were killed in the incident.

Many of those accused of the Sept 13, 2008, Delhi serial bombings belonged to Azamgarh. Following the incident, many local youths were arrested in connection with different terror attacks across the country, which maligned the image of the district.

DID YOU KNOW?
Established in 1908 at Saraimir town in Azamgarh, Madrasatul Islah is one of the oldest Islamic religious schools in the region.


1,000
No of students from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra that study at the madrassa

Decentralised renewable energy holds the key to rural electrification

Announcement / Economy July 01, 2011, 19:07 IST

National consultation on RGGVY demands revamp of scheme

With Centre’s ambitious Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana failing to provide quality electricity access to rural India, at a National Consultation organised by Greenpeace, restructuring of RGGVY to include decentralised renewable energy for quick and reliable electricity to all, was the key issue on focus. The consultation brought together government agencies, energy experts, policy makers and civil society representatives (1).

Member of Parliament D Raja expressed concern on the findings of the social audit and raised questions on the effectiveness of the scheme. “How long will rural areas have to wait before they get energy empowered? The scheme raised people’s hopes but has dashed them again by not being able to provide reliable and quality electricity, which is not more than a few hours in some areas. The government must rectify the loopholes so that people get what is their right. Their right to electricity, their right to work, study and do business even after dark, their right to growth and a better life,” Raja said.

“The centralised grid based approach of RGGVY has not been able to meet people’s aspirations. Rural areas have always been neglected in this energy hierarchy. Decentralised renewable energy can break this hierarchy and provide quick, reliable and sustainable power to people. The planning commission should consider and include it in the scheme,” said Divya Raghunandan, Campaigns Director, Greenpeace India.

This shift to decentralisation was echoed by Deepak Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of new and renewable energy, recently at the global energy forum at Vienna, Austria. He highlighted the need for a fundamental rethink in India’s approach to rural electrification, and the failure of the currently prevalent grid extension approach towards fulfilling the mandate of electricity for all. He emphasized on decentralised distributed generation models (DDG) operated at the local level which rely on renewable energy sources and technologies as the way forward to deliver on energy access. This would deliver faster on access while reducing costs around centralised grid extension (2).

Ahead of the national consultation, Greenpeace conducted social audits and public hearings on RGGVY in 31 villages across Madhubani and Saran districts in Bihar, Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh and Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh.

The social audits and the public hearings clearly brought out the inconsistencies in the claims made by the Centre’s scheme and what the reality at the ground level.

In a shocking expose, it was found that while the information on the RGGVY website claimed that Saran and Madhubani districts in Bihar had achieved 100 per cent and 97 per cent electrification, in reality, almost 78 per cent of the population at Saran and almost all villages in Madhubani had no access to electricity. Similarly, in Azamgarh, eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP), the RGGVY website claims electrification upto 93 per cent, while in reality a large number of people have been denied even an electric connection. In energy deficient UP and Bihar, the supply is highly erratic and unreliable.

In Andhra Pradesh, where villages have access to electricity, RGGVY has failed to achieve intense electrification that it set out to do. Improvement in electricity infrastructure has not translated to improved supply and failed to meet the demands of the people who want electricity for more than just lighting purposes. Moreover, lack of awareness and entitlements under the scheme has lead to entry of contractors and rampant corruption as people of the area alleged in our public hearings.

“The scheme has not been able to provide even basic electricity to rural areas because it has envisaged grid extension in the absence of quality and reliable electricity supply. There are inherent problems in the scheme that need to be rectified. The Planning Commission is reviewing the scheme for the 12th five year plan. With the social audits, public hearings, regional consultation and now the national consultation, we hope to input into the review process and take people’s concerns to the policy makers,” said Arpana Udupa, campaigner, climate and energy, Greenpeace India.

Greenpeace calls on the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Power to mainstream DRE in RGGVY in a significant way. The scheme should:

•Take up a target of small scale renewable energy generation (mix of mini-grid and off-grid) infrastructure development in the 12th plan period.
•Include electrification for 100 per cent households in a village.
•Embed the social audit component in the scheme to enhance accountability of the system.
•Include guidelines for energy infrastructure for irrigation and medium and small scale industries as part of rural energy programme
•Inclusion of Panchayati Raj Institutions to enable better implementation and monitoring of the scheme.

Greenpeace will share the recommendations emerging out of today’s consultation with the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Power.

Notes to the editor
1.The national consultation was attended by representatives of GIZ, Power Grid Corporation India Limited, Department for International Development, Planning Commission, Society for Participatory Research in Asia, Development Alternatives, The Energy Research Institute, Rural Electrification Corporation, Vasudha Foundation, Ministry of Power, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and Member of Parliament Dr D Raja amongst others.

2.Vienna Energy forum bulletin – A summary report of the Vienna energy forum 2011 http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=1001185

For further details and social audit reports, pleae visit:

http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/System-templates/Search-results/?all=rggvy