The Evening Wrap: Gujarat opposes bail pleas of some Godhra train burning convicts

The Gujarat Government has opposed in the Supreme Court, the bail pleas of some convicts of the 2002 Godhra train burning case, saying they were not merely pelting stones and their acts prevented people from escaping the burning coach. On February 27, 2002, 59 people were killed when the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was burnt at Godhra, triggering the riots in the State. The matter came up for hearing on Friday before a Bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha. The apex court, while asking the State to specify the individual roles of the convicts, observed that bail pleas of those who were accused of stone pelting could be considered as they have already spent 17-18 years in jail. Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Gujarat, said these convicts threw stones on the train which prevented people from escaping the burning coach. “It is not a case of mere stone pelting,” he told the Bench. Mehta told the Bench that appeals filed by the convicts in the top court against the October 2017 verdict of the Gujarat High Court, which had upheld their conviction in the case, could be listed for hearing. He told the Bench that he would examine the individual roles of these convicts and apprise the Bench about it. The Bench has posted the matter for further hearing on December 15. In its October 2017 judgement, the High Court had commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to 11 convicts in the Godhra train burning case. It had upheld the life sentence awarded to 20 other convicts in the case. On November 11, the apex court had extended the period of interim bail granted to one of the convicts until March 31, 2023. Israeli Ambassador reveals antisemitic messages received after The Kashmir Files controversy Several antisemitic messages were sent to the Israeli envoy Naor Gilon after Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who was invited to chair the jury at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, described The Kashmir Files, a film directed by Vivek Agnihotri about the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community from the valley, as “vulgar” and “propaganda” on November 29. Posting one of the hate-filled messages, Gilon, who has defended the film and criticised the jury chief and film maker Nadav Lapid, said he wanted to show the message without revealing the identity of the sender. Israel and India are marking 30 th anniversary of establishment of bilateral relation which was formalised in 1992 and this is the first time that an envoy of the Jewish state has been targeted through hate speech. “Just wanted to share one of a few DMs I got in this direction. According to his profile, this guy has a Ph.D. Even though he doesn’t deserve my protection, I decided to delete his identifying information,” said Mr. Gilon posting one of the hate messages that were sent to him on a social media platform. The envoy and other Israelis were widely tagged on social media by the supporters of The Kashmir Files after Lapid’s comments but the latest messages posted by Gilon confirm that he and his team received extremely antisemitic comments from social media users online. Assam MP Ajmal retracts remark asking Hindus to adopt ‘Muslim marriage formula’ All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief and Assam MP Maulana Badruddin Ajmal on Saturday issued an apology for “inadvertently hurting the sentiments” of the people of Assam. “I take back my statement,” he said, after courting controversy by advising Hindus to marry at a young age for producing more children like Muslims. He also ruffled some feathers by indicating Hindu men do not have it in them to reproduce when they wed at 40 years after enjoying a near-conjugal life with more than one woman. “Muslim boys and girls marry at 22 and 18. Hindu men do not let babies be born till the age of 40 to save money but enjoy with one to three illegal wives,” Ajmal had earlier said on Friday. “They [Hindu men] marry after 40 if forced by their parents or for some other reasons. Such an age is not ideal for having babies. You get a good harvest only if you plough a fertile land on time,” he added, suggesting the ‘Muslim formula’ of marriage for Hindus to ensure a large family. He asked Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma to counter the alleged “love jihad” with something similar on Muslim girls. Ranjib Kumar Sharma, spokesperson of the BJP’s Assam unit slammed Ajmal for “trying to continue the culture of building harems that Muslim invaders had started after killing Hindu men”. The State Congress unit said the police should register a case against the AIUDF leader for posing law-and-order problems. Calling the AIUDF leader an agent of the BJP, the Trinamool Congress burnt his effigy in Guwahati on Saturday and demanded his arrest for insulting Hindus. The Trinamool Congress also lodged a FIR against Ajmal in Guwahati while the local unit of the Assam Jatiya Parishad filed a complaint against him for “communal” and “anti-women” remarks at the Hailakandi Police Station in southern Assam. BJP trying to misuse my remarks; politics is not about individuals but policies: Kharge on ‘Ravan’ row Facing flak from the BJP over his “Ravan” jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accused the ruling party of misusing his remarks for electoral gains in Gujarat and said that politics is not about individuals but policies. In his first reaction over the controversy, Kharge said that he believes in “performance politics”, but the BJP’s style of politics often lacks the spirit of democracy as “they make it about one person only, who is everywhere”. Asked whether personal attacks, such as his own “Ravan” jibe, have become a key feature of the campaign, he said, “They are misusing it for electoral gains.” “For us, politics is not about individuals. It is about policies, it is about their (BJP’s) performance, and it is about the type of politics they practise. They make it about only one person, who is everywhere,” he added. “The BJP’s and PM’s style of politics often lacks the spirit of democracy. I gave so many instances regarding his style of campaigning at all levels of elections, but they are misusing my remark for electoral gains,” Kharge said. “I don’t comment on any individual or make personal remarks because I also have experience of parliamentary politics for 51 years. I criticised (the BJP government) on the issues of development, inflation, unemployment, poverty,” he said. Tamil legislator warns of ‘China go home’ campaign in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Opposition legislator Shanakiyan Rasamanickam has threatened to launch a “China go home” campaign, akin to the ‘Gota go home’ movement that ousted the former President in the wake of the island’s painful economic crash. The popular 32-year-old MP, among the few Sri Lankan politicians comfortably trilingual in English, Tamil, and Sinhala, told the House on Friday: “I was exercising the sovereignty of the people of this country within this House. I am speaking on behalf of the people of Sri Lanka. I am not speaking on behalf of any other Embassy or country…but the Chinese Embassy repeatedly tagging me on twitter is a serious concern about this country’s sovereignty.” His remarks follow a Twitter spat earlier this week, after the Tamil National Alliance’s Batticaloa district parliamentarian, in a parliamentary address, sought greater cooperation from China in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring efforts. Sri Lanka owes 7.4 billion dollars to China, a nearly 20 trillion dollar-economy, Rasamanickam pointed out, contending: “If China was a true friend, it would agree to either write off this debt or at least help restructure it”. “If the Chinese government and Embassy do not look after the interests of our Lankan people…there will be a China go home [campaign] soon and I will lead it,” he added. The Chinese Embassy was quick to respond to his tweet. “Sorry Mr. MP, your understanding is incorrect and incomplete,” the mission said, adding that it was Sri Lanka’s “biggest supporter” in fighting COVID-19 and in livelihood relief. “Chinese President & Premier reiterated China’s willingness and readiness to help Sri Lanka in various occasions,” it said. In Brief: The State Investigation Agency, a special cell of the J&K Police, on Saturday continued with its crackdown on “networks of militant outfits” and raided multiple locations across the Kashmir Valley. The SIA said ₹29 lakh was recovered during the raids carried out in Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipora, Srinagar and Budgam districts. The case was pertaining to the members of Al-Badar, a militant organisation based in Pakistan, “which with active support and connivance of Pakistani agencies, hostile to India, under a well-knit criminal conspiracy with some identified persons and overground workers in the Valley are raising funds for furtherance of (militant) activities in J&K,” the agency said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 03 DECEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! 1. Visit [The Hindu newsletters page]( 2. Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP 3. If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID Godhra train burning case | Gujarat opposes bail pleas of some convicts The Gujarat Government has [opposed in the Supreme Court, the bail pleas of some convicts of the 2002 Godhra train burning case]( saying they were not merely pelting stones and their acts prevented people from escaping the burning coach. On February 27, 2002, 59 people were killed when the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was burnt at Godhra, triggering the riots in the State. [Fifty-nine people died in a fire inside the Sabarmati Express train in 2002.] The matter came up for hearing on Friday before a Bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha. The apex court, while asking the State to specify the individual roles of the convicts, observed that bail pleas of those who were accused of stone pelting could be considered as they have already spent 17-18 years in jail. Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Gujarat, said these convicts threw stones on the train which prevented people from escaping the burning coach. “It is not a case of mere stone pelting,” he told the Bench. Mehta told the Bench that appeals filed by the convicts in the top court against the October 2017 verdict of the Gujarat High Court, which had upheld their conviction in the case, could be listed for hearing. He told the Bench that he would examine the individual roles of these convicts and apprise the Bench about it. The Bench has posted the matter for further hearing on December 15. In its October 2017 judgement, the High Court had commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to 11 convicts in the Godhra train burning case. It had upheld the life sentence awarded to 20 other convicts in the case. On November 11, the apex court had extended the period of interim bail granted to one of the convicts until March 31, 2023. Israeli Ambassador reveals antisemitic messages received after The Kashmir Files controversy Several [antisemitic messages were sent to the Israeli envoy Naor Gilon]( after Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who was invited to chair the jury at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, described The Kashmir Files, a film directed by Vivek Agnihotri about the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community from the valley, as “vulgar” and “propaganda” on November 29. Posting one of the hate-filled messages, Gilon, who has defended the film and criticised the jury chief and film maker Nadav Lapid, said he wanted to show the message without revealing the identity of the sender. Israel and India are marking 30 th anniversary of establishment of bilateral relation which was formalised in 1992 and this is the first time that an envoy of the Jewish state has been targeted through hate speech. “Just wanted to share one of a few DMs I got in this direction. According to his profile, this guy has a Ph.D. Even though he doesn’t deserve my protection, I decided to delete his identifying information,” said Mr. Gilon posting one of the hate messages that were sent to him on a social media platform. The envoy and other Israelis were widely tagged on social media by the supporters of The Kashmir Files after Lapid’s comments but the latest messages posted by Gilon confirm that he and his team received extremely antisemitic comments from social media users online. Assam MP Ajmal retracts remark asking Hindus to adopt ‘Muslim marriage formula’ All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief and Assam MP [Maulana Badruddin Ajmal on Saturday issued an apology for “inadvertently hurting the sentiments”]( of the people of Assam. “I take back my statement,” he said, after courting controversy by advising Hindus to marry at a young age for producing more children like Muslims. He also ruffled some feathers by indicating Hindu men do not have it in them to reproduce when they wed at 40 years after enjoying a near-conjugal life with more than one woman. “Muslim boys and girls marry at 22 and 18. Hindu men do not let babies be born till the age of 40 to save money but enjoy with one to three illegal wives,” Ajmal had earlier said on Friday. “They [Hindu men] marry after 40 if forced by their parents or for some other reasons. Such an age is not ideal for having babies. You get a good harvest only if you plough a fertile land on time,” he added, suggesting the ‘Muslim formula’ of marriage for Hindus to ensure a large family. He asked Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma to counter the alleged “love jihad” with something similar on Muslim girls. Ranjib Kumar Sharma, spokesperson of the BJP’s Assam unit slammed Ajmal for “trying to continue the culture of building harems that Muslim invaders had started after killing Hindu men”. The State Congress unit said the police should register a case against the AIUDF leader for posing law-and-order problems. Calling the AIUDF leader an agent of the BJP, the Trinamool Congress burnt his effigy in Guwahati on Saturday and demanded his arrest for insulting Hindus. The Trinamool Congress also lodged a FIR against Ajmal in Guwahati while the local unit of the Assam Jatiya Parishad filed a complaint against him for “communal” and “anti-women” remarks at the Hailakandi Police Station in southern Assam. BJP trying to misuse my remarks; politics is not about individuals but policies: Kharge on ‘Ravan’ row Facing flak from the BJP over his “Ravan” jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president [Mallikarjun Kharge has accused the ruling party of misusing his remarks]( for electoral gains in Gujarat and said that politics is not about individuals but policies. In his first reaction over the controversy, Kharge said that he believes in “performance politics”, but the BJP’s style of politics often lacks the spirit of democracy as “they make it about one person only, who is everywhere”. Asked whether personal attacks, such as his own “Ravan” jibe, have become a key feature of the campaign, he said, “They are misusing it for electoral gains.” “For us, politics is not about individuals. It is about policies, it is about their (BJP’s) performance, and it is about the type of politics they practise. They make it about only one person, who is everywhere,” he added. “The BJP’s and PM’s style of politics often lacks the spirit of democracy. I gave so many instances regarding his style of campaigning at all levels of elections, but they are misusing my remark for electoral gains,” Kharge said. “I don’t comment on any individual or make personal remarks because I also have experience of parliamentary politics for 51 years. I criticised (the BJP government) on the issues of development, inflation, unemployment, poverty,” he said. Tamil legislator warns of ‘China go home’ campaign in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Opposition legislator [Shanakiyan Rasamanickam has threatened to launch a “China go home” campaign]( akin to the ‘Gota go home’ movement that ousted the former President in the wake of the island’s painful economic crash. The popular 32-year-old MP, among the few Sri Lankan politicians comfortably trilingual in English, Tamil, and Sinhala, told the House on Friday: “I was exercising the sovereignty of the people of this country within this House. I am speaking on behalf of the people of Sri Lanka. I am not speaking on behalf of any other Embassy or country…but the Chinese Embassy repeatedly tagging me on twitter is a serious concern about this country’s sovereignty.” His remarks follow a Twitter spat earlier this week, after the Tamil National Alliance’s Batticaloa district parliamentarian, in a parliamentary address, sought greater cooperation from China in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring efforts. Sri Lanka owes 7.4 billion dollars to China, a nearly 20 trillion dollar-economy, Rasamanickam pointed out, contending: “If China was a true friend, it would agree to either write off this debt or at least help restructure it”. “If the Chinese government and Embassy do not look after the interests of our Lankan people…there will be a China go home [campaign] soon and I will lead it,” he added. The Chinese Embassy was quick to respond to his tweet. “Sorry Mr. MP, your understanding is incorrect and incomplete,” the mission said, adding that it was Sri Lanka’s “biggest supporter” in fighting COVID-19 and in livelihood relief. “Chinese President & Premier reiterated China’s willingness and readiness to help Sri Lanka in various occasions,” it said. In Brief: The State Investigation Agency, a special cell of the J&K Police, on Saturday continued with its crackdown on “networks of militant outfits” and [raided multiple locations across the Kashmir Valley](. The SIA said ₹29 lakh was recovered during the raids carried out in Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipora, Srinagar and Budgam districts. The case was pertaining to the members of Al-Badar, a militant organisation based in Pakistan, “which with active support and connivance of Pakistani agencies, hostile to India, under a well-knit criminal conspiracy with some identified persons and overground workers in the Valley are raising funds for furtherance of (militant) activities in J&K,” the agency said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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