A huge Christian conversion racket was busted in Anupgarh town in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, after a 23-year-old man filed a complaint regarding his forced conversion. The matter came to light in Ward No. 14 of the Anupgarh Police Station area. According to SHO Ishwar Jangid, the complainant, Sandeep, a resident of village 24 APD, filed a complaint about his religious conversion on Tuesday (16th September). Three persons, namely Aryan, Vinod and Paulus Barjo, have been accused by the complainant of forced conversion and harassment.
In his complaint, Sandeep stated that about a month ago, he visited a bike spare parts shop near Anupgarh railway station, where he met the shop owner, Aryan and his father, Vinod, whom Sandeep knew for a long time. During a conversation, Aryan and Vinod asked Sandeep if he was married yet, to which he replied negatively. Sandeep alleged that Aryan and Vinod offered to get him married and introduced him to Paulus Barjo, who worked for the Friends Missionary Prayer Band (FMPB) organisation.
Sandeep said that Paulus Barjo told him that if he converted to Christianity, ‘the Lord’ would be pleased and he would get married. Thereafter, the three accused took him to a canal in Prem Nagar and converted him to Christianity by performing some rituals in the water. After Sandeep converted to Christianity, the three accused started harassing him and forced him to bring them more Hindus for conversion.
Paulus Barjo was given an annual conversion target of 20 people by the Christian organisation
On the complaint of Sandeep, the police nabbed Paulus Barjo, who made some shocking revelations. 47-year-old Barjo reportedly admitted that he converted 454 Hindus to Christianity over 11 years. Barjo, originally from Katinggel village in Jharkhand, was a Hindu before he converted to Christianity in 1995. He revealed that his elder brother also converted to Christianity. Barjo joined the FMPB in Chennai in 2003 and was sent to Jhansi for training. After undergoing training for a year, he was sent to the Sikar district in Rajasthan. Between 2004 and 2008, Barjo carried out his conversion activities in several districts of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. Subsequently, he came to Anupgarh in 2008 and stayed there till 2016. After working in several other states, he came back to Anupgarh in 2022 and has been staying at Vinod’s house.
Barjo disclosed that the FMPB gave an annual target of converting at least 20 people. For this, the organisation paid him a monthly salary of ₹9 thousand, along with allowances covering rent, food, expenses for spiritual gatherings, travel expenses and children’s school fee. Police seized several documents from Barjo’s possession, including a register in which he entered the names and details of people he had converted so far.
Christian organisation planning to build churches in the area
Further revealing his missionary activities, Barjo said that he used to meet poor, vulnerable or diseased Hindu people and lure them to convert to Christianity. Names of two more people, Shyamlal and Surjeet, have also surfaced in connection with the case. Barjo, Shyamlal and Surjeet were placed by the organisation in Anupgarh and nearby villages to meet their annual target.The organisation has reportedly been planning to build churches in the villages of 2 PGM and 36 GB, for which the land has already been purchased. Vinod has donated ₹3.5 lakh for the church.
VHP demands strict action in the case
As per reports, the organisation had been planning to build churches in the villages of 2 PGM and 36 GB, for which the land has already been purchased. Vinod has donated ₹3.5 lakh for the church. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has demanded strict action against Barjo for targeting Hindus for conversion. VHP District Minister Krishna Rao said that Christian missionaries like Barjo use derogatory language against Hindu deities.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 75th birthday, there was a surprising shift in tone from the United States. After weeks of openly criticising India over Russian oil imports and the Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump set aside his complaints and instead reached out warmly to wish PM Modi with birthday greetings and words of appreciation.
For months, Trump had attacked India for continuing to buy discounted Russian oil, accusing New Delhi of indirectly fuelling the war in Ukraine. As punishment, Washington had slapped a steep 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, a move that rattled trade relations between the two countries. But on Tuesday, 16th September, the mood was very different. Trump personally called Modi, offering no criticism but only praise and gratitude.
Taking to Truth Social after the call, Trump wrote: “Just had a wonderful phone call with my friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I wished him a very Happy Birthday! He is doing a tremendous job. Narendra: Thank you for your support in ending the war between Russia and Ukraine!”
PM Modi, as always, responded in a measured but positive manner. In a post on X, he thanked Trump for the call and added, “Like you, I am also fully committed to taking the India-US Comprehensive and Global Partnership to new heights. We support your initiatives towards a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict.”
Thank you, my friend, President Trump, for your phone call and warm greetings on my 75th birthday. Like you, I am also fully committed to taking the India-US Comprehensive and Global Partnership to new heights. We support your initiatives towards a peaceful resolution of the…
This warm gesture was in marked contrast to the high-voltage exchanges of the past few months. Just weeks ago, Washington punished India for purchasing Russian oil and issued unprecedented trade sanctions.
There was a 25 per cent tax on Indian imports first, followed by an additional 25 per cent tax tied directly to Russian imports, totalling 50 per cent of tariff charges, which took effect on 27th August.
The shift in tone, however, did not happen suddenly. Earlier this month, Trump began softening his approach. On 6th September, he described the India-US relationship as “special” and assured there was “nothing to worry about.” Modi quickly welcomed those remarks, calling America a “close friend and natural partner”.
The two leaders then made friendly remarks in the open, with Trump suggesting the tariff standoff might be resolved soon and Modi speaking of tapping the “limitless potential” of bilateral relations.
Tuesday’s birthday phone call thus came across as the strongest indication yet of reconciliation. India had resisted US pressure for months, resisting concessions to open up its dairy and farm industries. Prime Minister Modi has also made his stance clear. “The pressure on us may increase, but we will bear it all.” He emphasised that national interests of farmers, small and medium-scale industries, and common citizens are given priority.
The shift in mood was also visible on the trade front. On the same day as the phone call, India and the US resumed trade negotiations in New Delhi. This was the first direct engagement since the tariffs were announced last month.
Discussions continued for almost seven hours between the US delegation, headed by Brendan Lynch of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), and the Indian delegation led by Commerce Department Special Secretary Rajesh Agarwal.
Both sides agreed to work more diligently towards an early completion of a “mutually beneficial” trade agreement, India’s Commerce Ministry said. Representatives of both nations characterised the talks as “positive and forward-looking”, building expectations that the bitter trade war might be resolved soon.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday (16th September) denied relief to a judiciary candidate, who by mistake declared in his application form that he has more than one wife. According to Bar and Bench, the candidature of the petitioner, Advocate Pradeep Kumar, was rejected after he mistakenly declared in the application for the post of Additional District & Sessions Judge in Haryana Superior Judicial Service, that he has more than one wife.
The notification for the said posts said that a candidate with more than one spouse is not eligible for the district judiciary service. The application form had two columns of ‘yes’ and ‘no’, which the candidates were required to mark in response to whether they had more than one wife. While filling out the form, the petitioner mistakenly marked the column ‘yes’ in his response, which resulted in the rejection of his candidature.
He challenged the rejection of his candidature before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. However, a division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry rejected his plea, saying that the petition was responsible for entering the wrong information in the form. “You yourself state that you have two wives. How do they know whether you have one wife or two wives or three wives? It is for you to declare. If you declare it wrongly, then what is their fault in cancelling your candidature?” the CJ remarked.
The petitioner requested relief from the court, saying that the mistake was inadvertent and that there was still time in the examination, which is scheduled to be held on 19th September. However, the counsel appearing for the High Court pointed out that the recruitment notification clearly stated that no request for any change in the application form would be entertained at a later stage and that the candidates would be responsible for any mistakes in the form.
After hearing the submissions of both sides, the High Court observed that the candidate himself had entered the wrong information and that he would have to prove otherwise. “You will have to give proof that you don’t have two wives. How do you do that?” the Court questioned.
“A candidate has to be extremely careful and vigilant while filing his application form, and the slightest of mistakes can entail cancellation of his candidature. In competitive exams, it is extremely important to adhere to the timelines and no process can be stalled or delayed due to an inadvertent mistake of any candidate…In view of the above and the law laid down by the apex court… this Court cannot help the petitioner and the present petition stands dismissed,” the High Court said, dismissing his petition.
The High Court refused to accept the petitioner’s argument that he mentioned the name of his wife in the application form, and therefore, it should be presumed that he has only one wife.
Assam Police, on Monday (15th September), arrested the Assam Civil Services (ACS) official Nupur Bora in Guwahati for possessing disproportionate wealth. Bora’s arrest came after a team from the Assam Chief Minister’s Special Vigilance Cell raided her Guwahati residence and found cash worth ₹92 lakh and jewellery valued at nearly ₹1 crore. An additional ₹10 lakh was seized by the authorities from her rented house in Barpeta.
Nupur Bora, a resident of Golaghat, joined the Assam Civil Service in 2019 and was appointed as an Assistant Commissioner in Karbi Anglong. She was transferred to Barpeta as a circle officer in 2023 and was currently posted as a circle officer in Kamrup district’s Goroimari. Before joining the ACS, Bora, an English graduate, worked as a lecturer in the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET). Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Bora was under surveillance for the last six months after complaints of some dubious land transfers were received against her.
Bora transferred land of Hindus to members of other community: Assam CM
Sarma said that during her tenure as circle officer in the Barpeta district, Bora facilitated the transfer of government land and the land belonging to Hindus, including Satra (Hindu religious trust) land, in the names of ‘suspected individuals’.
असम सरकार की एक अधिकारी के खिलाफ अवैध धन प्राप्त करने के मामले में कार्रवाई जारी है।
सरकार को सूचना मिली है कि यह अधिकारी हिंदुओं की ज़मीन एक विशेष समुदाय को हस्तांतरित कर रही थी। pic.twitter.com/giYYtf0z7r
“This officer had transferred Hindu land to suspicious individuals in exchange for money when she was posted in the Barpeta revenue circle,” said CM Sarma. He added that there is rampant corruption in the revenue circles in minority-dominated areas in Assam.
A complaint was filed against Bora by a local activist group named Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), led by Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi. The complaint alleged that Bora maintained a detailed “rate card” for land-related services and that her bribe ranged from ₹1,500 for land maps to Rs 2 lakh for name inclusion or cancellation in land records. Rosy Kalita, SP of the Special Vigilance Cell, reportedly confirmed that multiple corruption allegations were levelled against Bora. She added that the seizure of cash and jewellery on Monday was only a preliminary operation, and that further investigation might lead to more shocking discoveries.
As per reports, the SVC also conducted searches at the residence of Bora’s aide, Lat Mandal Surajit Deka, who is currently posted at the revenue circle in Barpeta. Deka is accused of acquiring several land properties in Barpeta in collusion with Bora during her posting in the district.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma rang the alarm over Assam’s changing demography
The allegations of illegal transfer of land of Hindus to ‘suspected individuals’ against Nupur Bora have emerged amid CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s repeated warnings of demographic changes taking place in Assam. In order to address the issue of demographic shift in the state, the Sarma government has been conducting anti-encroachment drives for the past few years. In July this year, CM Sarma announced that his government released over 1.19 lakh bighas of land from encroachers as part of the state’s ongoing drive.
During an Independence Day address this year, Sarma reminded the people of Assam that they need to preserve Assam’s identity, and warned that it could go extinct in the coming days if demographic shifts continued unchecked. CM Sarma has, on several occasions, highlighted how the demographic composition has drastically changed in Assam over the last several decades. He pointed out how Muslims, who comprised around 12-14% of the total state population in 1951, have reached 40% now. He asserted that it was not a matter of politics but an issue of life and death.
On September 16, 2025, the Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition seeking restoration of a seven-foot mutilated idol of Lord Vishnu at the Javari temple in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh. The idol, part of the UNESCO-protected Khajuraho group of monuments, had been beheaded centuries ago during the Mughal invasions, left desecrated and dishonoured ever since.
The petitioner, a devotee named Rakesh Dalal, argued that restoring the idol was not merely about archaeology but about faith, dignity, and the fundamental right of Hindus to worship their deities in wholeness. Represented by Senior Advocate Sanjay M Nuli, he asked the Court to direct the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and relevant authorities to repair the idol and revive the sanctity of the temple.
The petition traced the legacy of the Khajuraho temples, built under the Chandravanshi rulers, and argued that years of British indifference followed by post-independence apathy have left the idol in a neglected condition, even after more than seven decades of freedom.
Dalal further maintained that the government’s continued refusal to undertake restoration work amounts to a violation of devotees’ fundamental right to worship. He pointed out that multiple protests, representations, and public campaigns highlighting the issue have yielded no response from the state.
The response from the bench, led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, was not legal reasoning but sarcasm. “This is purely publicity interest litigation. Go and ask the deity itself to do something now. You say you are a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu. So go and pray now,” the CJI told the petitioner.
Supreme Court hears a plea seeking restoration of the 7-foot-long beheaded idol of Lord Vishnu at the Javari temple in Khajuraho, said to have been mutilated during Mughal invasions and left that way since. Petitioner seeks the Court’s intervention to protect devotees’ right to… pic.twitter.com/CiIstqQCoY
For Hindus, this remark cut deeper than the centuries-old wound inflicted by Mughal swords. It echoed a familiar taunt: “If your gods are real, why didn’t they protect themselves?” This Hinduphobic trope, weaponised for centuries by Islamist rulers and modern-day secular elites, has now found a resounding endorsement in the Chief Justice of India.
The asymmetry of Indian secularism
Let us imagine, for a moment, if the same remark had been directed at Muslims. Suppose during the hearing of the Waqf (Amendment) Act case, CJI Gavai had told petitioners: “If you don’t like this law, go ask Allah to help you. Pray, and maybe He will restore your lands.” The outrage would have been instantaneous and apocalyptic. The legal fraternity would have issued statements, television anchors would scream “judicial Islamophobia,” NGOs would have dashed off letters to the UN, and the Chief Justice himself would be branded a bigot.
But when the same derision is reserved for Hindus, the reaction is silence. No lawyer council issues statement. No street protests. No petitions for recusal. In India, secularism works only one way. Hindus are mocked, insulted, and ridiculed with impunity. Minorities are treated with kid gloves, protected from the faintest insult, their grievances amplified as existential crises.
While we are discussing the hypocrisy in dealing with the majority and minorities, it is notable to mention here that CJI Gavai, who ridiculed Mr Dalal for a petition to restore Khajuraho idol, was a part of the Supreme Court bench that recently stayed some provisions of the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, including the provision that says encroached government land cannot be ‘Waqf’ till the dispute is resolved — effectively encouraging encroachment and squatting on government land.
The street veto vs the courtroom
This asymmetry flows from a stark reality: minorities enforce their sensitivities on the streets; Hindus seek redress in the courts.
When Muslims feel insulted, they exercise the “street veto.” They erupt in protests, block roads, and chant “Sar Tan Se Juda” slogans. Individuals are attacked or even killed for perceived blasphemy as evident with the gruesome killing of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur. His fault? To support Nupur Sharma for protecting the honour of Lord Shiva and responding to her co-panelist in the language he understands. But instead, the Supreme Court lashed out against Nupur Sharma for her “loose tongue”, holding her singularly responsible for “setting the country on fire.”
Those who went about on the streets killing and vandalizing escaped unharmed. The state and judiciary, fearing bloodshed, treaded carefully.
Hindus, in contrast (and rightfully so) seek remedies through legal petitions. They invoke constitutional rights. They rely on institutions. And what do they receive? Mockery. They are told to “go pray.” Their faith is trivialised, their devotion belittled, and their petitions dismissed as “publicity stunts.”
The message is unmistakable and extremely dangerous: aggression gets respect, pursuing matters as per the law of the land invites ridicule. In practice, secularism in India rewards violence and punishes restraint.
If prayer is the answer, why have courts at all?
The Chief Justice’s remark—“go and pray to your God”—is not only insulting but logically absurd. If divine intervention were the solution, why have courts at all? Why hold hearings, pass judgments, or interpret laws? Every litigant could simply be told to pray, whether they are corporations fighting contracts, citizens disputing land, or victims seeking justice.
But of course, such sarcasm is not dispensed universally. No corporate lawyer has ever been told to “pray to Goddess Lakshmi” for financial disputes. No Christian has been told to “pray to Jesus” for relief. No Muslim has been told to “seek Allah’s mercy” instead of filing waqf claims. Only Hindus are told that their faith invalidates their right to legal remedy.
Normalising Hinduphobia from the bench
What is most dangerous about this episode is how it normalises Hinduphobia. When the Chief Justice of India mocks Hindu faith, he sets the tone for the entire ecosystem. It gives intellectuals, academics, and media elites the confidence to continue deriding Hindu beliefs as superstition, Hindu grievances as “majoritarianism,” and Hindu claims as “publicity stunts.”
This is how prejudice is entrenched, not just through mobs burning temples, but through casual remarks from powerful men in robes. Each sneer chips away at the dignity of Hindus, making mockery of their gods socially acceptable and institutionally sanctioned.
If legally, the CJI believed that the plea fell in the ASI’s domain and not that of the Supreme Court, it would have been sufficient for him to say just that. In fact, given that the Supreme Court is the arbiter and interpreter of the Constitution of India, that is all that the Supreme Court is authorised to say. However, the CJI turned what should have been an innocuous order to approach ASI into a spectacle where in open court, the highest judicial authority of the country mocked the faith of a billion.
A great amount of time may have elapsed, but time is no defence for injustice. Slavery ended centuries after it began. Apartheid ended decades after it was entrenched. Historical wrongs can and must be corrected, no matter how old. To suggest otherwise, which the CJI did with his mockery, is to resign humanity to perpetual wounds.
Ridiculing not just devotion, but centuries of Hindu persecution
By mocking the petitioner, the Chief Justice did not just dismiss a plea; he dismissed centuries of religious persecution faced by Hindus, the attendant pain, and rejected the possibility of reconciliation with history. The same Court that embraced Ram Lalla as a litigant in the seminal Ram Janmabhoomi case chose to laugh at Vishnu’s devotees. The same judiciary that bends over backwards for minority causes told Hindus to “pray” instead of seeking justice through constituionally sanctioned methods.
This is where Indian secularism stands today: a one-way street where Hindus are mocked for their faith, minorities are coddled for their grievances, and justice is selectively dispensed based on who shouts loudest or threatens violence.
But history will not end here. Every mutilated idol, every desecrated temple, every silenced devotee is a reminder that the struggle for civilisational justice is not over. Courts may sneer, but the duty of a civilisation is eternal: to remember, to restore, and to reclaim what is rightfully ours.
Until then, Hindus must live with the bitter truth that even in their own land, in the year 2025, when they seek dignity for their Gods, the highest court in the country tells them: “Go and pray.”
Moral authority to preach mutual respect and tolerance lost
And ultimately, it rests on the court’s discretion to admit or dismiss a petition. But the bench could have been a little sensitive in rejecting Mr. Dalal’s plea. Instead, it chose to mock a petitioner with a sarcastic swipe for merely seeking restoration of a desecrated idol of God dear to him. Judges, often regarded as some of the most erudite voices in society, are expected to exercise restraint and dignity, not indulge in barbs that echo the language of 16th-century iconoclasts.
When the judiciary shows disregard for the deeply held faith of the majority, it forfeits its moral standing to preach tolerance and respect to others.
In Bihar’s Darbhanga district, a woman named Gudiya Devi was cheated of Rs 200 by luring her with the promise of getting Rs 2500 every month. The alleged fraud was carried out in the name of the RJD’s Mai-Bahin Maan Yojana. An FIR has been lodged against 4 leaders including Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav, based on the victim’s complaint.
How were women cheated in the name of Mai-Bahin Yojana?
OpIndia has spoken to the victim Gudiya Devi in this case. Gudiya Devi is an ASHA worker and does animal husbandry work. She has narrated the entire incident in a detailed manner. She told that 2-3 days ago an RJD worker came to her and asked her to fill the form of Mai-Behan Yojana.
Gudiya Devi told us, “A man came and started asking us for information by claiming to be an RJD worker. He said that get the form of Mai-Behan Yojana filled, you will start getting 2500 rupees every month from next month.”
She said, “He took our mobile and asked for our Aadhar card and bank account. He said that we will get an OTP after filling the form.” Gudiya further said, “After this he said that you will have to pay Rs 200 for this form.”
When Gudiya asked him to give her money online, the young man refused. After this, Gudiya gave him Rs 200 in cash and he left after taking it. After some time, when Gudiya’s husband Mithlesh came home, she informed him about this.
Gudiya said, “My husband got angry after hearing that this could be a fraud. He asked us to report the matter to the police after which we filed a complaint against Tejashwi Yadav and others.”
RJD people are threatening me, I am scared to even go out’: Complainant Gudiya Devi
Gudiya said that after filing the complaint, RJD people are now threatening her to take back the complaint. Gudiya said, “I work as an ASHA worker and I have to go out of the house. Now I am afraid to even go out of the house lest someone attacks us.”
In her complaint, Gudiya said, “The people who came to my house asked me to call more women and asked all the women to provide their Aadhaar card, mobile number and Rs 200.”
Will not withdraw complaint: Gudiya’s husband refuses to backoff despite threats
Gudiya’s husband Mithlesh is an auto driver. Mithlesh told OpIndia, “I drive an auto so I have to stay outside. I am also at risk in going out, there is pressure from people too but now I will not withdraw the complaint.”
He said in an angry tone, “If I had to withdraw my complaint out of fear of goons, then why would I have filed the complaint at all.” He says that he was suspicious when they asked for his Aadhaar card number and there was a danger of fraud.
At the same time, the victim’s family says that similar fraud has been done with other people in the village as well, but they are scared and are unable to come out and speak out due to fear.
Whose name other than Tejashwi Yadav is in the FIR?
The police have registered an FIR under Section 318 (4), 3 (4) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Singhwada police station in Darbhanga district. The police have named Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav as accused along with Mashkur Ahmed Usmani (former candidate from Jaale Legislative Assembly), Sanjay Yadav (Rajya Sabha MP) and Rishi Mishra (former MLA Jaale).
In the FIR, citing Gudiya, it is written, “After my husband (Mithlesh) told us, we came to know that we have been cheated and a very powerful RJD leader is behind it. He has hatched this plan to cheat the innocent people.”
Investigation underway: Police tells OpIndia
OpIndia has also spoken to SHO Basant Kumar of Singhwada police station in this matter. Basant Kumar said that an FIR has been registered and investigation has been started. He says that people related to this will be questioned soon. Police also suspects that there may be more victims in this case.
Complaints have been received earlier also regarding the Mai-Behan scheme
Notably, the Mai-Behen Maan Scheme has been in controversies since its launch. There have been complaints of political tug of war between RJD and Congress. In addition, there have been allegations of misleading people. Earlier it was revealed that the people employed by RJD and Congress to fill the forms of Mai Behin Maan Yojana had no authority.
These people were going to people in Bihar and asking them for Aadhar cards, NDA leaders had strongly objected to this. After which this scheme is constantly in controversy. Meanwhile, the BJP has deemed this scheme a massive scam.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said that India once again rejected United States efforts at mediation in July this year, reiterating its consistent position that dialogue with Pakistan can only be bilateral.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Dar disclosed details of conversations he had with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the context of Operation Sindoor, India’s retaliatory military action in May following the April 20 terror attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
?Big Confession By Pakistan!
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar says India had denied any 3rd party mediation with Pakistan.
When Pak asked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about 3rd party mediation with India as Trump claims, Rubio denied saying India says it's "Bilateral… pic.twitter.com/77PvyfbSK1
According to Dar, Washington conveyed a ceasefire proposal during the conflict. “When the ceasefire offer came to me through Secretary Rubio on May 11 at 8.17 am, I was told that ‘very soon, there will be dialogue between you and India at an independent place’,” Dar said.
He added that during his bilateral meeting with Rubio in Washington on July 25, the US official confirmed India’s refusal to accept any third-party involvement. “He said, ‘India says it is bilateral’,” Dar recalled, underlining that the American initiative did not succeed.
Dar’s comments follow earlier claims by US President Donald Trump that Washington had played a role in brokering peace between India and Pakistan in May. New Delhi has consistently denied those assertions, maintaining that talks with Pakistan will only be pursued directly and without third-party mediation.
The Pakistan foreign minister stated that while Islamabad was open to external mediation, India’s position remained unchanged. “We don’t mind bilateral but dialogues have to be comprehensive — terrorism, trade, economy and Jammu and Kashmir,” Dar said. He also admitted that Pakistan had reached out to several global capitals during Operation Sindoor to seek support.
“We must appreciate the very positive role US played during the India-Pakistan war. I talked almost 60 times to world global capitals before the 7th of May when we had the air battle and after 10th of May when we had the ground battle,” he told Al Jazeera.
Dar further said that the international community supported peace efforts. “I know that the overwhelming majority, whether they are Muslim countries or non-Muslim countries, they want to see peace, diplomacy and dialogue,” he added.
The Congress party have it in their SOP to level baseless ‘vote chori’ accusations against the Election Commission, outrage over it while its supportive media cabal concocts a web of lies packaged as facts to lend credence to the claims of their political masters.
But a recent thread on social media platform X by investigative reporter Vijay Patel exposes the dark underbelly of this nexus, highlighting how Rahul Gandhi and Congress’ ‘vote chori’ propaganda campaign rests on the shoulders of shady Hinduphobic characters bent on undermining India’s democratic institutions.
The biggest exposé on Rahul Gandhi’s 'Vote Chori' PPT.
The entire PPT is a hoax created from conspiracy theory and based on the articles and analysis of an extremist and mentaly ill person.
While Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote chori’ PowerPoint presentation showed during his infamous press conference on 7th August has already come under the scanner, the recent revelations further weaken his claims of electoral fraud. Gandhi is facing criticism not only due to the ‘vote chori’ presentation’s alleged foreign origins but also due to his reliance on hitjobs published in leftist propaganda outlet Newslaundry.
These propaganda pieces are written by rabid Hinduphobes — one whom has been identified as one Vishal Vaibhav — to peddle conspiracy theory against the ECI.
On the fourth page of the controversial PPT, Rahul Gandhi claimed that “The Maharashtra results confirmed our suspicions about Mass Scale Vote Chori’. To back the vote theft claims, the PPT cited a report by Newslaundry. The report headlined, “Aflurry of new voters? The curious case of Kamthi, where the Maha BJP chief won”, is written by Vishal Vaibhav and Sumedha Mittal.
Congress relying on Newslaundry propaganda pieces to cast aspersions on the integrity of the Election Commission is in itself quite telling of the credibility of their ‘vote chori’ claims. However, it has emerged that Newslaundry’s author, Vishal Vaibhav, has been a rabid Hindu hater who casually throws ‘Gaumutra’, ‘cowf*&kers’, and ‘D*%kless Hindutva’ jibes at pro-Hindu social media users over ideological differences.
Source: X
As per his author page on Newslaundry, Vishal Vaibhav is a former professor of physics at the IIT-Delhi. While X account ‘@panchagavyag’ which was formerly ‘@vvaibhav_iid’, “no longer exists”, screenshots of his deeply deranged and Hinduphobic posts have surfaced online.
Perhaps, Hindu-hate is a top eligibility criterion for being a part of Newslaundry’s propaganda factory.
Coming to the co-author of Newslaundry reports cited by Rahul Gandhi in his vote chori PPT, Sumedha Mittal not only has an ideological bias but also a past link with the Congress party. As per Sumedha Mittal’s LinkedIn page, she worked at a think tank named the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) for a brief period of time. This think tank, is owned and run by controversial Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s daughter Yamini Aiyar.
OpIndia has earlier reported how CPR has been under scanner for violating foreign funding norms and had its license suspended by the central government. The Centre for Policy Research has been the subject of income tax raids in September 2022. The tax exemption status of Aiyar’s think tank was also revoked in July 2023.
Mittal has also worked with IndiaSpend portal in the past. IndiaSpend aligns with the ideological inclinations of the Congress party the most. In addition to that, Praveen Chakravarty, the head of Congress party’s data analytics department, is a founding trustee at IndiaSpend. The website of IndiaSpend, however, does not mention him as one. OpIndia has on multiple occasions exposedIndiaSpend’s anti-Hindu anti-India falsehoods. IndiaSpend has, in the past, misrepresented the facts of a case to boost the number of Muslim victims in its database.
Newslaundry’s senior reporter, Sumedha Mittal, has contributed to anti-BJP and pro-Islamist propaganda outlets like The Wire and The Caravan as well.
Interestingly, between November 2021 and September 2022, Sumedha Mittal worked as a research fellow at the Modi detractor and notorious regime change specialist, George Soros-funded Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). OCCRP received a huge share of funding from the US Department of State and the now-disbanded US Agency for International Development (USAID). The OCCRP is funded by the likes of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF), the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation.
Not to forget, OCCRP had published hitjobs against businessman Gautam Adani and SEBI. The OCCRP has also repeatedly been rolling out propaganda meant to undermine Indian democracy.
‘Vote Chori’ in India, data compilation in Myanmar, lies and disinformation packaged as ‘earth-shattering’ exposé
While the Congress party intended to stir a massive political storm with Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote chori’ PPT, it emerged that he documents, which Gandhi presented during his infamous press conference on 7th August this year, was prepared in the country of Myanmar. A metadata analysis of the PDF files uploaded on ‘vote chori’ website, revealed that all three versions of Rahul Gandhi’s presentation have been created in the Myanmar Standard Time (MMT). Congress leaders and IT cell rushed to counter these allegations; however, they failed to give a satisfactory rebuttal.
The foreign origins of Rahul Gandhi’s vote chori presentation is not entirely shocking given his career has been mired in controversies surrounding involvement of foreign powers. From signing MoU with the Chinese Communist Party, mysterious foreign trips, secret meetings with foreign officials, social media influence campaigns managed by bots from Kazakhstan, Russia and Indonesia, to giving calls for foreign intervention in India’s internal affairs
Not only the origins but also the content of Rahul Gandhi’s vote chori presentation are problematic. In fact, the 22-page presentation comes across as Congress party’s desperate attempt at lending empirical credence to the rhetoric and theatrics it has been employing to push its “Hum hare nahi hain, hamein haraya gaya hai (we didn’t lose, we were deceitfully defeated)” narrative. OpIndia, however, reported how the ECI rebutted each and every allegation, be it inflated voter registration and turnout, foul play in appointment of election commissioners, destruction of CCTV footage of voting process or ECI’s outright refusal to share digital voter rolls, levelled by Rahul Gandhi.
On page 8 of the said document, Gandhi insinuated that while the ECI is suppressing data of Karnataka’s Mahadevpura constituency to coverup ‘vote theft’, his team has painstakingly obtained checked “lakhs of paragraphs”. However, one page of ECI has 30 entries, and the total number of voters in Mahadevpura is approximately 6 lakhs. This essentially means that contrary to Gandhi’s claims, not lakhs but only 20,000 pages were required to be checked. Apparently, even in data-based propaganda, Congress did not forget to blend melodrama.
The document is replete with cherrypicked cases which involved management or technical issues and passed them off as proof of ‘vote chori’. While Congress has had a history of Muslim appeasement and neglect of Hindus, the grand old party is now relying on absolute lies, disinformation by Hinduphobic and ideologically biased propagandists, undermining India’s robust democracy in its quest for petty political gains.
The stray dog menace in India is much worse than officially acknowledged, with millions of bite cases every year exposing a public health and safety crisis of staggering proportions. In a reply to an RTI filed by OpIndia in connection with dog bite data across the country, the Union Government has informed that in 2025 alone, so far, there were over 26 lakh cases reported. In its reply, the Directorate General of Health Services, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said that there were 26,71,732 cases of dog bites reported in India till 31st July.
Source: NCDC, Government of India.
OpIndia had sought information on state-wise data from 2001, when ABC Rules first came into force till 31st July 2025. However, centralised state-wise data was first maintained in 2012. This is a problem in itself. Despite India recording the world’s highest number of rabies cases, there was no centralised state-wise data until 2012, even though the ABC Rules had come into effect in 2001.
Stray dog menace is worsening in the country
OpIndia received the data between 2012 and 31st July 2025. While there were several other questions included in the RTI, most of the answers were not provided as those were to be answered by other departments. In this report, we have concentrated on annual dog bite cases, state-wise dog bite load and rabies deaths officially recorded by the Government of India.
Yearly dog bite cases between 2012 and July 2025. Source: NCDC, Government of India
The data provided by NCDC has been retrieved from the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme–Integrated Health Information Platform (IDSP-IHIP). What makes the data alarming is the fact that the monthly average for 2025 is already higher than the monthly average of 2024, which points towards the fact that the stray dog menace is worsening in the country.
According to the data, there were 3,81,676 cases of dog bites every month in this year till 31st July 2025. The number is significantly higher, as in 2024, the monthly average was 3,09,778 per month. It means India is reporting almost 80,000 more dog bite cases in 2025 compared to the previous year.
This RTI is part of OpIndia’s ongoing investigation into the stray dog menace that has engulfed the country. It has exposed not only the scale of the problem but also the failures of sterilisation and rabies control programmes. While activists and NGOs continue to claim that the problem is exaggerated, the government’s own numbers present an undeniable reality.
What the RTI reply says
The RTI reply provided year-wise figures of dog bite cases for every state and Union Territory from 2012 up to July 2025. For the period between 2012 and 2021, the data was retrieved from the IDSP portal under what is known as the P form. This reporting format, however, carried a critical gap. Notably, rabies deaths were not provided between 2012 and 2021.
That means, for almost a decade, the Government of India did not collect data on rabies deaths across India. Interestingly, the World Health Organisation claims that there are around 20,000 rabies deaths every year in India, which is based on a Parliamentary reply given by the Government of India a couple of decades back. Recent studies show that the rabies load in India could be over 5,000. However, the government data shows under 100 deaths every year since 2022.
From 2022 onwards, the government shifted to the IDSP-IHIP portal, where the information is logged under the Presumptive form. In practical terms, this means that the figures are provisional tallies collected at field level for immediate surveillance purposes, and while they may be revised later, they already reveal a staggering picture. Even as “presumptive” counts, the numbers cross into millions, highlighting the depth of the crisis.
Interestingly, the national total saw a steady climb between 2012 and 2019, with 42,51,977 cases reported in 2012 and 72,69,410 cases reported in 2019.
Number of dog bite cases between 2012 and 2017. Source: NCDC, Government of India
Then in 2020, there was a massive dip owing to the COVID years. In 2020, the number dropped to 47,58,041 and it kept dropping till 2022, when there were 21,90,056 dog bite cases reported.
Number of dog bite cases between 2018 and 2023. Source: NCDC, Government of India
However, following that year, there was a steep jump in the numbers, with 30,52,324 dog bite cases in 2023 and 37,17,336 cases in 2024. By July 2025, India had already logged over 26 lakh cases, and if it keeps increasing at this pace, India may report well over 45 lakh dog bite cases in the current year.
Number of dog bite cases between 2024 and July 2025. Source: NCDC, Government of India
The data also throws up peculiarities that underline the diversity of India’s policies on animal control. Lakshadweep, for instance, has consistently reported zero cases. The reason is not statistical luck but policy clarity. The island territory does not allow dogs at all. Even tourists are prohibited from bringing pet dogs with them. In stark contrast, mainland states and other Union Territories continue to record hundreds of thousands of cases every year, showing just how wide the gulf is between firm preventive policies and ad hoc, ineffective approaches.
Year-wise national trend
The figures reveal a troubling national trajectory. In 2012, India reported just over 42.5 lakh dog bite cases. This number climbed steadily year after year and in 2018, it breached the 75 lakh mark, the highest in the dataset. The surge highlighted the failure of sterilisation drives and the unchecked expansion of stray dog populations across both urban and rural India.
Source: NCDC, Government of India
Then came the dramatic fall due to the COVID years. However, the downward trend did not last long. By 2023, the country breached the 30 lakh dog bite cases per year. There are a lot of questions regarding the data available for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. In 2020, for most of the months, India was locked inside due to the nationwide lockdown. Still, there were well above 47 lakh dog bite cases. However, in the coming two years, when lockdown was over, the number of dog bites kept falling. There is a possibility that for those years, as the country was struggling with wave after wave of the COVID-19 virus, the dog bite cases were not reported properly.
In case of rabies deaths, the data has been provided only for 2022 (21), 2023 (50), 2024 (52) and 2025 (23 till 31st July).
Don’t get misled by post-pandemic fall in dog bite cases
The self-styled dog lovers may argue that between 2020 and 2022, the stray dog menace was brought under control. In reality, however, it is far more sobering. These were the years when COVID-19 brought the country to a standstill. As people were locked inside, and even after the lockdown was lifted, people preferred to go out only if necessary to avoid infection, which reduced dog–human contact.
Furthermore, as the hospitals were overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, there is a chance people did not go to hospital to get treatment for dog bites, fearing COVID infection. Under-reporting, rather than actual reduction, drove the numbers down. Equally, data collection suffered as government machinery was diverted almost entirely to pandemic duties.
Surveillance officers, health workers, and municipal authorities had limited capacity to log or verify dog bite incidents. For this reason, the decline seen in those years cannot be read as evidence of effective sterilisation or management. It was a statistical distortion born out of extraordinary circumstances. The rebound after 2022 confirms that the menace never went away; it was only masked temporarily by the disruptions of COVID.
State-wise picture
A closer look at the state-level data shows how deeply entrenched the problem is across the country. The state of Uttar Pradesh has consistently topped the chart. The annual figures in UP often cross the 10 lakh mark and peaked at more than 20 lakh during the pre-pandemic years. Post COVID years, the dog bite cases have, however, remained under 5,00,000 per year.
Source: NCDC, Government of India
Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are among the states that bore the most load of dog bite cases and contributed heavily to the national totals. Each of these states has recorded hundreds of thousands of cases every year. States such as Maharashtra, West Bengal and Rajasthan, while slightly lower in comparison, still show six-figure counts, making clear that no part of India has escaped the menace.
In 2024, states with maximum dog bite cases were Madhya Pradesh (1,42,953), Uttar Pradesh (1,64,009), Assam (1,66,232), Odisha (1,66,790), Andhra Pradesh (2,45,166), Bihar (2,63,925), Karnataka (3,61,306), Gujarat (3,92,652), Tamil Nadu (4,80,425) and Maharashtra (4,85,349).
Source: NCDC, Government of India
Even smaller states and Union Territories paint a grim picture of the problem. Assam, for instance, registered over 1,66,000 cases in 2024. On the other hand, Kerala has seen yearly figures that touched or crossed the 1,00,000 mark in the past decade. The only exception is Lakshadweep, which reports no dog bite cases at all, owing to its unique policy of prohibiting dogs on the islands. This sharp contrast between zero cases in one Union Territory and millions elsewhere illustrates how decisive governance measures can completely change the public health outcome.
The problem of presumptive reporting
The RTI reply makes it clear that the data since 2022 is drawn from the Presumptive form under the IHIP portal. This distinction matters. Presumptive data is provisional. It is collected at the field level by a medical officer for immediate surveillance, often without medical verification or laboratory confirmation. While such reporting ensures rapid availability of information, it also raises questions about accuracy and completeness. The fact that even these provisional tallies run into millions underscores how dire the actual situation must be.
Another equally problematic issue is the gap in earlier years. Between 2012 and 2021, rabies deaths were not recorded, which means India’s surveillance system essentially ignored the fatal dimension of the crisis for nearly a decade. Not to forget, rabies is not a notified disease. That means there is no compulsion on hospitals and labs to report rabies.
Together, these limitations suggest that the problem may be worse than what the RTI figures themselves show. Far from minimising the menace, the “presumptive” nature of the data should ring alarm bells, because if provisional counts are this high, the confirmed burden must be more staggering.
Accountability of government and NGOs
Over the years, Central and State governments have poured crores of rupees into sterilisation and vaccination drives with negligible success. Instead of a sustained decline in dog bite cases, India witnessed a rise up to 2018, followed by a pandemic-induced dip, and now a return to alarming numbers. This clearly suggests that sterilisation programmes under the Animal Birth Control (ABC) framework have failed to deliver meaningful results.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of NGOs and individuals working specifically for “dog welfare”. They claim to carry out regular sterilisation and vaccination of stray dogs. Many of these organisations have been roped in by the Animal Welfare Board of India and state-level animal welfare boards to run sterilisation drives. However, as mentioned in previous articles, many of them have been found to be submitting forged data.
Another problem is that most of these NGOs and individuals do not publish audit data that can be cross-checked. Furthermore, neither states nor the central government has any specific portal where such data can be found and checked. Everything is opaque in the world of “dog welfare”. Deeper investigation is required by central agencies to find out where the money is going that is being given to these NGOs and what is happening to the money collected through fundraisers by these NGOs and individuals. Accountability, both of state authorities and self-proclaimed animal welfare organisations, is glaringly absent, which needs to be rectified immediately.
The victims: Ordinary Indians
Behind these millions of reported cases are ordinary Indians. Children walking to school, elderly people stepping out for a morning walk, families in rural areas with little access to immediate medical care, disabled persons, delivery partners, house helps and other vulnerable people. Each figure in the RTI reply represents a person forced to undergo the painful and costly rabies vaccination process and post-incident care. These people have often been attacked by the dogs without provocation. In some extreme cases, plastic surgery and months-long medical care are needed, which is impossible for poor households to manage.
Hospitals, especially in smaller towns, are overburdened with cases of dog bites, diverting resources from other health priorities. In villages, where vaccine availability is inconsistent, victims may have to travel miles or even go without treatment, exposing them to the fatal risk of rabies. The menace is not only a health crisis but also a social and economic burden borne disproportionately by the most vulnerable. While NGOs and activists debate the “rights” of stray dogs, it is citizens who pay the price, both financially and with their safety.
Conclusion: The ABC Rules are ineffective and largely removed from reality
The RTI reply demolished any lingering illusion that India’s stray dog menace can be brought under control with ABC programmes under ABC Rules 2023. With over 26 lakh cases already reported by July 2025, the crisis has returned to pre-pandemic levels. The trajectory points towards another year of staggering totals. Years of sterilisation drives, crores of rupees in funding, and repeated court interventions have failed to prevent millions of Indians from falling victim to dog bites.
It is a gross institutional failure that hides behind “animal welfare”. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens continue to face the danger every day, with children and the poor paying the heaviest price.
The RTI reply is more than just numbers. It is proof, on official government letterhead, that India’s stray dog policies are failing. The question is whether the Supreme Court, the central government and the state governments are going to consider unconventional steps by dropping the capture-sterilise-vaccinate-release methodology, or whether 2026 is going to get even worse.
This is the first RTI-based article in OpIndia’s Stray Dog Menace series. Additional data on several parameters is awaited and will be examined in detail in forthcoming articles.
OpIndia is doing a series on Stray Dog Menace that can be checked here.
Prime Minister Modi will launch ‘Swasth Nari, Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan’ and the 8th edition of the Poshan Maah scheme on the occasion of his birthday on Wednesday (17th September), in a step towards strengthening healthcare and nutrition services for women, adolescent girls, and children across the country.
The Ministries of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Women and Child Development (MoWCD) will be jointly leading the initiative, described by the government as India’s largest-ever women and child health mobilisation drive. Ministry of Ayush will also be participating in the ‘Swasth Nari, Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan’, which will witness collaborative efforts of State and Union Territory (UT) administrations, Ayush research institutions, educational institutions, industries and private sector, associations, NGOs, and cooperative societies.
Under the initiative, MoHFW will ensure the delivery of preventive, promotive, and curative health services through health camps and facilities across the country. At the same time, MoWCD will incorporate Poshan Maah activities with the campaign, mobilise women and adolescent girls through Anganwadi centres, and lead large-scale nutrition counselling and recipe demonstrations.
As part of the initiative, the two Ministries will be organising a series of activities focusing on women’s health, including awareness campaigns on anaemia prevention, balanced diets, and menstrual hygiene, to make sure that the health and nutrition needs of women and adolescent girls are taken care of.
On 17th September 2025, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji will launch the Swasth Nari Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan – a month-long campaign (17th September, 2025 – 2nd October, 2025) dedicated to the health and well-being of women and children.
The Swasth Nari, Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan aims to advance the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Health, Poshan (Nutrition), Fitness, and a Viksit Bharat by 2047. This nationwide intensified campaign seeks to provide women-centric preventive, promotive, and curative health services at the community level. It will strengthen screening, early detection, and treatment linkages for non-communicable diseases, anaemia, tuberculosis, and sickle cell disease, while also promoting maternal, child, and adolescent health through antenatal care, immunisation, nutrition, menstrual hygiene, lifestyle and mental health awareness activities. At the same time, the campaign will mobilise communities towards healthy lifestyle practices with a special emphasis on obesity prevention, improved nutrition, and voluntary blood donation.
Here are the highlights of the initiative:
Nationwide Health Camps: A nationwide campaign will be organised from 17th September to 2nd October 2025 at Community Health Centres (CHCs), Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, District Hospitals and other government health facilities. Over 1 lakh health camps to be organised across the country, making it the largest ever health outreach initiative for women and children.
Participation of public representatives: To ensure greater penetration of the initiative till the grassroots level, public representatives, including Central and State Ministers, MPs, will join the campaign. ASHAs, ANMs, Anganwadi workers, SHGs, PRIs, urban local bodies, MY Bharat volunteers, and youth groups will also be contributing to the initiative at the community level.
Specialist Services: Medical Colleges, District Hospitals, Central Government institutions, private hospitals, as well as central government institutions like IIMS, Defence and Railway hospitals, ESIC hospitals, CGHS centres and Institutes of National Importance (INIs), will offer specialist services, including Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Eye, ENT, Dental, Dermatology, and Psychiatry. Many private sector health facilities have also come forward to support the initiative. This will help in enhancing the outreach and the quality of the initiative.
Screening of diseases at health camps: During the 16-day campaign, the health camps will offer facilities, including screening for non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity through BP, blood sugar, and BMI checks.
Women-centric services: Women will be able to avail services like oral cavity checks, clinical breast examinations, demonstrations of breast self-examination, and cervical cancer screening at the camps. Referral services for mammography and oncology care will also be available, alongside awareness sessions on oral, breast, and cervical cancers. Screening, medical advice and referrals for diseases like Tuberculosis and Sickle Cell disease will also be offered.
Antenatal care: The health camps will also provide comprehensive antenatal care, including haemoglobin testing, blood pressure monitoring, weight checks, and foetal growth tracking. In addition to that, Mother and Child Protection (MCP) card distribution, counselling on safe pregnancy and institutional deliveries, growth monitoring of children, Infant and Young Child Feeding counselling, and immunisation services will be offered.
Blood donation: To strengthen trauma care, surgeries, and treatment of blood disorders, blood donation drives will be organised in the camps across the country. Besides, enrolment of beneficiaries under PM-JAY, Ayushman Vaya Vandana, and ABHA schemes will be done. Helpdesks will be set up at the health camps for card verification and grievance redressal.
AYUSH Services: Ayush services, including Yoga sessions and Ayurveda consultations, will be organised to promote holistic health and wellness practices for women and families.
Several other Ministries, including the Ministry of Rural Development, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Labour & Employment, the Ministry of Heavy Industries, and the Ministry of Home Affairs will also be facilitating and participating in the initiative.
