NEW DELHI 28 SEPTEMBER 2025 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24  facebook/TheMorningStandard  X.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in SMALL TOWN, BIG DEAL PLUS: 12 PAGES MAGAZINE A Decade of Democracy in Decline Devdutt Pattanaik Prabhu Chawla Ravi Shankar S Vaidhyasubramaniam Khalid Anis Ansari Anand Vasu Anu Aggarwal Better Safe than Worry Blurring the Boundaries Between Good and Evil EXCLUSIVE VOICES The Sound of Stillness AT LEAST 8 KIDS, 16 WOMEN AMONG VICTIMS IN KARUR 36 killed in Vijay rally stampede Police, please help — TVK chief Vijay heard saying as people fell unconscious The news from Karur is worrying. I have contacted former Minister @V_ Senthilbalaji, Health Minister @Subramanian_Ma and the District Collector to provide immediate support — M K Stalin, chief minister Speeding Thar flips on Gurgaon E-way, 5 killed E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi FIVE people, including three women, were killed and a man was injured on Saturday morning after their SUV collided with the divider and overturned near Jharsa Chowk flyover on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway. The Sector-40 police station in Gurugram received information at around 5 regarding a Thar vehicle that had met with an accident. A team rushed to the spot, where the car was found mangled. Pratishtha Mishra (25), a resident of Raebareli in UP Lavan, ya (26), Aditya Pratap Singh (30), both residents of Agra, Gautam (31), from Sonipat, and Soni died in the crash. Kapil Sharma (28), from Bulandshahr, was injured. Deceased Gautam, Singh, and injured Kapil were engaged in advertising business in Noida and deceased Lavanya and Pratishtha Mishra were LLB students in Greater Noida. A purported CCTV footage of the crash showed the vehicle being driven at breakneck speed. Ambulances passing by the crowd at Vijay’s rally as the leader looks on from atop his bus in Karur on Saturday| EXPRESS D V I N C E N T A R O C K I A R A J @ Karur VIOLATION OF POLICE SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS AT least 36 people, including eight children and 16 women, died following a suspected stampede and crowd surge during Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader Vijay’s election campaign atVeluchamipuram in Karur of Tamil Nadu on Saturday evening. A one-year-old baby is among those feared dead, sources said. At least 62 people are under treatment at various hospitals across the city. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin is expected to visit Karur on Sunday, former minister Senthil Balaji told reporters. Actor-politician Vijay arrived at the Tiruchy International Airport in the morning from Chennai by a chartered flight and proceeded directly to Namakkal for the first leg of the campaign. Although he was scheduled to address his cadre around Though the exact reasons for the gruesome tragedy are yet to be ascertained, an unexpected surge in crowd numbers and an alleged violation of safety instructions issued by the police are believed to be the key reasons that caused the stampedelike situation on Saturday. 12 pm, he reached the venue only around 2.30 pm. After completing his campaign in Namakkal, he began his journey to Karur. As hundreds of cadre and members of the public lined the route, it took more than four hours for him to reach Veluchamipuram. Even as Vijay was addressing the rally, the crowd swelled and became uncontrollable, and a number of people, including party workers and a few children, fainted and fell down in the crowd. They were rushed to the Karur Medical College Hospital and other private hospitals. Several workers noticed the situation and raised an alar m. Vijay halted his speech and threw water bottles from atop the custombuilt campaign bus. Ambulances had a tough time ne gotiating the heavily crowded thoroughfare to reach the spot. “Police, please help,” he was heard saying as people fell unconscious at the rally . Speaking to TNIE, Dr R Suganthy Rajakumari, director of medical education, said that as of now around 30 doctors have been mobilised. If there is further need, more doctors and manpower will be diverted to the Karur Medical College. Suganthy said 33 dead bodies had been brought to the hospital. Police now looking at possible Pakistan links of Wangchuk, says DGP stan and also visited Bangladesh,” Jamwal said. CLIMATE activist and MagThe police are also probing saysay awardee Sonam Wang- Wangchuk’s foreign funding. chuk, who was arrested on Fri- “There is an investigation into day in connection with the Leh foreign funding and violation violence, is being investigated of FCRA regulations against for alleged links to Pakistan him,” Jamwal said. Jamwal and violation of foreign fund- mentioned that three Nepali ing rules, Ladakh Director citizens were among those inGeneral of Police S D Singh jured in the Leh clashes of Jamwal said on Saturday . September 24. “They had been Wangchuk is accused of be- hit by bullets. After investigaing a key instigator in tion, we found some the Leh violence, in more such elements,” which four persons Jamwal said, adding 44 were killed and 80 othpersons, including five ers injured. “We recentto six ring leaders, have ly arrested a Pakistani been arrested so far. intelligence operative Meanwhile, curfew who sent videos of in violence-hit Leh was Sonam Wangchuk’s speeches relaxed in the afterWangchuk across the border,” noon in a phased manJamwal said, adding ner for a few hours. that the operative was also in Wangchuk’s arrest and the contact with Wangchuk. manner in which the govern“His speech acted as incite- ment handled the situation ment, as he referred to the drew criticism from all OppoArab Spring and the recent un- sition parties, including the rest in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Congress, which demanded a Sri Lanka,” Jamwal said. The judicial inquiry into the death DG also referred to Sonam’s of four youths. “The Congress recent visits to Pakistan and strongly condemns the pathetBangladesh. ic handling of the situation in “He attended an event or- Ladakh and subsequent arrest ganised by The Dawn in Paki- of Sonam Wangchuk,” it said. F AY W A Z W A N I @ Srinagar STANDING STRONG Musi river floods an area of Hyderabad after heavy rains on Saturday | L VELMURUGAN Matcha Made in Heaven AMMA SPEAKS ‘I Prove Myself with Every Film’ Sharif’s absurd theatrics at UN glorify terror: India Mocks Pak’s victory pitch despite Op Sindoor destroying its runways J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi IN a sharp rebuttal at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), India strongly rejected Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ’s remarks on the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and subsequent the Indian military response, Operation Sindoor, calling them “absurd theatrics” and accusing Islamabad of glorifying terrorism on a global platform. Exercising India’s Right of Reply Petal Gahlot, First Secre, tary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, delivered a scathing response following Sharif ’s speech earlier on Friday during the General Debate of the UNGA’s 80th session. “This Assembly witnessed absurd theatrics in the morning from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who once again glorified terrorism that is so central to their foreign policy Gahlot ,” said, underscoring Pakistan’s continued attempts to shield terrorist entities and distort regional realities. Sharif, during his address, referred to the Pahalgam inci- Petal Gahlot exercising the Right of Reply to Pak PM’s address at UN GA | PTI dent and ensuing conflict, claiming credit for preventing escalation through diplomatic channels, notably praising US President Donald Trump for allegedly averting a war between the two nuclear-armed nations. He also called for a “comprehensive and result-oriented dialogue” with India on Kashmir and other issues. India, however, dismissed the remarks as revisionist and misleading. “The Prime Minister of Pakistan also advanced a bizarre account of the recent conflict with India,” Gahlot countered. “Till 9 May Pakistan was , In big push to fisheries sector, India eyes global certification for seafood J I T E N D R A C H O U B E Y @ New Delhi IN order to countervail the impact of unilateral tariffs imposed by the US, India is planning to seek global certification for its seafood. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, an international sustainability standard, could fetch premium prices — up to 30% higher than earlier for Indian seafood. The US, previously India’s largest seafood market, valued at $7.38 billion (35% of exports), implemented a crushing 59.73% tariff on Indian seafood sector, which eventually destroy the seafood industry . In response, the Union government intends to allocate special funds through the Pradhan Mantri M at s ya S a m p a d a Yo j a n a (PMSSY) 2.0 scheme to support MSC certification of 10 key Indian fisheries. National institutes, such as the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute(CMFRI), are providing technical assistance for this initiative. The 10 priority fisheries cat- Kerala’s short-neck clam already there Currently, India has only one fishery—the Ashtamudi short-neck clam fishery from Kerala—certified under the MSC. With this new push for MSC certification, India expects to regain its market share in Europe egory — some of which are deep-sea and coastal shrimps, squid, cuttlefish, Karikadi shrimp, threadfin breams, blue swimming crab, and octopus — are in the final stages of addressing technical gaps before certification. India is expected to receive full MSC certification for these 10 categories in 2026. “It was a tedious five-year process, and now we are going to apply for MSC certification in 2026,” said Dr Sunil Mohammad, a former principal scientist at CMFRI. The certification process incurs a cost of around `20 lakh per category, and the government will bear half of the total expenses. REMEMBRANCE WHENEVER Zubeen Garg’s name is uttered, Susmita still sheds tears. Arup Barua has not watched him perform but every 5-10 minutes he can hear his voice inside him. In Mangaldoi town, some 65km away from Guwahati, a bunch of people took out a procession with a banner of Zubeen Garg, humming his songs with tears in eyes and love in their hearts. The air was heavy and the mood sombre as the dusk settled in. They were not alone. Every street corner and every place, small or big, has its own poster and its own way of remembering Zubeen. No one has touched a chord with the entire population of a state as Zubeen. In fact, his fame goes beyond it. He is here, there and everywhere with his songs playing in the background. He is on everyone’s lips at every gathering. Zubeen’s body of work rose above politics, religion, caste, creed and brought the state together like no other. Even after one week since he passed away in Singapore on September 19, the state remains in mourning. People light candles near a portrait of the music icon in Guwahati | PTI threatening more attacks. But on 10 May its military pleaded , with us directly for a cessation to the fighting.” She stated that Pakistan’s retreat came only after Indian forces launched precision strikes on multiple Pakistani airbases. “If destroyed runways and burnt-out hangars look like victory, as the Prime Minister claimed, Pakistan is welcome to enjoy it,” she added. Gahlot said Pakistan’s track record of harbouring terrorists, citing the country’s decade-long sheltering of Osama bin Laden and recent admissions by Pakistani officials of running militant camps. She accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists killed during Operation Sindoor. “We saw many pictures of terrorists slain in Bahawalpur and Muridke terror complexes… When senior Pakistani military and civilian officials publicly pay homage to such notorious terrorists, can there be any doubt about the proclivities of this regime?” Gahlot also accused Islamabad of trying to derail accountability within the UN. Bail to accused driver in BMW accident case N I T I N R AWAT @ New Delhi A city court on Saturday granted bail to Gaganpreet Kaur in the BMW accident case in which a deputy secretary of the finance ministry was killed and his wife critically injured. The court rapped an ambulance driver and a paramedic who arrived at the spot within seconds for not showing “humanity” and failing in their professional duty. It also expressed surprise that a DTC bus, which came in contact with the motorcycle, continued to drive without caring for the impact caused by the accident. Kaur, 38, is accused of being at the wheels of the car that rammed into the two-wheeler of Navjot Singh (52) on September 14 near Dhaula Kuan. Judicial Magistrate Ankit Garg said, “… the absence of antecedents and availability of enforceable conditions to obviate tampering, I find that the applicant has made out a case for bail at this stage.” The court granted Kaur the relief, subject to furnishing a personal bond of `1 lakh along with two sureties of the same amount. It also asked Kaur to surrender her passport and not contact any witnesses. EXPRESS READ Assam’s heart still misses a beat called Zubeen I N D R A N E E L D A S @ Mangaldai Focus the Heart to Focus the Mind No one asked businesses to shut shops, they did it on their own. His passing has touched Assam so much that even the euphoria of Durga Puja, which begins from Sunday with Shasti, may not be enough to lift the gloomy mood of the state. The collective grief that descended upon the state on September 19 will take a long time to heal. Zubeen’s words —“Mur kunu jaati nai, mur kuno dhormo nai, moi okol manuh (I don’t belong to any caste, I don’t have any religion, I am just a human being)” will remain immortal. Forever. IAF officer’s sentence in rape case suspended The Delhi HC has suspended the 10-year jail sentence of an IAF officer for allegedly raping a woman colleague in 2021. The HC set aside a March 2024 order of Armed Forces Tribunal, which had refused to suspend his sentence. Babbar Khalsa terrorist extradited from UAE The Punjab Police has extradited terrorist of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Parminder Singh alias Pindi, from Abu Dhabi, UAE, with support of CBI. Pindi is an aide of terrorists Harwinder Singh and Happy Passia, and is involved in many heinous crimes.