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Mayavati ‘bonds’ with Brahmins
Lucknow: First, Jinnah turned “secular”.
Now Brahmins have ceased to be “Manuvadis”.
In this season of ideological somersaults, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayavati, who once wanted Brahmins beaten up with shoes, now sees the community as friends.
She doesn’t find herself in L.K. Advani’s shoes, of course, for the change in heart. Her party was solidly behind her as the former chief minister addressed a “mega rally” of Brahmins at the Ambedkar Maidan here, asking them to hitch their wagon to hers, reports our special correspondent.
n the process, she disowned the aggressive slogans her party had coined in the late eighties and early nineties, such as: “Tilak, tarju aur talwar, isko maro juta char (Brahmins, Rajputs and Kayasths deserve to be beaten with shoes).”
“My party never launched those slogans,” Mayavati told the rally. So who did? The BSP chief smelt a Manuvadi hand behind the confusion. “The Manuvadi parties had attributed those slogans to the Bahujan Samaj Party to malign its image.”
he then unveiled her new slogan: “Brahman ka eh mela hai, ab ham log akela nehi hai (Here’s an assembly of Brahmins, we are no longer alone).”
Thousands of Brahmins ? their foreheads marked with sandalwood and kumkum tilaks ? streamed into the Ambedkar Park from across the state, braving the blazing summer heat.
Board wins Amarnath battle
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has finally relented on the duration
of the yearly pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath,
reports our correspondent.
According to the agreement reached between the Amarnath shrine board, headed by the governor, Lieutenant General (Retired) S.K. Sinha, and the state administration, the pilgrimage will start on June 21 from the shorter route of Baltal in Srinagar district.
The shrine board had earlier announced a two-month yatra but the state government was insisting on a duration of one month citing difficulty in providing security to the pilgrims for such a long period.
Paris prize for Mystic India
Calcutta: Mystic India, a film
produced by the Baps Swaminarayan Sanstha, has won the audience
choice prize at the 10th international large-format film
festival at La Geode in Paris, says a staff reporter.
Directed by Keith Melton and narrated by actor Peter ’ Toole, the film depicts an 11-year-old’s barefooted march across India in seven years, capturing the many mysteries of the country. Later this year, it will be released in Hindi with Amitabh Bachchan doing the narration.
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla had attended the film’s world premiere in London.
Ispat assault
Alibag (PTI): Four Ispat Industries
employees were injured after being assaulted by about 30
people near Revas in Maharashtra. An Ispat speedboat was
also damaged for spoiling fishing boats and nets.
Indians held
Washington (PTI): At least
45 Indian American convenience store owners and workers
have been arrested in the US’s Georgia province for
allegedly selling ingredients used in the manufacture of
methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant. They have
been charged with selling the ingredients “knowing
or having reason to know that the buyer’s intended
purpose was to manufacture methamphetamine”, the attorney’s
office in the northern district of Georgia said in a statement.
Israeli passports
Jerusalem (PTI): Israelis who lose
their passports while travelling in certain countries, including
India, will not be reissued the document but given alternative
permits. The move followed reports that lost passports in
India, Japan, Thailand and Australia were being sold.
Bite charge
Dindigul (PTI): A case has been registered
against a Tamil Nadu CPM councillor and a woman volunteer
on charges of biting an ADMK functionary near here. They
attacked Mani when he objected to the alleged selling of
books meant for free distribution at a school.
Thirty countries, including India, will endorse an action plan on conservation measures for over 175 species of migratory water birds and their habitats in the Central Asian Flyway region.
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