New Delhi: From the Congress and Left’s alliance with the Indian Secular Front (ISF) in West Bengal to the Chief Justice of India’s remarks about sexual assault — prime time debates Tuesday went where there was a controversy.
The alliance between Left Front, Congress and the newly formed ISF, headed by firebrand cleric Abbas Siddiqui has drawn criticism from senior Congress members like Anand Sharma. Sharma, one of the G-23, had said the Congress-ISF alliance violated Congress’ “core ideology” and “Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism”.
Commenting on the situation in West Bengal, CNN-News18’s Zakka Jacob asked, “What does it (Congress) stand for? Does it stand for secularism as was envisioned by (the) founding fathers or does it stand for political expediency?”
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate asked why allying with ISF is deemed “anti-secular”.
Jacob retorted by reading out some inflammatory statements that Siddiqui, allegedly, had made — such as wishing death upon 50 crore Indians during the pandemic.
Senior journalist Saba Naqvi stated that she is completely against the kind of rhetoric the cleric apparently used but asked if MPs, who consider Nathuram Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, a “good man” and “warrior”, should be viewed as communal too.
In an interview to NDTV 24×7‘s Vishnu Som, West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called Sharma’s remarks “deplorable”, given that he is a party leader and represents the party in the Rajya Sabha.
“If he had any kind of grievances against his colleague, he may ask the question over a phone call. If he’s honest, he would have spoken to me,” he said.
He then turned his attention to the BJP —”They (BJP) should refrain from communal propaganda in West Bengal.”
Som enquired about a video of Siddiqui that has been circulating, which claims to show him talking about “freedom and independence”. He asked, “It’s being portrayed as freedom and independence outside our country… what exactly was he referring to?”
Chowdhury defended Siddiqui, saying he has apologised for his remarks.
When asked if leaders like Sharma are a “liability” for the Congress, Chowdhury said they are only exploiting the party after enjoying decades of power.
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India Today’s Preeti Choudhry discussed ‘justice or patriarchy’ with regard to observations made by Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde, which has caused a stir. Bobde asked a government employee, who had appealed for bail, if he would marry the woman who has accused him of rape.
Social activist Anjali Bhardwaj, a signatory to an open letter issued by representatives of women’s groups to Bobde, demanding that he step down, said, “There has been an attempt, a very strong women’s struggle to ask for basic rights.”
Advocate Trisha Shetty pointed to nuances in law that favour a husband, specifically in marital rape protection under Section 376.
Zee News’ Sudhir Chaudhary had a rather dramatic take on senior Congress leader Sharma slamming the Congress tie-up with ISF. Chaudhary said, “For the last one year of the coronavirus pandemic, everyone is concerned with and talking about their health. But, have you ever thought about the health of our political parties?”
He asserted that it was time to probe the health of India’s oldest party, the Indian National Congress.
“Does Congress need a vaccine? How is its health?” Chaudhary wondered animatedly.
He alleged that the party was suffering from asehmati (disagreements) and asehensheelta (lack of endurance) in the wake of upcoming Bengal elections.
Meanwhile, ABP News’ Romana Isar Khan was concerned with a law passed in Australia, recently, which mandates tech giants like Google and Facebook to pay media houses for news content.
“News content media banaye, kamai tech company khai (Media develops news content, but the earnings are enjoyed be tech companies),” Khan observed.
She asked, “Kya tech company ki manmaani par rok lagni chahiye (Should this monopoly of tech companies be regulated?”)
Khan explained how there had been a ‘jung (war)’ between Australia and tech giants over this ‘historic’ new law.
Also read: ‘Will you marry her?’ — CJI Bobde asks govt servant accused of repeatedly raping minor