‘Bharat Ratna For Dalai Lama’
India should confer the Bharat Ratna on the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, the Parliamentary Forum for Tibet has demanded.
A member of the forum and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Shanta Kumar told The Sunday Guardian that 200 MPs from across party lines had submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, demanding Bharat Ratna for the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan leader was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. Shanta Kumar said the Dalai Lama had been carrying out a peaceful struggle for the Tibetan people for more than six decades and his contribution had been acknowledged by the entire world.
Copied our anthem: Pak Army
It seems Pakistan is watching the Indian elections closely. This became evident when it accused BJP MLA Thakur Raja Singh Lodh from Goshamahal in Telangana of “copying” its anthem dedicating it to the Indian forces.
The BJP MLA had tweeted, “My new song which will be released on 14 April at 11:45 AM on the occasion of #SriRamNavami is dedicated to our #IndianArmy forces.” The moment Lodh shared a snippet of the song on social media, the Pakistani military claimed that the song, which mentioned “Zindabad Hindustan” had copied the official song of the Inter Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistan armed forces. According to Pakistani media, the song was written by Imran Raza and was sung by Sahir Ali Bagga. It was released on 23 March for Pakistan Day.
Punjab MLA promises good death to voters
On Tuesday, in Punjab’s Muktsar region, Gidderbaha MLA, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring promised to voters that he would make such beautiful crematoriums in villages that elderly people would wish to die. Warring was campaigning in favour of the Congress nominee from Faridkot Lok Sabha constituency, Mohd Sadiq.
Warring said, “Even if I have to spend Rs 10 lakh for the crematoriums, elderly people above the age of 80 would wish to die on seeing these.”
In the past, Warring had courted a controversy by claiming that “government can do anything… government has so many ways to change the nomination papers, results…”
Jail superintendent exonerated
Haryana’ s Sunaria jail superintendent Sunil Sangwan, who was accused of mounting pressure on Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for votes of Dera followers in support of the Congress, has been exonerated of the charge following an inquiry. He is the son of Satpal Sangawan, who was a minister in the Bhupender Singh Hooda’s Cabinet. A complainant had alleged Sunil Sangwan was mounting pressure on prisoners, including Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, to ask his supporters to vote for the Congress.
The Sampla SDM conducting the inquiry on the orders of the state election authorities and recorded the statements of jail officials and inmates, including Ram Rahim. He found the allegations “baseless.” However, keeping a low profile ever since the conviction of its chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in two rape cases in August 2017, Dera Sacha Sauda’s political wing has become active again.
Talking to this paper, Dera’s political wing chief, Ram Singh, said that they were holding deliberations with the “premis” (Dera followers) across the state.“Our teams have visited Naam Charcha Ghars in all districts of Punjab. We are gathering their views. Our main aim is to keep them united. We are not thinking on the lines of supporting any particular political party,” he said. He claimed that there were over 40 lakh Dera supporters in Punjab.
Sikh Boy’s Fight Against Quebec’s Bill-21
A Montreal-based Sikh schoolboy, Sukhman Singh Shergill (15) is fighting against Quebec’s proposed Bill-21 which would affect members of minority communities, including Sikhs, based in the Canadian province. Bill-21, which proposes to ban wearing of religious symbols, including turbans and hijabs, by public servants, will affect school staff, police officers, provincial justice minister, attorney general, director of criminal and penal prosecutions, crown prosecutors, provincial government lawyers or notaries, members and heads of government commissions, speaker and vice-speaker of the National Assembly, clerks, sheriffs, commissioners, doctors, nurses, day-care officials, bus drivers and bankruptcy registrars. Shergill wants to become a police officer. Shergill has created a Facebook group—the Quebec Association of Sikhs—and hosted a video in which he explains how the Bill would affect people like him.
Interestingly, it was Shergill’s cousin Gurvinder Singh, a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer, who was the force behind the change in its uniform policy in 2016, whereby the NYPD allowed its Sikh officers to wear turbans instead of traditional police cap. The Canadian Prime Minister declared that he was not in favour of Bill-21.