Rishi Kapoor (39), from Amritsar, has become the first Indian to be appointed with the University Police Services’ Southern Command. It is a new department in Las Vegas, created as part of the consolidation of police forces in all higher education institutions and state colleges in the state of Nevada.
During his interview, the first question asked was why he had chosen to join the police. He replied, “Back home, I have been raised in a family where there is immense respect for the uniform. My grandfather, uncle and cousin were in the Army and we have the tradition to send the first child of the family for forces.” He was unable to make it to the Indian police force, but he has achieved his goal in the US. “Wearing a uniform and badge is the different level feeling,” he told The Sunday Guardian over telephone. Rishi moved to the US in 2009 and initially did petty jobs to make both ends meet.
DELHI VIOLENCE PLANNED BEFOREHAND
Intelligence sources told The Sunday Guardian that the opening of “another Shaheen Bagh” in Delhi’s northeast was part of a well-calculated strategy by anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters to create grounds to trigger communal riots there. Of course, hate speech by some BJP leaders earlier and just after the sit-in of a large group of Muslim women outside Jafrabad Metro station and Chand Bagh blocking the road, added fuel to the fire.
“It was a well-thought out strategy by brains behind the Shaheen Bagh-style dharna at the Metro station. The strategists, both India and abroad-based, knew well that it would be resisted by the saffron parivar and that clashes were bound to happen,” a top Central intelligence officer said, adding that “it was aimed at embarrassing the Narendra Modi government at a time when US President Donald Trump was in New Delhi.”
IB sources said that it was a great strategy to launch Shaheen Bagh agitation with old women. The brains behind it knew that it would be very difficult to forcibly remove the protesters as it would become headlines in international media. “One can lathi charge, teargas or order firing to remove men, but handling grandmothers is a different ball game. That is why in other parts of the country also efforts have been made to start Shaheen Bagh-style dharnas with women, especially old,” said a source.
Sources claimed that the “ultimate aim of the strategists behind the protests is to remove the minority community’s fear. During the first five years of the BJP regime, Muslims remained quiet and were fearful of lynching in the name of beef eating and cattle smuggling. Now efforts are being made to galvanize the community across India to bring them out of their shell and hit the streets.”
NITISH SURPRISES BJP
The BJP was taken by surprise by its ally, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s last-minute decision to pass a resolution in Assembly against the NRC, and to adopt NPR in its 2010 format.
On Tuesday, the resolution was brought in a dramatic manner in the House, following Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav’s demand for a discussion on CAA, NPR and NRC. BJP MLAs looked uncomfortable, but remained silent. They had no option but to back the resolution. On Wednesday, PM Narendra Modi said “the government is committed to implement CAA in Bihar”.
Sources say that though the move has embarrassed the BJP but it has decided to ignore the humiliation. “The timing is not good to protest,” a top BJP leader in New Delhi told this paper. “A confrontation with Nitish Babu will spoil our relations at a time when Bihar is heading for Assembly polls.”
TN GOING BIHAR WAY?
Are the AIADMK and the BJP playing a Bihar-like game in Tamil Nadu? On Wednesday, Chief Minister E.K. Palaniswami said that the demand to pass a resolution against the NRC in Tamil Nadu Assembly is “under consideration”. His remarks came days after massive protest rallies against the CAA and NRC, led by minority communities, in the state. Palaniswami’s response marks a significant change from the state government’s earlier position. It had so far blamed Opposition DMK for “misleading people” in the ongoing protests against NRC and the CAA.
IT’S A FAMILY MATTER
The other day, during the ongoing budget session in the Haryana Assembly, the first question was of the Jat party, JJP, MLA Naina Chautala. It was answered by her son and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala. As soon as Naina Chautala stood up to read out her question, Health Minister Anil Vij commented, “You should ask him all this while you are at home.” This led to laughter in the Assembly.