- 4 months ago
The top focus of this episode of To The Point is the centenary celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP minority body chief's demand for Bharat Ratna for RSS founder Keshav Hedgewar.
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00:00Well, welcome to yours. You're watching To The Point. I'm Preeti Chaudhary.
00:03Well, that is the centerpiece of our debate on To The Point this evening.
00:06We're going to cut across to a political face-off.
00:09Lots going on in terms of Congress versus BJP,
00:14especially when it comes down to the RSS and multiple aspects and facets to it.
00:19But before we dive into that debate, allow me to take you through the headlines.
00:30Mohsin Nakhvi apologizes for fiasco at Asia Cup trophy presentation after outrage
00:35but refuses to hand over trophy to team.
00:38India asks to collect it from ACC office.
00:46The Delhi police raids Molester Baba, sex toys, five-porn CDs,
00:51fake images with world leaders found shocking sex tracks accessed
00:55where he's asking girls to sleep with him
00:58and seeking girls for a Dubai shake.
01:05Singer Zubin Garth's death probe intensifies.
01:08Zubin's event organizer and manager arrested by Assam CID.
01:12Duo remanded to 14 days police custody.
01:20TVK chief Vijay finally breaks silence over his Kandu stampede rallies
01:25as truth will come out soon.
01:26Vijay alleges conspiracy against the PN government,
01:31Stalin government, claims Vijay.
01:33TVK leader, Adhav Arjuna, booked for controversial Gen Z post.
01:43Prime Minister Modi honors RSS's 100 years legacy.
01:47PM releases a post and stamp in coin praises achievements of RSS,
01:52says RSS always puts nation first.
01:55Big Bareilly riot plot exposed religious groups use fake letters to provoke.
02:19Tauqir aid under lens of a provocative letter, India today unmasks villain of Bareilly riots.
02:26The Prime Minister today marked a special significant milestone in the centenary celebrations of the RSS
02:42by attending the event.
02:44However, on the sidelines of it,
02:46a massive political controversy has broken out
02:49with the Congress going up against the BJP on multiple accounts.
02:53Number one,
02:54RSS will now come into the textbooks
02:57where Delhi is concerned.
02:59Many other states also contemplating
03:01adopting RSS as a part of syllabus,
03:03even NCRT on one account.
03:05The Congress questioning that,
03:08suggesting that
03:09why should the RSS be taught
03:11as syllabus to students
03:13where it wasn't even part of the freedom struggle.
03:16On the other account,
03:18you have the BJP,
03:20many leaders,
03:21asking that
03:22Hegdewaar of the RSS
03:24be given the Bharat Ratna.
03:26Here's more.
03:39Prime Minister Narendra Modi
03:47on Wednesday attended
03:48the centenary celebrations
03:50of the RSS
03:51at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre
03:54in New Delhi.
03:58To mark the occasion,
04:00Prime Minister released
04:01a commemorative post-state stamp and coin.
04:05Prime Minister Modi,
04:07a long-time member of the Sangh,
04:08praised the organization's legacy and values,
04:12calling RSS a symbol
04:13of discipline,
04:14service and sacrifice.
04:15The Sangh ki ek dhara
04:20aneeg dhara to bani
04:24multiply to hoti gai
04:27Lekin un-mé kabhi
04:30virovdha-bhas
04:32The Prime Minister also spoke emotionally about historical
05:02injustices done to RSS leaders.
05:32But when Pujjai Guruji came back, he said that
05:40He said that
05:42He said that
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06:16He said that
06:18He said that
06:20He said that
06:22He said that
06:24He said that
06:26He said that
06:28He said that
06:30He said that
06:32He said that
06:34He said that
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06:50He said that
06:52He said that
06:54He said that
06:56He said that
07:00He said that
07:02R.S.'s General Secretary Dattatre Hussable, who attended the event, gave a vision of the
07:11Sangh and United Bharat.
07:32But the centenary celebration wasn't without political heat.
07:52The Congress launched a scathing attack, accusing R.S.S. of having played no role in the freedom
07:57struggle.
07:58We all know that R.S.S. was not part of the Quit India Movement.
08:03They were not part of the Indian National Army with Netaji also.
08:07They were with the British.
08:08When we read about the Quit India Movement, what history are we going to say?
08:14It's going to be only absenteeism of R.S.S. there.
08:18The debate around R.S.S.'s legacy is far from over.
08:23Siddhima Anshomishra, Bureau Report, India Today.
08:25All right.
08:28So the R.S.S. on the day of its centenary celebrations find itself bang in the middle of a political
08:34controversy.
08:35And joining me for a political face-off this evening is Anshul Abhijit from the Congress,
08:39spokesperson, National Spokesperson Congress, and the National Spokesperson of the Bharatiya
08:43Party, Sanju, Varma.
08:45Each of you are going to get two minutes each to put your point forward.
08:49I want to begin with Anshul Abhijit.
08:50Anshul Abhijit, what is the real problem of the Congress?
08:54You might have an ideological fight where the RSS is concerned.
08:59But having said that, on the issue of Bharat Ratna, there have been very contentious names
09:06that were awarded the Bharat Ratna.
09:08The BJP might say, when the Congress was in power, how is the Congress questioning that,
09:14where the RSS and the BJP wanting, or some members of the BJP wanting the Bharat Ratna to
09:23go to Mr. Hedgiewaar?
09:26The entire credibility of the Bharat Ratna will completely be diluted if this happens.
09:31Whatever views on different leaders, I will just tell you the Congress's view on the RSS,
09:38a quick biography of it.
09:40It's a hundred-year-old political, sociological, cultural project.
09:44It's not simply a cultural project.
09:47It has worked tirelessly towards undercutting what we value the most are democracy, secularism,
09:53social justice, and most of all, gender equity as well.
09:56As far as social justice goes, well, we all know very well that the RSS has always been
10:01opposed to a reservation that has been said timelinessly again.
10:05Mohan Bhagwat said that reservations should be reviewed.
10:08There's been lateral entry, NCRT books, references to caste discrimination have been removed from
10:14there.
10:15It was opposed to reservations in the First Amendment itself.
10:18So people who've come out of the RSS ranks have said that it's highly discriminatory in practice.
10:24Of course, it's patronizing at best in its complete rhetoric.
10:28And as far as gender goes, well, you know, it was opposed to the Hindu Code Bill, which
10:32liberalized, which was meant for liberalizing the status of women.
10:36It went against that.
10:37In fact, it had a march to parliament against it.
10:40So much talk about emancipation of Muslim women.
10:43It's never done that to Hindu women until the parliament itself made laws.
10:49This is for a matter of record.
10:51And as for demonization of minorities, well, it knows how to do that the best, right?
10:56It's turning that into some kind of invasion, a language of civilizational warfare, all this
11:03time trying to make the majority feel insecure, having more children.
11:07That's what they said.
11:09That's what Mr. Mohan Bhagwat said in his latest speech.
11:11We don't have more children because there's a gross asymmetry going on.
11:16So this demographic metric has also entered the picture.
11:19And as for nationalism, well, what can I say?
11:21Let me answer to the prime minister.
11:23It had no role in the freedom movement.
11:25It hated the constitution.
11:27It hated the national fact.
11:28And it hero worshiped Hitler.
11:30Abhijit Anshul, I believe your time is up, sir.
11:32I'll circle back to you.
11:34Allow me to come back to you.
11:35Your two minutes is over.
11:36The fader is going to go down.
11:37Nobody's going to quite hear you.
11:39I want to go to Sanju Varma on this.
11:41And Sanju Varma, the fact is, the BJP has been the biggest critique of the UPA years
11:45and the Bharat Ratna awardees during that time.
11:48Many of them that you continue to rake up in conversations even today.
11:52What's so wrong if the Congress wants to oppose the fact that why should Bharat Ratna be given
11:57to Mr. Head Gewa, number one?
11:59Number two, to find place in now textbooks.
12:03It's starting with the national capital, Delhi, where the Congress in its own right is correct
12:08because the RSS really had nothing to do with the freedom struggle.
12:11And that has been the tenet of at least, you know, where it comes down to organizational roles
12:17where the freedom struggle of India is concerned.
12:23You know, Preeti, let me make a couple of things clear.
12:26Whether Mr. Head Gewa will be given Bharat Ratna or not, time will tell.
12:31But let your audience know this.
12:33Nehru gifted himself a Bharat Ratna in 1955.
12:37Indira Gandhi gifted herself a Bharat Ratna in 1971.
12:40And guess what?
12:42B.R. Ambedkar, the father of India's constitution, was given a Bharat Ratna 34 years after his demise.
12:48Sardar Vallabhai Patel was given a Bharat Ratna in 1991, 51, pardon me, 41 years after his demise.
12:57So for the Congress, Darbari ecosystem to sit here and lecture the BJP on what it should or should not do is a bit too rich.
13:04Let's not forget, when Prime Minister Modi inaugurated Sardar Patel's statue at Kevadia in Gujarat,
13:11the entire Darbari ecosystem said,
13:13Sardar Patel's statue per 3,000 crore kharcha karne ki kya zaroorat thi?
13:17This is the same Darbari ecosystem which fails to acknowledge that Nehru, after D.R. Ambedkar's demise in 1956,
13:26had the audacity to write to the then-president Rajendra Prasad saying,
13:29do not attend D.R. Ambedkar's funeral because he was a traitor and a controversial figure.
13:34For the longest time, the Darbari ecosystem has been fed and has been feeding generations on history written by the likes of an Irfan Habib,
13:45a Ramila Thapad or a Ram Chandra Buha,
13:47not history written by an R.C. Majundar, R.K. Chaudhary, R.K. Mukherjee, Bipin Chandra, D.N. Jha or K.R. Malkani.
13:53But now, people need to know that Mr. Keshav Baliram Headgever participated in the non-cooperation movement in 1920-22,
14:03spent more than 12 months in jail.
14:05Again, he went to jail in 1931 because he participated in the forest Satyagraha.
14:10And RSS, veteran Ramakam Deshpande hoisted the national flag in Nagpur and Tune way back in 1939.
14:19And let's not forget, Nehru invited the RSS to participate in the Republic Day celebration in 1963.
14:27So, don't peddle wrong history.
14:31All right. Sanju Verma, your time is up and we'll circle back to you.
14:37I want to cut across to Anshul Abhijit.
14:38Anshul Abhijit, you know, with what I mentioned, Sanju Verma detailed to add to it.
14:44There have been names which have been contentious where the Bharat Ratna has been awarded to name a few Gulzari Lal Nanda, Mr. V. V. Giri.
14:52I've all, you know, nobody's saying that they didn't deserve it.
14:54But the names have been contentious where there has been a train of thought which seems to suggest that the Congress awarded those who were close to them.
15:03So, what's the difference here if at all the BJP is looking at giving the Bharat Ratna to Mr. Head Gewar, number one.
15:11You talk about an ideological divide, but the fact is, Anshul Abhijit, there is a huge chunk today across India that truly believes in the ideology of the RSS.
15:21And the role that possibly RSS plays where the social narrative of this country is concerned in times of tragedy, in times of disaster, where they come in, where they help.
15:32And on those grounds, there is a section which would say, why not?
15:35I don't know the nature of popular support, but even if you argue that to be true, how does that make it right?
15:44A highly communalising, polarising agency, which has worked relentlessly for 100 years for that very agenda.
15:52It's true, maybe, that Mr. Hegedewar for some time was a part of the Congress.
15:57Because the moment he left the Congress because of the Gandhian doctrine of inclusiveness, of including Galits and Muslims,
16:05which became a part of the Congress agenda because it was accused of being somewhat of a monolith party,
16:11that's when he left and parted ways with the Congress party.
16:15He couldn't imagine everyone being a part of it.
16:17This is the inclusivity, the Congress doctrine, that was a Gandhian doctrine.
16:22You cannot have figures like Mr. Hegedewar, who, by his own admission, stayed away from the freedom movement.
16:30Let RSS leaders stay away.
16:32Later on, the RSS, following his own agenda, lay in the shadows of the British, opposed even the freedom struggle, right?
16:39While other actual freedom fighters lay hanging from ropes.
16:43That is the real story of the RSS.
16:45It's misogynistic.
16:47It opposed the Hindu code bill.
16:48It is anti-reservation.
16:50It is anti-social justice.
16:52It is demonized as minorities.
16:54You cannot have figures.
16:55It's rewriting our textbooks so that others have a different view of history today.
17:00It is doing all this time.
17:02And popular support, if it does exist, is due to playing with emotions, right?
17:07If you instill insecurity and anxiety, it's recently got a lot of oxygen because a number of people from the RSS are now in power and have been for the last 10 years.
17:18But their job has been, they are just simply proxies of the RSS.
17:23In fact, they're the same thing.
17:24The idea is to instill fear and anxiety in the minds of the minority so they get that support.
17:31Otherwise, why would you say that improve your demographics?
17:34This was a call right there.
17:36If the call was also there, listen, let's go after.
17:38I don't mind.
17:39If members of the RSS, it's not my calling.
17:42I believe, Anshul Abhijit, your time is up.
17:45Your fader is going to go down and I'm going to give you just the last two minutes after I cut across to Sanju Verma.
17:50But Sanju Verma, you know, there is credence to what possibly Anshul Abhijit is saying, where it comes down to, you know, a possible nomination of Mr. Headgewar for the Bharat Ratna.
18:00Nobody's saying he's getting it, but it's being contended with.
18:03There have been views of Mr. Headgewar that could be caused, you know, deeply disconcerting to many, where it came down to certain communal facts that he detailed in his book itself or his views on women and their role in society, number one.
18:19Number two, if nobody might not contest the fact that RSS should not be taught as a subject in school, some would suggest that the RSS continues to play a pivotal part, especially where the social fabric of this country is concerned in times of need, in times of disaster.
18:36You know, they've been in helping hand and why not speak about it and the kids should learn about it.
18:41Great.
18:41But are we going to glorify the RSS?
18:43Are we going to completely nullify that the RSS did not play a role in our freedom struggle, which was essential?
18:50Is it going to be the true account of what the RSS has really stood for?
18:54Because that is contentious.
18:56Sanju Verma.
18:58You know, Preeti, I'm sure you will give me only two minutes, but you have such a lengthy question for me.
19:04That's your prerogative.
19:05But then I need time to answer because, you know, sometimes questions under the garb of being a question,
19:10make statements and reinforce an idea on the viewers.
19:13So let me reinforce something for the benefit of your viewers.
19:16Who gave Bharat Ratna to former Prime Minister Peeve Narsimha Rao?
19:20His dead body was not allowed in the AICC headquarters when he died in 2004.
19:26It was Narengra Modi's government.
19:28Who gave Bharat Ratna to Chaudhri Charan Singh,
19:32who has been hailed by many as the deacon of farmers' rights?
19:36Congress says,
19:37The congressman for the longest time,
19:50who was not even given a decent farewell after his demise.
19:55It was the Modi government who gave Bharat Ratna to Pranak Mukherjee.
19:59Modi government who gave Bharat Ratna to the likes of Bhupen Hazarika.
20:02Modi government that gave Bharat Ratna to the likes of Karpuri Thakur.
20:07Modi government that gave Bharat Ratna to the likes of MS Swaminathan.
20:11Prime Minister Narengra Modi ne khud ko Bharat Ratna nahi diya.
20:14Prime Minister Narengra Modi ne Amit Shah ko or JT Nanda ko Bharat Ratna nahi diya.
20:18So we don't need lectures on propriety and probity from the Congress and Garbari ecosystem.
20:24That is my point number one, Preeti.
20:26And my point number two is this.
20:28RSS is divisive? Really?
20:31RSS is not inclusive? Really?
20:33Today RSS and its various branches run the Saraswati, Shishu Mandir, Vidya Bharti, Ekal Vidyalay schools.
20:41More than 47,000 schools in which more than 5.7 million.
20:46As in 57,000,000 children from poor families get free education.
20:52Particularly Adivasis and Dalits.
20:54Who gave constitutional status to National Commission for Backward Classes?
20:59Prime Minister Modi.
21:00Nehru na Indira may radhi.
21:01Your two minutes is over.
21:03Your fader is going to go down.
21:04And let me also come back to what you said that my question was very lengthy.
21:10And sometimes these lengthy questions impose a point of view to the viewer.
21:14The fact is, Sanju Verma, what you fail to recognize in here is the question is equally lengthy when asked of the Congress as well.
21:21And that's the sad part because certain spokespersons only wish to have lengthy questions being asked to one side and not to them.
21:28So in this show, lengthy questions full of facts will be asked either sides of the divide whether you like it or not.
21:34You wanted more time, here you have it.
21:36Two of you, both Anshul Avijitji and Sanju Vermaji is going to get two minutes each to put their points forward.
21:43Anshul Avijit, your two minutes start now.
21:45And there is, you know, there is a point which not just Sanju Verma, which many make today.
21:51You have used, which is not you, sir, the Congress Party over the years, especially in the 80s, in the 90s and the early 2000s,
21:58has used the Bharat Ratna to, you know, give it to those who were close to them.
22:04And possibly maybe not all, but quite a few of them, not who warranted the Bharat Ratna.
22:11So that charge does hold true, Anshul Avijitji, when you are being asked that today.
22:17Preeti, no Bharat Ratna can have perfect acceptability of cutting across all sections.
22:25This is not some utopia.
22:27There will be contention, there will be critique, there will be people for it, there will be people against it.
22:31But we are certainly against those people, and I've given you endless reasons why, why such polarising figures, such communal figures,
22:41people who have not contributed in a wholesome way to the polity, to the democracy, to the freedom movement, should be given that honour.
22:49Others who can contest, we can have a lengthy debate about each one of them, I don't mind, let's take them up one by one.
22:56But I have another one, and that too, such a highly polarising figure.
23:00Look, what the RSS is essentially known for, first of all, they want to make a monolith society of majoritarians.
23:09They are co-opting in a highly patronising way all caste Hindus and then those who have been outside the caste hierarchy into it
23:18and claiming that there's such magnanimity in this.
23:21The real fact is, and it's been called time and again, it's statements by them, is that they believe in status quoism
23:29and the virtues and values of the dharmashastras, an old archaic Hindu system, that society.
23:35The other part is minorities.
23:37I mean, why should you have a call for asking RSS workers, no, if you want to, you can agitate for Madhura and Kashi as well,
23:44I won't have anything to do with it.
23:46I mean, this seems like some kind of a dog whistle.
23:48Where are you taking this country to?
23:50This is the idea of this ideology, which has been there for 100 years.
23:56It has been silent for much of that time.
23:58It was marginal.
23:59It was irrelevant.
24:00It had some figures.
24:02It has got sustained heft right now because people are in power right now.
24:07We are not going to allow this to happen.
24:09If they do it, well, we are certainly going to oppose it tooth and nail.
24:13This will be a highly combative and polarising move.
24:20All right, I think your time is up, sir.
24:22I want to cut across to Sanju Verma right now and her two minutes begin now because Sanju Verma,
24:26all the names that you detailed were already detailed by me where the Congress spokesperson was concerned.
24:32But the fact is that some aspects of Mr. Headgewar's cultural nationalism were troublesome or disconcerting is not going to be washed over in this show neither.
24:44And let me tell you, when you talk about the various agencies of the RSS, let me give you an anecdote.
24:49When I was in Ahmedabad, I thought the RSS did a stellar job, especially during the time of the air crash.
24:55They did a job which was unparalleled, where support system to those loved ones who had families of loved ones who were dead in the air crash was concerned.
25:05But you cannot gloss over the role of the RSS or the lack of a role of the RSS during the freedom struggle.
25:12Ma'am, your two minutes begin now.
25:13Preeti, you know, you're free to ask lengthy questions and that was not meant to be offensive.
25:19I always say bring them on.
25:21But let me ask your audience, have they ever heard of a man called Henuk Talani?
25:27This is a man who in 1943 and an RSS swam at that, he damaged British railway tracks and at the young age of 19 years, he was executed in full public glare.
25:41Have our children been taught the history of Henuk Kalani?
25:45No.
25:46We were taught that Vir Savarkar was a traitor.
25:49But the same Dharbari ecosystem forgets that on the 20th of May, 1980, Indira Gandhi wrote a letter to Pandit Banthe,
25:59Secretary of the RSS, saying,
26:01Vir Savarkar's contribution in the annals of India's freedom movement cannot be ignored.
26:07Indira Gandhi released a commemorative stamp in Vir Savarkar's honor.
26:12Indira Gandhi donated 11,000 rupees from her personal sons, which at that time in 1980 was a big figure.
26:20So let's not even get there.
26:22Vir Savarkar, his contribution, he's the first one, by the way, who spoke of Purnaswaraj, complete independence.
26:30Congress was founded by an Englishman called Alan Octavian, whom the first Congresswoman president was a woman called Annie Besant, an English socialist of Irish descent.
26:45And guess what? Annie Besant became in 1917 the first woman president of the Congress.
26:51And after 81 years, in 1998, a woman called Antonia Eldina Maino, aka Sonia Gandhi, declared herself Congress president by locking an OBC called Sita Ram Keshri in the toilet.
27:06All right, ma'am, your time is up, I'm told.
27:23I appreciate both of you for joining us.
27:25It's going to be a hard cut on that, but viewers, this is a conversation, this is a debate which will continue, especially in days to come as we celebrate the centenary of the RSS and all the politics, of course, that's rolling around it will be debated in times to come.
27:40Thank you, Anshul Abhijit Ji.
27:42Thank you, Sanju Verma Ji.
27:43With that, I'm going to dip in to the latest news break that is coming in on the fake baba who was finally arrested as he was expounding for months on the charges of great sexual assault.
27:55The news just coming in, the molester baba, there have been sex toys, five bomb CDs found during the raid.
28:05Fake photos of him with world leaders have also been found on his person in terms of in the place where he stayed.
28:12The Delhi police team has visited Babeshwar, Almora and other places where the accused stayed during his absconding period for corroborating evidence.
28:21Arvind Oja is on the phone line with me.
28:24Arvind, what more can you add?
28:26Look, today, Swami Chaitanya Nand and Urvpar Sartya was instituted by the Delhi police team.
28:34And in that institute, Swami Chaitanya Nand, it was a luxury camera.
28:38The company had also been recorded here.
28:54police team has also visited the hospital where he was responding to the hospital.
29:03In addition, some people have recorded a statement in the institute, because in which
29:07the people of Swamiji Chaitanya Nanda received a chat with a couple of girls, then the statement
29:13from the institute's staff recorded. The recovery was on a big deal, which after two hours
29:21search operation ke baad, Delhi Police Institute se rawana ho gai.
29:51Now, has been taken into arrest and the kind of evidence that is coming is only astounding.
29:58Here's more.
30:02It is Delhi's saga of shame.
30:05Chaitanya Nand, Delhi's monster baba, who allegedly molested at least 17 young students at his institute,
30:12has been nabbed by cops, but more skeletons continue to tumble out of his closet.
30:18India Today has now accessed his shocking sex chats that investigators say expose his predatory behaviour.
30:27In one chat, he asks the girl if she will sleep with him.
30:30While in another, he says that a sheikh from Dubai wants a sex partner
30:34and even asks the student if a classmate or a junior might be available.
30:40The self-styled codman flooded his victims with sleazy lines.
30:44Now, in the chats, you can see he used to call them baby.
30:48Baby, baby, where are you? Good morning, baby.
30:51These are the kind of messages that the molester baba used to send the students, the girls on chats.
30:57And the most important message that you need to see is that you will not sleep with me.
31:02This is the kind of language and the kind of messages that were sent by this self-styled godman to young girls.
31:09Will you not sleep with me? Good evening.
31:11My most beloved baby daughter is how he used to call these girls, is how he used to address these girls.
31:20Cops now suspect that the self-styled godman may be involved in sex trafficking.
31:26His texts, where he revealed pimping for wealthy Dubai sheikhs, are now under the police scanner.
31:31Many people see that these things are doing some of the people who don't think they are professional or personal things.
31:41And there are photos of some of the aerosystems or when they sit in a car in a normal way.
31:46And some of the children have sent their own data for the people who have sent their own data.
31:51They will start talking to them from their own.
31:54As probe continues, Delhi police have now taken Chaitanya Nant to his institute along with one of his women aides.
32:19This bone-chilling case has exposed how female students in some of Delhi's reputed educational institutes remain vulnerable to sexual exploitation.
32:49What was seen earlier as isolated incidents in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh has now snowballed into a massive public health scare.
32:58First Madhya Pradesh and now Rajasthan.
33:15Mysterious deaths of children as young as five has shaken up both the states.
33:21A five-year-old child died in Sikhar after consuming a cough syrup provided under the state's free medicine scheme.
33:33A three-year-old child in Bharatpur fell seriously ill after taking the same brand of syrup.
33:40In Madhya Pradesh, the victim suffered acute kidney failure.
33:51In Madhya Pradesh, the victim suffered acute kidney failure.
34:04Investigation suggests the cough syrup administered to the children contained unsafe levels of dietylene glycol, DEG, a toxic chemical.
34:15The district collector in Madhya Pradesh has imposed the cause of death.
34:20The district collector in Madhya Pradesh has imposed a ban on the sale of two specific cough syrups.
34:39The district collector in Madhya Pradesh has imposed a ban on the sale of two specific cough syrups.
34:49Advisories have been issued for parents, doctors and medical store operators to prevent further casualties.
34:56Those who are responsible, even medicine are responsible,
35:03Those who are going to make medical or medicine are going to make medical samples.
35:06The drug inspectors and they have taken samples under their protocol.
35:11Whatever work will be done.
35:12If a doctor or someone's responsibility will be found, they will be able to see what to do.
35:19So what really is dietylene glycol?
35:22DEG is a toxic industry and solvent, mistakenly substituted for safer diluents like glycerine or profylene glycol in medications,
35:31especially in countries with inadequate quality control.
35:35Gambia and Indonesia have seen these poisoning incidents as well in the year 2022,
35:40where 250 children died from paediatric cough syrups contamination with DEG and acylene glycol as reported by the World Health Organization.
35:50Uzbekistan saw this incident.
35:5260 children died from DEG contaminated cough syrup leading to an epidemic of acute kidney injury and death.
35:59This incident, a similar one reported from Haiti in the 1990s as well and in Panama in the year 2006.
36:07Back home in India between December 2019 and January 2020,
36:1112 children in the Uddampur district of Jammu in Kashmir died after consuming a dietylene glycol,
36:19a DEG tainted cough syrup called Cold Best PC.
36:22The government has now ordered a detailed probe.
36:25A team of the National Center for Disease Control is collecting samples, water samples as well,
36:31to check the drugs also and are getting, these drugs are getting tested from MP.
36:36And in Rajasthan, the use of the syrup for now has been suspended in both the states.
36:43With Bureau Inputs, Sneha Mordani in New Delhi for India Today Television.
36:49My colleague Milan Sharma joins us for the latest Milan.
36:56One thing, very clearly, we don't want to sound alarmist here
37:00because there are a lot of parents out there who are administering cough syrups to their toddlers or to their young children.
37:07Is this an isolated incident to one particular manufacturer, company? What more can you add?
37:13Well, Preeti, this is not an isolated incident because remember that these incidences have not just happened today,
37:21but as I've been pointing out earlier that they have happened in Jammu.
37:25And of course, the case of where the Indian manufacturer made in pharmaceuticals was making cough syrups that were being supplied to Gambia,
37:33where 66 children had died in similar circumstances.
37:37That case was taken up by WHO as well, and the Indian government had also responded to it in equal measure.
37:44The question is, all these companies, Preeti, that you look at, whether it's in Bharatpur, Sikhar, Rajasthan, as well as Chindwara and MP, are repeat offenders.
37:53They have been repeatedly pulled up by the drug controller authority for some of the other contamination issues,
38:00either due to the lack of, you know, proper facilities for storage or contamination in the past.
38:06Then why are these companies once again given the licenses to manufacture these drugs, which are especially important in terms of, you know, the children that are taking them?
38:17And why is care not being taken if the cough syrups are being administered to children?
38:22In this particular case, it happened to be a government led free cough syrup or free medical scheme that was part of this whole, you know, system.
38:31And that is the real question. If companies are being pulled up again and again, why are they being allowed again to come into the market and supply these medications?
38:39And that is where the government needs to step in.
38:41Thank you, Midan, for joining us for that quick update.
38:47Piers, I want to quickly cut across to the developing story, which continues to development as the aftermath of all the swirling politics around the Asia Cup.
38:56Well, the latest in that right now is the standoff over the Asia Cup refusing to die down.
39:03Mohsin Nakvi may have softened his tone at the ACC meeting yesterday, but sources tell us the ACC chief has now stood firm,
39:11saying that if India wants the trophy and medals, their captain will have to collect it from the ACC office in Dubai.
39:18All of this comes after Mohsin Nakvi led ACC left the stadium with the Asia Cup trophy.
39:25Joining me right now is my colleague Nikhil Nas to throw more light on the standoff, which seems to continue.
39:31Nikhil, what's the latest?
39:33That's right, Preeti. The standoff continues.
39:43The president of the ACC as well as the Pakistan Cricket Board Mohsin Nakvi remains defiant.
39:48He says that I maintain the stand, that I'm happy to still give the trophy to India, provided Sura Kumar Yadav, the Indian captain, comes and collects it.
39:57What is the latest on that?
40:07All right, we seem to have lost Nikhil.
40:09We're going to try and reconnect to Nikhil joining us from Dubai.
40:11But it does seem that one can call it the traditional terminology is the Mexican standoff.
40:17But the Asia Cup standoff continues ad nauseam where Mohsin Nakvi asking Indian captain to come and collect the trophy.
40:26What is going to be the Indian side?
40:28We're going to keep a keen eye for now.
40:30We're having none of it.
40:31Refusing to accept it from Mr Mohsin Nakvi.
40:34All right, viewers, now the massive controversy or the political fallout of the sad murder of Charlie Kirk continues.
40:47And the latest in line to escalate it is Elon Musk, who has canceled his subscription of Netflix.
40:53Why?
40:54Take a look.
40:55Elon Musk has confirmed he has canceled his Netflix subscription.
41:02The world's richest man signaled he refuses to support a platform employing creators who, in his view, celebrate political violence and push extreme ideologies.
41:14The tipping point was a social media post from Netflix's dead-end paranormal park creator Hamish Steele, where he allegedly used profanities and called the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk a Nazi.
41:28Outrage exploded online.
41:30Critics accused Steele of crossing a line, not just with his words, but with the show's content, claiming it pushes political message to kids.
41:39Former nuclear scientist Matt Van Swal joined the backlash cancelling his subscription and tagging Netflix directly.
41:46Musk responded with a single word, same.
41:51Just weeks ago, ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel's show after he mocked Kirk's assassination and Donald Trump's grief.
41:58We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them
42:07and doing everything they can to score political points from him.
42:10It's not in gang violence. Great!
42:12Charlie Kirk, a close Trump ally, was fatally shot at a Utah University event on September 10.
42:19Thousands attended his funeral, including Trump and Musk.
42:25The accused shooter now faces death penalty.
42:28Kirk's death and his conservative views when he was alive have sparked a debate on free speech and limits to it in the world's most free country.
42:36Bureau Report, India Today.
42:40Alright viewers, with that, it's a wrap on To The Point.
42:42We're going to see you tomorrow.
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