The Indian media has not been as scathing as the rest of the international press in its criticism of the elections to the 10th Jatiya Sangshad in Bangladesh held on Sunday, perhaps mindful of its government’s backing for the farcical poll arranged by its traditional ally the Awami League.
Zee News, under the headline ‘Bangladesh ruling party wins poll, Sheikh Hasina insists re-election legitimate’ reported that the “outcome of the elections… is no solution to the crisis brewing in the country since last few weeks and Bangladesh seems poised to enter a phase of political uncertainty.”
Anandabazar, India’s most widely-read Bengali daily, reported Monday under the headline “Death toll rises to 19; victory Hasina’s” that the Jatiya Party would be sitting in opposition in the country’s next parliament, and that much of the violence that was seen on election day was the work of Jamaat-Shibir activists. It concluded by saying the election had everything, “except voters’ enthusiasm”.
Many Indian media outlets carried the report of the state news agency the Press Trust of India, which said the Awami League was “set to form the next government after securing over three-fourth majority in the controversial polls marred by deadly clashes, a low turnout and a boycott by Opposition parties”.
The PTI report also said “in legal terms the election was legitimate but the Opposition boycott and low turnout cast a shadow on its credibility”.
The Times of India reported that “deadly violence flared across the country despite tens of thousands of security personnel deployed to maintain law and order”, adding that most voters had preferred to stay home and not vote in the election described by the international community as “flawed”.
The Indian Express, the Hindu, and the Hindustan Times on Monday were all carrying the PTI report.
Source: UNB Connect
Judge accused of sexual harassment ‘quits’ as head of human rights body
In India according to “KAMA+SUTRA”, Hindu religious sex manual, the art of seducing a women for sex is a religious ritual
From Kolkata Kolpona Bondopadhya and SivaDAS Hazarikia:.www.thestatesman.com.07.01.14. Former Supreme Court judge Justice A K Ganguly is said to have resigned as chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) in the wake of the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by a law intern, though there has been no official confirmation. Rumours of Ganguly quitting the post were doing the rounds all evening after the former Supreme Court judge visited Raj Bhavan to meet Governor M K Narayanan. There was no official word on what transpired during the meeting, but a highly-placed source at Raj Bhavan said Justice Ganguly met the Governor one-on-one and handed over to Narayanan a closed envelope. “During the meeting only the two of them were in the room. The Governor did not share the contents of the envelope even with his secretary,” said the source, adding: “We shall have to wait till tomorrow to know if Justice Ganguly has actually resigned as the chairperson of WBHRC.”PTI however, quoting other highly-placed sources, said Justice Ganguly had indeed handed in his papers.
Justice Ganguly, who has been under tremendous pressure to quit from his post in the wake of the charges of sexual harassment levelled by a woman law intern, met the Governor for about 45 minutes. Justice Ganguly could not be contacted to confirm or deny whether he had quit as the state human rights panel chief. His meeting with the Governor took place shortly after the Supreme Court quashed a petition seeking a stay on the Centre’s move to remove Justice Ganguly as the chief of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission. The PIL has also sought the quashing of the report in which a three-member panel of apex court judges indicted Justice Ganguly for “unwelcome behaviour” against the law intern, who has accused the judge of sexually harassing him in a Delhi hotel last year. The Supreme Court also quashed a separate petition pleading for the registration of a case against the former judge.
A Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, P Sathasivam, while quashing both petitions, said it cannot interfere in the issue at this stage and the “law will take its course in the matter”.Justice Ganguly has already resigned as a guest lecturer of the National University of Juridical Sciences, even though he continues to deny the allegations against him. Last Thursday, the Union Cabinet had cleared a proposal to send a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court for a probe into the allegations levelled against Justice Ganguly. Justice Ganguly has denied the allegations and blamed “powerful interests” of trying to tarnish his image because of certain judgments delivered by him. Justice Ganguly is said to have spoken to former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee over telephone yesterday and told him he was contemplating resigning as WBHRC chairman. Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising, who has been strongly pitching for Justice Ganguly’s removal as the human rights panel chief, said this evening that it was “overdue”.
Those criticizing BNP for violence may be justified or not; but who in a democratic country, as the ruling class and their patrons across the border so boastfully calls, could anticipate the govt’s arbitrary and absolutely autocratic measures to intern en masse the leaders of the main opposition party, putting their chief under heavy siege, which holds no less than 35% popular support? Was it possible in any other democratic country, even in India? When you don’t allow the opposition even to open their main office and hold it under siege for indefinite period what else you can expect them to do? It’s not only astonishing but shocking also that in a democracy (?) such autocratic activities are being conducted with sheer contempt to the minimum democratic norms and behavior. Where is constitution and where is human and civil rights? Are we under an ’emergency situation’? We common people are simply dumbfounded.