KOZHIKODE l friday l October 18, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Arrest warrant issued against Sheikh Hasina and 45 others Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal on Thursday issued arrest warrants against them for alleged crimes against humanity Question of extradition open sixty complaints against her at tribunal The tribunal directed the authorities to produce Hasina and others before it by November 18. Hasina is currently believed to be staying in an undisclosed location in India. The warrant could technically open up the possibility of Bangladesh seeking her extradition from India. The interim government in Dhaka has indicated this remains an option ■ ■ More than 60 complaints of enforced disappearance and murder have been filed at the tribunal against Hasina. In all, she faces 200 cases The 45 others against whom warrants were issued include senior Awami League leaders. The tribunal’s chief prosecutor Advocate Tajul Islam said Interpol’s assistance would be sought to bring them back 1,000+ people killed in during protest against Hasina’s government 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 P P Divya removed from Kannur district panchayat prez post SC upholds the validity of Sec 6A of Citizenship Act 4:1 verdict holds provision as valid law; Justice Pardiwala dissents @ New Delhi India’s Virat Kohli walks back; (Top) Injured Rishabh Pant goes off the field on Thursday | vinod kumar t Black Capped in Bengaluru s wa r o o p s wam i nathan @ Bengaluru ROHIT Sharma called right at the toss but that was the only thing the hosts got right in a madcap first four hours of play on Thursday Tactical blunders and questionable calls were . the theme of the hosts’ first innings when play belatedly got underway in the first Test versus New Zealand. After the first day was washed out, more rain was forecast for Thursday It was dark, artificial light was turned on at . 9.15 am and also slightly chilly; some of How they fell the fans were wearing sweaters. So, when 1-9, Rohit; 2-9, Sharma called tails, the decision to bat Kohli; 3-10, Sarfaraz; first was open to question. 4-31, Jaiswal; 5-33, The Black Caps sensed an early opporRahul; 6-34, Jadeja; tunity and eschewed the option of playing 7-34, Ashwin; 8-39, Pant; 9-40, Bumrah; the extra spinner. The three pacers ac10-46, Kuldeep counted for all 10 wickets between themselves as they moved the ball through the air while finding seam movement and bounce off the deck (on X, former Indian team analyst, Himanish Ganjoo, made the point). While the visitors were spot on, India ended up with lots of tactical blunders. Opting to bat, playing three spinners, promoting Virat Kohli to No. 3, asking Sarfaraz Khan to bat No. 4, refusing to send KL Rahul up the order... the mistakes kept piling up. The hosts were all out for 46 in 31.2 overs, the lowest ever by any side in Asia. This was also India’s lowest score in India for 37 years. It may not be over but the hosts need a couple of miracles to even stay in contention. THE Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which grants Indian citizenship to immigrants from Bangladesh who entered Assam before the cutoff date of March 25, 1971. “Parliament had the legislative competence to enact it,” the five-judge Constitution bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, ruled in a 4:1 majority verdict. While the CJI and Justices Surya Kant, M M Sundresh, and Manoj Misra upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A, Justice J B Pardiwala dissented and quashed Section 6A prospectively . The majority verdict held that Section 6A was enacted to balance the humanitarian concerns with the need to protect the local population. Reading out the verdict, Chandrachud said that enactment of Section 6A was a political solution to a unique problem faced by Assam due to the huge influx of immigrants after creation of 1 Under this, those who reached Assam after Jan 1, 1966 but before Mar 25, 1971 must register for citizenship 2 But they can’t vote for 10 years. Those who had come after March 25, 1971 are bound to be deported Bangladesh. The immigrants seriously threatened the state’s culture and demography, the court noted in its judgment. In this context, the apex court also stressed the need for strict implementation of the statutory provisions to trace the illegal immigrants in Assam and deport them. The apex court asked the Centre and the state government to implement directions in the Sarbananda Sonowal judgments to deal with illegal immigrants and made it clear that it would from now onwards monitor the identification and deportation process. “Those who have entered Assam from Bangladesh on or after March E X P RESS RE A D Neyyattinkara Komalam passes away Arunkumar Nampoothiri is Sabarimala melsanthi T’Puram: Veteran actress Neyyattinkara Komalam passed away on Thursday, at the age of 96. She breathed her last at a private hospital in Parassala, where she was undergoing treatment for heart-related ailments. She made her acting debut in ‘Vanamala’ (1951). Her big break came playing Prem Nazir’s heroine in his debut film. ‘Marumakal’ (1952), which was Komalam’s third film, catapulted her into annals of Malayalam film industry. P2 Sabarimala: S Arunkumar Nampoothiri will be the new melsanthi of Sabarimala temple and T Vasudevan Nampoothiri will be the new melsanthi of Malikappuram Devi temple for the 2024-2025 pilgrimage season. The selection was done through a draw of lots at the respective temples. The new melsanthis will take charge on November 16, on the first day of the 2024-2025 pilgrimage season after the installation ceremony on November 15. P5 India on Thursday trashed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations before a commission of inquiry probing foreign interference, that the actions of Indian diplomats violated his country’s sovereignty . “What we heard today only confirms what we have been saying consistently all along. Canada has presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats. The responsibility for the damage Strong, Vibrant bilateral ties India-Canada bilateral ties are strong and vibrant. “We have a large Indian Diaspora in Canada. A large number of international students as well. This particular crisis has been precipitated by Trudeau government” alone for vote bank politics, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau’s office,’’ said a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. While Trudeau accused India of using organised ganglords like Lawrence Bishnoi to harm Canadians, New Delhi said it had shared with Ottawa information regarding members of the Bishnoi gang and others holed up there, seeking their arrest. “They have taken no action so far, which are our core concerns. And, there is a political motive behind it, P P Divya, who has been embroiled in a controversy following the death of Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu, has been removed from the post of the president of the Kannur district panchayat. The decision was taken after a meeting of the district secretariat of the CPM in Kannur on Thursday . K K Rathnakumari has been elected as the new president. Naveen Babu was found dead at his residence in Kannur on Tuesday, a day after Divya publicly humiliated him during his farewell function. Police have registered a case against Divya for abetment of suicide. “The Kannur district secretariat had made some reactions following the sudden and painful demise of Kannur ADM, Naveen Babu. The party took the stand that the district panchayat president made a wellintentioned criticism against corruption, but some remarks made in the farewell meeting should have been avoided. We Sec 6A was brought in to deal with those covered under the 1985 Assam Accord, signed by then Rajiv Gandhi govt & aasu Canada yet to act on Bishnoi gang info Y e s h i Se l i @ New Delhi E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kannur Contentious provision S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y which you know,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. As for the diplomatic chill, visa services have been impacted and only essential services are being attended to at present, which includes cases like medical emergencies. During his deposition, Trudeau admitted that when he first broached the matter of Khalistani radical Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s murder with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, he had no evidence to prove the allegations of an Indian hand, only intelligence inputs. 3 Petitioners argued that Section 6A helped mass immigration, wanted 1951 as cut-off year to detect and deport 4 SC said the impact of influx of migrants is higher in Assam due to its small land size, and detection is tough 25, 1971 are all illegal immigrants, who must be identified, detected, and deported,” the majority judgment said. The verdict came in a batch of petitions filed by various parties, including Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha, a Guwahati-based civil society organisation, which had moved the apex court challenging Section 6A way back in 2012. Section 6A of the Citizenship Act was introduced to give effect to the Assam Accord, an agreement signed in 1985 between the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam movement, who wanted removal of foreigners who entered Assam from Bangladesh. bypoll imbroglio Cong ousts Sarin before he quits E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram/Palakkad On a day of high drama, the Congress expelled its digital media cell convenor P Sarin even as he was addressing a press conference in Palakkad to announce his resignation from the party And in a bid to . cash in on the mess within the Congress, the CPM decided to field Sarin in the assembly by-election from Palakkad, where the party finished third in the previous instance. A day after his diatribe against the Congress state leadership over denial of ticket, Sarin singled out Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, accusing him of hobnobbing with the BJP under the guise of championing anti-communism. Even the Palakkad bypoll was “unnecessarily created” to help the BJP It was Satheesan who de. railed the efforts of the Opposition to associate with the ruling party in Kerala on the issue of the Uniform Civil Code, he alleged. A coterie headed by Satheesan, Shafi Parambii and Rahul Mamkoottathil has hijacked the Congress in the state, Sarin alleged. The trio has placed its interests above those of the party “Satheesan is the . leader of a caucus, and he rose to leadership by hijacking the party . He has destroyed the Congress’ democratic and org anisational structure,” Sarin said. Even as Sarin’s press conference was progressing at the Palakkad Press Club on Thursday Congress state gen, eral secretary (organisation) M Liju issued a statement, accusing the digital media cell convenor of committing serious breach of discipline and indulging in grave anti-organisational activity  ● More on P4 . CPI fields Sathyan Mokeri in Wayanad T’Puram: Senior CPI leader and party national control commission secretary Sathyan Mokeri will be the LDF candidate for Wayanad Lok Sabha byelection. He will take on Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The BJP is yet to announce its candidate. P4 A century of song Having lived & breathed melody, Kunjamma, 107, is still music to ears Rahu l R @ Kollam Kunjamma Chacko at her house in Pooyappally, Kollam | B P Deepu At 107 years of age, Kunjamma Chacko’s life still beats to a rhythm that has sustained her for nearly a century Her mod. est home in Pooyappally, Kollam, fills with the soulful melodies of her voice and the hum of her harmonium, much like it has for decades. Her passion for music began when she was just 12, as a member of the church choir. Kunjamma’s musical journey has been one of talent and perseverance. Bor n into a Christian family in Chathan- nur, she trained in Carnatic music for eight years, an uncommon pursuit among girls at the time. But with the unwavering support of her family, she embraced her passion. “My uncle arranged for a bhagavathar to teach me music. In those days, it wasn’t common for girls to learn music, but my family supported me,” Kunjamma tells TNIE. “Music isn’t just about moving one’s lips. It should be so melodic that it pleases not only people but even god,” Kunjamma says. After her husband passed away when she was just 21, Kunjamma turned to music to support her family. Her voice became a staple at church festivals, weddings, birthday celebrations, and even at funeral services. She quickly earned the reputation as a gifted singer and as choirmaster of the Mar Thoma In those days, it wasn’t common for girls to learn music, but my family supported me... Music isn’t just about moving one’s lips. It should be so melodic that it pleases not only people but even god — Kunjamma Church in Pooyappally . Over the years, Kunjamma has performed at more than 1,000 functions and events, always accompanied by her traditional foot-pedal har monium. She became a beloved figure in the local community , her voice synonymous with special occasions. Even now, she refuses to let age silence her. Despite her deteriorating health and fading eyesight, she still sings every day, even performing at church events, unmindful of the toll that it takes ● More on P4 on her body . Ex-P’thitta collectors recall ‘upright officer’ Pathanamthitta: Barely suppressing their grief, two former Pathanamthitta district collectors – P B Nooh and Divya S Iyer – remembered ADM Naveen Babu as an upright officer who could be “depended for any work with 100% trust.” Naveen Babu’s mortal remains were cremated on the premises of his home in Malayalapuzha. P5 also demanded the government to conduct a thorough investigation. The district secretariat felt that P P Divya should step down from the post of the district president as the police are now investigating the case. After Divya approved the decision, party secretariat decided to consider K K Ratnakumari as the president,” said a statement from secretariat Reacting to the development, Divya said she will prove her innocence legally  ● More on P5 . BJP makes a Maha Valmiki Jayanti point R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi When the BJP postponed the swearing-in ceremony of the Nayab Singh Saini government in Haryana’s Panchkula to Thursday October 17, it had , more than the availability of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the event in mind. For, the day coincides with Valmiki Jayanti. The apparent message was to poll-bound Maharashtra and Jharkhand that the party is identified with Dalit and OBC voters, who have a significant presence in both states. Saini visited a Valmiki temple in Panchkula before taking his oath of office and secrecy . Earlier, the swearing-in ceremony was to take place on Tuesday, October 15. The event drew thousands people from across the country, including chief ministers of 13 NDA-ruled states, 16 deputy CMs and ministers in the Central and state governments. After the grand event, Modi chaired a meeting of NDA chief ministers and their deputies in Chandigarh. “We had extensive discussions on aspects of good governance and ways to improve people’s lives. Our alliance is committed to furthering national progress and empowering the poor and downtrodden,” Modi posted on X. The get-together is part of the BJP’s post-poll narrative to showcase NDA unity and resolve to collectively work for development. Sinwar Killed in Gaza, confirms Israel Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, chief architect of last year’s October 7 massacre of Israelis that sparked the war, killed in Gaza bombing | P9