FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 16 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA LC | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | SPORTS WORLD EDITORIAL Iran supreme leader signals crackdown coming ‘Open border a major asset’ Page 11 Page 9 Mamata leads protest march against ED raid, says she did nothing wrong CM files FIRs against ED, CRPF; HC hearing disrupted: STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 9 January C oming down heavily on the BJP, Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee said on Friday she had done nothing wrong in going to the I-PAC office yesterday during the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid, as the ED, allegedly directed by the saffron party, was attempting to steal data related to the Trinamul Not satisfied with just one WC, says Harmanpreet Kaur SATURDAY INTERVIEW Conditional Liberty Page 8 Saturday, 10 January 2026 Congress’s Assembly election preparations scheduled to take place in a few months. Miss Banerjee Friday afternoon led a protest march in the city against what she termed the “illegal and high-handed” actions of the ED. The procession began at the 8B bus stand in Jadavpur and concluded at Hazra Road, where a public meeting was held. “I did not do anything wrong. We had engaged I-PAC, which the BJP itself had earlier hired Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee filed police complaints against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at the I-PAC office in Salt Lake and the residence of the firm’s founder Pratik Jain, following which FIRs were registered at two police stations. Miss Banerjee lodged complaints at the Electronic Complex and the Shakespeare Sarani police stations against unidentified ED and CRPF officials, based on which the police registered FIRs alleging criminal trespass, theft or unauthorised seizure of property, and intimidation. Meanwhile, proceedings in the Calcutta High Court were disrupted due to heavy crowding during the hearing of pleas filed by the ED and the Trinamul Congress (TMC) relating to yesterday’s I-PAC raid, as a result of which the judge, Justice Shubra Ghosh, left the bench. The hearings of the pleas were put off till 14 January. Page 3 to work on its election strategy. Prashant Kishor used to head I-PAC, but he has since floated his own party and left the organisation. It is now being managed by Pratik Jain. The ED officials arrived at 6 a.m. and raided the I-PAC office. I went there five and a half hours later, by which time they had already smuggled out information. Is this justified?” she asked, adding, “They have obtained the names of our BLA I and II workers and booth-level workers. But this will not help them win the election.” Miss Banerjee further alleged that the BJP had spoken of “one crore Rohingyas,” but during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, none were found. Trinamul MPs detained outside Shah’s office: New Delhi: Trinamul Congress (TMC) MPs were detained by Delhi police on Friday for staging a dharna outside Home Minister Amit Shah’s office against the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) raid on the I-PAC office in Kolkata. The MPs alleged that the probe agency is being misused by the Centre. All detained MPs were taken to Parliament Street Police Station. Among those involved were Derek O’Brien, Mahua Moitra, Satabdi Roy, Kirti Azad, Bapi Haldar, Saket Gokhale, Pratima Mondal, and Dr. Sharmila Sarkar, who raised slogans and held placards reading “No matter how many attacks you launch, Bengal will win again” (Jotoi koro hamla, Abar Jitbe Bangla). Page 16 We remain interested in mutually beneficial trade pact with US: India STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 9 January India on Friday dismissed United States Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s remarks that a bilateral trade agreement did not happen because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not call President Donald Trump and reiterated that New Delhi is committed to a mutually beneficial trade pact with Washington. "We have seen the remarks (made by the US Commerce Secretary). India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US as far back as 13 February last year. Since then, the two sides have held multiple rounds of negotiation to arrive at a balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement. On several occasions, we have been close to a deal. The characterisation of these discussions in the reported remarks is not accurate,’’ Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal (photo) said at a media briefing. He said India remains interested in a mutually beneficial trade deal between two complementary economies and looks forward to concluding it. “Incidentally, Prime Minister and President Trump have also spoken on phone on eight occasions during 2025, covering different aspects of our wide-ranging partnership,’’ he added. Asked about the GrahamBlumenthal sanctions bill that would authorise the US President to levy up to 500 per cent tariffs on nations that knowingly purchase Russian oil or uranium, the spokesperson said New Delhi is fully aware of the legislation and closely following the developments relating to its processes. If passed, the GrahamBlumenthal sanctions bill would authorise the US President to levy up to 500 per cent tariffs on nations, including India, that purchase Russian oil or uranium and "fuel Russian President Vladimir Putin's war machine". Reiterating India's longstanding position on energy sourcing, the spokesperson underlined that New Delhi's decisions are driven by energy security needs and market realities. German Chancellor to visit next week, meet PM in Ahmedabad Parliament’s Budget Session to begin 28 Jan: India asks Bangladesh to take firm action against ‘disturbing pattern of recurring attacks’ on minorities STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi: The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on 28 January, and continue till 2 April, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Friday, setting the stage for the presentation and passage of the Union Budget on 1 February, a Sunday. In a post on social media platform X, Mr Rijiju said the session has been convened following the President’s approval. The session would begin with the President addressing the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on 28 January. The Economic Survey would be tabled in Parliament on 29 January. NIKHIL VYAS New Delhi, 9 January Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (photo) in Ahmedabad next week as the two countries explore the possibility of signing several key agreements during the much-anticipated visit. The German Chancellor will be on an official visit to India on 12-13 January at the invitation of PM Modi. This will be his first official visit to India. An official press note said that at around 9:30 hours on 12 January, the two leaders will visit the Sabarmati Ashram and then participate in the International Kite Festival at the Sabarmati Riverfront. This will be followed by bilateral engagements at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. The two leaders will review the progress made in the India- Germany Strategic Partnership, which has recently completed 25 years. Their discussion will also focus on further intensifying cooperation in trade and investment, technology, education, skilling and mobility, while also advancing collaboration in important domains of defence and security, science, innovation and research, green and sustainable development, and people-to-people ties. PM Modi and Chancellor Merz will also exchange views on issues of regional and global importance, and engage with business and industry leaders of the two countries. The recent US action in Venezuela and the ongoing Ukraine conflict are expected to figure prominently during the discussions. The German leader’s visit is expected to be followed by many other important trips by European leaders. Top European Union (EU) leaders are expected to be chief guests at the Republic Day parade this year. New Delhi, 9 January India on Friday said Bangladesh should take firm action against 'disturbing pattern of recurring attacks' on minorities in its country. The Ministry of External Affairs' reaction comes following several recent attacks on minorities, especially Hindus in Bangladesh. At his weekly media briefing in New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “We continue to witness a disturbing pattern of recurring attacks on minorities, as well as their homes and establishments, business establishments by extremists in Bangladesh. Such communal incidents need to be dealt with swiftly and firmly." “We have observed, also observed a troubling tendency to attribute such incidents to personal rivalries, personal vendettas, political differences, and other extraneous reasons. Such disregard only emboldens the extremists and the perpetrators of such crimes and deepens the sense of fear and insecurity among the minorities," Mr Jaiswal said. Responding to a question on flight connections between Bangladesh and Pakistan, the MEA spokesperson said, "We have seen reports about flight connections between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Such issues will be dealt with as per the Air Services Agreement that we have with Bangladesh." The MEA spokesperson slammed Pakistan over its charges that efforts were being made to erase Muslim heritage in India. Mr Jaiswal said Pakistan should look at the situation of minorities in their own country before making remarks about others. When asked about Pakistan Foreign Office (PFO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi's recent remarks regarding a demolition drive in New Delhi, the MEA spokesperson said: "I need not elaborate or tell you what is the situation of minorities in that country and those people who make such comments should first look at their record before commenting on others." Mr Andrabi's remarks were made after a demolition drive was conducted near Faiz-e-Elahi Mosque in the Turkman Gate area of Delhi to remove illegal encroachments. Responding to a question on the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) Mr Jaiswal said: "The Indus Water Treaty remains in abeyance." The Indus Waters Treaty was suspended by New Delhi following the deadly 22 April terror attack in Pahalgam. Musk’s Grok chatbot restricts image generation to paying users after deepfakes backlash; not enough, say govts Sabarimala chief priest arrested in temple gold theft case STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE UNITED NEWS OF INDIA New Delhi, 9 January The Elon Musk-owned X Corp has turned off the image-generation and editing features of its Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool for non-paying users, following a global backlash, including from the Indian government, over the use of Grok to generate sexualised content. Grok, which can be accessed through the X (formerly Twitter) social media platform, on Friday responded to image altering requests with the message: “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers. You can subscribe to unlock these features.” The abuse of Grok by users to generate sexualised imagery, including deepfakes, particularly of women and children, had provoked a global backlash, with several governments pushing back and opening investigations. India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had last week issued a notice to X Corp for its failure to follow statutory due diligence and obligations under Indian law in relation to obscene, indecent and sexually explicit content generated and shared using its artificial intelligence (AI) tools. International wire services reported that Grok was still granting image requests but only from X users with blue checkmarks given to premium subscribers who pay USD 8 a month for features including higher usage limits for the chatbot. It was also reported that there was a noticeable decline Friday in the number of explicit deepfakes that Grok is now generating compared with just days earlier. On Wednesday, X Corp, in its formal response to the Indian government’s notice over Grok AI generating objectionable images of women without consent, has told the IT Ministry that it was open to permanently disabling accounts which engaged in such activity on the platform. The company has also told the government that it will strictly comply with India’s Information Technology Act, 2000 and associated rules governing digital content. The government, however, had indicated that it was unsatisfied with the response, particularly the lack of specific technological and operational safeguards to prevent generation of obscene and non-consensual content, including sexualised images of women and minors. The latest changes X Corp has implemented were also panned as inadequate by various regulators. “This doesn’t change our fundamental issue. Paid subscription or non-paid subscription, we don’t want to see such images. It’s as simple as that,” said Thomas Regnier, a spokesman for the European Union’s executive Commission. The Commission had earlier slammed Grok for “illegal” and “appalling” behaviour. Grok’s changes are “not a solution,” said Geraint Ellis, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who on Thursday had threatened unspecified action against X. “In fact, it is insulting to the victims of misogyny and sexual violence,” he said. “We expect rapid action,” he said, adding that “all options are on the table.” Mr Starmer, speaking to Greatest Hits radio, had said that X needs to “get their act together and get this material down. We will take action on this because it’s simply not tolerable.” The UK’s media and privacy regulators both said this week they’ve contacted X and Mr Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI for information on measures taken to comply with British regulations. In addition to India, France and Malaysia have also been scrutinising the platform. (With input from agencies) Thiruvananthapuram, 9 January In a major development in the Sabarimala gold theft case, Tantri Kandarar u Rajeevaru, the chief priest of the temple, was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) following intensive questioning here on Friday. Mr Rajeevar u was summoned to the SIT office in Thiruvananthapuram and interrogated for several hours regarding the alleged misappropriation of gold from the temple. Sources say evidence gathered during the investigation linked him to a key accused in the case, raising suspicions about his involvement. The SIT, led by senior officers, is probing the priest’s connections with other individuals allegedly involved, including former Travancore Devaswom Board officials and temple staff. Law enforcement officials have indicated that further arrests could follow as the investigation deepens. The theft, which has been under investigation for several months, has drawn national attention. Authorities are examining the movement of temple assets and taking action under multiple statutes, including the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), to recover the missing gold. The probe focuses on allegations that gold sheets and ornaments removed in 2019 from the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum), door frames, and Dwarapalaka idols during gold-plating works were not fully returned. Investigators suspect some of the gold may have been misclassified as copper or other base metals, allegedly facilitating its diversion. Discrepancies were reportedly found in mahazars, inventory lists, and verification reports prepared at various stages of the project.