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‘Moderates’, Islamists and the Left media: How Muslims are being painted as the victims of ‘Love Jihad’ because Hindus decided to say ‘thus far and no further’

Nupur J Sharma
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‘Moderates’, Islamists and the Left media: How Muslims are being painted as the victims of ‘Love Jihad’ because Hindus decided to say ‘thus far and no further’

Hindu women have long been the vessel, exploited and subjugated in the cultural and religious wars that Hindus have defended themselves against over thousands of years. From the age of the Mughal tyrants who filled their harems with Hindu women to be used and abused, to Hindu women of defeated Kings being taken as sex slaves, with even their dead bodies being raped. The saga of Hindu women being subjugated in religious wars by the Islamists has continued over the ages, only, the undisguised contempt has found many PR agents who attempt to package the bigotry with sophistry.

In Purola, Uttarakhand, Hindus decided that they would not stand by idly while Hindu girls were being brutalised. After a minor was abducted by a Muslim man, Hindus took to the streets to protest and ensure that Islamists in the area heard them loud and clear – We will not accept the subjugation of our daughters anymore. That Hindus dared to resist Islamist aggression triggered a barrage of reports by the media, tweets by Liberals and Islamists and outrage galore about Muslims being in grave danger of aggression from the Hindu community.

The Chief of Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hindu, Maulana Madani, wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah playing the victim and crying copious amounts of tears about Muslims being in danger. In his letter to Amit Shah, he furthered to usual tropes about how the gulf between Hindus and Muslims would only increase if the Mahapanchayat was held in Purola by Hindus. He cried hoarse about Muslims being in danger, about hate speech, how Muslims are being expelled (turned out to be untrue) and how Hindus of the area and creating a communal divide.

Of course, what Madani’s letter essentially indicates is that the abduction of a minor Hindu girl does nothing to divide the two communities, what truly divides the two communities is when Hindus decide to protest against Islamist aggression.

As has been our History, Muslim aggression is often whitewashed while condemning Hindu self-defence. During the Direct Action Day, on the 17th of August after 2 days of Hindus being massacred, Gopal Chandra Mukhopadhyay rose like a phoenix. Gopal Patha (Patha means ‘lamb’. He was called so because he ran a mutton shop) had already founded the Bharat Jatiya Bahini, an organisation of young men to help fellow citizens during a natural calamity. On the 17th, Gopal Patha turned from a philanthropist to a warrior, ready to defend his people. Throughout the night, Gopal Patha, along with his young men from the Bharat Jayati Bahini worked on a plan on how they could defend Hindus from the Muslim barbarians. The Marwaris offered finances, others spent the night making weapons for them. 

Muslim League chief minister of Bengal, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and the Muslim League goons had decided on the 17th that they were going to take two more days to complete the annihilation of Hindus. But they had not taken into consideration their greatest roadblock. Gopal Patha. 

From the 18th to 20th, Gopal Patha and his men put up a brave fight, paying the Muslim League goons back in equal measure, if not more. Historian Sandip Bandopadhyay wrote, “They faced resistance everywhere. Hindu youths counter-attacked with such ferocity that the Muslim League men had to flee. Many were killed. Emboldened by their success in taking on and defeating their Islamist attackers, Hindu youths took the fight to Muslim-majority areas and started killing Islamist men. They did not, however, touch Muslim women and children or the aged and the infirm”. 

By the 19th of August, suddenly, the Muslims started feeling unsafe. Only two days of retribution, of self-defence, and the Muslim League started running with their tail between their legs. It was only on the 21st of August when the Muslims had started feeling unsafe because the Hindus dared to defend themselves, did Viceroy’s rule come into action in Bengal.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi at the time had asked Gopal Patha to lay down his weapons and not defend the Hindus. During the Noakhali riots, countless Hindus were raped and murdered. The converted Hindus were made to write declarations that they had accepted Islam out of their free will and Hindus in the 2000 square mile area were made to pay the Jaziya. When MK Gandhi had visited Naokhali, he was rebuked by the Muslim League and after that, he had travelled to Bihar to stop the retaliatory violence by the Hindus. There, he is famed to have said that Hindus must leave Noakhali or die – this, because the Muslim League had asked him to quell the violence, the same Muslim League that was raping Hindu women, beheading Hindu women and waging a war against Kaffirs. 

As was then, it is now. Every time there is unprovoked religious aggression against Hindus, it either falls on the shoulders of Hindus to assuage the tension caused by the said aggression, or, the cabal finds a way to not only blame Hindus for their own victimisation but also accuse them of ‘creating tension’.

Love Jihad – an unprecedented onslaught against Hindus girls, whitewashed, justified and blamed on the victims

Islamist violence against Hindus, while aiming to subjugate Kafirs universally, comes in different clusters. There is one cluster of crimes that is characterised by an onslaught against Temples and Murthis, another, for example, manifests itself through coordinated riots, blasphemy riots and murders, low-level violence against individuals belonging to the Hindu faith etc. One specific and targeted cluster of Islamist crimes against Hindus is popularly known as Love Jihad.

Love Jihad is essentially religiously motivated crimes by Islamists where they trap Hindu women, either by misrepresenting their faith or otherwise, and later, force them to convert to Islam, murder them if they don’t comply, perpetuate violence against them etc. There are many contours of Love Jihad crimes. For example, there are cases where Islamists have brainwashed minor Hindu women also to convert their religion to Islam in the name of “love”. These crimes against minors are often characterised as consensual by the Left, however, religious brainwashing leading to a change of faith and in many cases, elopement, can hardly be called consensual when it affects girls who are young and hardly have the maturity to understand and resist religious manipulation.

In this article, we won’t necessarily go into defining Love Jihad and all of its threads, however, the basic premise is evident and common – Muslim men often manipulate, brainwash or lie to trap Hindu women. There is an element of religious conversion or hate against the Hindu women/girls specifically because they are non-Muslim and eventually, that hate either leads to ensuring that the woman converts to Islam, failing which, the girl is tortured, murdered or raped. It is also true in several cases that the relationship is consensual, with the Hindu woman fully aware of the Muslim man’s religious identity, however, as the relationship progresses, the woman is either a recipient of torture and hate because of her religious identity, and attempt to convert or worse, murdered.

Such hate crimes are rampant with several cases being documented on a regular basis. Islamists and the Left which acts as the ideological backbone of the Islamists have been whitewashing these crimes, shamelessly and with impunity. They first claimed that all inter-faith relationships are being branded Love Jihad because of the Hindus’ hate for Muslims and when that trope fell flat, they proceeded to paint the Muslims as the victims of ‘Love Jihad’ and the rampant religious crimes against Hindu women and girls.

How Left media lets Islamists turn the victims into aggressors

After the Purola case, for example, where the local Hindus decided to protest against the Islamist aggression, The Wire and its resident Islamist Arfa Khanum Sherwani spoke to the Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind chief in a mutually beneficial interview where they both gave each other tools to whitewash crimes against Hindus.

In the video, continuing the process of playing victim, Maulana Mahmood Asa’d Madani says that the word “Jihad” itself is being used by Hindus to create hate against Muslims and humiliate them. He says further that the word Jihad is meant to be used with very specific connotations for very specific people. Interestingly, he does not go on to define what Jihad is per se. He merely says that it is a trope used to humiliate Muslims by not just Hindu organisations but also by the government, the judiciary, the people, the police so on and so forth.

What is evident right off the bat is that Maulana Mahmood Asa’d Madani truly believes, or at least wants the world to believe, that Muslims have the proprietary right to be called the victims. No matter what, they are always the victims, and must be categorised as such and those who don’t buy into the charade are the ones spreading ‘hate’. Further, he also believes that every institution in the nation which does not conform to his lies, propaganda and religiously bigotry is someone who is explicitly against Muslims.

The Left and Islamists like Maulana Mahmood Asa’d Madani seem to be exactly on the same page here. Despite the Islamist aggression, it is the Muslims who are to branded as victims in perpetuity. The Communal Violence Bill aimed to do just that. In the Purola case too, for example, it is a Muslim man who abducted a minor Hindu girl but the narrative is spun as such that the Muslims of the area are the REAL victims simply because the Hindus decided to protest against these religiously motivated crimes. Delhi Riots was another such example. While people from both communities died in the riots, it is pertinent to note that the Delhi anti-Hindu riots were planned for 3 months before the low-level everyday violence and hate speech culminated in the anti-Hindu riots. Several Islamists and Leftists had meticulously planned the riots to “teach Kafirs a lesson”, in the words of Tahir Hussain. The violence in February 2020 started with an onslaught against Hindus as well. The first to lose his life in the riots was countable Ratan Lal who was lynched to death by a Muslim mob. Thereafter, others like Ankit Sharma, Dilbar Negi and several others were brutally murdered. Disregarding the conspiracy, the plan hatched, the meticulous planning of the violence, the hateful slogans and so much more, the global media run by the Left and the Islamists cries hoarse turning it into an anti-Muslim pogrom. The propaganda was such that NDTV deliberately cropped live footage of a mosque to ensure that bricks on the terrace were not visible to people.

In the Love Jihad saga as well, Maulana Mahmood Asa’d Madani tried exactly the same. Platformed by The Wire, which had also participated in painting the Muslim community as the victim community of the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, and Arfa Khanum Sherwani, who had given an infamous speech telling Muslims to pretend to be secular during the anti-CAA violence leading to the Delhi Riots, the narrative by the Maulana was rather simple – Love Jihad as a cluster of crimes is being used to malign Muslims, target them, even though it was Muslim men who were actually targeting Hindu girls and women.

Maulana Madni also insisted that Jihad is not what it’s understood to mean and therefore, its use to define criminal conduct on the part of religious zealots is a ploy to target the Muslim community. Jihad, in essence, is the duty of every Muslim. It is defined as the fight against the ‘enemies of Islam’. It is common knowledge that anyone who does not subscribe to Islamic beliefs and believes in the supremacy of Allah is categorised as the ‘enemy of Islam’.

According to New Age Islam, an Islamic reformist organization, “The word Kufr means to reject faith in God, God’s signs, the prophets, the Holy Scriptures and the Day of Judgment. One who does not have faith in the unity of God and does not have faith also in other sacred signs of God is a Kafir, according to the Quran. One who rejects faith in God or does not have faith in God is called a Kafir. A Kafir may also be an idolater who worships gods and goddesses. According to the Quran, they are those who have gone astray. There are about 350 verses about Kufr and Kafir. In the majority of the verses, Kufr is non-belief in one God and prophets of God and in Holy Scriptures. Kufr is also the worship of idols and gods and goddesses other than God. In some of the verses, the word Kufr and its variations are used to mean ingratitude for the favours of God. It is natural that if someone does not recognize God or does not have faith in God, he will also not acknowledge God’s favours but will attribute the favours to his gods and goddesses.”

The words Kufr and Kafirun and Kafirin and their other variations are used for non-belief in Allah, the Holy Scriptures of Islam, its messengers and the Day of Judgment. These are variations of the word Kafir. New Age Islam also lists numerous quotes from the Quran so that readers can understand what the word Kafir and its variations mean. Here is a list of verses cited by the website. That list can be read here.

Now, if Kafirs are enemies of Islam and a right must be waged against them (Jihad) then one has to wonder how the Maulana and what basis he wishes for people to believe that Jihad in itself does not include a fight against Hindus and ‘idolators’. And if that is true, one then has to believe that the hundreds of cases that are documented on a regular basis are quintessential ‘Love Jihad’ and there is no grand conspiracy to humiliate Muslims, but only to talk about the conduct of religious zealots who think it is their duty to subjugate Hindus.

The Hindu community is more than willing to concede that these cases of Love Jihad are not religiously sanctioned but are only the zealotry of a few religious fanatics, however, I would daresay that it is the conduct of the so-called moderate Muslims that is painting the entire Muslim community as the aggressor. It is the so-called moderate Muslim like Arfa Khanum Sherwani who ensures that the victimisation of Hindu women at the hands of religious zealots, and Islamists, is whitewashed and it is because of people like her that one is forced to consider if the entire Muslim community condones such actions. Hindus are merely trying to talk about their victimisation and say, ‘thus far and no further’. If that conversation and protest against their own victimisation is also a cause for the reverse victimisation of the aggressors, a theory peddled by those who wish to call themselves ‘moderate’, then one would only be forced to wonder if indeed a large chunk of the community has normalised the religious persecution of Hindu girls – and that eventual chasm is going to be the responsibility of ‘moderates’ like Arfa, not the Hindus.

Why did Manoj Shukla, the dialogue writer of Adipurush, choose ‘Muntashir’ as his pen name

Paurush Gupta
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Why did Manoj Shukla, the dialogue writer of Adipurush, choose ‘Muntashir’ as his pen name

Since the theatrical release of Adipurush on the 16th of June, the movie has been at the center of the storm. Even after getting a massive opening day worldwide collection of Rs 140 crore, the movie revenues have only seen a downward trajectory with estimated worldwide collections of Rs 100 crore and Rs 62 crore on its second and third days. 

This sharp decline was registered on its opening weekend when it’s generally the reverse case. So, why is it that despite the strong initial buzz, the film has lost its fiz and may end up struggling to achieve the break-even point? Mind you, the film is reportedly made with a humongous budget of Rs 700 crore. 

Apparently, fans, movie critics, and social media users have registered strong protests citing a plethora of glaring mistakes, crass dialogues attributed to religious characters and ‘cheap’, distasteful VFX in the much-hyped movie.

However, instead of dousing the fire, Adipurush’s dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir aggravated the controversy by making one bizarre statement after the other. 

Speaking with Republic, he defended the controversial dialogues used in the movie claiming that a “meticulous thought process” has gone into writing the dialogues of Bajrangbali. 

While speaking with Aaj Tak, he said, “Bajrang Bali is not God, he is a devotee. We made him God after seeing his devotion.”  

Viral videos highlighting his past statements

Amid all of this, several old videos of the popular lyricist are doing rounds on the internet. In one such video, the Adipurush dialogue writer is seen explaining the back story behind choosing the Urdu pen name ‘Muntashir’. 

The video thumbnail attributes Manoj Shukla saying, “I became Muntashir from Shukla and it changed me immediately. Whenever my father chanted Shiv Stotra, I would sing Rasool Allah.”

Well, the shared video clip is part of an interactive session between Bollywood’s lyricist Manoj Muntashir and the Jashn-e-Rekta host which is still out there on their official youtube channel. 

Manoj Shukla said, “Muntashir is my pen name. How I adapted it is an interesting story. Being a poet, I needed a takhallus (pen name), but was not happy with the most popular and oft-used ones like ‘Sagar’, ‘Sahir’ or ‘Kaafir’.”

He adds, “So when I was in Class 10, I started hunting for a unique pen name. One evening, while I was walking down my sleepy hometown of Amethi, I overheard a couplet playing on a radio set at a tea stall: Muntashir hum hain to rukhsaar pe shabnam kyun hai, Aaine toot-te rahte hain tumhe gham kyun hai. I just loved the word ‘muntashir’, which meant ‘scattered’.” 

He further adds, “In a split second, Manoj’s journey from ‘Shukla’ to ‘Muntashir’ was complete. The best part is that I am the only Muntashir who has ever existed in the world of poetry. So to date, my pen name stands unique.”

Later in the same video, he shared an anecdotal story related to his pen name. He stated that when on one side his father (a Pandit/Pujari by profession) would chant Shiv Stotra, he would sing Khayale ger ko dil se mita de ya Rasool Allah.”

No weight (Vajan) in Shukla

In another viral video, Manoj Muntashir again re-iterates his backstory of desperately finding a unique pen name. He was Manoj Shukla and he claims that Shukla has no weight (vajan), as per his Urdu poetic taste so he adopted the Urdu pen name Muntashir.   

The said interaction where he shared his insight into the weightless surname Shukla is part of a larger interaction still available on the official youtube channel of Magic 106.4 FM Mumbai.

In his interaction with Jashn-e-rekhta, Urdu fanboy Manoj Muntashir talked about the “need” to know Urdu for making a mark in the Hindi film Industry colloquial known as Bollywood. The interaction explains why Sanskritised Hindi has slowly become obsolete from Bollywood movies.

Uttarakhand: Monkeys killed by feeding them poisoned mangoes, bodies kept in crates, Jaan Mohammad, Imamuddin, and 7 others arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Uttarakhand: Monkeys killed by feeding them poisoned mangoes, bodies kept in crates, Jaan Mohammad, Imamuddin, and 7 others arrested

Police have solved the case of the mysterious deaths of monkeys in Kashipur, Uttarakhand. The monkeys were poisoned and put to death in order to preserve the mangoes in an orchard. A total of nine persons, identified as Jaan Muhammad and Imamuddin (the orchard contractors) and their employees Chhote Khan, Imran, Afzal, Anwar, Iqrar Shah, Nadeem, and Mubarak, residents of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh have been arrested in this case. The dead bodies of eight monkeys were found on June 18 by women who went to the orchard.

The incident took place near the ITI police station in Kashipur. Sandeep Sharma of Delhi has a mango orchard here and Jaan Mohammad was offered a two-year lease on the orchard by him. The latter presently lives in Kashipur, Jaitpura Farm, and kept Imamuddin, Chhote Khan, Imran, Afzal, Anwar, Iqrar Shah, Nadeem, and Mubarak with him to look after the grove.

During interrogation, the perpetrators admitted that their business was incurring losses after taking the orchard on lease, according to deputy superintendent of police, Vandana Sharma, and the monkeys were held responsible for this. Therefore, they sprinkled poisonous drugs on the mangoes to get rid of the simians which resulted in the death of eight of them. Following the death of the monkeys, they dug a pit and kept them in a mango crate and covered it with leaves.

When women from the nearby village arrived at the orchard on Sunday evening to cut grass for their animals, they found a baby monkey clutching its dead mother and several other dead monkeys nearby. The people around quickly learned about the same and immediately congregated. They were outraged and demanded strong action against the culprits.

Police were then notified of the incident. They arrived at the scene, and the carcasses which were hidden in the bushes and some buried in the ground were uncovered by them and sent for a postmortem.

They police also found bottles of poisonous medicines in the garden, which were taken into custody. They have sent all the offenders to jail after producing them before a court. They are charged under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, Wildlife Protection Act, and Section 295-A (malicious intention of outraging religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code. Sandeep Sharma will reportedly also face penalties under the Police Act.

‘Elections not license for violence’ – Supreme Court refuses to stay deployment of central forces for West Bengal Panchayat Polls

OpIndia Staff
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‘Elections not license for violence’ – Supreme Court refuses to stay deployment of central forces for West Bengal Panchayat Polls

On Tuesday, June 20, the Supreme Court of India refused to stay the order of the Calcutta High Court directing the deployment of central forces for the upcoming Panchayat Polls in West Bengal. The State Election Commission and West Bengal Government had approached the apex court against Calcutta High Court’s two orders passed on the plea of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was also a party in the matter.

In its order, a vacation bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Manoj Mishra observed that the orders passed by the High Court were to ensure fair and free elections in the state. Notably, following West Bengal Assembly Elections, multiple reports of violence occurred where ruling party TMC’s workers allegedly attacked BJP supporters across the state. The matters related to the violence are under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The bench ordered, “Order of High Court does not call for any interference. We are not interfering with any direction of the High Court. Appeals stand dismissed.” During the hearing, the apex court made a strong remark saying that holding elections cannot be a license for violence, and the High Court had seen earlier incidents of violence in the state.

During the hearing, the state informed the apex court that the agencies made no demarcations as sensitive areas for the upcoming elections. The orders passed by the high court applied to all regions, whether sensitive or not.

Furthermore, the court was informed that the HC directed the SEC to requisition central forces from the state government. However, it was the state’s task, not SEC’s; thus, the state election body could not do anything. The SEC said, “We can only ask for the force, and from where they get it is not something we look at.”

Appearing for the respondents, Senior Advocate Harish Salve stated the mindset of equating central forces deployment as an invading army was incorrect. He said, “It is only the source of getting the forces, and it is nothing on deployment.. no High Court will ever direct that head of the force will decide on deployment… there is a problem in this state, which has manifested several times…”

Furthermore, he informed the apex court that by June 14, the state government had no assessment plan about the deployment though the process should have been started much earlier. He said, “State is just embarrassed to say that we do not have forces, but we do not want central forces.”

For SEC, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora appeared in the apex court. She informed the court that the SEC was working on identifying the sensitive poll booths. She also called HC remarks that SEC was not doing anything incorrect. “189 poll booths have been recognised as sensitive… I am aggrieved by two directions of the High Court … It says the Election Commission should decide on the requisition of forces, and deployment has to be in sync with sensitive and non-sensitive ones,” she stated.

The court said, “Holding elections cannot be a license for violence, and HC has seen earlier instances of violence; elections cannot be accompanied by violence. If persons are not able to file their nominations and if they are finished off while they are going to file it, then where is the free and fair election.”

On June 15, the Calcutta High Court criticised the West Bengal State Election Commission for “dragging its feet” over the deployment of central forces. In their plea, BJP and Congress leaders had sought the deployment of central forces.

‘Will take your other daughter away too’: After 1 Muslim and 4 Hindu wives, Rashid abducts a sixth Hindu woman in Shamli and threatens her family

OpIndia Staff
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‘Will take your other daughter away too’: After 1 Muslim and 4 Hindu wives, Rashid abducts a sixth Hindu woman in Shamli and threatens her family

In a shocking case of love jihad from Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district, a man identified as Rashid, a resident of Adampur, who is already married to five women, abducted a sixth 19-year-old Hindu girl from the same village. Four out of his five wives are Hindu and only one is a Muslim.

He converted her to Islam and married her according to Islamic rituals. Notably, Muslim men are allowed to take up to four spouses as per Islamic law. “Will take your other daughter with me too,” he threatened when the victim’s family lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against him.

The distressed family filed a missing person’s report shortly after the development. Upon figuring out that a complaint has been lodged, the offender called them and threatened to abduct their second daughter as well if his name was not immediately removed from the FIR. Multiple cases are registered against him at Chaprauli police station.

The family traveled to Swami Yashvir Singh’s ashram in Beghra, which is part of the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh after the police were unable to locate the woman. The local Hindu activists were then alerted by him and shortly after, they gathered at the police station and launched a protest.

Hindu activists, including Swami Yashvir Singh and local Bajrang Dal members, protested in front of the police station after the incident came to light and called for harsh punishment for the perpetrator. They presented a memorandum to demand the return of the girl who is still with the accused by June 22 adding that the community will launch protests if the girl is not united with her family.

They warned the Babri police station Station House Officer Devendra Sharma to find her within 24 hours, or else, there will be a panchayat in the village of the culprit on Thursday. The official assured them to arrest Rashid soon.

They asserted that Rashid had five wives, only one of which is Muslim and the other four are Hindu which demonstrates that the male deliberately seeks out Hindu females for conversion before abandoning them to seek out another one.

The girl had spent the previous three months at the house of her maternal uncle in the Chhaprauli police station’s Sanauli Nagla hamlet. She disappeared from there under suspicious circumstances. It was later discovered that she had been abducted by a Muslim man.

Another similar case surfaced from Hapur recently. A man named Wasim raped a Hindu girl and blackmailed her. Afterward, he converted her to Islam and married her. Following this, she was forced to engage in sexual relationships with other male members of his household. The victim reported this to the police department.

Shockingly, he is currently employed by the Delhi Police and his father is a retired Delhi Police personnel. The victim mentioned that he first raped her and then threatened to kill her brother and pressurised her to embrace Islam. Her name was changed to Iqra and after she delivered a son, the blackmail intensified. It was also charged that an attempt was made to kill her by strangulation and she was also threatened with being chopped into 36 pieces like Shraddha Walker.

According to the Hapur police, a case has been filed in this instance. However, the accused have requested a stay of arrest from the Delhi High Court, and action is being done in accordance with the same.

Madhya Pradesh: Dalit woman abducted by husband’s friend Amjad Khan; fed meat, forced to convert to Islam, and raped for several days

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Dalit woman abducted by husband’s friend Amjad Khan; fed meat, forced to convert to Islam, and raped for several days

An instance of a 40-year-old married Dalit woman being kidnapped, raped, and forced to convert to Islam has surfaced in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. The accused is a 50-year-old Muslim man named Amjad Khan, who is currently absconding. Khan was reportedly friends with the victim’s husband.

Khan took advantage of the friendship and abducted the woman from her residence on June 2 at knifepoint and held her hostage in Bhopal for several days where he sexually assaulted her. He also forcibly tried to change her religion and convert her to Islam.

The victim is a mother of two children. On Monday, June 19, 2023, she registered a complaint about the perpetrator. She was accompanied by her husband and the members of the Hindu Dharma Sena.

While initially filing a missing person report at the police station, the husband mentioned the possibility of kidnapping by Amjad Khan. On June 8th, 2023, the woman was recovered by police from the state capital, however, the offender evaded capture.

In the wake of this, the woman revealed her ordeal while submitting a complaint against the culprit on Monday. Station House Officer Cantt Police Station RK Soni informed that she did not make any such charges against Amjad Khan when she was found.

The matter is being looked into after the complaint was received. Yogesh Agarwal, the president of the Hindu Dharma Sena, was contacted by OpIndia about the same. He reported that she kept silent as a result of the fear the culprit had instilled in her as well as societal shame. Later, she disclosed the entire ordeal to her husband and made the decision to lodge a complaint.

According to Yogesh Aggarwal, Amjad Khan has a criminal history. There are already several cases registered against him. He announced that the administration has been given an ultimatum of two days to arrest him. 

PM Modi talks to Wall Street Journal: From ties with US, India’s role in the world, the need for UN reform, Ukraine-Russia war and more, here is what he said

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi talks to Wall Street Journal: From ties with US, India’s role in the world, the need for UN reform, Ukraine-Russia war and more, here is what he said

On the 20th of June, PM Modi gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ahead of his official state visit to the United States. In an hour-long interview, in his official residence in New Delhi, PM Modi shared his perspective on a host of issues including diplomatic ties with the US, India’s foreign policy, a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, drawing investment, the Ukraine conflict and the ongoing dispute with China. 

PM Modi hails strong ties with the US

“Ties between New Delhi and Washington are stronger and deeper than ever as India moves to secure its rightful place on the world stage at a moment of geopolitical turmoil”, said PM Modi in the interview.

PM Modi added that “there is an unprecedented trust” between the leaders of the U.S. and India. He also hailed the growing defence cooperation between the two countries as “an important pillar of our partnership” which extends to trade, technology, and energy.

Several major announcements in the defence sector are expected to be announced during this first official state visit. These include the US allowing General Electric to manufacture engines in India for its domestically produced fighter jets, purchasing 31 armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones made by General Atomics worth $3 billion, and finally the removal of US obstacles that have prevented the smoother trade in defence and high technology.

Further, this highly anticipated visit to the US is expected to give India access to critical American technologies. It is important to note that the US rarely shares such critical technologies with non-allies. This underscores the strong ties between the two nations that are firmly grounded in global politics, as well as the realms of business and economics.

The WSJ report added that the US is enhancing ties with India amid its hostilities with Moscow, and Beijing. The report highlights that this is happening despite the Indian-Russian oil trade that they consider is “financially supporting” Moscow.

In recent years, the ties between India and the U.S. has grown stronger, and deep economic ties are one major reason for this. The bilateral trade between the two nations reached an unprecedented $191 billion in 2022, making the U.S. India’s largest trading partner. Furthermore, the U.S. ranks as India’s third-largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and stands among the top five investment destinations for Indian investments.

Foreign Policy, India’s role in geopolitics

In his WSJ Interview, PM Modi clearly asserted that from India’s role in global politics to its contributions to the world economy — the country’s time has come. PM presented New Delhi as the natural leader of the global South which aligns with and empowers the voice of developing countries whose aspirations have been long-neglected.

He said, “India deserves a much higher, deeper, and wider profile and a role.”

WSJ in its report highlighted that PM Modi’s foreign policy is different from Former PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s nonalignment (NAM). It added that Modi’s foreign policy is one of the multiple alignments, seeking to advance India’s interests in partnership with a range of global powers, including those in conflict with each other.

The WSJ report noted that Modi is one of India’s most popular Prime Ministers and with national elections due next year, Modi’s approval rating is high.

PM Modi calls for UN reform

Speaking with the US media organisation, PM Modi called for a change in International organisations including the UN. He further argued that these organisations have to make themselves more representative of the world’s less-affluent nations and their priorities, from the consequences of climate change to debt reduction.

He highlighted the correlation between global issues like terrorism, proxy wars, and expansionism, attributing them to the inadequacy of Cold War-era global institutions to adapt. He emphasized the need for change within global institutions, including the United Nations, as smaller regional groups have emerged to fill the void.

He said, “Look at the membership of key institutions—does it truly represent the voice of democratic values? A place like Africa—does it have a voice? India has such a huge population and is a bright spot in the global economy, but is it present?”

He further added that there has to be an “evaluation of the current membership” of the council and that “the world should be asked if it wants India to be there.”

PM countered the rhetorical charges against his government

On the issue of the opposition’s allegation of “fostering religious polarization” and “democratic backsliding”, PM Modi said that India not only tolerates but celebrates its diversity.

The PM said, “For thousands of years, India has been the land where people of all faiths and beliefs have found the freedom to coexist peacefully and prosper. You will find people of every faith in the world living in harmony in India.”

The WSJ reports highlighted the strides the nation has made on the economic front under PM Modi. The report added that Modi has won praise for eliminating bureaucracy, relaxing rules, and opening the way for more foreign direct investment. It adds that not only India has surpassed China as the world’s most populous but also its population is young and showing promising signs of a significant demographic dividend.

Going further the report also highlighted the various big-ticket investment made in the recent past including that by Apple and its supplier Foxconn Technology Group in the southern part of India. 

However, in the interview PM Modi firmly argued that India is not replacing any country rather it is gaining its rightful place in the world. 

PM Modi said, “Let me be clear that we do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world. The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains.”

PM Modi on bilateral ties with China and Ukraine conflict

On the issue of ongoing conflict with China and its bilateral ties with its northern neighbour, PM Modi categorically stated that peace and tranquility in the border areas are essential for normalcy in diplomatic ties. 

PM Modi said, “For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential. We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law, and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity.”

The WSJ report highlighted India’s defence imports from Russia and that some US observers have been trying to put pressure on India to change its stance on the Ukraine-Russia conflict. 

Responding to this, PM Modi said, “I don’t think this type of perception is widespread in the U.S. I think India’s position is well known and well understood in the entire world. The world has full confidence that India’s topmost priority is peace.”

When it comes to the Ukraine conflict, He added, “Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace. All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries.” 

He again reiterated that disputes should be resolved with “diplomacy and dialogue,” not war.

PM Modi highlighted that he has spoken several times to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Most recently, he met Zelensky on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Japan in May. 

He said, “India will do whatever it can and supports all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability.”

The WSJ report covering excerpts from his Interview talks in detail about his real life and political journey from a tea stall to cancelling his US visa to his public addresses among the Indian diaspora on multiple occasions. 

WSJ report observed that there is a sense too in India that the country’s moment on the global stage has arrived. It highlights that across the Indian capital, Modi’s image appears on signs promoting the Group of 20, and some have the motto of India’s G-20 Presidency, “One Earth, One Family, One Future.”

He said, “I am the first prime minister to be born in free India. And that’s why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my country’s attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it.”

In his concluding statement, he said, “I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself, as I am.”

Prime Minister Modi departed for the US on the 20th of June, at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Notably, it will be only the third such visit during President Biden’s tenure and overall the third by an Indian leader in history.

AICWA writes to PM Modi seeking a ban on Adipurush, demands FIR against Om Raut, Manoj Muntashir for hurting Hindu sentiments

OpIndia Staff
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AICWA writes to PM Modi seeking a ban on Adipurush, demands FIR against Om Raut, Manoj Muntashir for hurting Hindu sentiments

Amid the massive controversy revolving around the newly released movie Adipurush, the All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA), an independent registered body of film technicians and workers has written to PM Modi demanding a ban on the film.

Demanding an FIR against director Om Raut and dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir the AICWA has said that the movie has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and the Sanatan Dharma and that its screening should be stopped in the theatres and on the OTT platforms in the future.

“All Indian Cine Workers Association demands ban on screening the movie Adipurush. This movie’s screenplay and dialogues are clearly defaming the image of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman. Adipurush Movie is hurting religious sentiments of Hindus and Sanatan Dharma,” the association’s president Suresh Shyamlal Gupta wrote in the official letter.

Further emphasizing the significance of Lord Rama in Hinduism, the official letter read, “Prabhu Shri Ram is a God for everyone in India no matter what religious faith one comes from, this movie depicts Lord Ram and even Ravan who looks like a character of a video game, with dialogues hurting every Indian in the country and across the globe. We request Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji order to stop screening this movie and immediately order a ban of Adipurush screening in the Theatres and OTT platforms in the future.”

Additionally, they demanded that the film’s director, producers, and dialogue writer be held accountable. “We need FIR against the Director (Om Raut), Writer (Manoj Muntasir Shukla ) & the Producers of the Movie who have hurt the Hindu sentiments and save the image of our Bhagwan Shri Ram, Maa Sita & Ramsevak Bhagwan Hanuman.”

The film Adipurush saw a severe backlash from the day the teaser was released. The makers postponed its release day claiming they would make necessary changes to meet the viewers’ expectations. However, things did not work out for the team as planned. The Hindi version of the film was clouded with criticism due to poor dialogue writing and crass language used by religious characters.

Furthermore, the viewers were flabbergasted by the changes made by the makers in the storyline. The poor quality VFX of the film, blatantly copying Hollywood themes, made the situation worse. Due to the criticism, the makers have now decided to change a few dialogues. Still, as the days pass by, more issues are being highlighted by the netizens making it virtually impossible for the film to make a notable comeback.

Madhya Pradesh: Rajjan Khan enters Bageshwar Dham temple with desi pistol and ammunition, arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Rajjan Khan enters Bageshwar Dham temple with desi pistol and ammunition, arrested

In the Bageshwar Dham Temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur, a man named Rajjan Khan reportedly entered with a desi pistol and ammunition. A report in Republic Bharat states that the man was found roaming with a gun in the ‘Parikrama Marg’ of the Bageshwar Dham temple.

The report says the man named Rajjan Khan was first spotted by devotees in the Parikrama Marg around the Bageshwar Dham Temple in Chhattarpur. He had a gun in his hand. The sight of the man roaming with a gun in his hand caused panic among the people. Some alert devotees called the police and soon the man was apprehended.

As per initial information, the gun in Rajjan Khan’s possession was found to be a 315-bore desi pistol. He had some ammunition in possession too. The man is reportedly a resident of Indrapuri Colony in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh. It is not clear why he had entered the temple with a gun.

Chamba murder case: BJP’s Jai Ram Thakur criticises Congress govt, demands probe into 100 bighas of land illegally occupied by accused Sharif Mohammed

OpIndia Staff
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Chamba murder case: BJP’s Jai Ram Thakur criticises Congress govt, demands probe into 100 bighas of land illegally occupied by accused Sharif Mohammed

The gruesome murder of a Hindu youth named Manohar in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh has turned into a political storm now. The BJP criticised the Congress government on Monday, alleging that the latter’s bad policies had caused the state’s law and order to crumble. Manohar Lal was brutally murdered for being in a relationship with a Muslim girl named Rukhsana.

According to opposition leader Jai Ram Thakur, no government official has visited the victim Manohar’s family in the 13 days since the murder. Thakur reiterated the BJP’s call for an NIA investigation into the matter and warned that the party would not remain silent if such horrible crimes continued to persist.

“The people voted for Congress to bring change and not for appeasement of a particular community and we are with the family of the victim in this war for justice,” Thakur said. “We were stopped from meeting the family of the victim and by making allegations against those demanding justice for the victim, the government is siding with the accused,” he further added.

Addressing a press meeting on June 19, the former state CM posed serious questions in the Manohar murder case and said that the head of the family accused of murder, Sharif Mohammed, has carried out several dubious financial transactions. He said that the accused had exchanged Rs 95 lakhs during demonetisation and that he had bank deposits of around Rs 2 crores.

Thakur stated that the BJP has looked into the matter to further learn that the accused has illegally occupied 100 bighas of government land when only 3 bighas of it are registered in the name of the accused. As per Thakur, the accused also sells 200 sheep and goats annually when he actually owns only 100 of them.

Thakur also alleged that Sharif Mohammed has a criminal record and that he has terrorist connections. He stated that the accused were linked to the Satrundi terror attack in Chamba in 1998. This incident had claimed the lives of 35 people.

The statement by Thakur comes days after an agitated mob comprising locals burned down the house of the accused in the gruesome Manohar Lal murder case in the Salooni area in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh.

The protestors also led a demonstration outside the Kihar Police Station. They raised some slogans and demanded strict action against the killers of the 21-year-old Manohar Lal. Following the murder, Manohar Lal’s body was chopped into eight pieces and thrown in a water stream in Bhandal village of Chamba district.

The boy was first called by the accused and then was beaten with sticks and then chopped into eight pieces. Later, the body was put into a drain after he died. While patrolling in the region on June 9, four soldiers from the Indian Reserve Battalion discovered the body. Some media reports suggest that the chopped body was found in a sack after locals noticed it and informed the police.

As per Police officials, 11 accused have been arrested in this case. Deputy Commissioner Apoorv Devgan had earlier announced that investigations were underway regarding the accusations of construction of houses on private land in the Sankchuri area and encroachment on forest department land.

Additionally, DC Devgan has informed the media that the Income Tax Department will be engaged to probe the substantial funds deposited in the accused’s accounts. Furthermore, the Revenue Department has been directed to initiate an investigation into the confiscated land.

Thakur on Monday also added that due to the wrong policies of the Congress government, law and order in the state has collapsed and police officers are making political statements. “The Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led government has failed to fulfill the guarantees given by the Congress during the assembly polls,” he added.

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