● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 WHAT IS THE POINT NOW? THE FEAR THAT HE LIVED UNDER, OF BEING TAKEN AWAY, DIED WITH HIM: WIFE HAJERA BIBI Last week, SC declared Rahim Ali a citizen; what nobody knew: he died over two years ago branded ‘foreigner’ For years, family of Assam man ran from court to foreigners’ tribunal to fight for justice after police called him illegal SUKRITA BARUAH NALBARI, JULY 17 Hajera Bibi shows a photo of her husband Rahim Ali, who died on Dec 28, 2021. Sukrita Baruah IN A landmark judgment delivered last week, the Supreme Court declared Assam resident Rahim Ali an Indian citizen — bringing to a close a 12-year chapter which began with a Foreigners’ Tribunal in the state labelling him a foreigner. Only, The Indian Express has found that Ali died over twoand-a-half years before the verdict, carrying the heavy tag of a “foreigner” and “illegal immigrant from Bangladesh” to his grave. Ali, a resident of Kashimpur village in Assam’s Nalbari district, died in his village on December 28, 2021 at the age of 58, even as the apex court continued to hear his case. This was after the Tribunal had delivered an ex-parte order in2012declaringhimaforeigner sincehehadnotappearedbefore it, stating that he “had failed to discharge his burden” under Section 9 of the Foreigners Act. When he appealed against thisintheGauhatiHighCourton the ground that he was unable toappearbeforetheTribunalbecauseof a medicalcondition,the petitionwasdismissed.Then,he had approached the Supreme Court,whichdirectedthecaseto a Foreigners’ Tribunal in 2017 to again decide whether he was a foreigner or not. This time too, the Tribunal declared him a foreigner, pointing to discrepancies in spellings and dates in some of the documents he had produced. Advocate Kaushik Choudhury,whorepresentedAli in the Supreme Court, said he had been doing so pro bono af- ter the case was handed to him by a lower court lawyer. Choudhury said he was not aware of his death. “It never came to our knowledge. The only way we could have known this was if it had been communicated by either the family or the state, but that was not the case. The people in these cases are not educated, so the information remained with them,” he said. Ali’s son Mojibur Rahman said that after his death, nobody in the family had spoken to any lawyer. At their village, Ali’s wife Hajera Bibi (51) said his biggest fear through his entire legal battle was that “he would be taken away by the police.” In fact, she recalled that after he was declared a foreigner by theTribunal,heavoidedsleeping CONTINUEDONPAGE2 As rumblings in UP Doda attack: Jaish suspects infiltrated six BJP get louder, state months ago, ‘stayed off grid’ in Jammu unit chief meets PM Recruited from Pak’s Punjab, North-West Deputy CM Maurya reiterates: Party bigger than Govt, workers our pride UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya arrives to meet BJP chief J P Nadda at the party headquarters in Delhi, Tuesday. PTI VIKAS PATHAK & MAULSHREE SETH NEW DELHI, LUCKNOW, JULY 17 AMID THE rumblings within the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, state party president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Capital on Wednesday. The meeting came a day after Chaudhary and the state's Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya met BJP national president J P Nadda separately on Tuesday. There have been signs of dissent emerging in the BJP's state unit after the party's poor show in the Lok Sabha elections — the BJP's tally fell from 62 out of 80 seatsinUPin 2019tojust33.The SamajwadiParty(SP)edgedpast the BJP with 37 seats; the Congress won another six in alliance with the SP. Earlier in the day, Maurya reiterated his statement that the sangathan (party/ organisation) is bigger than the government. “Sangathan sarkar se badaa hai; karyakartaon ka dard mera dard hai; sangathan se koi badaa nahin, karyakarta hi gaurav hai (The party/ organisation is bigger than the government; the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, JULY 17 THE RECENT attacks that have rocked the Jammu region are suspected to have been perpetratedbya“freshbatchof terrorists” who infiltrated in the past six months and comprise fighters from Pakistan's Punjab as wellasKhyberPakhtunkhwaregions,saidsources.Mostof them are suspected to be Jaish-eMohammed (JeM) recruits. According to sources, while the ‘People’s Anti-Fascist Front’ claimed credit for the attacks in Poonch-Rajouri earlier, the ‘Kashmir Tigers’ took responsibility for the more recent attacks in Doda-Kathua. Both these groups are suspected to be JeM fronts, said sources. Thegroupsarehighlytrained, motivated and those from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region mayalsohavebattleexperience, including in Afghanistan, said CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Maharashtra to spend Rs 5,500 cr on internship for unemployed youth ALOK DESHPANDE MUMBAI, JULY 17 THE MAHARASHTRA government will spend Rs 5,500 crore on the Mukhyamantri Yuva KaryaPrashikshanYojanainternship scheme for unemployed youth. The scheme, which aims to enhance the employability andskillsetof theyouthandprepare them for a competitive job market, was announced in the state budget 2024-25 presented by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar. Speaking at a public event in Pandharpur on Tuesday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, “The government will extend Rs 6,000 to those who are Class 12 pass, Rs 8,000 to those with ITI and diploma and Rs 10,000 for thosewithdegreeandpostgraduation as a stipend.” As per the government resolution issued by the Department of Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, which is the implementing agencyof theschemealongwith the CM Public Welfare cell, eligible candidates should be between18and35yearsof ageand CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A soldier near the encounter site in Doda on Wednesday. PTI BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY NOIDA, JULY 17 PAGE 7 Afterbacklash, KarnatakaGovt putspvtsector quotaBillonhold Bill in preparation stage, discussion at next Cabinet meeting: Siddaramaiah AKRAM M BENGALURU, JULY 17 AFTER TOP CEOs and industry bodies warned the Karnataka government that the proposed law on jobreservationintheprivate sector would drive away companiesandsettheclockback on progress, the state leadership on Wednesday said the Bill has been withheld and the Cabinet would discuss it comprehensively in the next meeting. The state Cabinet had on Tuesday approved ‘The Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other EstablishmentsBill,2024’,which mandates 75 per cent reservation in non-management jobs and 50 per cent in management jobs for “local candidates”. While Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said the proposedlawshould“exempthighly skilledrecruitmentfromthispolicy”, Nasscom, an industry body that represents software and service companies, unequivocallysaidthattheBill’sprovisions would“stiflestartups”and“force companies to relocate as local skilled talent becomes scarce”. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Food stalls on Kanwar Yatra route must show owners’ names: UP SSP NEETIKA JHA GOVT & POLITICS PRESIDENT RETURNS PUNJAB BILL SEEKING GOVERNOR REMOVAL AS CHANCELLOR DAY AFTER CABINET NOD POLICE IN Muzaffarnagar have asked eateries, including roadside carts, along the route of the KanwarYatratodisplaynamesof owners or proprietors to “avoid anyconfusion”amongtheyatris. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarnagar, Abhishek Singh said, “Preparationshavebegunforthe Kanwar Yatra. In the area under our jurisdiction, which is around 240 km, all eateries — hotels, dhabas, thelas (roadside carts) — have been instructed to display names of their proprietors or those running the shop. This is being done to ensure there is no confusion among the kanwarias and no allegations are raised in thefuture,leadingtoalawandordersituation.Everyoneisfollowing this of their own free will.” Earlier this month, Muzaffarnagar MLA and UP Minister of State (independent charge) Kapil Dev Aggarwal had held a meeting on yatra preparations. He had said that while he had no objection to Muslims CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 124 BJP leader declares A digital vaccine card for every child: Govt’s Metro 3 launch date; U-Win portal to redraw immunisation map nod pending: MMRC HOW DOES U-WIN WORK 153 SWEETY ADIMULAM 18/07/2024 96 78 NO DATA TO SUPPORT ‘VIVEK’ CLAIMS: NCP P6 ANONNA DUTT MUMBAI, JULY 17 BHARATIYA JANATA Party (BJP) nationalgeneralsecretaryVinod Tawade on Wednesday announcedthatMumbai’sfirstunderground Metro (line 3) would be opened to public on July 24, but according to the Mumbai MetroRailCorporation(MMRC), regulatory clearances for the same were pending. Tawade,made the claim in a post on the microblogging site X and later deleted the post. The incident mirrors a similaroneof lastyearwhentheBJP’s CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, JULY 17 SITTINGINaportacabinatTindli village in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur district, ASHA worker Reena Patel uses her smartphone to fill in details of a month-old baby on U-Win, the government’s new childhood vaccinationmanagementportal. Part of a quiet digital revolu- ■ Children between 0-5 years will be registered on U-Win. Vaccines given at birth are also recorded. ■ A list of children, who are scheduled to receive their vaccine doses, is generated through U-Win. ■ The e-record helps children get vaccinated in different places without carrying a booklet. The portal sends SMS alerts to parents. ■ The portal also records birth weight and details of physical deformities, if any. This can be used for other government programmes. tion that is set to change the way maternal and child healthcare is delivered across the country, UWin is likely to be launched on August 15. It is expected to be a gamechanger for primary healthcare, marking a transition from the existing vaccination cards that ASHA and other healthcareworkersupdatemanuallytoacompletelydigitalplatform that will maintain records CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Politics of job quota KARNATAKA HAS joined states such as Andhra Pradesh and Haryana in proposing job quotas in the private sector. In Haryana, the Supreme Court struck down the law calling it unconstitutional, whereas Andhra never implemented it on the ground. THE EDITORIAL PAGE DROPTHIS BILL Karnataka’s proposed law on quota for locals in the private sector is bad law, economics and politics PAGE8 Police: Twelve Maoists killed in Gadchiroli encounter EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, JULY 17 AT LEAST 12 Maoists, including a senior Divisional Committee member, were killed in an encounter with a police team in Gadchiroli district of MaharashtraonWednesday,police said. Two police personnel were injured in the gunfight. The encounter took place at Wandoli village located close to the border with Chhattisgarh. According to Gadchiroli Police,theyreceivedinformation that 12-15 Maoists were camping near Wandoli village,following which an operation was launched around 10 am on Wednesday. Seven teams, comprising commandos of the elite C-60 unit and other district police personnel, were sent to the location. Police said the operation lasted six hoursand after a fierce gunfight, the bodies of 12 Maoists were recovered. Several automatic weapons were also found at the site. “A heavy exchange of fire began in the afternoon and continued intermittently until late evening for more than six hours. Area searches have resulted in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In some years, Indians may be playing each other for world title: Anand PAGE 1 ANCHOR EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE CHENNAI, JULY 17 THE RAPID strides made by Indian prodigies on the battlefield of the 64 squares makes five-time world champion ViswanathanAnandbelievethat there may soon be a situation where two Indians are playing against each other for the world champion’s crown. “They could easily be each other’srivals(attheWorldChess Championship) in some years,” Anand predicted at the Express Adda in Chennai on Tuesday, where he was the guest of honour with wife, Aruna, and India’s top-ranked chess player, Arjun Erigaisi.Thetriowasinconversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and Amit Kamath, Assistant Editor, The Indian Express. “This current Indian generation of chess players is so close to the top that they’re sniffing most things.Obviously,playingwiththe higheststakes(attheworldchampionship) is an experience you have to encounter in a very raw fashion to figure (out what the pressure there is like),” he said. Anand, the country’s first grandmaster, spearheaded a chess revolution in the country that has seen three Indians — Arjun Erigaisi (World No 4), D Gukesh (World No 7) and R Praggnanandhaa (World No 8) — find a spot in the current top 10 ranks. Gukesh will challenge Ding Liren for the world champion’s crown later this year. If he manages to wrest the title from theChinesegrandmaster,hewill become the youngest world champion. India’simprintinchessisalso growing,withanIndia-powered Chess legend Viswanathan Anand, wife Aruna and top player Arjun Erigaisi at Express Adda in Chennai. Amit Chakravarty Global Chess League providing a team-based twist to what was an individualistic sport. “Indians are enjoying lots of sports now. But we like imposing our own business model on it. We want something new. That’s why we had the Global Chess League last year, which was this new Indian way of organising sport,” Anand said. “Overall, I would say that it’s mucheasiertobeasportsperson in India today than it was 20 years ago. Now you get so much support, for training, for equipment and from the audience.” Asked if he sees a reflection of himself and his “nice guy” image in the next generation of Indian players, Anand replied: “They have seen me growing up and maybe that played a part. But to be honest, they came preheated like that. The age difference is so much that they would call me 'sir' all the time. Sometimes, it’s seven times in the same sentence. It feels awkward. I tried to get them to stop once,andtheyasked,‘wouldyou like to be called uncle?’ They’re just very well brought up.” “I have not played them a lot recently. I played Pragg in a match six years ago. I played Gukesh last year. It’s occasional. Even at events, they’re very polite,butnotontheboard.They’re very competitive on the board. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2