BJP Supremo Amit Shah – India Legal

IMA Withdraws Protest After Amit Shah Assures Doctors “Govt Will Protect You”

India Legal — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 09:08:23 +0000

Allaying all concerns of the medical fraternity regarding their security in the fight against Corona virus, the Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday assured them that the government would leave no stone unturned in ensuring their wellbeing and security.

Shah today held a high level meeting with Indian Medical Association doctors through video conferencing and assured them of their security in the fight against COVID-19. Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan was also present on the occasion. Shah appreciated the role of doctors in general and particularly in the fight against Corona virus and expressed confidence that doctors would continue to work dedicatedly in this fight, as they have been doing till now. He saluted the sacrifices made by doctors to keep the people safe from diseases like COVID-19.

There have been reports of doctors being abused, beaten and denied entry into residences. Families of at least two doctors, who succumbed to the novel coronavirus in Shillong and Chennai, had faced opposition while performing their last rites as the locals claimed that burying them in their localities may lead to the spread of the infection.

Shah condemned such attacks and said that the Prime Minister is closely following all issues and concerns of doctors. He said, all necessary arrangements would be put in place to prevent such incidents in future. He appealed to doctors not to do even a symbolic protest as proposed by them, as it is not in national or global interest.

Considering the immediate high-level response from the government and assurance given by the Home and Health Ministers, the IMA has withdrawn the proposed protest to maintain the fight against COVID-19 in an uninterrupted manner.

Even as Home Minister Amit Shah interacted with doctors today, Health Secretary Preeti Sudan has written to states asking them to take adequate measures for ensuring the safety of health care professionals. Government has taken several measures from time to time to safeguard doctors and health professionals who are at the forefront in the fight against COVID-19. Health Ministry has asked states to widely disseminate these guidelines among all doctors and health professionals in the States and Union Territories.

-India Legal Bureau

PM Modi says “some parties are speaking same language as Pakistan” on Citizenship Bill

India Legal — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 06:41:14 +0000

Ahead of the introduction of the Citizenship Bill (Amendment) in the Rajya Sabha today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “some parties” are speaking the same language as Pakistan on the Bill.

“The very same language used by Pakistan on the Citizenship Bill is being used by some parties,” PM Modi said at the BJP parliamentary party meeting.

The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday after an intense seven-hour debate that went on till midnight. The Bill cleared the lower House with 311 voting for the bill and 80 against.

Likening the Bill to the government’s August 5 decision to scrap Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, PM Modi said it will provide relief to minorities of neighbouring countries who arrived in India fleeing religious persecution.

“Citizenship Bill will be written in golden letters, it will give permanent relief to people who fled religious persecution,” PM Modi said.

The Congress, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool and other opposition parties have strongly criticized the Bill, which seeks to make non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh eligible to become Indian citizens. They call the bill “discriminatory” and in violation of the principles of equality and secularism in the Constitution.

Protests intensified in northeastern states against the Bill and an 11-hour shutdown was observed. Several organizations which are against the Bill fear the proposed law will change the demographics of the states.

DELHI DURBAR

India Legal — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 06:37:27 +0000

COUNTERING IS

The recent videos by the IS encouraging their followers in India to conduct lone wolf attacks on specified targets, recruitment videos featuring Indian citizens (a doctor speaking from a medical facility in Raqqa was the latest) and now the black flags of the Islamic State replacing Pakistan flags in funeral processions and protests in Kashmir have got the Indian security establishment worried. A series of high-level meetings chaired by NSA Ajit Doval (above right) and Home Minister Rajnath Singh (left) has led to the formation of a special section that will deal exclusively with the global terror threat. The head of the new wing is yet to be selected but some key intelligence officers dealing with external terror have already moved to the new section. Their brief is to develop a counter strategy to deal with radicalisation and the influence of global terror networks in India.

DYNASTIC CAROUSEL

Poll-bound Himachal Pradesh with 68 seats up for grabs, as against Gujarat’s 182, is competing fiercely for the national spotlight. The main rivals have profiles and patrons which reflect the changing political equations in New Delhi. The BJP’s candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal, a feisty 73-year-old two-time CM, was not the first choice of either Prime Minister Narendra Modi or BJP supremo Amit Shah. They were leaning towards the RSS view that Dhumal had been playing dynastic politics by promoting his son, the flamboyant, short-lived BCCI chief Anurag Thakur. Their original candidate was Health Minister JP Nadda who is close to both Modi and Shah, but in this case, it appears that Arun Jaitley who is close to Thakur, prevailed in promoting his father’s cause. What could hurt the BJP is that, following Dhumal’s choice, two powerful party stalwarts, Nadda and former CM Shanta Kumar, are sulking. But then, Virbhadra Singh, who is still popular, was not the initial choice of the Congress high command either, largely because of his age and corruption charges. But in this case, Captain Amarinder Singh, who is riding high in the Congress ever since he smashed the opposition in Punjab, was able to prevail because of family ties. The captain’s grandson, Angad, is married to Virbhadra’s daughter, Aparajita.

NAVAL CHECKMATE

South Block foreign policy mandarins have rightly been tom-tomming the despatch of the first consignment of Indian wheat for Afghanistan through the Chabahar port to mark the successful wrapping up of the India-Iran-Afghanistan “Transport and Transit” covenant. It was signed in May 2016, followed by the opening of the India-Afghanistan air freight corridor. Both were considered major steps forward for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regional diplomatic initiatives to outsmart Pakistan. But now Modi’s advisers are cautioning against complacency in taking Iran’s role—always a hard bargainer—for granted. Only recently, Pakistan’s naval ships Dehdasht and Rahnavard were welcomed at Iran’s strategic Bandar Abbas port. The next step, analysts predict, will be joint naval exercises between the two nations. The one lesson South Block needs never to forget is to doubt Islamabad’s diplomatic capabilities which often finesse even the most brilliant move by New Delhi.

THE NO-SHOW

The fallout of the incendiary row over Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati has caused embarrassment to the Indian government. The high-profile Global Entrepreneurship Summit, to be held in Hyderabad, is being jointly hosted by India and the US. It is themed on women entrepreneurs, and features the leader of the US delegation, President Trump’s daughter Ivanka, and her co-host, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Thanks to the threats against the film’s stars, actor Deepika Padukone, who featured in the summit’s publicity blitz, has pulled out. The Indian hosts have hastily replaced her with tennis star Sania Mirza but the reason for Padukone’s no-show—threats to her life over depicting a fictional character—is certain to see some red faces, more so since the summit’s theme is “Women First, Prosperity for All”.