16052024-TT-01.qxd 5/15/2024 11:20 PM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 135 | 12 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 HIMACHAL PRADESH INDIA BLOC VOWS TO DOUBLE RATION FOR POOR INDIA VOTES /thetribunechd PM DIVIDING NATION TO STAY IN POWER, SAYS FAROOQ ABDULLAH J&K E-COM FIRMS BACK GOVT’S MOVE ON FAKE REVIEWS BUSINESS ‘LACKADAISICAL’: SC PULLS UP U’KHAND GOVT OVER FOREST FIRES BACK PAGE thursday | 16 may 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com CAA gets rolling; govt issues first set of NewsClick founder’s arrest invalid: SC orders his release citizenship certificates to 300 applicants Satya Prakash 14 handed over document, all of them migrants from Pak’s Sindh and Balochistan AditiTandon/Animesh Singh GIVES US AN IDENTITY Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 15 “It’s a very emotional day for us, feels like a rebirth,” says Harji, one of the 14 Hindu migrants from Pakistan, who on Wednesday became part of the first batch of people to receive citizenship certificates under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The CAA rules were notified on March 11 and since then, 14,000 applications have been received. While 14 persons, all from Delhi, received citizenship certificates in person from Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla in the Capital, as many as 300 applicants from the Capital were granted citizenship under the CAA rules on Wednesday. The number was disclosed ❝ The Indian citizenship certificate is not a piece of paper for us. It’s the very basis of our life. It gives us an identity we have been longing for. — Kalash Kumar, migrant 14,000 PLEAS RECEIVED ■ The CAA rules were notified on Applicants with certificates received under the Citizenship Amendment Act in New Delhi on Wednesday. ANI by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in a conversation with a news agency where he said, “Today itself in Delhi, 300 people are being given citizenship under the CAA. The CAA is the country’s law.” Bhalla later said since the notification of rules, nearly 14,000 applications had been received. The country of origin of all 300 applicants was not known immediately but the 14 migrants who were handed physical certificates today all arrived in India between 2013 and 2014 from Pakistan’s Sindh and Balochistan. One of them, Kalash Kumar, came from Balochis- March 11; since then, 14,000 applications have been received ■ The ruling BJP has made CAA a major poll issue with West Bengal at core of its CAA push tan as a child in 1996, and has grown up in Delhi. “The Indian citizenship certificate is not a piece of paper for us. It is the very basis of our life. It gives us an identity which we continued on page 9 Days after ~32-crore seizure, ED PM: Cong wants to arrests Jharkhand minister Alam divide Budget on Ranchi, May 15 The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday arrested Congress leader and Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam here in a money laundering case days after a massive cash seizure from the premises linked to his aide, official sources said. The 70-year-old leader was taken into custody at the agency’s zonal office here under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was interrogated for about six hours on the second day of questioning, the sources said. He was grilled by the feder- QUESTIONED FOR SECOND DAY ■ Congress leader Alamgir Alam came under the ED radar after recent arrest of his personal secretary and the latter’s domestic help. The agency seized more than ~32 crore from a flat linked to them ■ Alam was grilled by the federal agency on Tuesday for over nine hours and for about six hours on Wednesday Remark follows his denial of any Hindu-Muslim talk Sandeep Dikshit al agency on Tuesday for over nine hours and his statement was also recorded. Alam represents the Pakur seat in the Jharkhand Assembly and is also the Parliamentary Affairs Minister. He came under the ED radar following the recent arrest of his personal secretary and state administrative service officer Sanjeev Kumar Lal (52) and the latter’s domestic help Jahangir Alam (42), who were raided continued on page 9 Securitymen move Slovak’s PM Robert Fico into a car after he was shot at in Handlova, Slovakia. REUTERS Come June 12, liquor to cost more in Haryana CHANDIGARH: Tipplers can expect a marginal increase in the prices of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and country liquor post June 12 in Haryana. The excise policy has proposed up to 1.5% hike in excise duty. INSIDE Now, Indian spices under scrutiny in NZ HYDERABAD: New Zealand’s food safety regulator is investigating possible contamination in spice products of Indian brands MDH & Everest after they faced probe in other countries. BACK PAGE New Delhi, May 15 The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha after declaring “invalid” his arrest and subsequent remand in a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) due to the Delhi Police’s failure to communicate to him the grounds of arrest as required under Article 22 of the Constitution. Noting that he was not informed of the grounds of his arrest and a copy of the remand application was not provided to Purkayastha or his counsel before passing the October 4, 2023, remand order, a Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta said as a result, he was entitled to be released from the custody. “Accordingly, the arrest of the appellant, followed by the remand order issued on October 4, 2023, and so also the impugned order passed by the High Court of Delhi on October 13, 2023, are hereby declared to be invalid in the eyes of law and are quashed,” the Bench said. “We have no hesitation in reiterating that the require- Indian Colonel’s killing under review: Israel Tribune News Service Assassination bid on Slovakian PM IN BRIEF communal lines Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 15 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday renewed his attack on the Congress over minority appeasement, saying the then Congress-led UPA government had wanted to allocate 15 per cent of the Budget to the minorities. Speaking hours after he told a TV channel that the day he did Hindu-Muslim, he would be “unworthy of public life” and it was his “resolve to never do HinduMuslim”, the PM said while he was being accused of raising communal issues, he was “only exposing Congress and INDI bloc’s vote bank politics and plans of division based on religion”. While addressing rallies in Maharashtra’s Nashik and Kalyan (Thane district), the PM said the Congress could never speak of development and could only create schisms between Hindus and Muslims. “For the Congress, development means development of the people who vote for it. I expose this ecosystem, and I am blamed for Hindu-Muslim politics,” he said, adding that Says police failed to tell Purkayastha about grounds of arrest Prabir Purkayastha RECENT CASES IN WHICH SC INTERVENED ■ May 14: SC grants bail to Bhima Koregaon case accused Gautam Navlakha on the ground that he has been in jail for over four years and the trial may take years ■ April 5: SC grants bail to former Prof Shoma Sen, another accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, saying evidence didn’t prima facie indicate commission or attempt to commit any terrorist act by her ment to communicate the grounds of arrest or detention in writing to a person arrested in connection with an offence or a person placed under preventive detention as provided under Articles 22(1) and 22(5) of the Constitution is sacro- SP alleges foul play after its workers get ‘red cards’ Tribune News Service ❝ Congress wants a 15% Budget allocation to minorities, which means dividing the Budget into ‘Hindu budget’ and ‘Muslim budget’… Just imagine how destructive this idea is. Narendra Modi, PM the Congress openly called for minorities as having the first claim on national resources. “Dr Manmohan Singh (former PM) said this. I was present at the meeting, and opposed it.... Today, I’m going to reveal to 140 crore continued on page 9 Animesh Singh New Delhi, May 15 Two days after Col Waibhav Anil Kale (retd) was killed reportedly from firing from a tank despite the UN informing the Israeli authorities about the movement of a vehicle carrying him and other UN staff, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has mourned the officer’s death. IT WANTS 15% BUDGET FOR MINORITIES Tribune News Service SADDENED BY EX-OFFICER’S DEATH IN GAZA: MEA However, the Israeli military said it had “not been made aware of the route of the vehicle”. “The incident is under review,” it said. “We are deeply saddened by the death of the Security Coordination Officer in the UN Department of Safety and Security (DSS) in Gaza on May 13. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and dear ones,” said a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday. The MEA’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York and missions in Tel Aviv and Ramallah are extending continued on page 9 New Delhi, May 15 One is familiar with hockey or football players being shown red cards, but in UP workers , of political parties are reportedly getting ‘red cards’ for being a “potential threat” to smooth conduct of elections. Several Samajwadi Party (SP) workers across many districts in UP have allegedly received such ‘red cards’ from local police stations, asking them not to indulge in any activity which may obstruct peaceful polling, otherwise strict legal action will be taken against them. Senior SP leaders have alleged that it was part of the ruling BJP government’s plan in the state to prevent their workers from campaigning. During the recently concluded third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, many SP workers received such notices from local police stations, senior leaders said. SP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Javed Ali Khan told The Tribune that ‘red cards’ were also issued to party Father Balkaur in tow, Cong cashing in on Moosewala’s legacy Rajmeet Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 15 For the past few days, Balkaur Singh, father of slain singer Sidhu Moosewala, has been seen accompanying Congress candidates to file their nomination papers, at least at three places — Ludhiana, Anandpur Sahib and Bathinda. The increased presence of Moosewala’s father at party events, including the filing of nomination papers by party candidates, has created a buzz that the Congress is trying to use the singer’s legacy to its advantage. The grand old party is also keen on using the anti-BJP and antiAAP stance of Moosewala’s family over “not going after the real culprits behind the murder of the singer”. Even during the bypoll to the Jalandhar parliamentary seat last year, Moosewala’s father had campaigned against AAP However, AAP . candidate Sushil Rinku had emerged victorious then. Rinku, now with the BJP is , the party candidate for the Jalandhar seat. Senior Congress leaders ‘SINGER’S POPULARITY CAN’T BE IGNORED’ ■ Party leaders say the popularity of the slain Punjabi singer and moral support that continues for his father can’t be ignored ■ Moosewala’s father Balkaur Singh has been seen accompanying Congress candidates to file their nomination papers <
The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising four eminent persons as trustees.
The Tribune, the largest selling daily in North India, publishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the paper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term.
The English edition apart, the 133-year-old Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).
