Lucknow Archive

Lucknow, Nov 3- A police constable and a Home Guard were arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district Tuesday on charges of extorting money from three-wheeler drivers, police said.

Constable Dharmendra Dubey and Home Guard A.K. Rai were arrested after a three-wheeler driver lodged a complaint with the Kotwali police station.

‘The complainant, Shamsher, approached the Kotwali police station and informed that the two have taken Rs.400 as bribe to let him operate his three wheeler in the city. He also provided us the number of the currency notes he gave and these were recovered from the possession of the accused after their arrest,’ Additional Superintendent of police (City) Nivesh Katiyar told IANS over phone.

Lucknow, Nov 3 – Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Atul Gupta Tuesday tendered an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court for allegedly violating its specific orders not to go ahead with the construction of memorials and statues of Dalit icons, including that of Chief Minister Mayawati, in Lucknow.

Admitting that construction work worth Rs.2,600 crore was undertaken at different ‘dream projects’ of the chief minister in Lucknow, Gupta – in his 51-page affidavit – said that he had no intention of defying the court’s orders.

Stressing his ‘highest regard’ for the orders passed by the apex court, he contended he had acted in compliance of its orders, but tendered his ‘sincere and unqualified apology for any kind of disobedience or deviation, aberration or misconstruction, if any, which might have happened,’ and said it was ‘inadvertent’ .

The court had Oct 6 served a contempt notice on the state chief secretary for allegedly violating the undertaking given by the state government to suspend all construction work at various project sites.

The undertakings were given before the court on Sep 8 and 11 by Mayawati’s close confidante and party general secretary Satish Chandra Misra, who was representing the state government in his capacity as a senior counsel.

Misra was stated to have told the court that the undertaking, given orally by him before the judges, was conveyed to the chief secretary, following which the contempt notice was slapped on the latter.

Lucknow, Nov 3 – A leader of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and his 100-odd supporters have been booked for dacoity and indulging in violence to grab a plot allotted to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in Uttar Pradesh, police said Tuesday.

A case has been registered against Rahul Rathore and his supporters in Mainpuri district, about 200 km from state capital Lucknow.

‘The BSP leader and his armed supporters Monday barged inside an FCI warehouse and manhandled the officials, who prevented them from occupying the land. They then looted grains,’ police inspector Shri Krishna Kumar told reporters in Mainpuri.

‘The criminal case was registered Monday night after FCI officials approached us. The BSP leader also made his supporters cut several trees on the land,’ he added.

Police are yet to arrest Rathore and his supporters.

‘Rathore along with his supporters is absconding. To know his whereabouts, we have detained some family members of the leader,’ he added.

Lucknow, Nov 3 – His Urdu poetry book is just 130 pages long, but Uttar Pradesh resident Waqarul Hasnain took more than a decade to write it. That’s because his work makes use of only 14 letters and doesn’t contain a single ‘nukta’ – dots commonly used to form words in the script.

Hasnain, a retired primary school teacher and resident of Rampur district, some 270 km from Lucknow, has come up with the unique book titled ‘Murassaye Hilm’.

‘It’s my most prized possession. I remember I used to sit for several hours at one place thinking of words that didn’t need the nukta. Moreover, the stipulation to use only 14 of the 36 basic Urdu letters made my job more challenging,’ Hasnain, 65, told IANS on telephone.

‘Truly speaking, when I started to write this book at the age of 54, I was not sure whether I would be able to complete it. But today when I have finished it, I feel a sense of pride,’ he said.

Hasnain’s book is primarily divided into two parts. While one consists of ghazals – poetic expression of the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love – the other segment contains couplets.

Hasnain’s remarkable work has not only been appreciated by the literati in Rampur but has also been acknowledged by the Uttar Pradesh Urdu Akademi, a Lucknow-based organisation established in 1972 for the promotion of Urdu language and literature.

‘They (members of the Urdu Akademi) were taken by surprise when I told them about the ‘benukta’ (without dots) book that contains only 14 letters. Recently, the Akademi members had sent an appreciation letter to me in which they mentioned they want to felicitate me,’ said Hasnain.

What made Hasnain write the book is a different story.

‘During my college days, I used to participate in mushairas (Urdu poetry conclaves). It was one such mushaira in Rampur attended by many great poets that inspired me.

‘When it was my turn at the mushaira, some senior poets asked me what I was doing in such an august great gathering…They even asked me not to take part. That pinched me a lot and I decided to come up with something unique in the Urdu language.

‘I regret I did not start writing the book just after I finished the college. Though I started quite late, today I am happy as, with the blessings of the almighty, I have completed the book,’ he said.

Many believe Hasnain’s work should be promoted and publicised as it could contribute to the enrichment and spread of Urdu.

‘Today Urdu is losing its importance. In such a time, the novelty of Hasnain’s book can attract people towards the language,’ said A. Ashfaq Abidi, a professor in Lucknow University’s Urdu department.

(Asit Srivastava can be contacted at asit.s@ians.in)

Lucknow, Oct 29 – A criminal case was lodged against a woman doctor here Wednesday for allegedly assaulting an 11-year-old girl, who was employed in the medico’s house as a domestic help, police said.

The accused, Aruna Bharti, is a faculty member at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) here.

The girl was rescued by the Child Helpline Monday evening from Bharti’s flat from inside the SGPGIMS campus after her neighbours called up the helpline complaining that they are hearing the cries of a girl from the house for the past few days.

The girl, an orphan and a native of Lallapur in Varanasi district, was brought to Bharti’s house by her uncle about a month ago and the doctor allegedly paid Rs.1,000 as advance for employing her as domestic help.

‘Maam used to beat me everyday for petty mistakes. Whether it was a delay in cleaning the kitchen or getting her six-year-old daughter ready for school, she used to beat me ruthlessly every day,’ the girl, whose had swollen eyes and bruises on her entire body told mediapersons.

The doctor, however, is on the run and police are making efforts to nab her.

‘A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including attempt to murder, has been lodged against Bharti and we are trying to nab her. The neighbours have also informed us that she used to physically torture other domestic helps earlier too,’ police spokesperson A.K. Pathak told IANS.

Lucknow, Oct 26 – Two men who recently married each other have been directed by an Uttar Pradesh panchayat to leave the village for their ‘immoral behaviour’, police said Monday.

Issuing the diktat, the panchayat in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district, some 350 km from here, Sunday evening also ordered the villagers not to keep any kind of contact with the duo. The village council also said that those found helping the two would have to pay a fine of Rs.10,000.

According to locals, Kale, 26, and Aurangzeb, 50 — both natives of Neemkhera village in Bulandshahr had secretly married each other 10 days ago.

‘No one was aware of their immoral relationship, until Kale Sunday told his parents that he would leave them and would go to live with Aurangzeb, whom he had accepted as a husband,’ Tarachand, a local, told reporters.

‘When Kale’s parents discussed the matter with their neighbour, the news spread like wildfire after which the two were produced before the panchayat,’ he added.

Initially, the couple were asked to dissolve their marriage. However, when they refused, it was decided that the two would have to leave the village within three days, locals said.

While Kale is unmarried, Aurangzeb has a wife, who a few years ago moved to her parents house after some marital dispute, they added.

When contacted, police inspector Naresh Kumar Singh told IANS: ‘Local journalists have brought the matter to our knowledge. We have initiated an inquiry into the matter and will take necessary steps.’

‘The two men have not approached the police personally to seek protection or any kind of help,’ he added.