New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Police’s killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed’s son Asad Ahmed in an ‘encounter’ made the front pages of the Urdu newspapers this week, with an editorial saying that there has been a rise in such incidents since the Yogi Adityanath government was first voted to power in 2017.
Ongoing disputes over mosques — from al-Aqsa in Jerusalem to Gyanvapi closer to home — also made the headlines, as did Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman denying that there was a rise in violence against Muslims in India.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, the upcoming assembly election in Karnataka, and local body elections in Uttar Pradesh were also covered.
ThePrint brings you a roundup of all that made headlines in the Urdu press this week.
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Encounter
Gangster and former Samajwadi Party MP Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were produced before a court in Varanasi Thursday. On the same day, Atiq’s son Asad Ahmed was killed in what the Yogi Adityanath dispensation claims was an encounter in Jhansi. All three were suspects in the killing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Umesh Pal in February.
The Umesh Pal murder investigation and the killing of Asad Ahmed made front-page headlines for two consecutive days.
On 13 April, Inquilab carried a report on the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) raids in several parts of Uttar Pradesh on premises linked not only to Atiq but also his relatives.
Inquilab quoted the ED as saying that the action — which came even as Atiq was being brought to stand trial in Prayagraj from Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, Gujarat — was taken on the basis of a tip that the gangster had acquired benami property worth Rs 150 crore.
On 14 April, after Asad’s death the previous day, Siasat’s editorial said that there have been a series of encounter killings on the pretext of “eliminating” criminals since Adityanath was made chief minister of the state. Suspects were being put to death instead of being brought before the courts for trial. Such (extrajudicial) killings are illegal, the editorial said.
On mosques
The standoff between Israelis and Palestinians over al-Aqsa Mosque — built on the Temple Mount, a site that is also sacred in Judaism — in Jerusalem during Ramzan was prominently covered in the Urdu press for much of the week. Last week, Israeli forces had stormed the mosque complex and forcibly evacuated Palestinians, leaving at least a dozen wounded. The action set off a chain of events escalating the crisis.
In its editorial on 9 April, Sahara called on India to support the Palestinian cause at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). As things stand today, such support would bode well for the country’s Middle East strategy, especially in light of China’s growing influence in the area, the editorial said.
China, it added, has brokered a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, potentially expanding its sphere of influence in the Middle East. Naturally, as China’s sphere of influence grows there, America’s will shrink.
At a time like this, a stand by India in favour of Palestine would help bind it to the Middle East, the editorial said. This, in turn, would force China to think twice before any act of aggression against India.
On 10 April, Sahara reported that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had issued a statement categorically claiming al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims and rejecting Israel’s claims. Israel, the statement said, was “fully liable for the repercussions of these despicable and condemned attacks that would fuel tension, violence, and instability in the region.” It also added ”that the entire blessed al-Aqsa Mosque and its compound is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims”.
Other mosques also made headlines in the Urdu press.
On 8 April, Roznama Rashtriya Sahara reported that the Supreme Court had dismissed a petition challenging the Delhi High Court’s order granting a hearing to the Delhi Waqf Board’s management committee, which wants the ban on offering prayers at the Mughal mosque in Mehrauli lifted. The mosque is located at the entrance of the Qutub Minar complex and comes under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India.
On 11 April, Sahara reported that the Supreme Court had agreed to hear a petition seeking alternative arrangements for ablutions (wazu) at the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi on 14 April. The petition seeks these arrangements in light of an increase in the number of worshippers during Ramzan.
Another article in the same paper reported that 28 people were booked for having read the namaz and using loudspeakers on government land in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri. This news found space on the front page in Siasat as well.
A third report the same day said that according to CNN, Sayed El-Nakib, an imam at Omar Mosque in Paterson, New Jersey, had been stabbed but that his condition was stable. Mosque spokesman Abdul Hamdan has said that the attack occurred while the assailant was at the mosque for prayers.
A fourth news item the same day said Walid Mehsas, an imam in Algeria, was invited to a celebratory reception for the kindness he showed towards a cat that climbed on him during prayers. This came after a video of the cat climbing on him went viral.
Elections
Upcoming elections in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh also made headlines this week.
On 10 April, Sahara reported that the elections for UP’s 760 local bodies will be held in two phases — 4 May and 11 May. Nine districts will vote in each phase. The ballots will be tallied on 13 May, the report said. The same day, the paper carried Chief Minister Adityanath’s statement urging people to help make the lotus bloom — first in the local body elections and then in the 2024 general election.
On 11 April, Siasat and Sahara reported the Election Commission of India had given Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party the status of a national party.
On 13 April, Sahara and Inquilab reported that after the BJP had released its first list of 189 candidates for Karnataka assembly elections, supporters of sitting MLAs who had been denied tickets were holding protests.
Karnataka’s 224-member assembly goes to polls on 10 May. Votes will be counted on 13 May.
Also on 13 April, Sahara reported that former Karnataka deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi had resigned as a member of the Legislative Council and a core member of the BJP after being denied a ticket to contest the election from Athani assembly constituency.
The same day, the paper reported that BJP leader Yashpal Suvarna — the party’s most vocal anti-hijab voice — had been given the ticket from Udupi assembly constituency. The BJP dropped its sitting MLA K. Raghupathi Bhat to make way for Suvarna.
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Opposition
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s criticism of the Narendra Modi government, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s defence of the Adani Group in the Hindenburg row, and Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav also made front-page headlines.
On 10 April, Inquilab prominently featured former Union minister Kapil Sibal on the front page advocating a central role for the Congress in any opposition alliance for the 2024 general election. Sibal, who quit the Congress last May citing differences with the party, has nevertheless said that it should be at the centre of any coalition attempt to fight the BJP, according to the report.
The same day, the paper reported Congress leader Sachin Pilot’s one-day fast against his own party’s government in Rajasthan. Pilot, who has a long-running feud with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, has demanded that the government act against BJP leader and former state CM Vasundhara Raje in graft cases. The report said that with just months to go for the assembly election in Rajasthan, it would seem that not all’s well in the state unit.
On 11 April, Inquilab dedicated its editorial to NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s support of the Adani group.
In January, American short-seller Hindenburg had accused the conglomerate of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud” — allegations that the Indian company has denied.
In its editorial, Inquilab said it was hard to tell with certainty what Pawar had in mind when he made the statement. It would seem, the editorial said, that the remark was an act of political expediency, which could potentially harm the opposition alliance.
“But, we’re with those who see that Pawar’s statement has given relief to the central government and the ruling party, which has tried its best not to discuss the Adani issue even for a minute in Parliament,” the editorial said.
On 12 April, Sahara quoted Sonia Gandhi’s criticism of the Modi government in an article in The Hindu.
In her article, Gandhi accused the Modi government of suppressing opposition voices in Parliament, misusing agencies, ending media freedom, and creating an atmosphere of hatred and violence in the country.
Modi’s statements “either ignore the most pressing, vital issues of the day, or are platitudes and verbal gymnastics to gloss over or distract from these issues,” Gandhi said in her article.
The Modi government, the article said, is “systematically dismantling all three pillars of India’s democracy” and that there was a “government-led strategy” to prevent the opposition from raising issues like “unemployment, inflation and social divisions, discussing the year’s Budget and the Adani scam”.
This silence, the Sahara article said quoting Gandhi, cannot resolve India’s most significant problems and that the functioning of his government affects the lives of lakhs of people.
On 13 April, both Sahara and Inquilab prominently reported the meeting between Rahul Gandhi, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s house. Sahara quoted Kumar as saying that an opposition alliance was discussed and that efforts were being made to bring more and more parties on board.
Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, called it a “historic” step to unite the opposition.
On 13 April, Siasat said in its editorial that the meeting could be a major breakthrough in the efforts to unite the opposition ranks, provided all the leaders strive for the same purpose. Don’t be complacent in your efforts and focus on resolving any differences that may arise, the editorial said.
Sitharaman on Muslims in India
On 12 April, both Sahara and Siasat reported that at an event at the US-based Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said: “Come to have a look at what’s happening in India, rather than listen to perceptions being built by people who have not even visited on the ground and who produce reports”.
She was responding to a question on the impact of “negative Western perceptions” of India on investment there. Sahara’s headline for the report read: ‘So will their population increase that much? Finance Minister Sithaman’s argument on the question of violence against Muslims’.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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