'Tagging Digha shrine as Jagannath Dham unconstitutional': VHP moves HC
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VHP, in its petition filed on Wednesday, argued that the term 'dham' holds significant spiritual and historical importance, traditionally reserved for the four ancient 'dhams' - Badrinath, Dwarka, Rameswaram and Puri. It alleged the 'dham' tag is an arbitrary and unconstitutional act that infringes upon the rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution.
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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
'Is Election Commission God?': Pappu Yadav's 'do-or-die battle' call as roll revision row heats up
NEW DELHI: , who is a Congress-leaning Independent Lok Sabha MP, made a call for the "do-or-die battle" over the 's (ECI) move to revise the electoral roll as part of its special intensive revision (SIR) ahead of the . Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Labelling the poll body as "office of the ," the Purnia MP asked if the "Election Commission was God?" Pappu Yadav, who is a six-time MP, said he would lay his life for "the identity of Bihar and Bihari". "The commission is precisely the office of the RSS and should be stopped. The people are ready to end anything that threatens constitutional responsibility. Talks have been held with the Congress incharge regarding this... Is the Election Commission God?... There will be a battle across the state. And for the identity of Bihar and Bihari, if we have to sacrifice our lives, then we will do it," Pappu Yadav told news agency ANI. Earlier in the day, Congress alleged that the poll body's special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar was a "sinister exercise" to deprive lakhs of voters of their franchise and a clear effort to "destroy" the electoral system in the state. In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge organisation, K C Venugopal, said, "This government specialises in giving people hell. The SIR is a sinister exercise to deprive lakhs of voters of their franchise." "The unnecessary haste, and their absolute refusal to address genuine concerns raised by the Opposition, points to this being a clear effort to destroy the electoral system in Bihar," he said. "We will not let this go through. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now They must halt this ridiculous exercise immediately," Venugopal said. On Wednesday, leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the EC over the SIR issue and raised concerns over its timing, alleging that over two crore voters of the state may be disenfranchised by this mammoth exercise being done just ahead of assembly elections. The Election Commission on Thursday said it has decoded the entire exercise to a group of opposition parties to assuage their fears. While the EC said that the revision, happening after 22 years, is in line with the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, opposition parties claim the timing is suspiciously close to the assembly polls and could "skew the voter base". The opposition has maintained that a revision this close to elections casts doubt on the EC's intentions. However, contrary to their protests, opposition parties have gone all in. The RJD has deployed 47,143 BLAs, second only to BJP's 51,964. Congress has appointed 8,586, while Left outfits like CPI(ML), CPM, and CPI have sent in their own agents. On the NDA side, JDU, LJP, and RLSP have mobilised more than 30,000 BLAs in total.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Original Preamble in focus, how the socialist-secular debate played out in recent years
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On January 26, 2015, newspaper advertisements issued by the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry had a backdrop with the Preamble stating, 'We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Democratic Republic…' This was the original Preamble and not the current one that was changed through the 42nd Amendment in 1976, and reads, 'We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic…' The advertisement drew flak from the Opposition, with Congress leader Manish Tewari saying that 'stifling and trampling' the Constitution was an 'unforgivable sacrilege'. 'The Constitution of India, as it stands today, is very clear that India would be a Sovereign Democratic Secular and Socialist Republic … Action should be taken against the officers involved and the minister should explain how it has happened,' he said. A month later, then Union Minister Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha that the representation was from the original Constitution and was aimed at honouring the founding fathers without any malafide intentions. 'The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) annually issues print advertisements to all empanelled publications on Republic Day to commemorate the date and the moment when India became a Republic by adopting the Constitution. This year also a similar practice was followed and six different designs were given to all the empanelled publications. In one of the advertisement designs issued, the photograph of the original calligraphic representation of the Preamble to the Constitution has been used in the background as a water-mark for enhancing the aesthetic and artistic value,' he said. 'The calligraphic representation and decorated Preamble as available in the Parliament Museum is the only such decorated copy till date… The photo of the original Preamble was a way of honouring founding fathers of the Constitution and there was no mala fide intention to the publication of the unamended version,' Jaitley added. However, this wasn't all. While former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, then a Union Minister, said the words would stay in the Constitution, Ravishankar Prasad, also a Union Minister, hit back at the Congress, asking it if it thought that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru did not understand secularism. 'Secularism is in the blood of Indian people, that's part of our culture. It was not there in the original Preamble and was inserted during Emergency. But the government advertisement was about the original Preamble. We are committed to secularism and we don't have any idea to drop it,' Naidu said on January 30, 2015, at a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries. The following day, Prasad told journalists, 'Did Nehru have no understanding of secularism? These words were added during the Emergency. Now what is the harm if there is a debate on it? We have put before the nation the original Preamble … The Preamble and the Constituent Assembly that prepared it had leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, B R Ambedkar, and others. These two words were not there then.' Union Home Minister Amit Shah, then the BJP national president, also weighed in, telling The Hindu in an interview, 'This debate too is meaningless. The BJP believes that the Preamble as it stands today is fine. There is no need to change it.' When Parliament began functioning from the new building two years ago, a similar controversy erupted after the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha at the time, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said the copy of the Constitution distributed to MPs to mark the occasion did not have the current Preamble. 'They (the government) can say it is an older version. But they should have included the amended version too. They may say they have given us the original version. I think there is a deliberate design,' Chowdhury told The Indian Express on September 20, 2023. However, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal played down the issue, saying the MPs may have been given a copy of the original Constitution. 'It (Preamble) was like this when the Constitution was adopted. After that, the 42nd amendment came… So it must be the original copy.' The Lok Sabha Secretariat also clarified the matter. In a bulletin issued on September 18, it said that MPs would be given a copy of the Constitution and a calligraphed copy of the original document. 'To mark the historic first sitting in the Parliament House of India (new building of Parliament) a copy of the Constitution of India, calligraphed copy of the original Constitution of India, newsletter 'Gaurav', and the commemorative stamp and coin released on the occasion of inauguration of the new building of Parliament will be presented to Hon'ble Members,' read the bulletin.
India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Jinnah's out of the bottle in Maryam Nawaz renaming drama
It was a cheeky attempt to rename an old medical institute that took its name from Baba-e-Qaum with that of Maryam. Replace Pakistan's founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, with Maryam Sharif, the Punjab Chief Minister. Lo and behold, the Jinnah was out of the bottle. A wave of criticism and memefest followed, and the government of Pakistan's Punjab had to make a desperate Nawaz isn't just the CM of Punjab, she is the daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Her supporters must have thought that the scion of the Sharif khaandaan deserved her share of all started with the Punjab government's recent announcement that an extension of the Jinnah Institute of Cardiology in Lahore was being renamed Maryam Nawaz Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases. Punjab Health Minister Khwaja Salman Rafique initially stated on Monday that the renaming reflected the hospital's new identity as a separate entity, no longer an expansion of Jinnah Hospital plan for the institute, originally announced by former Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi in October 2023, involved a facility adjacent to Jinnah Hospital. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, speaking in the Punjab Assembly on Saturday, described the project as an extension of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), noting its near completion to address the rising burden of heart media erupted with criticism, memes, and sarcastic remarks, and from politicians to actors, everyone decried the OF JINNAH, SAY PAKISTANISPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Moonis Elahi called it "outrageous", condemning the replacement of Jinnah's Peoples Party (PPP) Punjab leader Faisal Mir criticised the move as an act of "small people", erasing the legacy of Pakistan's founder. Former Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar sarcastically remarked, "Jinnah who?" highlighting the audacity of the Mona Alam emphasised, "Jinnah's name is a red line for every Pakistani."Social media reactions amplified the controversy and the Rana on Instagram called the renaming "disrespectful" and a "betrayal" of Jinnah. Another social media user, Faisal Aleem sarcastically remarked, "Why build something new when you can just rename something old?"Others mocked the decision with memes, including Fasi Zaka's image of landmarks renamed after Sharif family members and a currency note with Maryam Nawaz's picture replacing Jinnah' celebrities didn't hold back in denouncing the author and stand-up comedian Shehzad Ghias Shaikh quipped about renaming Punjab to "Maryam Nawaz", while Pakistani television and radio personality Talat Hussain dubbed it "The Maryam Nawaz Institute of Confusiology."An X user, Awaam Se, suggested renaming the Constitution to "Qanoon-e-Sharif".advertisementSome accused her of "megalomania" and compared her to Imran Khan, with Hassan on X noting, "She's proving to be an even bigger narcissist than Imran. When you have the military's backing, there's no fear of the people or the vote. Do whatever you want."PUNJAB GOVT FORCED TO RETAIN JINNAH NAMEFollowing intense backlash, Punjab senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced on Tuesday that no renaming was under consideration, clarifying that the institute retained its original name, Jinnah Institute of Cardiology, as reflected in the 2025-26 annual development noted that 14 new hospitals were planned in the Nawaz Sharif Medical District, with the masterplan nearing also clarified that official documents showed no name the Punjab government might have thought would please a member of one of Pakistan's most powerful ruling families ended up creating a massive controversy, from which there was no way but retreat. Jinnah's ghost must be haunting Maryam Nawaz.- EndsMust Watch
