A Delhi court had on Wednesday reserved for March 7 its decision on the plea of jailed Jammu and Kashmir MP Engineer Rashid seeking parole to attend the upcoming Parliament session. Additional sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh reserved the verdict after hearing the arguments on the plea. The application, filed by advocate Vikhyat Oberoi for Rashid on February 27, sought the relief on the grounds that Rashid was a parliamentarian and needed to attend the upcoming session to fulfil his public duty. IN CONTEXT: Arrested under the UAPA in an alleged terror funding case, Rashid has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019. The last time he was out of prison was in February when he was out on parole to attend Parliament for a day. Before that, he campaigned for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in September last year. While in Parliament, he sought an investigation into deaths of two civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, allegedly due to the actions of security forces. Rashid said: “Our blood is not cheap.” PM Modi in Gujarat Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat on a two-day visit starting Friday for a Women's Day event called 'Lakhpati Didi Sammelan' in Navsari. The Prime Minister's visit to Gujarat comes just days after he was in the state when he came to Saurashtra, visited the Reliance Industries’ established Vantara animal rescue centre in Jamnagar and presided over the meeting of the National Board for Wild Life. On Wednesday, he will also be in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to inaugurate developmental projects. RSS on NRC Over five years ago, amid nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a public meeting in Delhi on December 22, 2019, that his government had not discussed NRC since returning to power earlier that year. Since then, the government has reiterated this stand on several occasions. However, the issue appears to be making a return to the national political discourse, with NRC likely to be among the key agenda for the annual meeting of the RSS’s Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), which is its highest decision-making body. The meeting this year will be held in Bengaluru from March 21 to 23. Sources said the ABPS was likely to discuss the implementation of NRC across India and deliberate on how it should be carried out in certain states. Over five years ago, amid nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a public meeting in Delhi on December 22, 2019, that his government had not discussed NRC since returning to power earlier that year. Since then, the government has reiterated this stand on several occasions. However, the issue appears to be making a return to the national political discourse, with NRC likely to be among the key agenda for the annual meeting of the RSS’s Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), which is its highest decision-making body. The meeting this year will be held in Bengaluru from March 21 to 23. Sources said the ABPS was likely to discuss the implementation of NRC across India and deliberate on how it should be carried out in certain states. Assam Assembly rows It is a pejorative term used for Bengali-origin Muslims in Assam and often at the root of controversies in the state. Now, it has come to the Assembly, with the use of the term by ruling BJP leaders bringing proceedings to a halt for two days straight this week. While Opposition leaders have deplored the usage of “miya” and the fact that such statements were becoming “part of the political culture” in the state, the BJP has taken to referring to the Supreme Court’s recent order in which it said that referring to a man as “miyan-tiyan” and “Pakistani” might be in “poor taste” but did not amount to an offence of hurting religious sentiments. On Tuesday, the Assembly was first adjourned for 20 minutes and then all the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLAs suspended for pushing for a breach of privilege motion against Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Irrigation Ashok Singhal for statements he made at a recent event in his constituency Dhekiajuli. On Wednesday, the House was adjourned for 15 minutes after Congress MLA Sherman Ali was accused of using unparliamentary language to describe the answers given by ministers in the Assembly. The row intensified after BJP MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi targeted Ali, following which Opposition MLAs demanded an apology from Kurmi. - With agency inputs
