DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 DISTURBED AREAS NOTIFICATION BY MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS InManipur,AFSPAreimposedin6policestation areas,Centresayssituationtherestillvolatile E SUKRITA BARUAH GUWAHATI, NOVEMBER 14 A YEAR and a half after the start of ethnic violence in Manipur, the Centre Thursday reimposed the Disturbed Areas status under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the jurisdiction of six police stations in thestate’s valleyareas, including violence-hit Jiribam. The Ministry of HomeAffairs issuedthenotification,citingthe “volatile” situation in Manipur and instances of “active participation of insurgent groups in heinous acts of violence”. The Disturbed Areas status, which was in place for all of Manipurexcept19policestations THE EDITORIAL PAGE BIRSAMUNDA LIVES ON His aspirations — freedom, justice, identity and dignity — inspire the youth of our country BYPRESIDENTDROUPADI MURMU PAGE14 India to seek Arsh Dalla’s extradition from Canada De-facto chief of Khalistan Tiger Force, Nijjar aide DIVYA A NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 14 INDIA WILL seek the extradition of designated terrorist Arsh Dalla, who was arrested in Canada on November 10, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Thursday. Indian agencies had in July last yearrequestedthe Canadian government for his provisional arrest, which was declined, the MEA said. However, the Indian sideexpectsthathewillnow“be extradited or deported to face justice in India”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 UTTAR PRADESH IN PHULPUR, SP MLA CAMPAIGNS FOR BJP CANDIDATE PAGE 6 E X P L A I NE D State gateway Jiribam, hit by ethnic violence, among areas included BACK UNDER AFSPA Kangpokpi ImphalWest Jiribam Bishnupur ImphalEast IMPHAL intheMeitei-dominatedvalleyareasfromwhereitwaswithdrawn between April 2022 and April 2023, has now been extended to the jurisdictions of Sekmai and LamsangpolicestationsinImphal West, Lamlai in Imphal East, Moirang in Bishnupur, Readying for likely ● crackdown THE RETURN of AFSPA, which provides immunity to the armed forces, indicates that the situation in Manipur has not improved even after a year-and-half of the ethnic divide. Faultlines run deep, and targeted violence has also staged a comeback. The reimposition of AFSPA suggests a crackdown is imminent. Leimakhong in Kangpokpi and Jiribam police station in Jiribam. Thefirstfourareasarelocated on the borders of the central CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CRPF camp attackers missed vehicle with LMG, died in hail of gunfire NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 14 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INTERVIEW A truck set on fire by militants in Jiribam district. PTI BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Allahabad HC says ‘not less than scam...hundreds illegally recruited’; then Speaker says ‘I have no role’; SC stays CBI probe, will hear matter Jan 2025 LUCKNOW, NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 14 ONE HUNDRED and eighty six vacancies is not even a tiny drop in the ocean of jobs politicians across states and parties promise — but in Uttar Pradesh, these havecreatedasplashandastink. Big enough for the High Court to call ita “shocking...scam,” callfor a CBI probe, and raise questions of integrity and nepotism. For, after at least two rounds of testsconductedin2020-2021, a fifth of these jobs, to fill administrative positions in the UP Assembly and Legislative Council, havegonetocandidates who are relatives of officials. The same officials under whose watch the exam was held, an investigation by The Indian Express reveals. An estimated 2.5 lakh people applied for these jobs. On the list of successful candidates: The then UP Speaker’s PROand hisbrother;aMinister’s nephew; son of the Legislative Council secretariat in-charge; four relatives of the Legislative Assembly secretariat in-charge; son and daughter of the Department of Parliamentary Affairs in-charge; son of a Deputy Lokayukta; son of a former Officer on Special Duty to two Chief Ministers. Add to this: at least five who arerelativesof the ownersof the two private firms, TSR Data ProcessingandRabhav(seeadjacentstory),whichconductedthis test amid the first Covid wave. All these candidates were appointedthreeyearsagotothetwo secretariats that administer the UP legislature. In an order on September 18, 2023, hearing a plea filed by three unsuccessful CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ATTRIBUTING THE Lok Sabha defeat in Maharashtra to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, Deputy Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis said his party “failed miserablytosetthecounter nar- DEVENDRA FADNAVIS rative”to“aforceformedbypeo- DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER, MAHARASHTRA ple having anarchist and ultra leftist mentalities”. Over the last five months, could not do anything about it. Fadnavis said the BJP sought out Butnowwearetotallyreadyand organisations within the ideo- I must tell you that now we have logical umbrella of the RSS to that capacity, we have nullified helpcounterthenarrative. that narrative.” “We appealed to the orHe said that the ganisationsworkingunwork started immedider our ideological umatelyaftertheLokSabha brella that if you don’t elections. The RSS, he have to come into polisaid, doesn’t directly do tics, youdon’t come,but anything itself. “There nationalist forces will DECISION aremorethan30organhavetorespondtoanarisations (which follow 2024 chist forces and you will theirideology)working MAHARASHTRA have to talk against anin various social archy. Today, they have helped spheres. They are very powerful usandbecauseof theirhelp,they but never enter politics,” he said. have countered Bharat Jodo’s Defending the slogans narrativeof theanarchistforces,” “Batenge toh katenge” and “Ek Fadnavis told The Indian Express hain toh safe hain”, Fadnavis said in an interview. itisa counterto theOpposition’s During the Lok Sabha polls, narrative as he pointed towards Fadnavis said, “We were also “Vote Jihad” (extreme polarisaoverconfident… When we re- tionof Muslimvotes)statingthat alised that they were creating a therewereatleast11seatsinLok narrative against us, we had no Sabha where there was extreme capacity, capability and appara- polarisation of Muslim votes. tus to counter that narrative. We CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE EXPRESS After exam for jobs in UP House, a fifth go to VVIP kin: Ex-Speaker staff, kids of Principal Secretaries candidates, Sushil Kumar, Ajay Tripathi and Amrish Kumar, a two-judgebenchoftheAllahabad High Court ordered a CBI probe, callingtheprocess“shocking”and “notlessthanarecruitmentscam” where “hundreds of recruits illegally and unlawfully (were) recruited by an external agency of shaken credence”. On an appeal by the LegislativeCouncil,theSupreme Court stayed theCBI probe— the next hearing is scheduled on January 6, 2025. These appointments pertain to posts of at least 15 Review Officers (ROs); 27 Assistant ROs andjuniorpositions.ROisequivalent to a gazetted post with a salary band of Rs 47,600-Rs 1,51,100 and ARO has a pay matrix of Rs 44,900-Rs 1,42,400. The Indian Express investigated records and interviewed those who were involved to trace the 38 candidates selected for the two secretariats with links to officials and politicians: ■ PRO to H N Dikshit, who was UP Assembly Speaker when the recruitment was conducted. Post: Special Executive Officer (Publication),LegislativeCouncil, anewlycreatedposition.“Hewas withmeandwaslaterappointed to the Council (secretariat). I had no role in this,” Dikshit said. The PRO’sbrotheralsogotselectedas Review Officer (RO) in the Assembly.“Idon’tknowthisperson,” Dikshit said. Asked aboutthe recruitment conducted under his watch, Dikshit, an ex-BJP MLA who was the Speaker from 2017-2022, said, “It was conducted by an agency approved by us. But my role was limited and the matter is in court now. Noneof my close relatives have been appointed to P12 MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 14 AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION SHYAMLAL YADAV ‘We appealed to organisations under RSS umbrella, they helped us counter’ VALLABH OZARKAR & SANDEEP SINGH DEEPTIMAN TIWARY THE DEATH of 10 armed men duringan attack on aCRPFcamp in Manipur’s Jiribam district Monday appears to have been the result of a miscalculation on the part of the armed group. Sourcesinthesecurityestablishment said the group, while targeting the camp, did not notice a CRPF bulletproof multipurposevehicle(MPV)stationed outside the camp. Most of the10 menweresaidtohavediedinthe first burst from a Light Machine Gun(LMG)mountedontheMPV. Bharat Jodo Yatra a force of anarchists, failed to counter it in LS polls: Fadnavis Tulsi Gabbard, who speaks up for India & Hindus, new US intel tsar DIVYA A NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 14 Behind the shaded glass door is the two-room office of testing firm TSR Data Processing in Lucknow. Shyamlal Yadav Owners of testing firms have dubious paper trail — and an arrest record SHYAMLAL YADAV LUCKNOW, NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 14 AT A noisy traffic junction in the heart of Lucknow, behind a tangle of cables, is the two-room “main office” of TSR Data Processing, the private firm at the centre of a contentious recruitment drive for key administrative positions in the secretariats of the UP Legislative Assembly and Council. This is just one of the 10 addresses in two states linked to the private firms involved in the recruitment that prompted the Allahabad High Court to order a CBI probe, an investigation of RoCrecordsbyTheIndianExpress shows. This newspaper visited all the listed addresses to meet the owners of these recruitment firms — and hit a deadend at each of them. TELLING NUMBERS 2.5 lakh estimated number of candidates applied for posts in UP Assembly and Council secretariats 186 38 5 posts were advertised in all by both secretariats relatives and aides of officials, politicians selected relatives of recruitment firm owners also in list of 38 TSR Data Processing Ltd: Records show that TSR was incorporated in July 2010 by Ram Beer Singh and Satya Pal Singh along with Mohd Tariq who is now not a part of the firm. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald TrumphaschosenTulsiGabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who left the party in 2022 and endorsed Trump earlierthisyear,asthenextDirector of National Intelligence. As the first Hindu member of theUSHouseof Representatives, Gabbardturnedheadswhenshe took her oath of office with her handontheBhagavadGita.Later, Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence she gifted the same copy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a mark of respect, when she met him in New York in 2019. Her views on Hindus and their plight in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan have earned her a lot of recognition among Hindu Americans. The 43-year-old will take over from Avril Haines and oversee 17 spy agencies after Trump startshissecondterminJanuary. Her lack of experience in the shadowy world of intelligence reflects how Trump is trying to move away from the conventional wisdom of choosing CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WILL CONTINUE AGITATION UNTIL ALL DEMANDS MET: ASPIRANTS Amid protests by candidates, UP govt to hold PCS prelims in 1 shift EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE LUCKNOW, NOVEMBER 14 AS PROTESTS in Prayagraj by candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission examinations entered its fourth day on Thursday, the state government announced that it would hold the Provincial Civil Service Examination (PCS) preliminary exams in a single shift — One of the key demands of the protesters. The move came after the intervention of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a spokesperson Protesting candidates in Prayagraj on Thursday. PTI added. Earlier in the day, videos that surfaced on social media showed several people joining the agitation, with the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘I am dead inside’: At UP home of student killed in Ahmedabad road rage PAGE 1 ANCHOR NEETIKA JHA MEERUT, NOVEMBER 14 THE DIWALI buntings are still in place, so are the rangoli and a stringoffairylightsonthedoor— reminders from exactly two weeks ago, when Priyanshu Jain had celebrated the festival with his family. The two-storeyed houseinMeerut’sTirupatiGarden colony now stands forlorn, a lone lightinsideoneofitsroomswhere the family has assembled after a prayer meeting for Priyanshu. On November 10, Priyanshu, 23,asecond-yearMBAstudentat Ahmedabad’s premier Mudra InstituteofCommunications,was stabbed to death in an alleged case of road rage. Two days later, theAhmedabadCrimeBrancharrested a police constable, Virendrasinh Padheriya, in the case. AccordingtotheFIRfiledatthe Bopal police station in Ahmedabad by Priyanshu’s batchmate Prithviraj Parakshitdas Mahapatra, 28, the two had gone to a cafeandabakeryafterstoppingat a tailoring shop at 7.45 pm. Ontheirwaybacktotheircollegecampus,around10.30pm,at aturningontheroad,acarat“full speed”came“dangerously”close tothemandPriyanshu,whowas riding pillion on Prithviraj’s bike, shoutedatthecardriver.Theman thenturnedaround,chasedtheir bike down and, following a verbalexchange,stabbedPriyanshu. He was taken to Saraswati HospitalandfromtheretoZydus Hospital in Ahmedabad, where he was declared dead. Briefly stepping out of the house to see a visitor off, Priyanshu’sfather,PankajJain,57,acharteredaccountant,managestosay, “Wehavelosteverything,thereis nothing left. I am in no condition to talk. I am dead inside.” Priyanshu Jain (above); a prayer meet in Meerut Priyanshu’s mother Reenu Jain breaks down, “Usne mere pyare bacche ko maar diya (He killed my dear son). If he was so angry,hecouldhavehithimwith a stick... why stab him? I should have kept my son with me.” Priyanshu’ssisterGeetikaJain, 27, says Priyanshu last called her around8.30pm,acoupleofhours beforehewasattacked.“Heasked formoneytobuyairpodsandtold me he has a job interview (witha global IT firm) on November 24. He had stepped out of campus withhisfriendtogetasuitstitched fortheinterview.ThenextcallIgot wasfromPriyanshu’sfriend,who saidtheyweretakinghimtohospitalashewasattackedbysomeone.Ithoughtitwouldbeaminor accident, I didn’t know he would die,” she says. Neighbours of the Jains talk fondly of the “brilliant and kind boy” who left for Delhi after his Class 12 to do his Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Indraprastha University. “When Priyanshu got into MICA,wewereallveryhappyfor him.Injustaboutfivemonths,the coursewouldhavebeenoverand hewouldhavelandedajob,”says Vaibhav Kapoor, 35, a neighbour. His friends are in shock. “As kids,weusedtofightoverfootball. It feels like yesterday,” says Sanjana, a childhood friend. “We wouldplayintheparkandinside thecolony.Evenafterhegrewup, he was a die-hard football lover andabig-timeMessifan.Askhim anything about Messi, and he would know the answer.” Two days before his death, Priyanshu had texted another childhood friend, Avni Dhawan, in the Netherlands. “He told my daughter he had applied to several firms and had an interview comingup.Hewasveryexcited,” saysSunil Dhawan,Avni’s father.