DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 24 PAGES `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ATTACKS WIDESPREAD, OVER 50 OF TOTAL 64 DISTRICTS HIT: COMMUNITY LEADERS Yunus reaches out to Bangla Hindus, visits temple, underlines justice, equal rights for all Hasina seeks justice, calls for mourning on day father was assassinated Interim Govt sets up hotline to report attacks on temples, churches, pagodas SHUBHAJIT ROY DHAKA, AUGUST 13 WITH THE Hindu minority in Bangladesh facing attacks in the lastweek,afterSheikhHasinaresignedasPrimeMinisterandfled to India on August 5, Chief AdvisorMuhammadYunus,who is heading the interim government, reached out on Tuesday with a visit to the Dhakeshwari Temple where he met communityleadersandassured“justice” and “equal rights” for all. “Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Pleaseassist us. Exercise patience, and later judge--whatwewereabletodo and not do. If we fail, then criticise us,” Yunus said, after meeting minority leaders. He said the administration would work towards a situation where Hindus and other minorities don't have to fear for their safety. Accordingtominorityorganisations, there have been at least five deaths and 205 incidents of attacks on Hindus in over 50 districts since the fall of the Hasina CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD HASINA FACES MURDER CHARGES, PLAINTIFF GETS DEATH THREAT INDIAN VISA CENTRE IN DHAKA RESUMES LIMITED OPS PAGE 21 SHUBHAJIT ROY DHAKA, AUGUST 13 Muhammad Yunus at the Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka. PTI Govt should have spoken out against quota, met protesters: Hasina son RITIKA CHOPRA NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 ADMITTING THAT mistakes were made in handling the student protests, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, told The Indian Express in an interview that the government should have engaged with the protesters from the very beginning and Sajeeb Wazed Joy spoken out against the quotas much earlier. “I believe our government should have spoken out against thequotasandmetwiththepro- testers from the beginning instead of leaving it to the courts... Our government filed an appeal with the Supreme Court to reducethequotas.Irecommended we take a public stance, stating the court made a mistake and we don't want the quotas. But ourgovernmentchosenotto,expecting the judicial system to handle it,” said Joy, who served as IT adviser to Hasina and now CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IN HER first public statement since her ouster on August 5, Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday set the stage for a possible confrontation in Dhaka, as she asked people to observe August 15 -- the anniversary of the assassination of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman -- as 'national mourningday' by placingwreathsattheBangabandhu Memorial Museum. This came on a day when the interim government decided to cancel the national holiday on August 15. This decision was approved at an advisory council meeting in Jamuna on Tuesday. Hasina'sstatementinBengali waspostedonXbyherUS-based son Sajeeb Wazed Joy. Stating that “many lives have been lost due to vandalism, arson and violence since last July”, Hasina condoled the deaths of “students,teachers, police,pregnant policewomen, journalists, cultural activists, leaders of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Assam CM gave it ‘flood jihad’ tag, Northeast In Bihar PM plot case, private university gets national rank honour SC emphasises: Bail is rule, jail an exception even in stringent law GRANTS BAIL IN UAPA CASE SUKRITA BARUAH GUWAHATI, AUGUST 13 ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 GRANTING BAIL to a man charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for renting out a portionof hishousetoalleged cadre of the banned Popular Front of India(PFI)whowereplanningto carry out disturbances during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bihar in 2022, the Supreme Court Tuesday said the principle “bail is the rule and jail is an exception” will apply even to statutes with stringent bail conditions. The bench of Justices A S Oka and Augustine George Masih said, “When a case is made out for a grant of bail, the Courts should not have any hesitation in granting bail. The allegations of the prosecution may be very serious. But, the duty of the Courts is to consider the case for grant of bail in accordance with the law. ‘Bail is the rule and jail is an exception’ is a settled law. Even in a case like the present case, where there are stringent conditions for the grant of bail in the relevant statutes, the same rule holds good with only modification that the bail can be granted if the conditions in the statute are satisfied.” “The rule also means that once a case is made out for the grant of bail, the Court cannot declinetograntbail.If theCourts start denying bail in deserving cases, it will be a violation of the rights guaranteed under Article 21 of our Constitution,” it said. The bench said this while granting bail to accused Jalaluddin Khan, a retired police constable,whowasarrested under UAPA for renting the first floor of the Ahmad Palace building in Patna’s Phulwari Sharif, which was in the name of his wife, to alleged PFI cadre. Opposing his bail plea, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had said that Khan, listed as accused number 2, was seen on CCTV grabs removing certain items from the first floor on July 6 and 7, 2022, along with accused number 1, who had been an active member of banned Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). When police conductedaraidonJuly11,2022,following specific intelligence, those items were not found, indicating that Khan had tampered with the evidence. Writingforthebench,Justice Oka said there is no mention in the charge sheet about the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE MOOD at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya was upbeat Tuesday. A day earlier, the Ministry of Education had announced the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024 and the institute had featured in the list of top200universities –the only private university from the BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Northeast to make it to the list. The same day, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had launched another tirade against the university after havingaccuseditof “floodjihad”the previous week. On Tuesday afternoon, the university administration held a shortcelebrationinits5000-seat auditorium. Addressing the students,facultyandmembersofthe administration gathered there, Chancellor Mahbubul Hoque be- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Unhappy with handling of Kolkata case, HC orders CBI probe Pulls up authorities, hospital principal who quit to join another sent on leave ATRI MITRA & RAVIK BHATTACHARYA KOLKATA, AUGUST 13 EXPRESSING DISPLEASUREover thehandlingof thecaseof thealleged rape and murder of a junior doctor at R G Kar Medical College and observing that “there appears to be no significant progress in the investigation”, the Calcutta High Court Tuesday transferred the probe from Kolkata Police to the CBI. A division bench, comprising Chief JusticeTSSivagnanamand JusticeHiranmayBhattacharyya, said it would monitor the probe andtheCBIwouldberequiredto submit a report to the court in three weeks. The bench directed the Kolkata Police to hand over the case diary and other documents to the CBI by 10 am Wednesday. Following the High Court order, sources in New Delhi said the CBI registeredafreshcaseafter taking over the investigation and a team of forensic experts will leave Delhi to visit the spot to lift evidence. “Currently, we are assigning tasks to all the team members and will probe the case from all possible an- PROTESTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY MAHARASHTRA: Resident doctors started an indefinite strike Tuesday, halting elective services at hospitals. RAJASTHAN: Services at government hospitals in Jaipur hit by the strike by resident doctors. CHANDIGARH: Services at the PGIMER remained partially shut as resident doctors continued their strike for a second day. JHARKHAND: Junior doctors at state-run RIMS in Ranchi boycotted OPD services and elective surgeries. TRIPURA: Doctors and students of Agartala Government Medical College staged a protest. gles,” sources said. Six pleas were filed in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Over 150 ‘missing’ Gujarat Delhi L-G rejects AAP choice, picks govt school teachers to be Gahlot to hoist Tricolour on I-Day terminated from service RITU SHARMA AHMEDABAD, AUGUST 13 GUJARAT MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGES FRAMED AGAINST TMC’S SAKET GOKHALE NOD TO PROSECUTE RAJKOT EX-TOWN PLANNER, CHIEF FIRE OFFICER PAGES 4 & 3 USTM Chancellor Mahbubul Hoque addresses students and faculty on Tuesday gan by commenting on the timing of the good news: “Kabhi aankh jalne se, upar paani daalne se achha lagta hai, hai na? (Sometimeswhenyoureyesburn, doesn’titfeelgoodwhenwateris putonit?)”.Thisdrewcheersand hoots from the students. In the past week, Hoque has been at the receiving end of vitriol from the Assam Chief Minister, ranging from accusations that he was responsible for Students hold a protest at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Tuesday. Partha Paul AFTER IT came to light that a teacher at a government school in Banaskantha district had remained absent from duty for years and settled in the United States,theGujarateducationdepartmenton Tuesday decided to terminate the services of over 150 teachers who have been absent from duty for over a year. Sixty of these teachers are currently abroad, sources told The Indian Express. Thedepartmenthasdirected all district primary education and administrative officers to terminate the services of such teachers before August 19. “As per the directions, we will be terminating the services of 17 government primary teachers this week. These teachers have already been issued showcausenoticesthrice,”Kutch District Primary Education Officer (DPEO) Bhupendrasinh Vaghela told The Indian Express. Across the state, Kutch has the highest number – 17 – of such missing teachers. Among the 17, 12 are women and five men. While three teachers are settled abroad, others have stayed away from schools citing medical, social or personal reasons. Also, after being transferred from other districts, some have officially taken charge but then remained absent. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D EXPRESS INDHAKA government on August 5. On August 8, as Yunus was sworn in, Prime Minister NarendraModihadextendedhis bestwishesandurgedhimtoensure“thesafetyandprotectionof Hindus and all other minority communities”. This direct reference to the safety of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh underlined Delhi’s expectations from the new players in Dhaka. “In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights shouldbeensured.Therootof all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why such issues arise. Institutional arrangements need to be fixed,” Yunus said on Tuesday. “We have to establish human rights and freedom of speech. That is our prime goal,” he said. JUNIOR DOCTOR’S RAPE & MURDER EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, AUGUST 13 IN A fresh tussle with the AAP government, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on TuesdaynominatedDelhiHome Minister Kailash Gahlot to hoist thenationalflagintheCapitalon Independence Day, days after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Education Minister Atishi wouldtakehisplaceattheevent. Every year, the Delhi government's General Administration Department (GAD) organises Independence Day celebrations atChhatrasalStadium,wherethe DelhiCMunfurlsthenationalflag. On August 6, Kejriwal, who is in jail after being arrested in the now-scrappedexcisepolicycase, had written a letter to Saxena, L-G Saxena, Kailash Gahlot saying that Atishi would unfurl the national flag in his place. While the Tihar Jail administrationkepttheletteronfileanddid notsendittotheL-G,theAAPreleased a copy to the media. Three days later, Saxena’s office wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on August 9, on the “current impasse created becauseof peculiar circumstances of non-availability” of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The latest ● standoff IN REJECTING Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s recommendation and choosing Kailash Gahlot, the Lieutenant Governor’s office has sought to underline the issue of the “missing” CM and the “impasse” created by his absence. In the past, the L-G's office has said that Kejriwal's decision to not step down as the CM has created hurdles in dayto-day functioning of the government. Helping Wayanad: Girls broke piggy bank, a widow her surgery fund PAGE 1 ANCHOR SHAJU PHILIP THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUGUST 13 A 76-YEAR-OLD decided her long-pendingsurgerycouldwait, a fish vendor gave up his day’s savings,twosistersagreeditwas time to break their piggy bank — in the aftermath of the July 30 Wayanad landslide that tore through the hills of the north Kerala district, killing nearly 231 peopleandwashingawayhomes andproperty,contributionssuch as these have been pouring in from across the state into the Chief Minister’sRelief Fund(CMDRF). Nearly 130 landslide victims are still missing. Among those who contributed to the CMDRF — Rs 110.55 crore, as of August 13 — aredailyworkers,students,widows and the elderly. Moved by the enormity of the tragedy and responding to the state government's call seeking contributions for relief operations, they put their everyday lives and needs on hold and dipped into their meagre savings At Chiyyaram in Thrissur, Class7studentSivanandanaand her sister Shivanya, a Class 1 student, handed over to their parents the Rs 3,050 that they had collected over the past year. “They were mostly coins of Re 1, Rs 2 and 5 that I had given them. My elder daughter wanted to buy a new TV and the younger one a bicycle. They were moved by what they saw in Wayanad and Sivanandana said she wanted to contribute. Shivanya alsoagreed.Bothof themagreed that the TV and cycle could be bought later,” says their father C SSaneesh, agoldsmith.Thefamilylivesina600-sq-foothousein the village. Students from Manipur, who study in Kerala, hand over a cheque of Rs 1 lakh as Wayanad relief contribution Edathil Sreedharan, 64, a fish vendoratPanoorinKannur,contributedhisday’scollectionof Rs 53,000 to the CMDRF. “I always watchTVnewswhileeating...It's a daily habit. But after watching news of the Wayanad tragedy, I just can't eat anything... the food just won't go down my throat. Giving up a day's earnings is the least I can do. There are people who have lost everything in Wayanad,” he says. SavithriL,76,anativeof Anad village in Thiruvananthapuram, donated Rs 25,000 — the money she had kept aside for a corrective surgery for her bow legs. “I hadmanagedtosavealittlefrom my agriculture labour pension. I thought I would finally get the surgery done because the pain in my legs was getting unbearable. But when I saw photographs and videos from Wayanad, I thought their pain was much greater than mine. At leastIgettoeatthreetimesaday. My surgery can wait,” she says. The parents of Muhammad Fidel, a Class 2 student who suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, made a difficult decision—theydecidedtohandover their son's savings of Rs 16,000 from the piggy bank to the CMDRF. “We were hoping to buy a car that can accommodate his wheelchair. He agreed to part with his piggy bank, where he saved his monthly disability pension amount (Rs 1,600). The car will have to wait. It was his decision to help the people of Wayanad," says his mother Thasni. Her husband Noufal Shah works in the Gulf. At Chembilode panchayat in Kannur,the22-memberHaritha Karma Sena, a women's selfhelp group that collects nonbiodegradable waste from houses,contributedRs40,000to the CM's Fund. Most of these women come from families that are below the poverty line and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad