Skip to main content

A Village Burnt Overnight: Tears, Loss and Survival in Dhamangaon Blaze

  Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...

Shah dares Rahul Gandhi to restore article 370 after coming to power

Launching a blistering attack on Congress-NCP alliance for indulging in vote bank politics, Union Minister Amit Shah challenged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over scrapping of article 370 and dared him to restore the article 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir after coming to power. 
Shah was addressing a public meeting at Chankapur ground in Khaparkheda for candidates of BJP-Shiv Sena allaince on Friday. “The article 370 was nullified by Prime Minister Narendra Modi within three months after coming to power. It was responsible for promoting terrorism in Kashmir which claimed more than 40,000 deaths in last 50 years,” he stated and added that the article was hindrance in unification of India. 
“The Opposition leaders were speaking on the lines of a neighbouring country on the issue of article 370 which is exactly opposite the national sentiment,” he said. “Rahul Gandhi had raised issue of human rights in Kashmir and that statement was quoted by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in the United Nations,” alleged Shah. 
“Why there is a similarity in the statements of Rahul Gandhi and Pakistan’s Prime Minister?,” he questioned and claimed that not a single bullet was fired in Kashmir after abrogation of the controversial article. 
Dubbing the then PM Manmohan Singh as “Mauni Baba”, Shah stated that PM Manmohan Singh was not uttering a word after many Indian soldiers were behead by Pakistan army. “PM Modi has given befitting reply to Pakistan after Uri and Pulwama attacks,” said Shah. “Only Israel and US were only taking revenge of killing of their soldiers. After surgical and air strikes on terrorists camps in Pakistan have put India in the line of Israel and US at internation levels,” said Shah and added that it was the proud moment for Indians. The audience also responded to his statement with chants “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. 
He also raised issue of triple talaq and slammed opposition leaders for politicising the issue. Without naming Prafull Patel, Shah questioned Congress-NCP leaders for Patel’s connection with a money laundering probe linked to the alleged illegal assets of late Iqbal Mirchi, an aide of underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim. “Why Congress-NCP leaders were shielding Patel?,” he questioned. 
On the issue of development, Shah read out various projects launched by Devendra Fadnavis government in the state and Vidarbha region. “The union government have allotted Rs 4.38 lakh crore to Maharashtra government in last five years against Rs 1.15 lakh crore allotted during the Congress regime,” he claimed.  He also accused former Deputy Minister Ajit Pawar for irrigation scam. 
Vote for the BJP as it stood for development, while parties like Congress and NCP were centred around families, he exhorted. He further asked the audience to make minimum 50 phone calls to their relatives and ask them to vote for BJP-Sena alliance.  State energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule appealed the voters make sure victory of BJP candidates in the district. 
MP Krupal Tumane, BJP candidate for Saoner Dr. Rajiv Potdar, candidate for Kamptee Tekchand Savarkar, former state minister Sulekha Kumbhare, Ramesh Mankar, Ashok Dhote and others were present on the dais.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

IGP Prasanna : The man who stopped Obama’s convoy

IGP Mallikarjuna Prasanna By Dheeraj Fartode  Published on Feb/17/2019 NOT many are aware of an episode during the then US President Barack Obama’s visit to India in 2010. The world’s most powerful man was made to wait for 11 minutes in his car while an Indian cop took on American officials for their unwarranted interference in the US President’s security. KM Mallikarjuna Prasanna, Special Inspector General of Police of Nagpur Range, still continues to work with the same pride, wearing his patriotism on the sleeve. “Had they (Americans) deployed their personnel for area security, then the message would have been Indians are unable to protect VIPs in their nation,” recounted Prasanna on the episode that is one of the highlights of his distinguished career of a skillful investigator. The story of the IPS officer of 2000 batch is worth a film. In fact, a movie (Nagarjun-starrer ‘Officer’) has already been made by Ram Gopal Verma last year. His real life script als...

DCP Sunil Kolhe gets IPS cadre

DCP (crime) Sunil Kolhe By Dheeraj Fartode About 28 State Police Service (SPS) officers were granted  Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre on Monday. At Nagpur, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Crime) Sunil Kolhe is among these officers. With their promotion, Maharashtra Government will fill-up the existing vacancies of cadre posts across the State. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India, approved the promotion and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), issued the notification of 28 state police officers into IPS cadre.  Maharashtra Government had earlier empanelled the 28 officers for promotion of SPS officers into IPS and criteria was they should have served for atleast eight years as Superintendent of Police (SP) or Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP). The list includes names of officers belonging to Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy.SP) batches between 1988 and 1995, who were promoted to the IPS cadre. The officers are S V Ja...

How a mom won fight for justice after 15 years

Pintu Shirke  THE love of a mother can move mountains. But for Vijaya Dilipsingh Shirke the task ahead was much tougher. She was taking on the mountain of a corrupt system, enduring threats to life, and fighting the might of muscle power. Never did she flinch even once, and after a longdrawn legal battle of 15 years ensured that the killers of her son did not go unpunished. After all, it was a resolute mother’s promise to her  slain son. On October 31, 2017 the mother was full of anxiety waiting for a word about the outcome of hearing in the Apex Court. The decision would have a bearing on the Shirkes’ years of struggle to get justice for their slain son Swapnil alias Pintu Shirke. When the learned Apex Court judges threw out challenge of main culprits, including prime plotter Vijay Mate, and upheld life sentence handed out by the High Court, the 15-yearlong fight of Vijaya Shirke had finally reached its logical conclusion. “The promise made to Swapnil when...