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Power fight between Telugu states intensifies – Telangana snaps power supply to Andhra

The row over sale and purchase of electricity between the two Telugu states – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh – intensified with Telangana snapping power supply to Andhra Pradesh over Rs 1676. 46 crore of pending dues.

Chairman and managing director of Telangana Transco D Prabhakar Rao in a letter to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart stated that the power supply to Andhra Pradesh will be restored only after payment of the dues.

“We have requested for permanent and amicable settlement of dues between the two states and release Rs 1676.46 crore after netting off AP Genco dues against the amounts receivable by Telangana power utilities. Once the payments are made, supply of power to AP Discoms will be restored”, Rao said.

The move, which came just a day after Andhra Pradesh stopped power supply to Telangana over dues of around 4,440 crore rupees, is seen as a tit for tat. Telangana gets over 400 mw power from Andhra Pradesh on a daily basis.

“Telangana power utilities are also constrained to regulate power supply to AP Discoms from TS Genco stations due to the failure on the part of AP power utilities to pay the rightful dues to TS power utilities,” Rao said.

“Adverting to power regulation notice issued by AP and regarding power regulation to TS Discoms immediately, this is to inform you that on several occasions TS power utilities had requested AP power utilities to settle the issues affably by adjusting the AP Genco power bill against the dues payable by them to TS power utilities and release the net amount. But, the requests were unheeded by AP power officials and AP chose to isolate the claims of TS Dicoms and insist on payments only to AP Genco,” he added.

The dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana over sharing electric power dates back the time when Telangana was carved out as a separate state from Pradesh in 2014. Power utilities of the two states –AP Genco and TS Discoms  – have pending dues against each other.

Telangana has been alleging that the electricity being offered by Andhra Pradesh is costlier and that is in violation of the AP Reorganisation Act. Andhra Pradesh, however, maintains that the tariff is in tune with the Act.

In a bid to resolve the power imbroglio, the Centre had earlier offered to play the mediator between the two states.

Andhra Pradesh has become power-surplus with the commissioning of 1,600MW Sri Damo-daram Sanjeevaiah supercritical thermal power project and 2,640MW project promoted by SembCorp Gayatri. Telangana is still a power deficit state.

It could be noted that even before the division of Andhra Pradesh, there were serious imbalances in the consumption and generation of power between Seemandhra  and Telangana regions. Telangana region, including the state capital of Hyderabad, reportedly consumed more power than the Seemandhra region, but was lagging in power generation.

Prannoy Roy blocks Malini Parthasarathy on Twitter for calling out ‘press freedom’ drama

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Barely a couple of days after Malini Parthasarathy, the former Editor of left-leaning newspaper The Hindu expressed her opinion that NDTV was trying to ‘hide behind the shield of press freedom’ in wake of charges of financial wrongdoings against its promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, she has discovered that Prannoy Roy has blocked her on Twitter.


Blocking is an action on Twitter where you let a user know that you have no time or respect for his or her views, and your life is better without the user around. The other option is to ‘mute’ a Twitter user, which has somewhat similar effects, but blocking makes sure that the blocked user is not able to read your tweets and thus offer counter commentary to your views.

Malini Parthasarathy, who is also a Director in the company that publishes The Hindu, discovered that she was not welcome in Prannoy’s party a day after the NDTV founder had got together a group of ‘eminent’ people and journalists in Delhi to support NDTV and call for ‘unity’ among the journalists.

With Prannoy deciding to let Malini know in clear terms that her dissenting views were not agreeable to him, Malini also decided to let the world know that Prannoy’s call for unity and solidarity among the journalistic community had no credibility.

“If we as a journalistic fraternity, take umbrage at dissent within our group, what credibility is there for calls for solidarity?” Malini quipped with obvious reference to NDTV’s attempt of drumming up support by parading ‘eminent’ people and journalists.

She reiterated that NDTV crying ‘press freedom’ and ‘attack on democracy’ was not justified, and such attempts of blocking probe into news channel promoters’ financial dealings will actually lower the credibility of the press and journalists.


It is not for the first time when NDTV has ‘blocked’ journalists for daring to express opinions contrary to their own beliefs and positions. Former Editor of Outlook magazine Vinod Mehta had claimed that he was ‘banned’ from appearing on NDTV because his magazine carried the Radia tapes.

“Previously, I used to appear at least twice a week on NDTV. But since the Radia tapes story, I have never been invited. And frankly, I don’t miss it,” Mehta had revealed a few months before he passed away in March 2015.

Radia tapes not only contained conversation with corporate lobbyist Nira Radia and the then NDTV journalist Barkha Dutt, but one of the tapes also had Radia telling another journalist that “we need to support Prannoy”.

Records suggest that within two weeks of this conversation that is supposed to have taken place in July 2009, NDTV received 350 crore rupees from a company that was owned by Reliance Industries Limited.

Interestingly, Prannoy Roy had decided to leave Twitter after Radia tapes came into public knowledge in November 2010. He tweeted more than 3 years later, and now he is so active on Twitter that he has blocked Malini Parthasarathy.

Apart from Vinod Mehta, Aditya Raj Kaul, currently a journalist with television news channel Republic TV, too had claimed that his views were ‘blocked’ by NDTV. Aditya holds anti-separatist views on Kashmir issue had been an activist in the ‘Justice for Priyadarshini Mattoo’ campaign before he became a full-time journalist.

“I was muted for the views on Kashmir which didn’t match the separatist-tilt of the editor,” Aditya had written in 2015, further adding a line that sums up the situation prevalent currently – “Irony just dies a little when those who ban important voices in a debate, narrative or any discourse, suddenly protest demanding ‘freedom of expression’.”

NIA moves to revoke Zakir Naik’s passport

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is reportedly in the process of revoking the Indian passport issued to controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik who has been waging jihad through his poisonous lectures and speeches.

According to the Indian Express report, Naik holds Passport No -Z2200757 that was issued in Mumbai on May 13, 2011. His passport was renewed on 20 January, 2016 in Mumbai and a new passport was issued in his name bearing the number Z3606623 with a validity of 10 years.

NIA sources suggest that it was in September, 2012 that Zakir Naik obtained a status of Non-Resident Indian. He left India on 13 May this year and has not returned since then. Naik, who believed to be having permanent residence status in Malaysia, has reportedly applied for Malaysian citizenship. Intelligence sources suggest that Government of India is planning to use its diplomatic channels to block Zakir Naik’s attempts to get citizenship in any country. Malaysian authorities are aware about terror cases pending against Naik.

The NIA had approached the Interpol for issuance of a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Naik and sent the requisite documents to National Central Bureau (Interpol) NCB on May 11, 2017.

During the investigation, the NIA found that 37 properties owned by Naik and companies run by him are estimated to be worth more than Rs 100 crore. The Enforcement Directorate had attached properties of Zakir Naik-led Islamic Research Foundation worth Rs. 18.37 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Naik is found to have huge investments in various properties across Mumbai and Pune. The NIA has also reportedly traced a web of at least 11 companies incorporated by Naik with his family members and close aides as directors. NIA has also tracked the trail of financial transactions running into many crores through these companies and the bank accounts of his sister Nailah Noorani and his father Late Abdul Karim Naik. All these transactions took place in the last few years.

The NIA has registered a criminal case against Naik under Sections 153A of Indian Penal Code and Sections 10, 13 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The special NIA Court at Mumbai has issued a non-bailable warrant against Naik.

Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) has already been declared as an Unlawful Association by Government of India as per a notification dated November 17, 2016.

NIA sources suggest that Abu Anas, who has been chargesheeted in the “ISIS conspiracy case” registered by the NIA in 2015, had received a scholarship from Naik’s IRF for three consecutive years – from 2013 to 2015. Hyderabad-based Anas was allegedly part of a conspiracy linked to Junood-ul-Khalifa-fil-Hind, an ISIS-affiliated group.

Man files a Re 1 defamation suit against Kejriwal for making false accusations against him

Ankit Bhardwaj, a BJP youth wing member has decided to file a civil defamation case against AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh for sharing his pictures online and claiming that he was the person who had slapped rebel AAP leader Kapil Mishra on 10th May, thus claiming that BJP acted to bring bad name to AAP.

In reality, another person named Ankit Bhardwaj had walked over to Kapil Mishra while the latter was on a hunger strike and started hitting him before Mishra’s supporters caught hold of him. The attacker was also shouting threats like, “Kapil Mishra has betrayed the party. He doesn’t deserve to live”. 

He was initially identified as an AAP volunteer in media reports, but the AAP leadership soon started circulating ‘evidence’ that claimed that Ankit Bhardwaj was actually a BJP worker out there to defame the party.

This was tweeted by AAP’s Social Media head Ankit Lal, and Kejriwal too re-tweeted a similar claim:

screenshots
Screenshot via India Samvad

Even AAP’s official page decided to peddle this version using Sanjay Singh’s ‘expose’:

This whole orchestra of the AAP though soon fell apart however.

The attacker Ankit Bhardwaj who had assaulted Mishra was soon taken into police custody. While he was in custody, the Ankit Bhardwaj associated with the BJP came in front of the media and blasted AAP for defaming him. Media reports claimed that both the attacker Ankit Bhardwaj and his father had confessed to the police that he had been working for AAP since the last 2 years.

The BJP’s Ankit Bhardwaj wasn’t taking things lightly and sent a legal notice on 12th May to Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh asking them to apologize and state the truth on social media plus in a press conference within two days.

Kejriwal and co were in no mood to comply and this initially prompted Ankit to file a criminal defamation case on 26th May. He has now followed it up with a civil defamation suit worth only Re 1, which he filed at a Delhi court.

Ankit had reportedly assessed the total damages incurred by him to be Rs 1 crore but he reportedly had no knowledge of either Kejriwal or Sanjay Singh having any valuable assets, hence he decided to limit his claim to only a symbolic Re 1.

Kejriwal is already reeling under a criminal defamation suit worth Rs 10 crores which was filed by BJP leader Arun Jaitley. Kejriwal then had hired noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani to fight his case but the latter’s defense ended up heaping another defamation case on him.

Find out what happened when Pakistani envoy to US said Pak was ‘no safe haven for terrorists’

Pakistan ambassador to the US Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry made a fantastical claim at a Washington DC audience by insisting that there were no safe sanctuaries for terrorists in Pakistan. Chaudhry was speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Regional perspectives on the US strategy in Afghanistan’ at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, Washington DC on Wednesday.

“Terrorism under any pretext is not acceptable to us (Pakistan),” Chaudhry said.

Though diplomacy is all about keeping a poker face even when such claims are being made, the other panelists and the audience could not hold themselves and burst into laughter on his claims.

A visibly irritated Chaudhry reportedly said, “What is so funny about this?”

“What sanctuaries you are talking about? If you want to live in the past, you cannot solve the present. Haqqani and the Taliban are not our friends. They are not our proxies. What Quetta Shura you are talking about? What Peshawar Shura?” the Pakistani ambassador desperately tried to justify his claims.

He went on to say that Pakistan wishes to see a peaceful, stable, prosperous, and sovereign Afghanistan. He added that that Mullah Omar – who died in a hospital in Karachi – never left Afghanistan.

The audience continued to be amused.

Reactions were not limited to amusement and laughter though. The former US diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad, who had served as his country’s ambassador to Afghanistan, tore into Chaudhry’s claims in a point by point rebuttal.

“We have very firm evidence of his (Mullah Omar) presence in Pakistan, where he went, lived, hospitalized,” Khalilzad said, adding that for a long time there was the idea that Osama bin Laden never left Afghanistan.

Former Indian minister Manish Tewari and top American think-tank expert Ashley Tellis too joined Khalilzad saying that terrorist safe havens continue to exist in Pakistan and there is sizable support from Pakistani establishment to run the terror factory.

Tewari said it is time that Pakistan should introspect as to why the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani who went to Rawalpindi to meet the Pakistan Army Chief has turned against Pakistan. Tellis said while the safe havens continue to exist in Pakistan and there is no denying that the Taliban leadership are based in Pakistan.

Afghan diplomat, Muhammad Asad, and Afghan woman journalist Nazira Karimi also challenged Chaudhry’s claim about terrorist safe haven.

“Our allegation is evidence based,” Asad said adding that it is time for the US to look the other way around. Karimi referred to the allegations of US lawmakers about continued terrorist safe havens in Pakistan.

It is not known if the Pakistani envoy later locked himself in the hotel room to either laugh or cry.

How media created fake controversy about BJP calling for a ‘ban on Momos’

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News had broken in various media outlets yesterday about BJP legislator Ramesh Arora of Jammu and Kashmir calling for a ban on Momos due to the health hazards associated with them. Arora has reportedly been demanding a ban on Momos in J&K for about 5 months.

A section of journalists soon latched on to the news reports and proclaimed this demand to be in line with their accusation that the BJP wishes to regulate the food habits of Indians.

A couple of them also attributed the demand of a single BJP legislator as the view of the whole party:


A few media outlets too decided to go hyperbolic and wrote reports titled:

The poison is not in the Momo but BJP’s food politics

Going by the reactions it looked as if the BJP legislator Ramesh Arora had some personal grudge against the Chinese, and thus ‘their food’, and had based his demand on some loony logic. But by just reading the whole article, people would have come to know that the legislator’s demands were backed via a strong scientific logic.

As it turn out, the BJP legislator has since long been a strong advocate against all Chinese food available on Indian streets which use the unhealthy mono-sodium glutamate (MSG) or Ajinomoto as an ingredient. According to the legislator, the MSG’s regular consumption was known to cause serious diseases including cancer and was deadlier than psychotropic drugs.

The news report also cemented Arora’s claims by stating that the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Cancer Institute in a 2007 study had concluded that MSG caused cancer and the WHO too had declared it unsafe. The report also had made it clear that Arora was not against Chinese food and was all in favor of their consumption, provided they were cooked safely.

Even though the BJP was being ridiculed for wanting a ‘ban’, the critics had failed to mention that the Congress too had called for a ban on Chinese street food containing MSG in 2015 and had pressurized the Mumbai Municipal Corporation to ban the sale of Chinese food outside Mumbai schools.

According to distinguished scientist Anand Ranganathan who brought the whole episode to outraging people’s attention, the ban on MSG containing Chinese food won’t be logical as the Indian Food and Drug Administration has not yet banned MSG but all the food items which make use of this ingredient should have a disclosure regarding them using this ingredient.

He also commented on how even though the FDA hadn’t yet banned the ingredient, the Congress still got Chinese food banned in Mumbai using its pretext.

On a lighter and healthier note, amidst this all outrage created by a headline-and-BJP-hunting media, one guy summed up the media reporting:


Congress leader who threatened to kill Modi warns of ‘joint action’ by Dalits and Muslims

Imran Masood, the Congress leader from Western Uttar Pradesh, who had threatened to chop off Narendra Modi into pieces, has now threatened of forceful agitations by Dalits and Muslims against Yogi Adityanath government.

Masood issued this warning while reacting to the arrest of Chandrashekhar, chief of the militant outfit Bhim Army, which was one of the parties to the recent caste clashes between Thakurs and Dalits in Saharanpur, which left a Thakur dead and houses of dozens of Dalits burnt.

Sniffing an opportunity to widen the caste conflict and exploit the social fault-lines – which incidentally is the declared official policy of Pakistan with respect to its internecine war against India – Masood announced support for Bhim Army. It should be noted that Mayawati’s BSP, which openly indulges in Dalit politics, had distanced itself from Bhim Army after Saharanpur violence.

But it looks like Congress has now decided to align itself with the outfit, with Masood warning the local administration and Yogi government of ‘dire consequences’ if Chandrashekhar was ‘denied justice’. Masood openly communalised the issue and declared that the issue was now about Muslims being with the Dalits.

Masood is reported to have warned that if Chandrasekhar was ‘mistreated’ by police, there would be serious and unpleasant consequences. It should be noted that Masood has been booked for rioting and attempts to murder in various cases earlier.

Congress too has supported Masood’s stand on the issue. “Imran is our leader and we support the stand that he has taken locally,” Uttar Pradesh Congress President Raj Babbar is reported to have said.

It is worth recalling that Masood was given an important role in the Congress party ahead of the last assembly elections despite his controversial past and Islamist streak. It appears that now he has been given the responsibility of being the architect of ‘Dalit-Muslim unity’.

The proverbial Dalit-Muslim unity to defeat ‘caste Hindus’ has been one of the longest running project of anti-Hindu ecosystem. This was tried during the independence struggle as well with some Dalit leaders supporting creation of Pakistan thinking Dalits will be better off with Muslims.

However, the reality of this ‘unity’ was soon exposed after Dalit leader Jogendra Nath Mandal, an associate of Bhim Rao Ambedkar and the first Law Minister of Pakistan, resigned from his post and migrated to India as he discovered that the only way an Islamist can live in peace with a non-Muslim is if the latter converts to Islam.

How Pakistan is using Sufi shrine donations to fund terror in India

Recent findings have made it clear that Pakistan funds various activities in India – from terror apologia in Delhi to stone pelting in Kashmir. Now it has come to knowledge that Pakistan’s ace intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have set up donation boxes at places of worship in the border villages of Rajasthan and using the money, donated by devotees, to fund terrorist activities in India.

According to a Times of India report, intelligence agencies of Rajasthan police have unearthed this new funding network while interrogating ISI spy Deena Khan.

During the interrogation, it was revealed that Khan was in charge of a Mazar in Chohtan village of Barmer district of Rajasthan. The money offered at the Mazar were being provided to the spies while Khan used to keep some share from the offerings. Reports suggest that a few people associated with the Mazar stay abroad and work as handlers of Pakistani spies.

“Deepa Khan has admitted that he had distributed Rs 3.5 lakh of Mazar’s donation to his fellow spies like Satram Maheswari and Vinod Maheswari,” a senior official of Rajasthan Police’s intelligence and security wing was quoted as saying.

“It is difficult to distribute money through hawala network as it can be traced. Hence, the donation boxes are easy way to collect money and distribute it among the spies,” the official said.

It could be noted that there is a sudden spike in make-shift places of worship in the border areas of Rajasthan. It is suspected that ISI must have set up several such donation boxes at multiple locations to fund terrorism in India.

“The district superintendents of police have been directed to keep a close vigil at such places. With enhanced coordination and strategic planning, we have traced the network of foreign intelligence,” R Suhasaa, a DIG of Rajasthan Police was quoted as saying.

Rajasthan Police had arrested Deena Khan, along with two of his associates, from a remote village of Barmer district on 2 June under Official Secrets Act and Section 120B of IPC. Intelligence sources suggest that, Khan – a resident of Talsar village in Barmer – had not only helped Pakistani smugglers, but also sent information to Pakistan via Facebook. Reports suggest that Khan was paid handsomely by ISI for passing on the confidential piece of information.

Three months ago, Rajasthan Police had arrested two spies – Santram and Vinod Maheshwari – and based on the leads obtained from them, it had arrested Khan. During the interrogation, Santram and Vinod admitted sending confidential information of Indian Army, war exercise and other important informations to Pakistan via Facebook. The two spies further revealed that Khan used to provide them funds from time to time.

Last month, a 37-year-old hawala operator named Altaf Qureshi was arrested from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai for funding an ISI agent. Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had reportedly passed on information about the Indian Army’s movements in Faizabad, Lucknow and Amritsar to officers posted at the Pakistan High Commission and also to the ISI.

Mandsaur protests – what led to the current mess in Madhya Pradesh

The week-long protests in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur on famers’ rights issue is refusing to simmer down. The Centre has rushed contingents of Rapid Action Force (RAF) to the violence-hit Mandsaur to help restore peace. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to take “strict action” against those spreading unrest.

Pipliamandi of Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh – the ground zero of protests – has turned into a virtual war zone. According to eyewitnesses, the rioters attacked police officials, pelted stones, beat up district collector, torched vehicles and warehouses and looted shops and toll booths.

Five people were killed as police resorted to firing during the protests on Tuesday (6 June). Dozens of police personnel also have been injured in the violence. The state government has imposed curfew in sensitive areas of violence hit Mandsaur. Internet services have been suspended in Mandsaur, Ratlam, Neemuch and Ujjain districts.

What are the issues/ demands?

The farmers in Madhya Pradesh have largely two demands. First, they want better crop prices to cover their input costs. Second, they demand compensation package and debt relief in the lines of Uttar Pradesh. In addition, the cattle farmers demand that they should be given a price of Rs 50 on per litre of milk bought from them stating that they spend Rs 37 on production costs.

How does Madhya Pradesh fare in agriculture?

Madhya Pradesh is an agrarian state with agriculture being the mainstay of state’s economy. As much as 49 per cent of the state’s land area is cultivable. According to available data from state government sources, for the last four years, Madhya Pradesh has been witnessing a whopping 20% agricultural growth per year, which is said to be the highest in the world.

How did the current flare up happen?

Police said those indulged in violence and riots are not farmers. “It is unfair to call it even a famers’ movement. They are hooligans with a clear intent to destabilise the law and order situation in the state,” said a senior police official.


Many of the protesters are alleged to be Congress workers. A number of Congress leaders are reportedly fueling the protests.


DP Dhakad, a local Congress leader from Ratlam and a self-styled farmer, is said to a key player in instigating the violent stir. Dhakad is missing since the firing incident took place.

Today Rahul Gandhi is visiting Mandsaur, which has made BJP claim that this whole controversy was ignited by Congress to re-launch Rahul Gandhi.

Response of Shivraj Singh government

While the political response has been to attack Congress, the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh has transferred the Collector, District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Mandsaur district. Senior police officials have been deployed to oversee the law and order situation in all sub-divisions of Mandsaur district. Ratlam range DIG Avinash Sharma is camping in Pipliamandi to take stock of the situation.

In a bid to cool the tempers of the protesters, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced certain measures, including a loan settlement scheme for the cultivators who had defaulted on repayment of farm loan borrowed by them earlier. The scheme will cover around six lakh farmers with accumulated dues of Rs 6,000 crore.

Farmers’ issues – Always politically hot

In electoral politics and economic policy, farmers’ issues assume a great significance. Year in and year out, various political parties have used farmers’ issues to drum up their support base. In the recent times, AAP has used farmers’ issue in Punjab, Congress tried Kisan Sabha in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP literally beat everyone by executing its loan waver promise in Uttar Pradesh. Given that Madhya Pradesh is moving towards an election year, this farmers’ issue and politics embedded in it will take some time to get resolved.

Tarek Fatah should not be allowed in Aligarh – Congress & SP back AMU students’ demand

Leaders and student organisations affiliated to Congress and Samajwadi Party have opposed the arrival of Pakistan born Canadian author Tarek Fatah in Aligarh and demanded that the event where he is supposed to speak be cancelled.

Tarek Fatah, who is known for his outspoken views on radical Islam and for his views against Pakistan, is slated to attend and address an event at local DS College on 11th of this month. Fateh has been invited as a keynote speaker at the event which is titled “World peace and Islam—a Dialogue”.

The event first attracted opposition from AMU (Aligarh Muslim University) Students Union, which took the matter with district administration and asked them to repeal the permission given to hold the event.

The AMU Students Union President claimed that the event will ‘hurt the sentiments of Muslim community’ in the holy month of Ramzan and it could further vitiate the city’s atmosphere as Aligarh is Muslim dominated.

“A large number of Muslims detest Fateh’s mindset and are opposing his arrival to Aligarh, a sensitive city,” the AMU Students Union President was quoted as saying.

It seems that the local administration did not succumb to these veiled threats by AMU Students Union, so now Congress and Samajwadi Party have joined the bandwagon in opposing Fatah. Leaders and students belonging to outfits affiliated with both the parties are now putting pressure on the college administration to cancel the event.

However, the college administration has clarified that it only rents out the space and it cannot cancel the event of its own. The event is to take place on a Sunday when college is not operational.

This failed to satisfy the Congress and Samajwadi Party supports who reportedly got into altercation with the college officials. They have threatened to carry out further protests if the event is not cancelled.

This is not for the first time when groups claiming to respect Muslim sentiments have opposed Tarek Fatah’s presence at any event or any city. An anti-Pakistan event in Kolkata, West Bengal was cancelled after similar protests and pressure in January this year, while Fatah was physically manhandled at an Urdu poetry event at Delhi in the following month.