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Thousands of workers at Boeing defence factories, where F-15s are made, are on strike: Here is how Boeing has been facing constant turbulence

Shraddha Pandey
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Thousands of workers at Boeing defence factories, where F-15s are made, are on strike: Here is how Boeing has been facing constant turbulence

The troubles of American aerospace giant Boeing do not seem to end anytime soon. After nearly three decades, the company’s defence manufacturing arm is set to face a workers’ strike. It was in 1996, when the workers at Boeing defence did a walkout and work was halted for nearly three months.

As per reports, the union members at operations in Missouri and Illinois voted against the Boeing’s latest offer over pay, work schedules and pensions.

Notably, the workers involved in the strike build F-15 fighter jets, the T-7 training jet, missiles and munitions and other military aircraft. In addition, they also manufacture parts for Boeing’s 777X commercial jets.

Over 3,200 machinists are set to walk off the job around midnight on 4th August after members voted down a deal that would’ve raised wages by 20% and boosted retirement contributions.

In a statement, Dan Gillian, the vice president of Boeing’s Air Dominance unit, said, “We’re disappointed our employees rejected an offer that featured 40% average wage growth.”

The workers strike is being led by a branch of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) at Boeing’s defence hub in St. Louis.

Tom Boelling, a senior official at the IAM union said, “IAM District 837 members have spoken loud and clear, they deserve a contract that reflects their skill, dedication, and the critical role they play in our nation’s defence.”

The workers’ strike will increase financial pressure on Boeing’s defence and space division. Notably, Boeing’s defence and space segment generates about 30% of the company’s revenue as of the second quarter. 

Lawsuits, mid-air technical issues and the deadly Air India 787-8 Dreamliner crash: Boeing troubles continue to mount

Boeing has been making headlines this year for all the wrong reasons. Recently, flight attendants from Alaska Airlines have sued Boeing for the mid-air mishap in January 2024, in which a cabin panel of a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane blew out, causing injuries. 

The flight attendants are suing Boeing for physical and psychological harm caused by the incident. They are also seeking compensation for past and future financial loss that they may have to incur due to the incident. In separate lawsuits against Boeing, the flight attendants have stated that they acted to the best of their abilities, utilising their training and put the lives of passengers ahead of their own. 

On 5th January 2024, a window along with part of the fuselage of a Boeing 737 MAX-9 operated by Alaska Airlines fell off (Blowout as reported widely) when the flight reached an altitude of 16,000 feet. The incident occurred on flight 1282 between Portland and Ontario (in California).

On 29th July 2025, a United Airlines flight from Washington DC to Munich, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner they were travelling on suffered an engine failure shortly after takeoff. The flight was at an altitude of just 5000 feet when the crew had to declare ‘MayDay’ due to the engine failure and return to the Dulles Airport in Washington.

The engine failure prompted the flight crew to issue an emergency call and coordinate closely with air traffic controllers to ensure a safe return. The aircraft was placed in a holding pattern northwest of Washington to safely dump fuel and manage its weight for landing. The the aircraft remained air-bound for 2 hours and 38 minutes in a holding pattern to safely dump fuel before landing back at the Washington Dulles Airport.

On 26th July, an American Airlines flight at Denver International Airport was evacuated afternoon after a landing gear issue led to fire was indicated on takeoff. The incident occurred on Flight 3023, bound for Miami. There were six crew members and 173 passengers aboard. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported the Boeing 737 MAX 8 indicated a suspected landing gear problem at around 2:45 p.m.

On 12th June 2025, Air India plane took off from Ahmedabad at 1:40 pm. It crashed within 1 minute and more than 250 people died in this accident. The crashed flight was Air India’s 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, manufactured by Boeing. While a significant section of the American legacy media tried to put the deadly crash’s blame on the Indian pilots, questions are being raised over technical issues that may have led to the crash.

Lobbying, coverups and accidents: Boeing has mastered the art of dodging accountability

The Air India crash in June this year, inflicted a significant blow to not only Boeing’s reputation, but also it’s stocks. In 2024 also, the company struggled with a safety crisis, quality control problems and a disastrous seven-week strike by the workers that cost it around $1 billion each month.

Boeing continues to cope with the fallout from two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019, which claimed 346 lives. Earlier this year, the firm and the Department of Justice came to an agreement that would exempt it from criminal liability for the crashes.

A report by the US stock market regulator SEC says that Boeing has spent more than $200 million (₹1700 crore+) on lobbying from 2010-2022. $26 million (₹225 crore) has been spent in 2021 and 2022 alone. A report by the SEC itself shows that Boeing has spent more than $320 million (₹2700 crore) on lobbying since 1998. The SEC says that Boeing ranks 9th in terms of spending on lobbying within the US.

Boeing is at number 9 in this arena, while in terms of market cap, it is at number 70-80 in America. This simply means that Boeing spends much more than its status on lobbying. Boeing gives money to both parties in America, i.e. Democrats and Republicans, to bend the rules according to its wishes.

Boeing’s history of controversies lends credence to suspicions of a coordinated blame-shifting effort. The US-based company faced intense scrutiny after the 2018 Indonesian Lion Air Flight 610 and 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 involving the Boeing 737 Max, which killed hundreds of people. These deadly crashes were linked to flaws in the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) and other reasons.

It was revealed that in both accidents, MCAS continued to push the plane down while the pilots kept trying to fly it. The pilots failed in this, and this faulty system brought the plane down. When the pressure increased after the investigation of both accidents, Boeing admitted that it had hidden this information. Boeing admitted that it had not told the pilots about this new system. OpIndia reported in detail how Boeing bends the US laws to its whims and exploits loopholes to keep its profits soaring even at the cost of human lives. Boeing’s lobbying isn’t confined to the commercial sector.

The Boeing 737-800 operated by China Eastern Airlines crashed and caught fire in Guangxi province when it was en route from Kunming to Guangzhou in March 2022. President Xi Jinping ordered a swift investigation to find out the reason behind the incident, which stunned the country. Afterwards, every 737-800 operated by China Eastern Airlines was grounded.

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Beijing disagreed with Boeing’s initial explanation of pilot error and blamed the crashes on a malfunctioning Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) design.

A Jeju Air flight 7C2216 belly-landed and went off the end of the runway at Muan International Airport in December 2024, smashing into a wall and exploding. Four of the six crew members and all 175 passengers on board were killed, while two crew members were hauled out unharmed. South Korean authorities then declared that they would conduct an urgent safety check on every Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines.

Last November, a cargo plane crashed close to Vilnius airport in Lithuania, resulting in at least one fatality and three injuries. During its final approach for landing, the Spanish cargo airline Swiftair, operating a Boeing 737 for DHL (Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn), crashed close to a residence.

From drugs to Instagram to even online games like Ludo: How Islamists are coming up with new mediums every day to trap Hindu girls for conversion

जयन्ती मिश्रा
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From drugs to Instagram to even online games like Ludo: How Islamists are coming up with new mediums every day to trap Hindu girls for conversion

News of love jihad and Islamic conversions have now become a daily occurrence in India. There was a time when people had to face criticism for pointing out this endemic, but now the victims and their stories coming forward every day as a testimony to the fact that these are not just allegations. This is happening every day in India.

‘Progressing’ with time, Islamists are finding new tricks every day to carry out these conversions. Efforts are being made to convert Hindu girls to Islam by using every available medium to trap them. Several reports appear in the media that modern technology is being used to carry out these conversions.

Today, through this article, we will discuss with you every method through which Islamists are moving ahead towards their goal of converting as many Hindu girls as possible. This article is based on the rampant conversion activities that have been widely reported, but someone had to link them all, and think about the consequences of them all.

Getting victims addicted to drugs and then convert them

The most worrying thing for Hindus is that these Jihadi conversion agents are making Hindu girls addicted to drugs to first ruin them and then push them towards conversion. The cases from Bhopal, Bijnor, Indore, Nainital are proof of this.

  • First of all, let us talk about the Bhopal case in Madhya Pradesh. This case came to light last month when drug gang operators Yasin Machli and Shahwar Machli were arrested. Investigations revealed that their aim was not just to smuggle drugs but their target was Hindu girls. These people used to physically exploit Hindu girls by giving them MD drug and also forced them to then sell the drug. Their aim was to ruin the lives of the girls with drugs and then convert them after they were left with no other option.
  • A similar Muslim gang was busted from Bhopal-Indore. The mastermind of the gang was Farhan. This gang had targeted Hindu girls studying in private colleges. The victims were silent for a long time, but later when the case came to light, one by one many girls came forward, who told how they were raped after giving them drugs and then they were pressured to convert.
  • In Indore, Zeeshan Khan had trapped a Hindu girl by posing as ‘Abhishek Thakur’. To trap the girl, he made her addicted to drugs, then sexually exploited her and started pressuring her to convert by blackmailing her.
  • A similar case was also reported from Nainital in July this year. There a 30-year-old Muslim youth had trapped an 11th standard Hindu girl in a love trap. The girl’s family was so helpless that they had to take help of Hindu organizations. The family pleaded that their daughter is given drugs, and she has been made an addict. The family members have become helpless because the daughter has come out against the family.
  • In another case from Indore, Sultan Roshan Nagori had targeted Hindu girls going to coaching centers. The whole truth was revealed when a Brahmin girl came forward with a complaint. The girl shared that Sultan had not only physically exploited her, but was also pressuring her to convert by threatening to make her obscene photos and videos viral. The victim said that Sultan also gave her drugs. In this case, the victim had also revealed the conversion cell active through call centers. She said that Muslim boys were employed there to trap Hindu girls. Later those girls were made addicted to drugs and were physically exploited.
  • A case of disappearance of a Hindu girl from Mangaluru, Karnataka was also reported in 2024. When investigated, it was found that Puttur’s drug smuggler Shahrukh had trapped her in his net and he used to visit her in her PG.

The above news are just a few examples of how Hindu girls are being pushed towards conversion by making them addicted to drugs. During this, their obscene pictures and videos are taken so that they are unable to back out of conversion even if they want to and they keep sinking in this quagmire. Some are made addicted to drugs and brainwashed so much that they do not believe anything other than Islam to be true.

Even an actress got trapped in the clutches of drugs and Islamic conversion

The surprising thing is that not only regular Hindu girls fall prey to the clutches of drugs and conversion, but big celebrities also get trapped in it. In the year 2020, there was news of a Kannada actress being jailed in a drug case. Later it was revealed that she was being taught about Islam for 10 years. After this case, there was a lot of demand on social media that now along with love jihad, the drug angle should also be investigated to see if girls are being brainwashed by making them addicted to drugs to trap them!

Hindu girls are becoming victims of narcotic jihad: Kerala Bishop warned

Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangat of Syro Malabar Church Pala Diocese in Kottayam, Kerala, had also warned about this matter. Expressing concern over the conversion of Catholic and Hindu girls in Kerala, he had said that the girls are falling prey to narcotic jihad. He had said that there is a special group in Kerala which is making Catholic and Hindu youths addicted to drugs and other intoxicants in various areas. The aim of such people is to corrupt other religions. Love jihad and narcotics jihad are two things which should be paid attention to, he had said.

We are not denying the fact that Hindu names do not appear in the news in crimes like drug trafficking, but we can definitely say that in those news, the intention of the smugglers to trap girls of a particular class has not come to light. Whereas in the above cases we mentioned, the intention is very clear. Seeing these, it would not be an exaggeration to say that making girls addicted to drugs and then leading them to conversion can be a new pattern.

On one side, Hindu families are busy blaming the modern times for their children’s addiction to drugs and on the other side, Islamic fundamentalists are taking advantage of this laxity and moving ahead towards their goal of Ghazwa-e-Hind.

If you read the news carefully, you will find that not a single medium is being left unused as a weapon for conversion. Things are not limited drugs and brainwashing them by making them addicted. This love jihad effort has spread from all social media platforms to even online gaming. Places like cafes and clubs, which Hindu youth consider going as places of relaxation and enjoyment are also considered by Islamic fundamentalists as suitable places to fulfill their purpose…

New mediums and weapons of Love Jihad

A decade back, when people started raising its voice against love jihad, the left wing used to run the narrative that it is a term coined by extremist Hindus who only want to spread Islamophobia. They claimed that it has nothing to do with reality. However, today if you pick up a newspaper, you will see that not a single day goes by when the story of a Hindu victim does not make news in the media. Sometimes the girls stay alive to tell about the atrocities committed against her and sometimes only their dead bodies or pieces of their bodies are found.

  • Do you remember the Shraddha Walker murder case of Delhi that came to light in the year 2023? Shraddha, trapped in Aftab’s trap, had even left her parents and started a live-in relationship with him. What happened… 35 pieces, which were thrown in forest areas of Delhi so that animals could tear them apart. Investigation also revealed that Aftab had killed Shraddha and cut her, then kept the body parts in the fridge in the house and gradually threw them in different places.
  • Then there is Priya-Kashish murder case of Meerut. Priya and her daughter Kashish were murdered in the year 2020. The murderer was none other than Shamshad who met Priya as ‘Amit Gurjar’. When Shamshad’s secret was revealed, Priya asked questions, fights increased and what happened in the end… murder of Priya and Kashish. After killing Priya, Shamshad buried her in a pit dug in the bedroom of the house and when the mystery was solved after three months, only the skeletons of mother and daughter were found there.
  • If you remember the case of Ghaziabad’s Pinky Gupta, you will know how a Hindu girl, a victim of love jihad, got trapped in the clutches of Shakib. When Shakib met her, he told Pinky his name was Bunny and later it was revealed that he was a married man Shakib. Upset with the entire situation, she found herself in, Pinky hanged herself. All this happened to her when she was ready to convert to Islam after falling in love with Shakib.

These famous cases of love jihad are neither the first nor the last. If there was no conspiracy, so many cases would not have come to light one after the other. You will be surprised to know that in the year 2023, OpIndia had reported 153 news related to love jihad and in 2022, this list was 150+ as well. Years have changed, but the news of love jihad and conversion has not stopped coming. If you analyze the news, you will know that every time the pattern of trapping Hindu girls is the same.

Be it Delhi or Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh or Rajasthan, for love jihad, girls are first trapped by giving false names or identities. The Hindu girls are befriended using fake names and then physical relations are made with them. Their obscene videos are recorded in the name of love and then they are blackmailed and asked to convert to Islam. Some girls or women understand what is happening to them, some open their eyes after being ruined and some… some do not even get a chance to reform or fight because they have already been killed.

How modus operandi of love jihad has changed with times

Earlier Islamic fundamentalists had limited means to trap Hindu girls. Their targets were girls living next to their houses, girls studying in schools, girls going to college or coaching. However, now as social media has expanded, love jihadis have expanded their target area. Through Instagram and Facebook, they are trapping Hindu girls from different states because social media has made their work even easier. On social media, first they go to the DM of the girls, talk sweetly to them and coax them, trap them in a love trap and then brainwash them and bring them to the brink of conversion.

Instagram, Facebook and Love Jihad

When you read news of love jihad in newspapers or news channels today, you will find a common angle in most of the cases – friendship through Instagram-Facebook. Like drug addiction, Islamic fundamentalists are also taking advantage of the social media addiction of today’s youth. How? Let’s understand.

Actually, Instagram and Facebook are also used to trap Hindu girls because there the identity is not revealed with proof. Create an ID, put an edited DP, write a fake name and a new identity is created. Whatever name you write on these platforms, the world believes it to be true. And, Islamic fundamentalists are taking advantage of this.

First, they put such pictures on social media that it is easy to mislead Hindu girls. They show themselves to be secular. There is kalawa on the hand, a picture of a temple in the profile. After this, Hindu girls are messaged, asked to meet, trapped in a love trap, called to a hotel or room. Once physical relations are made with them, their photos and videos are taken and then the real work of blackmailing begins.

After all this, the girl is left with only two options, either she gets defamed or she converts.

How dangerous is befriending people on social media

  • In the year 2023, a case of brutal murder of a girl from Shahbad Dairy in Delhi came to light. The accused was her friend Mohammad Sahil, who killed the girl by hitting her with a stone in the middle of the street. Later Sahil was arrested. When the investigation took place, it was found that both of them had talked on Instagram and Sahil was after the girl since then.
  • In 2025, in Gautam Buddha Nagar, Meerut, Mubassir befriended a Hindu girl on Instagram by posing as Sachin. After that he also married her. When the girl became pregnant, he started pressuring her to convert. Later it came to light that this wasn’t the first time Mubassir targeted a girl, he had trapped many girls in this way and got them converted.
  • A similar case had also come to light from Mainpuri in UP. One day a 17-year-old girl suddenly disappeared from her home. Troubled by this, the family members complained to the police. When the investigation was done, it was found that she used to talk to a Muslim boy on Instagram. The boy’s name was Abdullah, and he was the one who kidnapped her. After this, the police started looking for Abdullah and the girl.

When you read about the plight of Hindu girls who have been duped through Instagram and Facebook, you will feel both pity and anger for them. You will not be able to understand how these young girls are getting trapped by conversion agents. However, at the time when these thoughts will be going on in your mind, at the same time, some ‘Abdullah’ will be targeting another Hindu girl living near you by posing as Amit.

It may be difficult for us to understand how girls get trapped in the clutches of Jihadis after so many cases are reported in the news, but if you look carefully, you will understand that this is an organised network. It is difficult for a 15-16 year old girl to understand the conspiracy behind such a network. She only sees the beautiful pictures that the boy has posted on his profile, she likes the sweet things he has said in DMs. Gradually, a girl brought up in a Hindu household starts liking burqa-hijab and things related to temple and God bother her. After a few days, a secular inclination is seen in her posts and a time comes when she clearly considers only propagating the things of Islam as her objective.

The trend of promoting Islam through online gaming

Islamic fundamentalists know very well that in today’s race to become modern, Hindu families are lagging behind in teaching their children the Dharmic way. They take advantage of this fault of Hindu families to teach and explain the teachings of their religion to girls and move forward towards their goal. The worrying thing for Hindus is that these fundamentalists have made their presence felt on every medium to trap their daughters. You think that children are not using social media, they are only playing games on the phone and this will save them from the jihadi mentality, then you are mistaken.

Online gaming has also become a medium for conversion for jihadis. On one hand, the craze of online gaming is increasing among today’s youth and it is affecting their career and education, on the other hand, it is a high-tech medium for Islamic fundamentalists to do love jihad and conversion. Like social media, here too the fundamentalists come in contact with Hindu girls by changing their names. While playing games, they befriend them and then the process of brainwashing begins. The surprising thing is that Hindu youth are trapped to such an extent that without even knowing the other person, the victim agrees to change his religion.

An example of conversion through online gaming

Recently, Operation Kalanemi was started to catch conversion gangs. Under this operation, the police busted a gang that used high technology to brainwash youths and then convert them. Investigation revealed that this gang has connections not only with Pakistan but also with Dubai. Islamic fundamentalists sitting abroad have been employed to woo Hindu girls, who asked them to become Muslims after luring them.

The matter was revealed when two girls came and filed a complaint in this regard and from what they told, it was revealed that the Islamic gang first trapped the girls through online games and after that they were taught Quran directly from Pakistan. Later, they were called to Delhi and their Aadhar card was changed and then they were married and converted.

The police said that the girl who filed the complaint in this regard had been converted and her name was changed to Sumaiya. She was in touch with Muslim boys from Pakistan and Egypt. They used to repeatedly ask her to convert and used to give various kinds of temptations. These boys had also deposited a lot of money in Sumaiya’s account. She was also constantly being taught Arabic. The police said that a whole team was working to brainwash a girl and convert her.

The Dehradun police made another important disclosure here that this gang used converted Muslims to trap girls. In Sumaiya’s case, Abdul Rehman was the main perpetrator who used to tell her how his life changed after becoming a Muslim.

The girl got trapped in this trap and when she came back to her senses, she went to the police with a complaint. The girl then requested the Hindus of the country to educate their children about Hinduism so that they stay connected with their roots.

In the year 2024, a similar case came out from Kutch in Gujarat. A minor girl living in Mandvi was trapped by Ziyad through online gaming. The victim’s family said that Ziyad met their daughter on an online gaming platform using the name Jigar. Later both of them talked. Both met and Ziyad had a relationship with her.

During this time, he took obscene photos of the girl. When the girl talked about marriage, he kept postponing it and blackmailed the victim that he would marry her only if she converted to Islam. The girl did not know that this Jigar, whom she met in the world of gaming, was Ziyad aka Sameer Sheikh. When the girl started keeping her distance, Ziyad started threatening her that he would make her nude photos viral.

Next case is from Jabalpur

Priya (name changed), a minor girl, started playing online games with a girl of her age named Pooja. At that time, Priya did not know where Pooja lived and what she did. She just thought that since she was of the same age, they could play together. While playing the game, the friendship between the two developed and it was decided that they should meet. When Priya reached to meet the girl whom she considered her friend, a boy was standing in front of her.

The boy befriended her and took her to Mumbai after trapping her. Later the boy’s name was revealed to be Tanveer. After the complaint, the police investigated and found that Tanveer used to trap minor girls through online gaming.

Similarly, Salman, who sells eggs in Bihar, trapped a Hindu girl living in Madhya Pradesh in a love trap while playing PUBG. He also used a Hindu name to introduce himself. Slowly, the girl fell so madly in love that she left her home and came to Madhubani where Salman told her his real identity. Then he married her by forcibly making her read Kalma.

Modern Hindu families are becoming targets of Islamic fundamentalists

Hindus today have reached such a situation today that they are under a lot of social pressure to be ‘modern’ and appear ‘secular’. Perhaps this is the reason why they are not paying as much attention to their children’s activities. We all know what the result is. Be it drug addiction, trapping girls on Instagram or brainwashing through online gaming, Islamic fundamentalists are able to target them easily.

However, it is their misconception that no one is able to decode their tactics and new patterns. Hindus are gradually becoming aware and Hindu organizations are active in this regard. The misdeeds of Jihadis are being exposed everywhere.

Sometimes in hotel rooms, sometimes elsewhere Hindu girls are given drugs and then gang-raped, or sometimes they are coaxed into having physical relations with them and their videos and photos are recorded. These cases are now increasingly coming to light.

Cafes and clubs- Modern centers of love jihad

By luring girls with the promise of love, everything from their religion to their dignity is snatched away, and this has been happening more openly since Islamic fundamentalists started getting places to do all this. These places include hotels, cafes and clubs. Hindu girls are brought here after befriending them on social media, they are drugged and then sexually exploited.

Many such cafes have been exposed from Moradabad to Dehradun, which were conducting love jihad under the guise of business. When Hindu organizations came to know about them, news related to them came out in the media and it came to light how Muslim youths bring Hindu girls there and exploit them. Some such cafes were also found where small cabins are created and curtains are put up. Then that space is easily made available to such people for 400-500 rupees.

  • Recently, the ‘7th Heaven Cafe’ running in Dehradun’s Vikas Mall became very infamous for such an incident. An attempt of love jihad was being made with a Hindu girl there. The girl became so helpless that she had to ask for help from Bajrang Dal in this matter and later this matter came to light.
  • Similarly, in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, Muslim youths trapped Hindu girls in a case of blackmail and sexual exploitation. The incident is of March 2024. The victim said that she had gone to the cafe with her friend. There she was raped after giving her intoxicants in the name of coffee, then the accused took her obscene photos, made videos and later blackmailed her. After this, his accomplices also exploited the girl. A total of 8 arrests were made in this case – these included Ashraf Ali, Sanveer Mohammad, Shahrukh Khan, Soybanur, Faizan, Soheb, Khalid and Aamir.
  • Similarly, a case related to ‘cafe jihad’ also came to light from Beawar. This incident which came to light in February 2025 reminded us of the Ajmer incident. In this case, Muslim gangs used to take Hindu girls to cafes and sexually exploit them. Then, attempts were made to convert them by luring and tricking them.
  • Then, Bhopal’s cafe-club ‘Club-90’ also made headlines due to love jihad. It was reported that Hindu girl students were raped there and their videos were recorded and then they were blackmailed. When this matter came to the notice of the administration, it sprung into action. The cafe was also found to be running illegally on government land. The administration immediately cancelled its lease and bulldozed it.

The strange thing is that despite all the news about such activities happening in cafes, hotels and clubs, action is taken against them only when a Hindu organization raises its voice.

Similarity between grooming gangs in Britain and Love Jihad gangs in India

It is worth noting that different methods are being adopted to trap Hindu girls in India. On one side there are Islamic fundamentalists whose aim is to make India an Islamic country by 2047, and on the other side there are Hindus who want to leave the British behind in becoming modern. The same British who themselves could not save their daughters from this fanatic mentality.

Yes! Grooming gangs were highly active in Britain between 1980 and 2011. Most of the members of this gang were of Pakistani origin for whom white girls were just use and throw items. They used to trap minor innocent girls in their net and then rape them by giving them drugs and get others to rape them as well. The influence of these gangs ensured that if any victim went to complain, the police used to start blaming the victim. Nobody heard the victim or her family and they were forced to live as sex slaves.

If you read the statements of the victims, you will come to know how these people with a fanatic mindset were filled with hatred for ‘kafir’ white girls. The grooming gangs not only raped the girls themselves but also served them to others to exploit.

Emily (name changed), a victim, had shared her ordeal with media. She had revealed how a gang trapped her in its clutches when she was just 14 years old. Emily had revealed that the grooming gang had raped her more than 1000 times. Boys would come and abuse her and the brutality would cross all limits every day. There is not much difference between Emily’s case and the cases coming up in India. As much as we want to look modern, girls here are making the same mistakes as Emily.

In Emily’s case, the grooming gang had trapped her in the name of kebabs, alcohol, free cigarettes and parties and in India, girls are being trapped by showing them a life full of luxury. Whether the secularism within you accepts it or not, the incidents coming from different places are proof of the fact that the aim of Islamic fundamentalists is the same everywhere. Be it India or Britain, they hate every person who does not belong to their religion.

The original Hindi report can be read here.

Supreme Court slams Rahul Gandhi for defaming Indian Army after Galwan Valley clash, says ‘a true Indian’ wouldn’t say such things: Here is what happened

OpIndia Staff
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Supreme Court slams Rahul Gandhi for defaming Indian Army after Galwan Valley clash, says ‘a true Indian’ wouldn’t say such things: Here is what happened

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was severely criticised by the Supreme Court on 4th August for his comments attacking the Indian Army on 16th December 2022, during the “Bharat Jodo Yatra.” He claimed, “Chinese soldiers are thrashing Indian Army personnel in Arunachal Pradesh.”

The statement was made after the two sides clashed in Arunachal Pradesh. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha approached the apex court to contest a defamation lawsuit brought against him for the same.

The bench consisting of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Augustine George Masih questioned the veracity of his remarks and pointed out that they were unacceptable for a “true Indian.” Afterward, the criminal proceedings against him were halted by the the bench.

However, he was reprimanded by the court for using social media to talk bout such matters rather than raising them in Parliament. He was also admonished for the misuse of freedom of expression and for making comments without reliable sources. “You are Leader of Opposition, say things in Parliament, not on social media,” the court lashed out.

“Why in social media post and not in Parliament? How do you get to know when 2000 square kilometre was acquired by China? Were you there? Do you have any credible material? If you were a true Indian, you would not say all these things. When there is a conflict across border, can you say all this? Just because you have 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech) you cannot say anything,” the court chastised.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi who was representing the Gandhi scion argued that the remarks were made in the public interest and were political in character. “If he can’t say these things how can he be the Leader of Opposition,” he asked.

Singhvi contended that the allegation was politically motivated and read out actual comments regarding the border confrontation. According to him, a third party cannot use the comments as justification for a defamation lawsuit.

“But you cannot harass somebody like this with defamation charges. High Court says he (complainant) was not a person aggrieved but defamed. High Court reasoning was novel was not correct,” Singhvi claimed. He further alleged, “There is a technique now, become an MP and file defamation for any criticism.”

He, however, failed to convince the judges. “Why would you make these statements without anything? Just because you’re a responsible leader of the Opposition, it does not mean you say such things,” the court highlighted.

The Supreme Court then issued notice and ordered an interim hold on further proceedings in the defamation case after the harsh observations. The matter will be heard after three weeks. Furthermore, the Uttar Pradesh government and the complainant in the case were also served with notice by the top court.

Retired BRO official Udai Shanker Srivastava had filed the lawsuit, charging that the Lok Sabha MP made a number of disparaging comments about the army during the stalemate along the India-China border. His statement was deemed derogatory and discouraging to the Army, according to the complaint.

The parliamentarian’s plea was previously denied by the Allahabad High Court on 29th May. Judge Subhash Vidyarthi of the Allahabad High Court had noted that the right to free expression does not extend to the ability to slander the Army. The Lucknow MP/MLA Special Court awarded bail to Gandhi on 15th July.

Adani Group refutes reports of tie-up with Chinese firms BYD, Beijing Welion New Energy Tech

OpIndia Staff
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Adani Group refutes reports of tie-up with Chinese firms BYD, Beijing Welion New Energy Tech

Adani Enterprises has issued a strong rebuttal to a recent Bloomberg report that claimed the conglomerate was exploring a battery manufacturing partnership in India with Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD and Beijing Welion New Energy Technology. In a detailed clarification issued on Monday, the company called the report “baseless, inaccurate and misleading.”

“We categorically deny Bloomberg’s report on 4th August 2025 suggesting a tie-up between the Adani Group and Chinese companies BYD and Beijing Welion New Energy Technology,” the company said in a statement. “The Adani Group is not exploring any form of collaboration with BYD for battery manufacturing in India. Similarly, we are not engaged in any discussions with Beijing Welion New Energy Technology for a partnership of any kind.”

The Bloomberg report, titled “Adani Seeks Battery Tieup With BYD in Renewables Push”, had claimed that Gautam Adani was “personally heading discussions” with BYD executives and that talks were in the preliminary stage. It further alleged that the group viewed a technology agreement with Chinese firms as essential to its clean energy goals, citing the cost-effectiveness and technological advancement of Chinese battery makers.

The report also acknowledged potential hurdles in obtaining political approval for any partnership with a Chinese firm, given ongoing tensions between India and China. However, it claimed Adani was considering deals through BYD subsidiaries in other regions to bypass such challenges.

Adani’s prompt denial signals its intent to distance itself from any speculation involving Chinese entities, particularly amid India’s strategic emphasis on reducing reliance on Chinese technology in critical sectors. The company reaffirmed that no such discussions or collaborations are underway, aiming to set the record straight and avoid market or diplomatic misinterpretations.

Mumbai: Dadar Kabootarkhana shut down, pigeon feeding banned by BMC citing health risks after a Bombay HC order

Anurag
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Mumbai: Dadar Kabootarkhana shut down, pigeon feeding banned by BMC citing health risks after a Bombay HC order

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently shut down the nearly century-old Dadar Kabutarkhana, which was a prominent pigeon feeding site in Mumbai. The decision came amid mounting concerns over health hazards caused by pigeon droppings and feathers. The move follows the Bombay High Court’s directive to strictly enforce a citywide ban on feeding pigeons at Kabutarkhanas. The court cited serious risks to public health and sanitation in its order.

Why has the BMC taken this step?

The decision of the BMC to close down all 51 Kabutarkhanas across Mumbai, including the historic Dadar feeding spot, stemmed from a 30th July directive by the Bombay High Court. The court ordered the registration of FIRs against individuals defying the ban on feeding pigeons in public spaces and allowed the civic body to cordon off feeding sites to prevent further gatherings of the birds.

BMC cited provisions under the Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, and public health bylaws when initiating action to cover the structures, remove feed, and deploy staff to enforce compliance. According to BMC officials, this is a legal mandate based on recommendations from the state government. Notably, the state government flagged the alarming rise in respiratory diseases caused by prolonged exposure to pigeon droppings.

Speaking to the media, Assistant Municipal Commissioner Jaydeep More said, “We are taking actions following orders by the High Court and state government. We are simply doing our job.” It is also a matter of cleanliness and sanitation regulations, as they prohibit animal feeding in non-designated areas. Anyone breaking the rules may face fines and legal action.

What is a Kabutarkhana and why is Dadar’s so significant?

A Kabutarkhana is basically a pigeon house. It is a designated space, often built near religious establishments, to feed birds, mostly pigeons. These structures are deeply tied to cultural practices in Mumbai and have evolved from traditional Parabadis or birdhouses and Kabutriyas. Local communities fund these places. The Dadar Kabutarkhana was established in 1933 with permission from the municipal corporation. It is one of the city’s oldest and is situated close to a Jain temple.

The Dadar Kabutarkhana Trust manages the site. It was started to offer a safe feeding space for pigeons that gathered near the temple. As time passed, the site became a landmark. Before the ban, thousands of pigeons were fed by devotees and locals every day, which raised a public health debate.

The cultural and religious roots of pigeon feeding in Mumbai

Feeding pigeons has connections to religious and spiritual beliefs. In many Hindu and Jain households, it is considered an act of compassion and part of rituals. Some traditions also link pigeon feeding to Pitru Shanti, a ritual act believed to offer peace to ancestral souls. Communities across Mumbai, particularly Gujarati and Jain residents, have historically contributed to establishing Kabutarkhanas near temples. These spaces became formalised as public feeding spots, sustained through donations, where grain and water were offered daily.

From compassion to contamination – The health debate surrounding pigeons

The feeding practice originated in kindness. However, studies show it has serious health implications. Pigeon droppings, feathers, and nesting material are known to carry pathogens, including fungi, bacteria, and viruses, which can cause serious health problems such as histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, and psittacosis. These illnesses are particularly dangerous for children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals.

Mumbai is a densely populated city. There are some pockets, including Dadar, which have a high concentration of pigeons, leading to serious health hazards. According to health experts, continuous exposure to pigeon waste is dangerous, especially in enclosed spaces. Several residents of such areas have reported persistent respiratory conditions, including hypersensitivity pneumonitis, which is suspected to be linked to the presence of pigeon waste.

What triggered the legal crackdown on Kabutarkhanas?

On 3rd July, Maharashtra’s Minister Uday Samant, on behalf of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, announced the closure of all 51 Kabutarkhanas in Mumbai, citing health concerns. The move was prompted by sustained complaints from residents and health professionals, alongside incidents like a 2013 accident where a BMC engineer died after a pigeon struck him near the Grant Road Kabutarkhana.

Following the announcement, petitions were filed in the Bombay High Court by animal rights activists attempting to prevent the demolition of the feeding sites. However, the court did not grant relief and stated that the right to religious expression must be balanced against the right to public health and safety.

On 30th July, the court ordered the BMC to strictly implement the ban and register FIRs under BNS Section 271 against those defying the ban, a provision relating to negligent acts likely to spread infectious disease.

The division bench comprising Justices Girish S Kulkarni and Arif S Doctor observed that despite repeated directives, pigeon feeding at banned locations continued unabated, in “illegal and defiant” fashion. The court also allowed the BMC to cordon off or cover Kabutarkhanas to deter further feeding.

How the Dadar Kabutarkhana was shut down

On 3rd August, BMC workers covered Dadar Kabutarkhana with tarpaulin sheets. They first cleaned the site and then covered it with the help of sheets and bamboo sticks. Around 25 sacks of grain, fencing, and temporary sheds were seized or dismantled during the operation. A warning board was installed, explicitly prohibiting the feeding of animals or birds and notifying citizens of a ₹500 fine for violations.

Earlier, local citizens had urged the authorities to allow them time to relocate injured and sick pigeons. Trustee Sandeep Doshi stated that over 2,000 pigeons were boxed and transported to shelters or hospitals for treatment. Volunteers were also stationed to prevent pigeons from gathering on nearby roads, fearing road accidents in the absence of designated feeding zones.

Jain community protests the closure of heritage pigeon feeding sites

The action drew immediate backlash from several members of the Jain community, as feeding pigeons is a sacred act for them. On Sunday, thousands joined a peaceful “Shantidoot Yatra” from a Jain temple in Colaba to the Gateway of India and chanted slogans like “save the pigeons”. Jain monks also participated, lending the march religious weight and visibility.

Are pigeons really causing respiratory illnesses and unsanitary conditions?

Animal welfare advocates often question the scientific rigour behind the crackdown. However, numerous medical experts have long flagged pigeons as carriers of respiratory pathogens. Pigeon droppings, when dried, release spores and fine dust that can be inhaled. This has been linked to diseases like histoplasmosis, which can cause chronic lung conditions, and allergic alveolitis, an inflammation of the lungs’ air sacs.

In congested areas like Dadar, where pigeons gather in massive numbers, the accumulation of faecal matter on rooftops, railings, and public spaces poses a consistent health threat. Apart from respiratory illnesses, the resulting filth causes blocked drains, slippery pavements, and rising costs of cleaning and disinfection, problems that urban municipalities struggle to manage.

The future of pigeon feeding in Mumbai – Compromise or complete ban?

Mumbai authorities have sent a strong message by covering the Kabutarkhanas and initiating provisions for FIRs, making it clear that public health will not be compromised for sentiments. However, the outcry may force the authorities to rethink their decision. A blanket ban on feeding may not hold in the long term if community pressures and legal battles persist.

US: Al-Ihsan Islamic Center supports Somali Muslim who raped a 12-year-old girl, tries to defend his crime saying ‘he was trying to adjust to a new culture’

OpIndia Staff
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US: Al-Ihsan Islamic Center supports Somali Muslim who raped a 12-year-old girl, tries to defend his crime saying ‘he was trying to adjust to a new culture’

In the United States, several Islamic organisations are defending rapists and criminals merely because of their Muslim identity. The Al-Ihsan Islamic Center in Minnesota wrote a community support letter in July this year, for a Somali Muslim immigrant, Qalinle Ibrahim Dirie, who is convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl. Dirie was awarded a 12 year prison sentence.

Dirie was born in Somalia, during the country’s civil war and spent his days in a Kenyan refugee camp before migrating to the US in 2006. While Dirie’s citizenship status remains unclear, he stayed mostly in Minnesota and North Dakota.

In July 2024, the Somali Muslim immigrant was booked for raping a 12-year-old girl. As per the complaint lodged in this matter, the victim was playing in the backyard of her family’s home in Minneapolis when Dirie started talking to her from an alley behind the house.  He allegedly asked if the victim’s mother was home, and the victim said she was not. The accused left the spot only to return after some time. He put his hand over the victim’s mouth, forced her into a car, struck over her head and drove the car away to a short distance and raped her. Somehow, the victim eventually ran back to her home.

Later, the accused was arrested by the police. In May this year, the court found Dirie guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct against the minor. Dirie’s family wrote letters to the judge after his conviction, urging him to consider Dirie’s ‘character’ and ‘contributions’ while deciding his punishment.

Besides, the family’s letter, the Al-Ihsan Islamic Center also wrote a “Community Support Letter for Qalinle Dirie” letter to the judge.

“We, the undersigned members of the Somali community, write this letter to express our strong and heartfelt support for Qalinle Dirie, a member of our community,” the letter reads.

Justifying Dirie’s heinous crime, the Islamic Center said, “Dirie faced the challenge of starting over in a new culture,” and Dirie was known as an outgoing, family-oriented person before “this situation”.

It further highlighted, the Muslim rapist’s love for his family and children, adding that Dirie has also been an active volunteer in, Al-Ihsan Islamic Center mosque, “where he regularly visited during Friday prayers, Ramadan, and community events.”

“You’ll often find him helping elders find rides home or staying after to help clean up. His service has never been about recognition — just a quiet commitment to supporting the spaces that hold our community together. The situation [Dirie] is currently facing comes as a deep shock to all of us. It does not reflect the man we know, a man whose actions have consistently reflected family and community. We respectfully ask that this letter be considered as a sincere reflection of who Qalinle Dirie truly is. His contributions may not make headlines, but to us, he has made a positive difference,” the letter signed by Ahmed Anshur, the executive director of the Al-Ihsan Islamic Center reads.

The Al-Ihsan Center projected a rapist as some sort of hero and a victim since he is a Muslim, making no mention of the crime he is convicted of, let alone condemning him for the same.

BSNL and Numaligarh Refinery to launch India’s first 5G Captive Non-Public Network in refinery sector, signs MoU to accelerate adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies

OpIndia Staff
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BSNL and Numaligarh Refinery to launch India’s first 5G Captive Non-Public Network in refinery sector, signs MoU to accelerate adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies

In a major step toward accelerating India’s digital transformation and industrial modernization, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the “Industry 4.0 Workshop for CPSEs” organized under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance in Guwahati.

The workshop witnessed participation from several senior dignitaries, including the Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), CMD NRL, Director (Enterprise Business) BSNL, MD NRL, MD AMTRON, and other senior officials from the Ministry of Finance and various CPSEs. Discussions focused on empowering Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) to embrace transformative Industry 4.0 technologies—including 5G CNPN, Digital Twins, 3D Printing with AI, Virtual Formulation, AR/VR/MR, IoT, and Big Data Analytics—with a view to fostering innovation, efficiency, and Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Under this MoU, BSNL and NRL will collaborate to deploy India’s first 5G CNPN (Captive Non-Public Network) within the refinery sector, ushering in a new era of secure, ultra-reliable, and real-time industrial connectivity. This initiative is a pioneering step in leveraging indigenous 5G infrastructure for mission-critical operations.

The Secretary, DPE praised the initiative as a shining example of the Government’s “Whole of Government” (WoG)approach, underlining its potential to modernize India’s industrial base, promote advanced skilling, and generate employment opportunities—particularly in the North Eastern Region.

CMD NRL stated that the integration of 5G CNPN will not only enhance operational efficiency and cybersecurity but also enable transformative technologies such as AR/VR-based training, Digital Twins, and real-time IoT applications. He called it a game-changing moment for India’s refinery sector.

CMD, BSNL, Shri A. Robert J. Ravi, remarked, “This partnership exemplifies BSNL’s commitment to empowering India’s strategic sectors with next-generation digital infrastructure. The deployment of a dedicated 5G CNPN at NRL will mark a technological leap forward—not only in connectivity but in redefining how core industries can operate in the future. As a trusted public telecom provider, BSNL is proud to pioneer this journey toward a self-reliant, digitally intelligent Bharat.”

Director (Enterprise Business), BSNL added that this collaboration represents a historic milestone in the adoption of 5G and Industry 4.0 within India’s industrial ecosystem. He reaffirmed BSNL’s commitment to supporting Digital India by offering secure, robust, and future-ready communication infrastructure for CPSEs and enterprises.

This partnership between BSNL and NRL is expected to set the stage for replicable models across other industrial sectors, reinforcing the Government of India’s vision for a digitally empowered and self-reliant Bharat.

Delhi Crime Branch solves a year-old murder case, woman and her boyfriend arrested for killing her husband and dumping body in Haryana’s Sonipat

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Crime Branch solves a year-old murder case, woman and her boyfriend arrested for killing her husband and dumping body in Haryana’s Sonipat

The Delhi Crime Branch has solved a year-old blind murder case with the arrest of a woman and her boyfriend for killing her husband and disposing of his body in Haryana’s Sonipat. The accused have been identified as Soniya (34), a resident of Delhi’s Alipur, and her partner Rohit, a resident of Jaji village in Sonipat.

According to Crime Branch officials, the case dates back to July 2024, when the decomposed body of an unidentified man was found in a drain near Agwanpur village under Gannaur police station in Sonipat. A case of murder was registered at that time, but it remained unsolved as the deceased could not be identified.

The breakthrough came when the phone number of one Pritam Prakash, missing for an year, became active again recently. Prakash was a proclaimed offender and a history-sheeter from Alipur. He had more than 10 cases registered against him, including those under the Arms Act, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, as well as the IPC.

His wife Soniya had lodged a complaint on July 20, 2024, stating that her husband had gone missing on the intervening night of July 5-6. On July 5, 2024, Pritam came to pick up Soniya from her sister’s house in Sonipat’s Gannaur, but left without her after an argument.

Officials said that during the investigation, the last active location of Printam’s phone was traced to Jaji village in Sonipat. Surveillance led the team to Rohit, who was found using the deceased’s phone.

Initially, he tried to divert the investigation by saying that he had purchased the phone from someone unknown. However, under sustained interrogation, he confessed to his illicit relationship with Soniya and revealed the enire murder plot.

Rohit told the police that Soniya had given a “supari” (contract) to kill her husband and had handed over the phone after the murder. He admitted that the murder was carried out in July 2024, and the body was dumped in a drain. Soniya was subsequently taken into custody. Although she initially tried to mislead the police, she eventually broke down when confronted with evidence. She confessed that she paid money her sister’s brother-in-law, Vijay, to kill Pritam.

She told the police that her husband was abusive and addicted to drugs. She had also asked Rohit to kill her husband, but Rohit demanded Rs 6 lakh by saying that he alone couldn’t commit it, and he had to hire someone else. She didn’t have so much money. In between, a different case was registered against Rohit, and he went underground.

Soniya said that following a heated argument on July 2, 2024, she went to her sister’s house in Gannaur in Rohit’s taxi. On July 5, when Pritam arrived to take her back home, she asked him to stay there for the night. She then convinced Vijay to murder him for ₹1 lakh. When Pritam was sleeping on the teraec, he was killed by Vijay while others were asleep. His body was wrapped in cloth and dumped in a drain near Agwanpur village.

The next day, Soniya returned to Delhi and filed a false missing complaint for her husband. She later sold Pritam’s three-wheeler for Rs 4.5 lakh, cleared her debts, gave Rohit Rs 2.8 lakh and paid Rs 50,000 to Vijay. A few months later, she gave Pritam’s phone to Rohit to destroy it. However, Rohit kept and used the phone, eventually leading to their arrest.

The phone number was on surveilance, and when it became active around a year later, police traceed it to Rohit in Sonipat.

Vijay, the third accused, was arrested in a separate theft case in June 2025 and is lodged in a jail in Haryana. Officials said that DNA samples taken during the autopsy of the unidentified body in July 2024 had been preserved, and further forensic verification was ongoing.

INDI Alliance leaders expose their hatred for Biharis in the name of opposing law allowing people to vote at their ordinary place of residence

Aditi
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INDI Alliance leaders expose their hatred for Biharis in the name of opposing law allowing people to vote at their ordinary place of residence

The IND Alliance parties, baselessly spreading fear regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, alleging that thousands of legitimate Bihar voters would be disenfranchised by this, could not hide their disdain for the laborious people of Bihar for long.

Recently, several Tamil politicians, including DMK general secretary Duraimurugan, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan, NTK chief coordinator Seeman, and Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK), founder T Velmurugan, expressed their contempt for the natives of Bihar living in Tamil Nadu by opposing their inclusion as voters in Tamil Nadu.

Their absurd concerns arose from the results of the SIR in Bihar, which showed that around 36 lakh voters were missing from the state, some of whom might have migrated. The SIR results about the missing Bihar voters made the Tamil Nadu politicians believe that they might have migrated to Tamil Nadu.

The INDI alliance politicians opposed the possible inclusion of workers from Bihar on the voter list in Tamil Nadu. “This is a problem in Tamil Nadu, as they came to work here as guest workers. But giving them voter IDs in Tamil Nadu will result in political change in the future,” said DMK general secretary Duraimurugan.

Alarmed by the possibility of an SIR, which is a routine electoral roll revision exercise, being conducted in Tamil Nadu, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to convene an all-party meeting to address the issue. Thirumavalavan claimed that if an SIR is conducted, the EC would add lakhs of workers from other states to the state voter list, like how Dalits and minorities were allegedly removed from the voter list in Bihar. “The ECI is carrying out Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, where Dalits and minorities are eliminated from the voters’ list,” Thirumavalavan alleged. He added that this would change the “political scenario” of the state.

Voicing similar fears, NTK chief coordinator Seeman termed the inclusion of “people from North” in Tamil Nadu’s voter list as an injustice to Tamil people and claimed that it was the BJP’s conspiracy to capture power in the state. “Trying to convert people from the North into voters of Tamil Nadu is a great injustice to Tamil people. All democratic forces should come forward to fight against the BJP for this tyranny, and for trying to undermine the democratic system by using the ECI as a puppet to capture power in states where it cannot govern,” Seeman said.

Expressing a similar sentiment, TVK founder T Velmurugan said, “It is shocking that 6.5 lakh guest workers from Bihar were already added to the Tamil Nadu voters list. Lakhs of guest workers are already working in Tamil Nadu, and this is a challenge to the culture and tradition of the soil”. He further insinuated that North Indians vote based on religion by saying that people in Tamil Nadu do not vote based on religion and that it was the BJP’s plan to include North Indians as voters in the state to influence the election result.

Congress leader P Chidambaram calls changes in eletoral roll as illegal

Joining the chorus, Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram wrote a long post on X, masking his anti-Bihari sentiment as concern for Bihari migrant workers. Linking the exclusion of ineligible voters from Bihar’s electoral roll and the alleged addition of voters in Tamil Nadu’s voter list, Chidambaram termed this electoral updation as “alarming and patently illegal”.

Chidambaram claimed that like people return their native places for festivals like Chhath puja, they should also go to vote in their native place. He said, “A person to be enrolled as a voter must have a fixed and permanent legal home. The migrant worker has such a home in Bihar (or another state). How can he/she be enrolled as a voter in Tamil Nadu? If the migrant worker’s family has a permanent home in Bihar and lives in Bihar, how can the migrant worker be considered as “permanently migrated” to Tamil Nadu? The ECI is abusing its powers and trying to change the electoral character and patterns of States”.

Election Commission has already fact-checked the Congress leader, clarifying that a person need not be permanent resident of a place to be able to vote there. As per Article 19(1)(e), All Citizens shall have the right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India. Moreover, As per Section 19(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, every person who is ordinary resident in a constituency shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll of that constituency, the ECI added.

The RP Act also gives the meaning of “Ordinary Resident”. The poll panel said, “Therefore, a person originally belonging to Tamil Nadu, but is ordinarily residing in Delhi, is entitled to be registered as an Elector in Delhi. Similarly, a person originally belonging to Bihar, but s ordinarily residing in Chennai, is entitled to be registered as an Elector in Chennai.”

The Election Commission said that there is no need for political leaders to spread false information with respect to the SIR exercise being conducted by ECI at national level.

It is difficult to believe that Chidambaram, who is a senior advocate, would not be aware of the fact that the Indian Constitution and the Representation of People Act, allows any citizen to enroll in the voter list of a constituency, where he ordinarily resides, irrespective of his native place.

India is a union of states and not a confederation of some constituent parts. Indian citizens have a single citizenship and the Constitution provides them the right to reside and work in any part of the country. In view of the clear legal provisions, the hateful remarks of Chidambaram and other INDI alliance politicians are nothing more than pathetic attempts to incite regional sentiments ahead of the state assembly elections in Tamil Nadu next year.

INDI Alliance politicians’ everlasting hatred for the ‘Hindi-speaking people’

This is not the first time that the hard-working people of Bihar, who migrate to other states for work and contribute to the state’s economy, have been subjected to such scorn from the INDI Alliance politicians. In December 2023, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran made extremely derogatory remarks against Hindi-speaking people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, saying that these people going to Tamil Nadu end up doing construction work or cleaning roads and toilets.

In March 2022, TMC leader Manoranjan Byapari maliciously referred to theBihari people living in West Bengal as “Beemari” (disease) and asked them to “get lost”. He famously remarked, “Ek Bihari, 100 Beemarii (One Bihari is equal to 100 diseases). The TMC leader was not an excepional case of hatred for Biharis; his anti-Bihari sentiment was shared by his party supremo and the West Bengal CM, Mamata Banerjee, who blamed ‘outsiders’ for incidents of violence and unrest in the state. TMC leaders have long been evading accountability for the miserable law and order situation in the state by conveniently blaming the ‘outsiders’. This helps them appease their fixed voter base.

How Thackeray’s party’s mouthpiece demeaned the Bihari people

The vitriol faced by the people of Bihar at the hands of local parties like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Shiv Sena (before the split) is no secret. Shiv Sena, which was led by Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray before being split into Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, openly opposed the migrant workers of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in Maharashtra. Udhhav Thackeray, whose party, Shiv Sena (UBT), is now an INDI alliance partner, once demanded a permit system to check the influx of Bihari migrant workers in Mumbai.

In 2017, Thackeray’s party’s mouthpiece Saamana, asked the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to retract his statement wherein he acknowledged the contribution of North Indians to Mumbai. The mouthpiece claimed that Fadnavis’s statement was an insult to Maharashtra and that Marathi people have the first right over Mumbai. In 2013, after the Delhi gangrape case, Thackeray’s cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray blamed Bihari migrants for the heinous crime.

Amid all the vitriol targeted at the Bihari people by the INDI alliance politicians, who treat their states like their fiefdoms, the glaring irony is marked by the silence of Bihar’s regional party, RJD, which is a member of the INDI alliance. The RJD, which makes tall promises of the upliftment of the people of Bihar, did not utter a word in condemnation of all the malicious remarks made by its alliance partners against the people of Bihar. This is a blatant betrayal of leaders like Tejashwi Yadav, whose political ambitions have overshadowed the dignity of the people of Bihar.

Bihar: SIR exercise in Muslim-dominated Kishanganj exposes 1.45 lakh ‘missing voters’, region infamous for illegal immigration and multiple Aadhar cards

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: SIR exercise in Muslim-dominated Kishanganj exposes 1.45 lakh ‘missing voters’, region infamous for illegal immigration and multiple Aadhar cards

Election Commission has published a fresh draft of Bihar’s electoral roll list after conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. According to the updated list, around 65 lakh names have been struck off the rolls in the state. The struck-off names primarily consist of deceased persons or those who could not be located at their registered addresses.

But what’s surprising is the large-scale deletion of names in some districts, particularly in Muslim-dominated Kishanganj. Here, a record 1.45 lakh names have been removed from the list.

This amounts to an astonishing 11.8% of the district’s total voter base. It can easily tip an election in which even a 4–5% margin can make a difference.

11% voters go missing from Kishanganj roll

Kishanganj, which shares a border with West Bengal and is inhabited by almost 70% Muslims, has been in the spotlight for a long time over demographic changes and illegal immigration.

When the SIR process was initiated on 24th June, the district’s registered voter enrollment stood at 12,31,910. 

However, the valid forms received during the revision numbered only 10,86,242, leaving 1,45,668 voters off the rolls. That’s more than 11% of voters vanishing from the rolls in one stroke.

Spike in applications for domicile certificates raises suspicions

Even before the SIR process formally commenced, Kishanganj witnessed a huge spike in domicile certificate applications. Such a sudden spike raised alarms about the possibility of manipulation of voter rolls.

Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary recently raised the issue. He indicated that between the months of January to May in the year 2025, the district had an average of 26,000 to 28,000 applications each month.

However, within the first six days of July, more than 1.28 lakh applications for domicile certificates were submitted. That’s a number several times above average.

Choudhary highlighted that although papers such as PAN, Aadhaar, and passports need to be extensively verified, domicile certificates are relatively easy to obtain.

He had previously raised national security concerns regarding the matter.

126 Aadhaar cards for every 100 persons

The issue does not end with domicile certificates. Aadhaar saturation statistics have also raised severe doubts. In areas like Kishanganj, the issuance of Aadhaar cards has exceeded the actual population.

As per government reports, Kishanganj has a population of 20,26,541, but 21,31,172 Aadhaar cards were issued, so that is 126 Aadhaar cards for every 100 people. That’s over 1 lakh Aadhaar cards extra.

Experts and officials consider that this can indicate either Aadhaar duplication on a large scale or that illegal migrants have obtained Aadhaar cards with fake documents.

Illegal infiltration from Bangladesh

The problem takes on a more critical consideration given the location of Kishanganj. It shares a porous border with West Bengal and is situated near Bangladesh. The area has a history of illegal infiltration.

There have been reports that Kishanganj was a Hindu-majority region at the time of Independence, but has undergone major demographic shifts in the decades since, primarily due to uncontrolled infiltration.

Four Bangladeshis were recently caught in various locations in Kishanganj. Reports indicate that they had infiltrated illegally and were working as domestics in local households, hoping to settle here for good. It’s also said that many such infiltrators adopt new names and procure false documents such as ration cards, Aadhaar, and voter IDs to merge with the locals.

They even stated that individuals belonging to Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar were discovered living in Kishanganj at the time of the SIR process. Most of them allegedly succeeded in obtaining Indian identification papers despite being foreigners.

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