New Delhi
India is closely following recent developments in Kazakhstan.
"We express our deepest condolences to families of innocent victims who have lost lives in the violence. As a close and friendly partner of Kazakhstan, we look forward to an early stabilization of the situation," MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in response to media queries on the developments in the Central Asian country.
Kazakh inferno: BBC/Getty Image
"Coordination with authorities has helped ensuring the safety and security of Indian nationals," Bagchi said.
He further said, Indians are advised to follow local security instructions and get in touch with the Embassy of
India for any assistance.
Rising LPG fuel price, internal political tussle and 'foreign interference'
has now put Kazakhstan in flames and amid arson and killings.
The demonstrations commenced on January 2 in the town of Zhanaozen, an oil hub and the site of deadly
clashes between protesters and police just over 10 years ago.
The Kazak government has said there were 44 deaths though earlier some reports claimed
casualty figures were as high as 164.
The security forces also said that rioters were killed in Almaty during clashes as the fuel price hike
protesters tried to take control of police stations and government buildings.
Kazakhstan is a Central Asian country and former Soviet republic that got independence in 1991.
It is a vast country extending from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Altai Mountains at its eastern border
with China and Russia and is well known for mineral reserves.
Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Monday described the 'historic unrest' in his
country as a coup attempt.
"Armed militants who were waiting in the wings joined the protests. The main goal was obvious: the
undermining of the constitutional order, the destruction of government institutions and the seizure of power.
It was an attempted coup d'etat", he said.
The protests actually began after the government lifted its price cap on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Many Kazakhs had converted their cars to use LPG because it was cheaper than other fuel. But the
Kazakh government now says the price cap was leading to LPG shortages
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Kazakhstan had been targeted by international terrorism.
He also said that Russia would never allow revolutions in the region.
Troops from Russia and other countries are currently in Kazakhstan to restore order.
Nationwide, about 1,000 people have reportedly been injured, with 400 being treated in hospital.
A BBC report said more than 8,000 people have been detained.
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has urged Kazakh government to respect the riot to protest.
He questioned Kazakhstan's decision to seek Russian military help.
Russia has long accused the West of encouraging uprisings in its back yard - so-called "colour revolutions" - that
have brought down governments in former Soviet states such as Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.
ends
New Delhi
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehtra said because PM security and SPG protocols and 'Blue Book' were involved, lengthy procedures and detailed hearing could be avoided.
"The fact that the Punjab Govt is defending the officers is very very serious".
The Supreme Court on Monday decided to set up an independent committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to investigate the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit on January 5.
The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana also directed the centre and
the Punjab government to hold the enquiries by the respective panels set up after the incident.
Other Judges in the bench are Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli.
The panel is likely to include the Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Punjab
DGP and NIA representatives. A detailed order will be issued by the court later.
During the hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta cited the SPG's 'Blue Book' in his response to
enquiries from the court.
He said it is a "serious matter" that the state government is trying to defend Punjab state officials
including the senior police officers for the entire episode.
He said despite conducting 'rehearsal' of possible road travel by the Prime Minister due to
weather conditions, on D-Day, "there was complete intelligence failure".
Mehta, sources said, argued "The convoy of the Prime Minister had reached the place which was 100 m from the
protest site....Crowds started gathering in and there were no inputs from the DGP which was his responsibility".
The Solicitor General requested the apex court that the central government's panel be allowed to conduct
its probe and submit a report to the court.
This was countered by the counsel and Advocate General of Punjab government, sources said.
The centre's argument was that because PM security and SPG protocols were involved, lengthy procedures
and detailed hearing could be avoided. "The fact that the state (Punjab govt) is defending the officers is very very serious".
The bench finally said it will set up an independent panel.
ends
'AAP ko gussa ata hae' - Missive from Punjab
New Delhi
(The AAP has been relegated to third or fourth position lately. The Congress complicity in PM-security breach came to
light in the Supreme Court when Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pointed out that setting up of a panel
by the Punjab government was only a 'after thought'. Moreover, he said keeping the state Home Secretary in
the committee was uncalled for as his own role could come under scanner).
Many years back perhaps some of Narendra Modi's detractors were convinced that the Moditva as
a phenomenon cannot be defeated electorally.
Originally, this theory was pushed by the CPI-M.
Subsequently efforts were made to attack him 'personally' on all fronts.
The Jan 5, 2022 security breach episode in Congress-ruled Punjab has brought in another angle.
Union Minister Smriti Irani has said, :"We know that the Congress party hates Narendra Modi".
Now the gloves are off between the BJP and the Congress.
Punjab Congress chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu, has also come out strongly in defence of the Charanjit Singh
Channi government. The Congress is busy making light of the security breach episode.
But the Congress complicity came to light in the Supreme Court when Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta pointed out that setting up of a panel by the Punjab government was only a 'after thought'. Moreover,
he pointed out that keeping the state Home Secretary in the committee was uncalled for as his
own role could come under scanner.
Former cop Kiran Bedi, despite her BJP connections, has pointed out how Chief Minister Channi
himself and other senior officials did not follow the normal process of receiving the
Prime Minister at the airport. The goof up is questionable.
There is a school of thought especially in social media who are trying to give a spin that
BJP's direct attack on Congress for security breach could ultimately help the grand old party.
The remarks are generally without logic and are guided by hate-BJP philosophy.
In Punjab, the stage is set for a four-cornered contest between the Congress, Akali Dal (a provincial
party of Sikhs), Aam Aadmi Party (from Delhi which is banking on its twin cards of welfarism and freebies)
and BJP and its new found partner Punjab Lok Congress.
The new party is floated by Capt Amarinder Singh, fell out with Rahul Gandho-Priyanka duo when they reposed
faith in a former cricket star Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Being a border state with Pakistan things get complicated with Congress
state unit chief Sidhu repeatedly addressing Pakistan's cricket icon turned Prime Minister Imran Khan
as 'yaar (a bosom friend)'.
The BJP's push for a harsher anti-Pakistan line had paid in political dividends. Even Capt Amarinder
Singh has been raising the security issues repeatedly vis-a-vis the farmers' agitation.
In all these, somehow AAP got marginalised. A battery of NGO 'jholawalas' (read activists) and a section of media
always tried to lionise a man called Arvind Kejriwal.
But Kejriwal-led Delhi-based AAP.is now seen as an unintended loser in the media-mileage tussle
between the BJP and the Congress.
Some AAP crazy media experts were also debating should Kejriwal himself shift to Chandigarh to be a
Chief Minister of a bigger state and with his Delhi bag full of freebies.
It was also presumed that AAP would do much better than the Akali Dal, which quit association with the BJP
owing to farm reform legislation.
Moreover, in Punjab too the family-inspired politics of Akalis are showing its limitations. The magic of
Parkash Singh Badal is finally getting waned out.
It's still not anybody's case that the Punjab government had deliberately allowed the farmers to blockade PM's road
to Hussainiwala. But 'negligence' to duties is definitely a case and so it made sense when about an hour before
announcement of election schedules, DGP and Ferozepur SSP were shunted out.
In all these, AAP's graph in media - the oxygen for its survival - has somehow declined. The spin masters are irked.
The news of infighting in the Punjab unit of the AAP also made it to headlines.
AAP's Punjab in charge, Raghav Chadda was holding a media conference in Jalandhar on January 7 when
two factions of the party exchanged blows. Slogans like “Raghav Chadda Chor Hai” (Raghav Chadda is a thief)" rent
the air.
Things appear more serious than what the media is telling about internal squabbles in AAP.
The Jalandhar fracas was due to discontent over ticket distribution. Raghav Chadha had to leave the
place from the back door.
ends
No comments:
Post a Comment