Ruchika Girhotra, a 14-year-old talented tennis player, had gone for practice with her friend Aradhana when SPS Rathore, an IPS officer and President of the Haryana Tennis Association, called both girls to his room. He sent Aradhana outside on the pretext of calling the coach, then grabbed Ruchika, pulled her towards him and molested her. When Ruchika screamed, Aradhana returned and witnessed the incident. Rathore threatened both girls with dire consequences if they spoke out. Despite the threats, Ruchika and her family bravely filed a police complaint, but instead of action, false theft cases were filed against her brother, who was brutally tortured and paraded naked in front of their house. Police in plain clothes repeatedly threatened the family, Ruchika was expelled from school and banned from tennis, leading her into severe depression. Eventually, she took her own life. The Congress and Chautala governments of that time not only failed to act against Rathore but promoted him to Director General of Police. The family fought a long legal battle and finally got him convicted in 2008. Those were the so-called democratic governments — and now people talk about dictatorship.
रोज की बात हो गई है ही सेक्टर 62, c block, मिठास के सामने, wrong side से e रिक्शा सवारी बैठा कर लाते हैं, और भीषण जाम का कारण बनते हैं। मुश्किल से 50 मीटर दूर पुलिस खड़ी रहती है पर करती कुछ नहीं। @myogioffice जी अगर आम आदमी को ऐसे ही परेशानी होती रही तो कैसे चलेगा। @noidapolice
The discussion sparked by a recent statement on Passport Seva Divas has generated more heat than light.
The Ministry of External Affairs stated that a passport is a travel document, not a document of citizenship. Legally, that is correct. A passport is issued under the Passports Act, while citizenship is governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955. One law regulates the document; the other regulates the legal status.
But law and public understanding are not always the same.
For most Indians, the passport is the most authoritative document the Republic issues. It bears the name of the Republic of India, carries the holder’s identity, and is accepted around the world because foreign governments trust that India has verified the bearer’s nationality before issuing it. It is therefore entirely understandable that many people asked: if a passport is not proof of citizenship, then what is?
The answer requires some nuance.
A passport does not create citizenship. Nor is it the legal instrument that finally determines citizenship if that status is challenged before a court. Like many democracies, India distinguishes between citizenship law and passport law. In rare cases involving fraud, disputed parentage or illegal acquisition, citizenship may have to be established through the provisions of the Citizenship Act and supporting evidence. That is why a passport is not regarded in law as conclusive proof in every conceivable circumstance.
But that should not be confused with its practical significance.
A passport is issued only after the Government has satisfied itself that the applicant is entitled to one. In everyday life, and in international travel, it is the strongest evidence of Indian nationality that most citizens will ever possess. Nothing said by the MEA changes that. No immigration officer abroad will suddenly regard an Indian passport with suspicion because of a legal clarification made in New Delhi.
The episode does, however, remind us of a larger challenge.
India’s systems of civil registration developed unevenly over many decades. Millions of older Indians were born when birth registration was incomplete. Names were recorded differently across school certificates, land records and electoral rolls. The painful experience of the Assam NRC showed how documentary inconsistencies can create profound hardship when citizenship itself becomes the subject of legal scrutiny.
The lesson, therefore, is not that passports have somehow lost their value. It is that India needs stronger and more comprehensive civil registration, universal birth registration and reliable archival records so that citizenship can never become hostage to missing or inconsistent paperwork.
Sometimes a legally precise statement can create unnecessary public anxiety if it is not accompanied by explanation. A better way of putting it might have been this:
A passport is issued only after the Government has verified that the applicant is an Indian citizen. While citizenship itself is governed by the Citizenship Act, the passport remains the Republic’s most trusted document for international travel and, in ordinary life, the clearest evidence of Indian nationality.
That is both legally accurate and reassuring. The law need not be diluted, but neither should public confidence in one of the Republic’s most important documents.
To distil the argument:
A passport is issued because the Government has satisfied itself that you are an Indian citizen. It is therefore powerful evidence of citizenship in ordinary life and in international travel. But in a legal dispute over citizenship itself, the governing law remains the Citizenship Act, and a passport is not conclusive proof that overrides all other evidence
Her name was Neha Shoree.
She was a drug inspector in Punjab.
In 2009, while posted in Ropar, she raided a chemist shop run by a man named Balwinder Singh.
During the inspection, she found dozens of types of tablets commonly misused by drug addicts. According to official records, he could not produce the required documents for them.
She cancelled his licence.
Then she moved on and continued doing her job.
By 2016, Neha Shoree had become the zonal licensing authority at a government drug laboratory in Kharar, near Mohali.
She was thirty six years old.
She had a young daughter at home. Her father was a retired Army captain who had fought in the 1971 war.
The man whose licence she had cancelled never forgot what had happened.
On the morning of March 29, 2019, Balwinder Singh walked into her office in Kharar carrying a licensed revolver.
He shot her inside her workplace.
Neha Shoree was rushed towards a hospital but died on the way.
The gunman then turned the weapon on himself and died soon afterwards.
According to the police, she had been due to testify against him in court.
Ten years had passed since the raid.
Ten years after she enforced the law, he came back for revenge.
Her father later said that his daughter had lived under pressure for years because of her work, but she never compromised and never backed down.
She was killed for doing exactly what the job had asked her to do.
Follow for verified stories every Indian deserves to know.
हिंदुओं को गुरुद्वारा जाने की चुल्ल मची रहती है, इसलिए ये लोग मारते हैं। वीर पुरुष हैं, निहंग हैं, निहत्थों पर वीरता ऐसे ही निकलती है। मज़ार और गुरुद्वारा जाना ही क्यों है? तुम्हारे मंदिर कम हो गए हैं? वो नहीं मानते तुम्हें अपना, तुम क्यों चिपकना चाहते हो? उनका समाज भी कभी इस पर सामूहिक रूप से नहीं बोलता।
उनके लिए तुम बिहारी, भैये और कुत्ते-सूअर जैसे हो। नस्लभेद, घटिया जातिवाद और क्षेत्रवाद का भौंडा प्रदर्शन हो रहा है।
रॉन्ग साइड से पचासों e रिक्शा एग्जाम से छूटे बच्चों को रोज़ जाम लगाते हैं। अन्य राहगीर व निवासी परेशान होते हैं। @Noidatraffic या @noidapolice की कानों पर जूं भी नहीं रेंगती। खुलेआम यातायात का उल्लंघन होता है। @AmarUjalaNews@JagranNews@CMOfficeUP संज्ञान लें।
@alpha_defense@Viv_Krishnan Didn't Ayub Khan mistakenly say that the Hindu morale would not stand more than a couple of hard blows.
He was proved wrong.
Speaking of #IPL, This Munshi Premchand Cricket story is much closer than a Kabaddi League.. @notself@prabhatranjann
Munshi Premchand had created a cricket team owner character of Helen Mukherjee way back in 1937 in his short story "Cricket Match". The Munshi Premchand story written in 1937 had an IPL like setup.. and questioned the reason for playing the game.. The story features a cricketer's diary way back in 1935, but still relevant as of today. Think IPL, think Glamour & Money associated to it, which can be replaced with Helen Mukherjee's act in the context!
Full Story : https://t.co/NHvZMdubZT
#IPL #HelenMukherjee #FemaleTeamOwner
#Premchand #CricketMatch
"Police ko ham sambhal lenge. Bajrang Dal ko kaun sambhalega?" (We will handle the police. How are we going to handle Bajrang Dal?)
This is what several clerics told Shahid Parvez when he went to mosques in Delhi's Okhla area with this Hindu woman to get conversion-nikahnama papers
What this reveals: Laws matter but conversion networks fear alert local communities more
For every case that reaches a police station, there are many many more that are stopped because ground warriors intervene. Naman to every one of them
असम के जोरहाट में पिछले दिनों भारतीय वायुसेना का विमान क्रैश हुआ। पांच जवान शहीद हुए। इनमें फ्लाइट लेफ्टिनेंट शुभम कुमार भी थे। बिहार सरकार की तरफ से 21 लाख रुपए का चेक श्रेया राय को सौंपा गया। श्रेया श्राद्धकर्म से पहले ही चेक लेकर अपने घर चली गई।
दरअसल, शुभम और श्रेया की अगले साल शादी होनी थी। दोनों कोर्ट मैरिज कर चुके थे, यह जानकारी शुभम की फैमिली को नहीं थी। इसलिए कानूनन तौर पर सरकार ने श्रेया को शुभम की पत्नी मानकर सहायता दी।
शुभम के पिता अमरेंद्र शर्मा कहते हैं, "अगर मेरे बेटे ने सच में श्रेया से शादी की थी तो वह मेरी बहू है और चेक पाने की हकदार भी, लेकिन पत्नी का फर्ज निभाना भी तो चाहिए था। पति के श्राद्धकर्म से पहले ही वो चेक लेकर अपने घर चली गई"
Mind-boggling: 200 sorties to fly question papers.
If HADR commitments weren’t already stretching limited military aviation resources, we are now using them for routine civil tasks.
I’ve said this before: India needs a dedicated NDRF air wing for disaster relief and civil support missions.
The cost is not just flying hours or maintenance. The long-term effect on the military’s professional identity, institutional psyche and operational focus is underappreciated.
Many believe that decades of counter-insurgency operations affected the Army’s preparedness for conventional warfare. Imagine the aviation equivalent of that.
@Ramandeep_Bajwa Quite embarrassing for India which promotes and sees itself as a major global power. Time to take a tough call of Mk1. Besides, one must not hope much from the socialist era PSUs to deliver cutting edge technologies.
One must seek heavy indulgence of private players here.