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A Delhi court has set aside a lower court’s order directing the police to file a first information report against Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Delhi minister Kapil Mishra for his alleged involvement in the 2020 riots case. On April 1, the lower court held that there was enough material to warrant further investigation into whether Mishra had committed a cognisable offence.

Both Mishra and the Delhi Police had challenged the order before the sessions court, which stayed the directive for further investigation on April 9. The order was entirely set aside on Monday.

The judgement came on a petition filed by 57-year-old Mohammad Ilyas, who told Scroll that he had approached the police three times asking for a case to be registered against Mishra. However, he was told that they would register his complaint only against unspecified “rioters”. Read on.

The futile, five-year struggle to lodge an FIR against Kapil Mishra

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Monday said that it has arrested seven persons and recovered 2,900 kilograms of improvised explosive device-making material, busting an “inter-state and transnational terror module”. An unidentified police spokesperson from Srinagar said that the terror module was linked to the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind terror outfits

The searches were carried out at multiple locations in Jammu and Kashmir.

The police also conducted searches at Faridabad, where they reportedly recovered 360 kilograms of inflammable substances along with other material that “could be used for terrorist activities”.Read on.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has claimed that the state was witnessing not just demographic change, but an “economic shift”, with Muslims growing richer. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader claimed that this could mean that the “surrender of the Assamese people” had begun.

During a press conference in Guwahati, Sarma also claimed that the population growth rate among Hindus was reducing, while that of Muslims was increasing.

According to the 2011 Census, Hindus constitute 61.47% of Assam’s population, while Muslims constitute 34.22%. The 2001 Census stated that Hindus comprised 64.89% of the population, while Muslims were 30.92%. Read on.

The West Bengal unit of the Congress has approached the Supreme Court challenging the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in the state. The petition came days after the Election Commission began the enumeration phase of the exercise in 12 states and Union Territories, including West Bengal, on November 4.

The matter on West Bengal was mentioned before Justice Surya Kant, who is also hearing a similar case related to the electoral rolls revision in Bihar. The counsel for the petitioner requested that the Bengal case be listed along with the Bihar matter on Tuesday, to which the judge agreed.

Similar petitions have been filed against the exercise by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Read on.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath has announced that singing Vande Mataram will be made compulsory in schools and educational institutions in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said the move would inspire “reverence and pride” among citizens towards Bharat Mata and the country.

Adityanath’s remarks came amid a Union government campaign marking 150 years of Vande Mataram. The campaign, which runs until Constitution Day on November 26, includes nationwide recitations and cultural events.

The BJP has repeatedly invoked Vande Mataram as part of its Hindutva messaging. Over the years, the party’s calls for mandatory recitation of the song in schools and government offices have been met with resistance from sections of society that view it as an exclusionary practice, particularly for minorities. Read on.

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