kottayam l Monday l november 30, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 28 l city EDITION Expect harsher winter in the north, warns Met dept There is also a higher chance of cold wave this winter, the Indian Meteorological Department said on Sunday la nina blamed for abnormal chill Delhi to see coldest November in 10 yrs “Below normal minimum temperatures are likely over most subdivisions of north, northwest, central and few subdivisions over east India,” the IMD said in its winter forecast. The IMD blamed it on the prevailing moderate La Nina conditions. La Nina happens when the surface water in the equatorial Pacific Ocean cools. This leads to a drop in global temperature ■ ■ Temperatures in several parts of north India, including Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan, were normal on Sunday Delhi is set to record its coldest November in 10 years. Average minimum temperature in the city from Nov 1 to 29 was 10 degree Celsius. The normal minimum for the month is 12 degrees Celsius 7 degrees Celsius was delhi’s minimum temperature on Sunday CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Liberal invoking of sedition law in BJP-ruled states Sana Sha k i l / R i t w i k a M i t r a @ New Delhi When the Bombay High Court last week berated the Mumbai Police for slapping sedition charges against actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli, asking “if anybody doesn’t fall within the line of the government, will that be sedition,” it was only underlining the increasing trend of governments to misuse this colonial law. Data maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau, which started collating sedition numbers since 2014, shows that while there were 47 cases registered under Section 124A of the IPC (sedition) that year, it jumped to 93 in 2019, an increase of 98%. While 27 states or Union Territories had not registered a single sedition case in 2014, that number fell to 19 last year, indicating more state governments were willing to charge people under the stringent law. An analysis by this newspaper showed that BJP state governments invoked the law more than non-BJP ones. This is best illustrated by the experience in Karnataka, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir. The first two have BJP regimes while J&K is under Central rule. In all the three, there was a spike in sedition cases after they came under BJP rule. In 2019, Karnataka saw the maximum sedition cases ( 22), followed by Assam (17) and J&K (11). Under Congress rule in Karnataka, two cases were filed in 2018; three each in 2015 and 2016; and none in 2014 and 2017. Assam recorded 17 sedition cases each in two consecutive years of 2018 and 2019 — slightly lower than 2017 when it recorded 19 cases — the highest in the country for that Continued on: P8 year.  Numbers say it all  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019 Jammu & Kashmir 0101  12  11 Punjab 01 0 000 Himachal Pradesh 101 501 Uttar Pradesh 006  1  0  10 Bihar  16  9  0  0  17  0 Haryana  0  3  12  13  1 2 Arunachal Pradesh 000 000 Assam 100  19  17  17 Nagaland Tripura  0  0 00 00 00 08 00 Delhi 002 011 Rajasthan 01 1 1 04 Manipur 01 00 4 1 Gujarat 020 00 Madhya Pradesh 002 111 Maharashtra 010 002 Goa 8.33% 0 0 0 Karnataka  0  3  3  0  2  22 Kerala 53394 West Bengal 24 1 1 04 Jharkhand  18  0  0  1  18  3 Odisha 201 302 Chhattisgarh  1  0  0  0  3 1 Telangana  0  1  2  0  0  1 Andhra Pradesh  1  0  1  0  1  0 Tamil Nadu  0  0  0  3  1  4 Some prominent cases 2014: 60 Kashmiri students in UP charged with sedition for cheering Pakistan in a cricket match; charges dropped later 2014: Seven booked for sedition in Kerala for not standing up during national anthem Vaccine trial: Man seeks damages Chennai: A 40-year-old Chennai resident who was a participant in the Covishield vaccine trials, sponsored by the Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune, and the Indian Council of Medical Research, has sought D5 crore as compensation, alleging that he suffered serious ‘neurological’ side-effects after taking the experimental dose. Meanwhile, officials are investigating if the adverse effects, as claimed to have been suffered by the trial participant, are related to the shot administered to him. P5 2018: Activist Sudha Bhardwaj and others booked under various charges, including sedition and supporting Maoists; continue to be in jail 2020: Sedition charge slapped on Keralite journalist Siddique Kappan, who was on his way to Hathras to cover the Dalit gang-rape and murder case Say it came with strings; decide to block three more entry points — Ballabgarh, Daruhera and Hapur — into Delhi H a r p r eet B a j w a @ Chandigarh Refusing to accept Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s offer to re-locate to the Burari grounds in north Delhi to begin the talks process, Punjab farmers on Sunday continued to stay put on the Delhi border, attacking the proposal for having pre-conditions. While the far mers have parked themselves on the Singhu and Tikri borders, they decided to block three more entry points into Delhi —Ballabgarh, Daruhera and Hapur. Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla wrote to the 32 protesting farmers’ unions in Singhu Border Hapur Tikri Border delhi Daruhera Farmers blocking the Singhu border in Delhi on Sunday | Parveen Negi Hindi on Saturday citing the winter chill and the fear of a spike in Covid cases because of the massing, to persuade them to shift to Burari. Once they re-locate, a team of Union ministers would be ready to hold talks with them at Vigyan Bhavan, the letter said, but it failed to get traction. Shah’s offer was unanimously rejected at a meeting of all Ballabgarh 32 Punjab farmers unions at the Singhu border. “We are ready for talks, but the Union government should not impose any pre-condition,” the leaders said and likened the Burari ground to an open jail. “Instead of going to the ‘open jail’ in Burari, we have decided to lay siege to Delhi by blocking all five main entry points into the national Capital. As we have ration of four months, we are prepared for a long haul,” they said, adding no representative of any political party would be allowed to speak from their platform. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot sought to add pressure by writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to reconsider the three new farm laws against which farmers are staging protests. Raid on KSFE Widespread rain forecast for four days brings rumblings in CPM to fore E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram Rumblings in the ruling CPM have come out in the open with the unexpected vigilance raid on the state-run Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE), with not just Finance Minister Thomas Isaac but also party senior leader Anathalavattom Anandan slamming the agency for the untimely action. The CPM state secretariat member went to the extent of saying the home department is responsible to reveal the circumstances that led to the raid. He also questioned the Home dept motive of the raid conduct- seeks report ed by the vigilance, which T’Puram: The Home comes under the state Department has asked home department headed for a clarification from the Vigilance director by the chief minister. Soon after he made the on the surprise raid statement before the me- on KSFE branches dia, CPM state secretary in on Saturday. VACB director Sudesh charge A Vijayaragavan Kumar, who is on said the issues related to leave, has been asked the raid on KSFE branches to report for duty and have to be discussed with- submit a report on the in the party . circumstances behind Anandan admitted that the raid and how the raid has dented the im- media got to know age of KSFE and that vigi- about the findings. lance’s action was similar to that of the Central investigating agencies in the gold smuggling and related developments. “The raid would only help create confusion in the minds of people,” he said and expressed suspicion that there was a conspiracy behind the raid. This is the first time a senior CPM leader has openly criticised the home department and its motives after Isaac slammed the agency ● More on P4 for its action and the timing. express read 2016: JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar charged with sedition for allegedly raising anti-national slogans Rajini fans pin hopes on RMM meet Source: NCRB 2014-2019 2012: Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi booked for allegedly mocking national emblem in his cartoon; charges dropped after nationwide outrage Farmers turn down Centre’s proposal Chennai: On the eve of Rajini’s scheduled meeting with the office-bearers of Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) on Monday, some fans believe that the star will lead them in next year’s assembly polls. But, speculation is rife that the actor is having second thoughts about a political entry. | P5 WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST YOUR LIFE COACH 28 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) Church row: Jacobite faction plans to approach Centre E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kochi The Jacobite faction of the Malankara Church on Sunday launched an indefinite relay hunger strike demanding ‘justice’ and an ordinance in its favour in the wake of the takeover of churches. While strengthening protests demanding an ordinance to prevent further loss of its churches, the Jacobite faction hinted that it is planning to approach the Central Government seeking a solution to the Church dispute. “We are making efforts to bring the denial of justice to the Centre’s attention. If the authorities concerned are not making any effort to bring out an ordinance, then the Church will look at other options,” said Jacobite Church Metropolitan trustee Joseph Mar Gregorios. A series of protests and hunger strike were organised by the Jacobite faction across the state, including in the 52 churches which they claim the other faction has taken over from them. Bishops and priests led the protests at various locations by following ● More on P5 the Covid protocol.  No fishing activities The government has suspended all fishing activities along Kerala coast from Tuesday. All fishing vessels that have ventured into the sea have been told to reach the nearest safe coast by Monday night. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram Southern Kerala is likely to witness heavy rain in the next four days due to a cyclonic circulation formed over the south Andaman sea. The India Meteorological Department has sounded a red alert in Idukki, warning extreme heavy rainfall, and orange alert —very heavy rainfall — in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta districts for Wednesday . The state will receive widespread rain from Tuesday due to the influence of the cyclonic weather. The Met department has issued a yellow alert in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki for Tuesday . An orange alert has been issued in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam and yellow alert in Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Idukki districts for Thursday . “The coastal areas may witness strong wind with speed reaching 60-70 kmph gusting to 80 kmph during these days,” said an P5 IMD bulletin.