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TOI says CAB is ‘flawed’, Times Now asks ‘Who’s playing with fire’ on Delhi factory blaze

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The devastating fire that broke out in an “illegal” factory in Delhi Sunday, killing over 40 people, dominates headlines, while the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), introduced in the Lok Sabha today, is the other big story — with most newspapers anticipating on how the vote will play out in the face of some resistance from the Opposition.

Also on the front pages is the Unnao rape victim’s death and burial, with a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressing on women safety.

Delhi fire: In depth reporting in the newspapers, details the many administrative missteps that allowed such an incident.

On Page 1, the images tell the stories. Hindustan Times leads with “43 dead in fire at illegal factory”, carrying an image of the charred interiors of Anaj Mandi factory in north Delhi. It calls the blaze the “worst fire tragedy in Delhi since Lal Kuan incident of 1999 and creates a timeline of “how the horror unfolded”.

In “Another avoidable tragedy: Fire in building with illegal units in heart of capital kills 43”, The Times of India features images of the factory’s interiors as well as distressed family members of those wounded, and notes down other horrific fire incidents Delhi has witnessed over the years.

The Indian Express’ lead image features a man being cajoled by police and his family while he frantically makes phone calls. It reports — “Centre and Delhi govt condole deaths, blame each other”.

The Hindu lists out details of how “most of the workers in the illegal manufacturing unit were asleep at the time” and how “most of the deceased were from Bihar”. It adds that the building did not have a No-Objection Certificate from the fire department and was actually enlisted as a residential property, adding that its owner and his manager have been arrested.

Citizenship bill: “Citizenship Bill to be tabled in Parliament today”, reports Hindu, adding that “it is facing opposition in the Northeast”. Express elaborates further in “CAB in House today, Shah may announce relief for Manipur”, adding “the government is said to have worked out “alternative arrangements” to accommodate Manipur’s concerns”, which will probably be announced in Parliament Monday.

TOI frames it very differently — “Heated debate likely as LS to vote today citizenship Bill”, writing that the bill has “sharply divided political and intellectual opinion”.

HT, on the other hand, weighs in on the controversial nature of the bill with it’s headline — “Contentious citizenship bill set to be tabled today”, with an image of women carrying lit torches at a protest in Guwahati Sunday.

Unnao: Hindu is straight with its headline — “Unnao victim laid to rest amid high drama”, while TOI writes “Unnao village turns fortress for girl’s burial”. Express reports — “Her village in Unnao swarming with police, rape victim set afire is buried” and elaborates on how “more than 48 hours after she died from burns sustained in an attack…Unnao rape victim was buried in a farm owned by her family”. HT, on the other hand, reports that “Unnao victim’s family to get arms licence, round-the-clock security”.

Newspapers also carry a speech by PM Modi delivered at DGP/IGP conference in Pune. HT and TOI report on Modi talking about how the police must “ensure women feel safe” (HT), while Express reports that the PM “stressed on the need for an image makeover for the police so that it inspires confidence among all sections, including women and children”.

Opinion

TOI: Calling the Citizen Amendment Bill “flawed”, TOI says that the government can expect “stormy weather both inside and outside the house. The opposition parties will highlight that the CAB undermines the constitutional principle of secularism in granting citizenship to only non-Muslim migrants”.

It believes that the government can also expect to see “stiff resistance against the bill in north-east states”. The CAB’s cut-off date — 31 December 2014 — also contradicts Assam accord, which fixed 24 March 1971 as the cut-off date.

TOI also says the inner line permit (ILP) for Assam will be “a death knell for the state’s development”. The silver lining, according to the paper, is that the bill is unlikely to survive before the Supreme Court as it violates Article 14, which grants equality before the law and Article 15, which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, it concludes.

HT: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s speech at the Hindustan Times leadership summit suggests guarded optimism and candid approach. She indicated that restraining tax officials from harassing businesses, simplifying India’s tax regime and keeping a watch on the crisis of non-banking finance companies are the various steps that the government is taking to revive growth.

HT suggests that going back to the pre-2008 era cannot sustain revival. India has to achieve a big infrastructure push — that needs an overhaul of financial institutions. The central government must fulfill its revenue promises on the GST front to the states, which the finance minister said is sacrosanct.

The newspaper also says that the government needs to act as a pragmatic facilitator of growth, and the steps will need a mix of counter-cyclical fiscal policy, structural reforms, and out-of-the-box thinking. HT believes that Sitharaman’s remarks suggest “that there is hope on all these fronts”.

Prime time

Another day, another tragic incident — this time the fire early Sunday morning in a north Delhi building. Throughout the day, Hindi and English news channels reported from the site — interviews with relatives of victims and bystanders, fire department officials and politicians were in focus.

By early afternoon, attention shifted to “Who’s playing with fire?’’ (Times Now) and administrative negligence that led to the incident. On prime time, #DelhiFireTragedy was the main debate on Times Now, CNN-News 18, Mirror Now, Republic, NDTV 24×7, among others.

Hyderabad-Unnao rape cases and CAB were the other two topics of discussion.

India Today’s Rahul Kanwal interviewed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who claimed that CAB and National Register of Citizens (NRC) “are not related to each other’’.

NDTV 24×7 on ‘We The People’ asked if there would be ‘No justice for India’s daughters?’ in light of the Hyderabad and Unnao rape cases.

“…rape is a rape and rapists are rapists. They should be hanged,” said Asha Devi, mother of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim.

Republic TV debated CAB on #CitizenWho.

When a panellist said India does not have a formal border, anchor Arnab Goswami got extremely worked up: “You’re a liar! What do you mean India does not have a formal border…. stop taking a pro-Pakistani stance.”

BJP’s Sambit Patra reminded everyone that Assam is not included in the Citizenship bill.

Times Now tried to fix blame for #DelhiFireApathy.

“Who doesn’t know that there are areas, even colonies, in Delhi where the fire brigade cannot enter,” said Professor Bejon Kumar Misra.

“We all know that whatever happens in an area, happens with the connivance of local politicians,” said BJP spokesperson R.P. Singh Khalsa.

ABP News: Rubika Liyaquat also looked at ‘Delhi ki death factory’ and demanded answers from politicians.

Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Mishra said that different agencies have authority in Delhi. “MCD is with BJP, our government also comes under the central government. How come such a factory was running in a five-storey building? It wouldn’t be possible without MCD’s permission,’’ he said.

BJP’s Ashish Sood had an answer: “These are old buildings and people are using them after modifying…”

Journalist Ashutosh Mishra believed that leaders across parties encourage people to break the rules. “BJP’s Manoj Tiwari went and broke the lock of a building directed to be built by the Supreme Court, similarly Arvind Kejriwal was…fixing electricity connections,” he recalled.

NDTV India: On ‘Hum Log’, anchor Nagma discussed the Hyderabad rape case and the role of the police in the matter.

“About a quarter of the country’s police are for VIP security…the rest get frustrated when people go to them to register their complaints,” claimed Asha Devi.

UP’s former DGP Vikram Singh felt it was unfortunate that the police didn’t register the complaint in the rape case immediately.

“The police don’t have the option of jurisdiction in critical cases… they must register the complaint. The police department is working like boys’ club,” he added.

Edited by Debalina Dey

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