47 killed in Pak mosque blast The blast during afternoon prayers in the high-security zone in Peshawar left over 100 people, most of them policemen, injured Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP or Pakistani Taliban), has claimed responsibility for the attack, carried out by a suicide bomber The outfit said the bombing was to avenge the killing of one of its leaders in August last year | AFP | P10 MADURAI l tuesday l january 31, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI godman Aim to save liberal, secular Self-styledin secondAsaram convicted rape case ethos of India, says Rahul D i l ip S in g h K s h at ri ya @ Ahmedabad F aya z W a ni @ Srinagar Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the aim of his 4,000 km long Bharat Jodo Yatra was to save the liberal and secular ethos of India. Addressing a rally here to mark the end of the yatra, he called for the end of violence in the Valley, saying phone calls announcing deaths — whether of a soldier, a CRPF jawan or any Kashmiri, should stop. “No child, mother, son or any other family member should take this phone call. My aim is to stop this call,” he said. Striking a bond with Kashmiris, he said they gave him hearts full of love and not hand grenades, adding no BJP leader can walk like he did, as they are scared. “I have not done this yatra for Congress but for the country Our aim is to stand against . the ideology that wants to destroy foundation of this country. We should stand united with love and affection against Rahul Gandhi (second-left) with D Raja (from left), Omar Abdullah, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mallikarjun Kharge and Mehbooba Mufti, during a rally at the end of his 145-day Bharat Jodo Yatra amid heavy snowfall, in Srinagar on Monday | PTI them,” Rahul said. Amid heavy snowfall, Rahul said while the BJP has shown a path of politics, the Congress wants to show the country a different route — of dignity, love and affection. “Nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukan kholne ki koshish ki hai (attempted to open a shop of love in a market of hatred.” Rahul said he was warned that if he walked in Kashmir, he could be attacked. “However, I walked for four days. I thought those who hate me, let me give them an opportunity to change the colour of my white T-shirt to red...Kashmiri people did not give me a hand grenade but gave me love and warmth,” he said. The rally was meant to be a show of strength for the Opposition, but many leaders could not make it due to adverse weather. Apart from the Congress leaders, Farooq and Omar Abdullah of National Conference, Mehbooba Mufti of PDP D Raja , of CPI, RSP’s Premchandran, and leaders from DMK, JMM, BSP VCK and IUML participat, ed in the rally . The Gandhinagar sessions court on Monday convicted self-styled godman Asaram in a rape case filed by a Surat-based woman in 2013. The quantum of sentence is likely to be pronounced on Tuesday . The court acquitted six other accused, including Asaram’s wife Laxmiben, their daughter, and four disciples who were also accused in the case, for want of evidence. The complainant, one of Asaram’s former devotees, accused him of raping her multiple times between 1997 and 2006 when she was staying at his Motera ashram. The complainant’s younger sister had accused Asaram’s son, Narayan Sai, of sexually assaulting her when she was staying in Asaram’s Jahangirpura ashram in Surat between 2002 and 2005. Sai was booked for rape and awarded life imprisonment by a Surat court. The 81-year-old godman is currently serving a life sentence in a Jodhpur jail for raping a minor girl at his ashram in Rajasthan in 2013. ‘Not against Guv, motion adopted to uphold House dignity’ EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai Four days after Chief Minister MK Stalin and a section of ministers attended the ‘At Home’ reception hosted by Governor RN Ravi, the DMK party president clarified he took part in the Republic Day fete to uphold the dignity of democra- cy.  The participation was no act of political backtrack or compromise, he said on Monday in an 11.37-minute question-and answer-video titled ‘Ungalail Oruvan Pathilgal’ ( A n swe r s f ro m o n e amongst you). Stalin added the resolution moved by him in the Assembly on January 9 was not against the governor but was to ensure the latter’s address — prepared by the state government — was on record. “My resolution is that the address which was prepared by the (state) government should go on Assembly records without any changes. The resolution was adopted and the dignity of the house and the principles of the democracy were upheld.” The CM’s reasoning for his participation in the event was age-old ethics. Stalin’s clarification comes in response to charges on social media platforms that the ruling party had compromised with the union government and particularly the Raj Bhavan. ,