India sends request to Pakistan to extradite 26/11 attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed
MEA spokesperson Arvind Bagchi said on Friday, Dec 29, year's last weekly media briefing - that the Government of India has sent a request to Pakistan to extradite 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
"As you are aware, the person in question is wanted in numerous cases in India. He is also a UN-proscribed terrorist. In this regard, we have conveyed a request, along with relevant supporting documents, to the Government of Pakistan to extradite him to India to face trial in a particular case," Bagchi said.
Hafiz Saeed has been listed as one of India's most wanted terrorists and carries a $10 million bounty placed by the US for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The unprecedented terror attacks, orchestrated on November 26, 2008 over the course of four days, killed as many as 166 people including citizens from many overseas and western countries and left 300 injured.
The remarks from MEA spokesman comed amid a recent development that Hafiz Saeed-backed Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) will contest the upcoming general elections in Pakistan.
Notably, Hafiz Saeed's son Talha Saeed is also in the run and will contest the polls from the National Assembly’s constituency NA-127, Lahore. Bagchi said the pattern of "radical elements participating in elections" in Pakistan was not new.
"Wouldn't want to comment on election processes in other countries. However, radical elements participating in elections, and mainstreaming of radical, extremist elements is not new in Pakistan," he maintained.
"Such developments have serious implications for the security of our region. On our part, we will, of course, continue to monitor all developments that have an implication on our national security," he said.
Talha Saeed is considered at higher ranks in Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), second only to his father. Talha, like his father, is a designated terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
ULFA inks Memorandum of Settelement with Govt of India and Govt of Assam
In what is seen as a shot in the arm for the ruling BJP on the eve of 2024 battle, the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)’s pro-talks faction led by Arabinda Rajkhowa on Dec 29th signed a tripartite Memorandum of Settlement with the Centre and the Assam government in Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Terming it as a “golden day” for the people of Assam, Shah said the state has suffered for decades due to violence by ULFA and around 10,000 people have lost their lives since 1979.
The ULFA faction was represented by a 16-member delegation led by its chairperson Arabinda Rajkhowa. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma was also present.
ULFA as a militant group created havoc chiefly in upper Assam in late eighties and ninties. It was banned as an organisation by the then Chandrasekhar government supported by Congress in 1990.
In 2011, the group signed a tripartite agreement for Suspension of Operations (SoO) with the central government and the Assam government. The NSCN was also banned along with ULFA and Mahanta government was dismissed to impose President's Rule in the state.
"I want to assure ULFA representatives that the faith you have kept in the government of India, from the Ministry of Home Affairs's side, a programme will be made in a time-bound manner to fulfil everything, without you having to ask for it," said the Union Home Minister.
He added that a committee will be formed under the Home Ministry which will work with the Assam government to fulfil the agreements under the memorandum.
Himanta Biswa Sarma also called it a "historic day" for Assam and said under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tenure, nearly 8,756 members of militant organisations have joined the mainstream.
Observers and Assam watchers were critical of the Mahanta government and said ULFA almost ran a 'parallel' regime eliminating people virtually at will.
By November 1990, when President's Rule was imposed in Assam, 113 people had been killed by ULFA, according to government figures.
Of them 58 were political party activists and 19 were government officials.
Nitish Kumar named new JDU chief as Lalan Singh steps down
Nitish new JD-U chief; Lalan Singh joins the club of George Fernandes, Sharad Yadav, RCP Singh -- all 'forced' to quit in favour of Nitish Kumar
Minutes after Lalan Singh's resignation, Nitish Kumar was elected President of the Janata Dal (United) during the party's national executive meeting in Delhi.
As expected Rajiv Ranjan aka Lalan Singh, in his presidential address, mentioned about his resignation and said he would want to focus more and participate actively in the upcoming elections and this being the reason for stepping down.
He then proposed Nitish Kumar as his successor for the party's top role, who was elected within minutes. Nitish Kumar belongs to Kurmi caste - a key component of social engineering in Bihar's polity.
Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi did not waste time to take a dig at Nitish Kumar following the leadership change.
In a post on X he said, "Under Nitish Kumar's three-year plan, Lalan Singh has also been wiped out. By the way, Lalan babu should have understood that since Nitish Kumar did not consider [George] Fernandes, RCP [Singh], Sharad Yadav and Digvijaya Singh his own, why would he be any different? There is no one that Nitish hasn’t stabbed in the back.”
On Sam Pitroda’s Ram Mandir remark, Congress says: ‘He doesn’t speak for party’
Jairam Ramesh, Rahul Gandh's trusted aide, clarified that Sam Pitroda's views are his own and do not reflect the party's stance on the Ram Temple issue.
"He doesn’t speak for the Congress party," stated Ramesh.
"He is not giving the Congress view, it's his view," he said.
Sam Pitroda, the current chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, had ignited controversy by stating that the focus on the Ram Temple over pressing issues like unemployment "bothers" him. The statement came just days before the scheduled inauguration of the Ram Temple on January 22, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will install the idol of Ram Lalla in the temple's sanctum sanctorum.
Pitroda, also a former friend of Rajiv Gandhi, voiced his apprehensions about the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the excessive emphasis on religion in politics.
"I'm worried about it because too much importance is given to religion. I see that democracy is being undermined... There are signals I am getting that we are in the wrong direction. And when the entire nation is hung up on Ram Temple and Ram Janmabhoomi, diya jalao, it bothers me," he said.
Jairan Ramesh's remarks only reflects nervousness of the Congress -- whose over dose of 'sickularism' and anti-Hindu stances in the name of minority appeasement has generally harmed the Congress party electorally.
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