
BJP stages protests, wants Pakistanis to leave India
2
Ranchi/ Bokaro/ Hazaribag: The Jharkhand unit of the BJP on Monday held rallies across all district headquarters, demanding immediate action against Pakistani nationals who have not left the country despite the expiry of the 48-hour deadline issued by the Central govt, after the Pahalgam terror attack.
Party workers marched to the offices of district commissioners, submitting memorandums and urging authorities to enforce the directive. The rallies were marked by slogans calling for strict implementation of the order and the deportation of the Pakistani nationals residing in India. Taking part in a rally in Ranchi, BJP state president Babulal Marandi said, "Pakistan-sponsored terrorism will no longer be tolerated. There is no place on this sacred land of ours for any citizen of Pakistan who supports terror. They must pack up and leave. The terrorists who are making calculated attacks on India's faith, culture, and integrity will be given a response so strong that they cannot even imagine it."
Former CM and BJP leader Raghubar Das also participated in the rally in Jamshedpur and submitted memorandum to district commissioner demanding immediate
deportation of Pakistani nationals
in the city.
"I urge the state govt to strictly implement this decision in accordance with the directives issued by the Central govt. Jharkhand has become a safe haven for illegal immigrants, be it Bangladeshis or Pakistanis. The state govt should work with the Centre to deport those illegal foreigners," Das said.
The protests come amid heightened political discourse around national security and illegal immigration. BJP leaders have accused opposition parties of being soft on the issue and demanded that state governments take immediate steps in coordination with the Centre.
Former MLA Biranchi Narayan alleged that Bangladeshi nationals have illegally settled on Bokaro Steel Limited (BSL) land by constructing makeshift homes and obtaining fake Aadhaar cards. "The district administration should thoroughly investigate and ensure that such infiltrators are identified and removed from the city," said Narayan.
On May 3, the BSL administration launched an anti-encroachment drive near Bokaro Niwas in Sector-5 during which illegally built slums on BSL land were removed. During this drive, illegal settlement of suspected 'Bangladeshi' citizens came to light. Deputy general manager (security) of BSL, Colonel Rajendra Singh Shekhawat said that the activities of these people living without valid documents are a matter of concern from the security point of view.
In Hazaribag, too, BJP workers, led by district president Vivekanand Singh, demonstrated in front of district collectorate in Hazaribag city demanding action against Pakistani citizens residing in the district.
A letter in this regard was also handed over to deputy commissioner Nancy Sahay for it to be forwarded to Governor Santosh Gangwar and chief minister Hemant Soren. Barhi MLA Manoj Kumar Yadav was also present in this demonstration.
Singh said the brutal killing of 26 innocent civilians by terrorists in Pahalgam on April.22 has shocked the entire nation. After this incident, the central govt has taken a very important decision to cancel the visas of Pakistani citizens and deport them from the country.
He urged the district administration to identify Pakistani nationals in Hazaribag who are living without valid documents.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Time of India
22 minutes ago
- Time of India
"Stay Strong": Trump Ally Meets Imran Khan's Sons, Slams Political Arrests
/ Jul 23, 2025, 11:34AM IST Former US ambassador and Trump's envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, met with the sons of jailed PTI founder and former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in California. Calling Khan's imprisonment a case of 'political prosecution,' Grenell expressed solidarity with Sulaiman Isa and Kasim Khan, urging them to "stay strong." He drew parallels between Khan's legal troubles and former President Donald Trump's, stating that both leaders face politically motivated charges. Grenell also recalled better US-Pakistan relations under the Trump-Khan leadership. Meanwhile, PTI continues to raise alarm over Khan's detention conditions, warning of a looming constitutional and humanitarian crisis in Pakistan.#richardgrenell #imrankhan #pti #uspakrelations #donaldtrump#politicalprosecution #humanrights #adialajail #pakistanpolitics #imrankhanarrest #freeimrankhan


Indian Express
22 minutes ago
- Indian Express
In tit-for-tat move, India extends airspace closure for Pakistani airlines till August 24
Following Pakistan's decision to extend the closure of its airspace for Indian aircraft and airlines by a month — till the morning of August 24 — India has also announced the extension of its ban on Pakistani airlines and aircraft from entering Indian airspace for the same period, according to a fresh notice to airmen (NOTAM) issued by India's aviation authorities. Pakistan had issued its NOTAM on July 18, a few days before the July 24 expiration of the earlier closure notice. After this extension by Pakistan, India was also likely to extend the closure of its airspace for Pakistani airlines and aircraft beyond July 24, when the earlier Indian NOTAM was also set to expire. Following the Pahalgam terror attack in April, as diplomatic relations between Delhi and Islamabad deteriorated, Pakistan on April 24 shut its airspace to Indian aircraft and Indian airlines for at least a month, banning them from overflying its airspace. On April 30, India, too, closed its airspace to Pakistani aircraft and airlines. Since then, both countries have been extending their airspace closures by issuing NOTAMs on a monthly basis. The two countries have only banned each other's airlines and aircraft from their respective airspaces, but they remain open for overflying for airlines and aircraft from other countries. The new NOTAM issued by India is similar to the previous notices, except for the effective duration of airspace closure. India will keep its airspace closed to Pakistani airlines and aircraft, including military flights, till 5:29 India time on August 24. The latest NOTAM from Pakistan on airspace closure has the same expiration date and time. With the Pakistani airspace not available to them, around 800 flights a week of Indian airlines are being impacted by longer durations, increased fuel burn, and a few other complexities related to crew and flight scheduling, all of which are increasing operational costs for the carriers. Indian airlines' flights from North India to West Asia, the Caucasus, Europe, the UK, and North America's eastern region switched from their routine paths to longer routes, adding anywhere between 15 minutes to a few hours to the journey, depending on the distance and the location of the destination. For Pakistan, however, the impact of India's airspace closure has been rather insignificant because, unlike India's booming aviation sector, Pakistan's struggling flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), has a limited international footprint, and that too largely to the west of the country. According to airline schedule data from Cirium, PIA operates just six flights a week — to and from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, from Lahore and Islamabad—that were routinely flying over India. All major Indian airlines operate international flights to destinations to the west of the country, and many of these flights were routinely overflying Pakistan. Air India operates flights to West Asia, Europe, the UK, and North America. IndiGo operated flights to West Asia, Turkey, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, but had to suspend flights to the Central Asian cities of Almaty and Tashkent from Delhi as they were now outside the operational range of its existing fleet of narrow-body aircraft. Air India Express, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet's west-bound international flights are to destinations in West Asia. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, currently there are almost 400 weekly westward international departures from North Indian airports — Delhi, Amritsar, Jaipur, and Lucknow — that were routinely flying over Pakistan. Given that all these flights have return legs, the total number of affected flights goes up to around 800 from these airports. Of these, around 640 flights are from or to India's largest airport — Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport — which is likely to be the most affected due to the move by Pakistan. Additionally, a handful of ultra-long-haul flights from other Indian cities like Mumbai are also getting impacted as their flight paths used to go through the Pakistani airspace. When Pakistan closed its airspace for over four months in 2019, Indian airlines are estimated to have lost around Rs 700 crore due to higher fuel expenses and operational complications that came with longer routes many of their flights were forced to take. Air India was the worst affected Indian carrier at the time, as it operated more west-bound international flights than other airlines. Moreover, it was and continues to be the only Indian airline that operates ultra-long-haul flights to North America. Air India, now a Tata group entity, is understood to have informed the government that the Pakistani airspace closure is estimated to cost the airline around $600 million on an annualised basis. Over the past few years, other Indian airlines —particularly IndiGo — have also expanded their international networks to include various destinations that can be served by their existing fleets that mainly comprises narrow-body jets. IndiGo is the only Indian airline that was flying to destinations in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Turkey. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More


Indian Express
22 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Decode Politics: Why Haryana fertiliser crisis has landed Saini govt in a spot
Farmers across Haryana have been struggling to obtain urea and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilisers in recent days, even as the BJP-led state government has continued to claim that there was no shortage of fertilisers. However, many farmers seem to have joined long queues, braving heavy rains in their bid to secure fertilisers. In Charkhi Dadri district, for instance, police were deployed to ensure orderly distribution amid growing tensions on Monday. Protests have already erupted at several locations across the state. With over two-thirds of Haryana's population directly or indirectly reliant on agriculture, the issue has taken centre stage in state politics. The Opposition has seized on the crisis, attacking the government for what it calls a failure to ensure uninterrupted fertiliser supply. As the second-largest contributor to India's Central foodgrain pool, Haryana — often referred to as the 'bread basket of India' along with Punjab — finds itself in the middle of a agricultural row and a political showdown. Haryana officials cite two main reasons behind the current panic over a shortage of fertilisers. The first is the advance sowing of paddy prompted by early monsoon rains in the region. The second is the announcement by the state government that the fertiliser distribution would soon be restricted to farmers registered on the government's 'Meri Fasal-Mera Byora' portal, detailing crops sown on their land. Officials believe this shift has triggered anxiety among farmers, many of whom fear they might be left out of the fertiliser supply system. As one official noted, 'Even those farmers who don't need urea and DAP immediately have rushed to procure them, creating panic across farming communities.' In part, the panic has also been rooted in previous years' fertiliser shortfalls. Government figures show that of the 10.07 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of urea allocated for this season, 5.8 lakh MT has already arrived in the state. Combined with the earlier stock of 2.7 lakh MT, total availability is 8.5 lakh MT, with 7.5 lakh MT already sold. 'Farmers only need 5.91 lakh MT of urea from April 1 to July 19,' an official claimed. Regarding DAP fertilisers, officials said that 1.46 lakh MT had landed in Haryana against an allocation of 2.83 lakh MT, with 1.1 lakh MT sold and 36,000 MT currently in stock. An additional 5,467 MT is in transit. Farmers needed 1.37 lakh MT for the April-July period, according to the officials. Farmer leaders, however, argue this crisis is 'real and urgent'. Rakesh Bains, a Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader from Kurukshetra, said, 'The farmers immediately need urea for their crop of paddy but they want to take DAP too to meet their future needs.' Tejveer Singh of the BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) said, 'Farmers in rural areas are struggling more to obtain fertilisers than those living near towns.' On July 17, angry protesters allegedly held an agriculture department official hostage in Pehowa and blocked the Hisar-Chandigarh highway. Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and INLD chief Abhay Singh Chautala accused the Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government of 'failing' to maintain uninterrupted fertiliser supply. Deepender Singh Hooda, the Congress's Rohtak MP, said, 'With the kharif season's planting in full swing, farmers are deeply worried about saving their crops due to the unavailability of fertilisers. Even women and children from farmers' families are forced to wait in long queues through the night for several days — yet they still don't receive sufficient quantities of DAP and urea.' State Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shyam Singh Rana held a video-conference meeting with senior officials Tuesday to assess the fertiliser situation in Haryana. Rana reiterated that there was no shortage of fertilisers in any district and assured that the supply was being managed according to the demand. Rana said the government has intensified its vigilance and enforcement efforts to curb black marketing, hoarding, adulteration, and illegal tagging (a practice that often forces farmers to buy substandard products) of fertilisers. As part of these measures, 1,974 inspections have recently been conducted across Haryana. The crackdown has resulted in the registration of eight FIRs, suspension of 26 dealer licences, revocation of one licence, and issuance of 96 show-cause notices. The minister also appealed to farmers to purchase fertilisers based strictly on the immediate requirements of the kharif season. He urged them to refrain from stockpiling fertilisers for the Rabi season in advance, cautioning that such practices could lead to unnecessary shortages and disrupt equitable distribution. Amid a DAP fertiliser crisis last year, the Centre in November 2024 allocated 1.1 lakh MT of DAP to farmers in Haryana. At the time, the Saini government said it had been in touch with Union Chemical and Fertilisers Minister J P Nadda to ensure timely supply of the allocated fertiliser. Then too, the state government had said there was no fertiliser shortage. Haryana had faced fertiliser shortages under the previous Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government too. In 2021, for instance, a spike in global prices had hurt India's import capacity. Since last year, the Centre has sought to discourage farmers from applying too much urea and DAP as a key policy goal. In recent years, global disruptions like the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have led to shocks in the supply of fertiliser in India, which is heavily dependent on its imports. The rupee's depreciation has also had a negative impact on imports.