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Kamruzzaman Choudhury threatens a psephologist: Meet Congress leader infamous for downplaying Islamist violence and peddling Hinduphobia

Dibakar Dutta
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Kamruzzaman Choudhury threatens a psephologist: Meet Congress leader infamous for downplaying Islamist violence and peddling Hinduphobia

On Monday (April 10), Congress leader Kamruzzaman Choudhury courted controversy for threatening psephologist Pradeep Bhandari on the micro-blogging platform.

Bhandari had called out the blatant politicisation of milk by the Congress party ahead of the Karnataka election, which is scheduled to be held in May this year.

Having realised that the public could see through the divisive politics of the grand old party, an infuriated Kamruzzaman Choudhury took to Twitter to threaten the psephologist.

In a tweet (archive), Choudhury claimed that Pradeep Bhandari somehow ‘exposed’ himself by calling out the Congress party. He then requested the Karnataka unit of the Congress to ‘chase out’ the psephologist from the State for supposedly being a ‘BJP agent.’

“Will request @INCKarnataka to chase out this BJP agent masquerading as a Journalist,” he threatened. This is however not the first time when Kamruzzaman Choudhury had resorted to such behaviour on social media.

Earlier in August 2019, he had referred to actress Payal Rohatgi as ‘bit*h’ while trying to establish his secular credentials. “Try as much as you can rant like a bitch, the fact will remain that India is a secular, Socialist, republic,” he went on a tirade against Rohatgi.

Expert at downplaying violence

Besides name-calling, the Congress leader is also known for downplaying violence orchestrated by his co-religionists. “Ram Navami processions across India were a Supremacist plot by #Hindutva Gangs at intimidating #Muslims,” he claimed in a recent tweet.

After the role of Islamists emerged in the Ram Navami violence in Howrah, Kamruzzaman Choudhury announced that the violence had nothing to do with religion.

“BJP thinks its #Hindu voters are becoming Secular. TMC thinks its #Muslim Voters are deserting it. And Supari comes from the IT cell to highlight the incidents nonstop…” he lamented how the violence during the Hindu festival could not be brushed under the carpet.

In January last year, he fuelled the conspiracy theory that the Pulwama attack, carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Adil Ahmed Dar, was supposedly the handiwork of the Modi government. “Pulwama was scripted,” he had trivialised the deadly attack that claimed the lives of 40 Indian jawans.

Following the declaration of the results of the Jharkhand polls in 2019, the Congress leader suggested that BJP would ‘need a Pulwama every time’ if it wanted to win the polls. Choudhury had not just politicised the terror attack but also mocked the martyrdom of the fallen Indian soldiers.

Opindia had reported in October 2021 how the Congress leader had justified the brutal lynching of 4 BJP workers in the Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh.

Kamruzzaman Choudhury is a fanboy of Alt News

The Congress leader was seen batting for Alt News and its co-founder Mohammed Zubair, despite being well aware of its dubious fact checks and its controversial antecedents.

He claimed, “Stumbling roadblock to constant fake news peddling by the Right-wing ecosystem is the Fact checker, AltNews and Zubair. Now that fact-checking is to be done by the Govt itself, let’s see how the Bhakt Mandali reacts.”

Kamruzzaman Choudhury had also pleaded with US President Joe Biden and other G7 countries to intervene in the release of Mohammed Zubair from jail.

“Arrest of Zubair at a time when our PPM is attending a G7summit2022 is uncalled for. It is incumbent on the leaders of so-called custodians of free speech to take this head-on with Modi, particularly by US President and his G7 colleagues,” he had tweeted.

Peddling Hinduphobia on social media

The Congress leader has been at the forefront of making vile remarks against the Hindu Faith. In December last year, he made a distasteful comparison (archive) between Maa Sita’s exile and to supposed desertion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s wife.

“Bhagwan Ram had sent Sita Devi on Banwas. Modi has deserted his wife. Can we safely now call Modi as Kalyug ka Ram,” he had said.

In one tweet (archive), he was seen peddling the now-debunked Aryan invasion theory.

“Original inhabitants of present-day India were #Dravidians and #Aryans came to India is a fact. No matter how hard Sangh will try to alter this fact, Scientific evidence will prove this conclusively,” Choudhury hoped to exploit political faultlines.

He had also associated the sacred word ‘visarjan’ (immersion used in the context of idol) with urine. “Bhakt o ka Mutra visarjan karwa dia…” he had said in a tweet (archive).

Last month, Kamruzzaman Choudhury stirred the hornet’s nest by comparing the Hindu religious chant of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ to ‘Hail Hitler.’

While reacting to a tweet by BJP spokesperson Keya Ghosh about Hindus preparing for celebrating the Ram Navami festival in the state, a rattled Chowdhury dubbed the sacred chant a ‘war cry.’

“Jai Sri Ram is the new “Hail Hitler”. A slogan of pride has been reduced to an intimidating war cry,” he had claimed. The archive of the tweet can be accessed here.

Tweet by Congress leader Kamruzzaman Choudhury

The vicious attempt was to link ‘Jai Shri Ram’ to ‘Hail Hilter’, a Nazi chant dedicated to eulogising Adolf Hitler who oversaw the killing of over 6 million Jews.

For Congress leader Kamruzzaman Choudhury to essentially reduce the chant of Hindu reverence of Shri Ram to a ‘war cry’ (as done earlier by the likes of BBC and Wikipedia) is not just motivated by appeasement politics but also aimed at demonising the faith of the Hindu community.

It is now a clear indicator that such attempts to tarnish the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chant as a supposedly hate-filled slogan by the Congress ecosystem will continue unabated in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

100 crore recitations of Shri Hanuman Chalisa ahead of the inauguration of Ram Mandir, this is how you can participate

OpIndia Staff
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100 crore recitations of Shri Hanuman Chalisa ahead of the inauguration of Ram Mandir, this is how you can participate

The auspicious ceremony of Ram Pratishtha of Shri Ramlala in Ayodhya is scheduled for January 15, 2024. A campaign has been launched by the name “ShataKoti Hanuman Chalisa Abhiyan”, under which Bhagwan Ram devotees are offering 100 crore recitations of Shri Hanuman Chalisa as a part of the mission for the cultural awakening of the nation and the universe. It is a collective effort and is open to all Shri Ram devotees.

The campaign started on March 21, 2023, and will continue till January 15, 2024. In these 300 days or 40 weeks, Shri Ram devotees who pledge to participate in the campaign will recite Shri Hanuman Chalisa every day as per their intent and convenience. They can either pledge how many they can recite every day until January 15, 2024, or update without pledging.

A dedicated app named ‘Ram-Pratishtha’ was launched for this purpose. You can download it from Play Store or App Store. A booklet containing the names and chant counts of the devotees who successfully complete their pledge will be offered at the lotus feet of Ramlala, Ayodhya, after Ram-Pratishtha.

How to participate

Download and install the app from Play Store or App Store.

Source: Ram-Pratishtha app

Open the app and choose the language of your choice.

App is available in multiple languages. Source: Ram-Pratishtha app

You need to register using any option that includes a phone number, email ID or Facebook account.

Source: Ram-Pratishtha app

In the next step, you can register your pledge of the number of recitations. The app will tell you how many times you have to recite Shri Hanuman Chalisa every day to complete the pledge.

The app will show you how many times you have to recite Shri Hanuman Chalisa to complete your pledge. Source: Ram-Pratishtha app

Every day, open the app and click on the Hanuman Ji logo. You will see “+” and “-“ buttons that you can be used to update the daily number. You can edit it manually as well.

You can update the number of recitations daily. Source: Ram-Pratishtha app

By the time we published this report, over 44 lakh recitations had been recorded in the app.

‘Pols aa gayi pols’: Shikhar Dhawan-starrer Punjab Kings’ hilarious video wins hearts on the internet

OpIndia Staff
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‘Pols aa gayi pols’: Shikhar Dhawan-starrer Punjab Kings’ hilarious video wins hearts on the internet

While Punjab Kings may have disappointed its fans with a crushing defeat against the Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier last week, it has not let the beating affect its high spirits and good humour, as the IPL franchisee jumped the ‘pols aa gayi pols’ meme bandwagon and shared a short clip on its social media handles featuring cricketers Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, and Harpreet Brar.

The official Twitter handle of Punjab Kings, an IPL franchisee, too participated in the meme campaign, with its star cricketers, captain and stylish southpaw Shikhar Dhawan, leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, and left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar featuring in a video mocking the fugitive Amritpal Singh with the ‘pols aa gayi pols’ video. Punjab Kings’ hilarious video shows cricketers playing cards and running away abruptly as they see a policeman approaching. Shikhar, however, remains seated, nonchalantly exhorting Rahul and Harpreet to return.

Since March 18, the phrase “pols aa gayi pols” (police have arrived/police are chasing us) has become viral on social media. This was triggered by a crackdown launched by the Punjab Police on Amritpal Singh, a radical Sikh preacher and Khalistan supporter, and his aides. During the chase, one of his supporters made a passionate plea to Amritpal’s followers to gather and help rescue the former Dubai resident.

And since then, ‘pols aa gayi pols’ has become quite the rage on the internet, with social media users, internet companies, and celebrities partaking in the viral campaign.

The video shared by Punjab Kings has instantly gone viral on the internet, with many Twitter users expressing their amusement at the clip.

A Twitter user said the video was an “ultimate way to roast Khalistani supporters”.

Still others were simply amused to find some of their most loved cricketers mocking Khalistani supporter Amritpal Singh and his aides, who are currently on the run from Punjab Police.

Amritpal Singh on the run

On 18 March, Punjab Police launched a massive search operation to arrest pro-Khalistan separatist leader Amritpal Singh. However, following a car chase, Singh managed to escape. Over 100 of his supporters have since been detained, with his close aide Papalpreet Singh arrested yesterday.

Following the police action against Amritpal Singh and Khalistani supporters, the internet has been flooded with ‘pols aa gayi pols’ memes and reels to mock the fugitive leader and his aides, with many organisations, including Swiggy, taking a dig at the Waris Punjab De chief after running away from the police.

IIT Bombay suicide: ‘Bharat Solanki told me to be not seen with him or else Arman will harm me too’, reveals batchmate

OpIndia Staff
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IIT Bombay suicide: ‘Bharat Solanki told me to be not seen with him or else Arman will harm me too’, reveals batchmate

The Mumbai Police has recorded the statement of a batchmate of decedent IIT-Bombay student Darshan Solanki whom Solanki had confided that he felt threatened by Arman Iqbal Khatri a day before his suicide on February 12.

The Mumbai Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested IIT-Bombay student Arman Iqbal Khatri on Sunday in connection to the alleged suicide of his batchmate Darshan Solanki. The action was taken after the police recovered a suicide note on March 3 from Solanki’s room that reads, “Arman has killed me.”

The note was sent to the handwriting analysis department of the Forensics which confirmed last week that the writing matched Solanki’s, giving a major breakthrough to the Mumbai police in the case.

Besides recovering the suicide note, the Mumbai police also recorded the statement of a batchmate to whom Darshan Solanki had allegedly confided a day before his suicide that he felt threatened by Arman.

In his statement to the police, the student said that when he met Darshan Solanki on February 11, the latter told him to “not be seen with him or else Khatri would harm him as well”.

An SIT source was quoted by media houses as saying that the student had met Darshan Solanki in his hostel room. “The latter told him to go away since if Khatri saw them together, he would harm him as well. When the student asked Solanki why Khatri would harm him, Solanki told him that he had made a communal remark, which had irked Khatri, who threatened him,” the officer added.

Meanwhile, Khatri who was interrogated by the SIT on Monday is believed to have shared an incident from the past. “Solanki had asked him why he carried a paper cutter in his bag to which Khatri claimed that he was going to harm two classmates. However, this was more in jest and much before any dispute between Khatri and Solanki,” the officer reported Khatri’s version. 

It may be recalled that earlier a senior police official said, “We had recorded the statement of Khatri but he is not opening up about the reason that led to the dispute between them. Hence, we arrested him so that we can question him and get the exact sequence of events that led to the fight between Khatri and Solanki.”

The officer further said, “Based on the statements of other students we have recorded, it has come to light that nearly five days prior to the suicide, Solanki had passed a communal remark which had irked Khatri. The latter had threatened him with a cutter and said he would not spare him. Since then, Solanki was petrified and had also apologised to Khatri on a couple of occasions and the two had hugged as well. However, it appears he continued to be scared and had also developed a fever a day before he committed suicide.”

Notably, a report by Mid-Day suggested that the SIT has learnt that Solanki had apologised to Arman Iqbal Khatri multiple times in the week leading up to his suicide on February 12. “We believe that due to the threats, he apologised and wanted to mend his relationship with his classmate, or something else happened to him that led him to take such a drastic step,” the officer added.

Darshan Solanki suicide case

Arman Khatri and Solanki stayed on the same floor of a hostel of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and both were batchmates, according to police. During interrogation, the officers found that Solanki was scared of Arman Iqbal Khatri who is reported to be 19 years old.

IIT Bombay student Darshan Solanki jumped from the refuge area of the IIT-Bombay hostel building on February 12 at around 1 pm. He was taken to the hospital but the doctors declared him brought dead. A case in this regard was then registered at the Powai police station.

Darshan Solanki hailed from Ahmedabad and had joined the institute for a B-Tech course just three and a half months before the incident. Rameshbhai Solanki (47), the father of Darshan, had alleged that Darshan had discussed the caste discrimination he was experiencing at the institute with his older sister Jahnvi and aunt Divyaben.

An internal committee commissioned by the Indian Institute of Bombay found “no specific evidence of direct caste-based discrimination” resulting in the death of Darshan Solanki. The panel also alluded to his “deteriorating academic performance” as a possible reason for taking his life.

However, soon after Darshan committed suicide, a raft of left-leaning ideologues and supporters blamed caste discrimination as the reason for his decision to take the extreme step. They also abused Hindus, alleging that it was due to discrimination perpetuated by the higher caste Hindus that students are forced to the extreme step of ending their lives.

On February 24, the Maharashtra Home Department issued an order to transfer the investigation from the local Powai police station to the Crime Branch, just prior to the beginning of the state’s Budget Session on Monday. The crime branch formed an SIT to probe this matter. The SIT has now arrested the first suspect Arman Iqbal Khatri in this case.

Anil Antony, who recently quit Congress, slams Rahul Gandhi for defaming Veer Savarkar and RSS, talks about Sabarimala and Malabar genocide

OpIndia Staff
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Anil Antony, who recently quit Congress, slams Rahul Gandhi for defaming Veer Savarkar and RSS, talks about Sabarimala and Malabar genocide

Anil Antony, son of former Union minister and Congress veteran AK Antony, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on April 6. Following his move from Congress to BJP, OpIndia’s Editor-in-Chief Nupur Sharma interviewed the leader on Twitter Spaces to learn that he has been respecting and admiring the working of the ruling government even when he was in Congress.

“I have been working for the Congress for the past 3-4 years. But I must say when it comes to national security, foreign policy, economy, even technology integration, my views are totally in line with the BJP government,” Antony said.

The new BJP entrant said during his candid interview that India is a diverse, rich country with a great civilization. He stated that he was happy being part of the party which works towards reclaiming the old civilization and India’s rich heritage. “Talking about temples in specific, there are several here in India as the country houses more than 80% of the Hindu population. Reclaiming the holiest sites like Ayodhya, Kashi, and Mathura is justified. It would be unfair to say that these sites cannot be reclaimed,” he said adding that the sentiments of the majority population cannot be suppressed.

While talking about the Sabarimala issue, Antony said that the faith of the devotees must be respected and no other outsider is supposed to interfere in the matter. “Swami Ayyappa is believed to be a Brahmachari God and women of a certain age are not permitted to enter the temple. This is because people who worship the Lord have faith in the fact that women shall not be allowed. There are people who worship the Lord for some reason and they are the real people who need to be asked about this issue. We can’t decide. The issue is for the management of the temple to decide in consultation with devotees of Ayyappa,” Antony said.

Delivering the verdict on the Sabarimala Temple case, the Supreme Court of India in the year 2018 decreed that women of all ages should be allowed entry into the temple. The Court then ruled that women are in no way inferior to men and relationship with God cannot be defined by biological and physiological factors. By delivering this verdict, the apex court struck down Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965, which restricted the entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 into the Sabarimala Temple.

Antony indicated that people fighting for entry into the temple are neither religious nor do they respect the temple regulations. “They just think that they are fighting for some cause of gender equality. People fighting against the temple never visit the temple and would never visit any temple under normal circumstances. Respecting the views of the faithful is the justifiable thing to do,” he stated.

When asked about the Malabar Hindu Genocide, Antony said that the matter came back into prominence as the country recently marked 100 years of the incident in the year 2021.

“This is a complex issue. It has a revolutionary aspect, communal aspect, and class aspect to it. But it was pure barbarism that happened at that time. Several Hindus were killed, temples were destroyed, and women were raped. So, it was complete barbarism. Many prominent thinkers back then including Veer Savarkar, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, and former Congress President Annie Besant stated that this was a communal incident. And I share the same view. Gandhi also felt the same but he kept quiet due to political reasons. He was working for the Khilafat movement and let’s say he didn’t want to alienate the Muslims,” Antony said.

The leader meanwhile also slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for defaming Veer Savarkar, his ideologies, and also the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He said that back in the past, Pandit Nehru himself had invited the RSS to be part of the Republic Day parade, P V Narasimha Rao had written so many fairly, friendly letters with the RSS, also Pranab Mukherjee had gone to RSS headquarters and lauded it to be one of the largest social and cultural organization.

“RSS was never seen as evil. There were differences but the organisation was respected. Now the current Congress has become a radical left-wing organization. It sees anything other than the left as an evil that needs to be eliminated. The Congress in its ideology has reached on some other spectrum,” he added.

The leader further revealed that earlier he had some differences of opinion with the RSS but now he has no differences as he has learned a lot about the organisation. He opined that the organisation and the BJP have important roles to play in the country’s positive transformation. “The Congress keeps on considering RSS as an evil and it has changed in its ideological spectrum,” he reiterated.

Anil Antony, son of former Union minister and Congress veteran AK Antony, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 6th April 2023 – the 44th foundation day of the BJP. He joined the BJP in presence of Union Minister Piyush Goyal. “As an Indian youth, I feel it is my responsibility and duty to contribute to the Prime Minister’s vision of nation-building and national integration”, said Anil Antony after joining the party.

The first part of this interview can be read here.

India’s ambassador to US Taranjit Sandhu honoured with ‘Sikh Hero Award’ by Sikhs of America

ANI
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India’s ambassador to US Taranjit Sandhu honoured with ‘Sikh Hero Award’ by Sikhs of America

Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu was presented with the “Sikh Hero Award” from Sikhs of America, an independent organisation.

India’s top diplomat to the US received this award days after the violence at the Indian missions in the US by a small group of pro-Khalistan supporters. The Khalistan supporters recently incited violence at the Embassy of India and personally targeted Sandhu.

India’s top diplomat to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu received the “Sikh Hero Award” from Sikhs of America along with several other eminent Sikh Americans. Taranjit Singh Sandhu was targeted by Khalistan supporters at the Embassy of India in the United States.

While making his address after receiving the award, he made a strong and significant stand against the separatists and gave a strong message to Khalistan Supporters.

“The Khalsa flag, which flies at the Takht (Golden Temple) and Nishan Sahibs, is a flag of unity, peace and universal love, use this symbol but do not insult it,” said Sandhu in an apparent reference to the instances of violence by a small group of separatists in the US, Canada, UK and Australia holding the Khalistani flag.”

“Khalsa, which was created on the Baisakhi day, by Guru Gobind Singh is a uniting and not a dividing force,” he added.

“We must keep these cardinal virtues in mind and not what a couple of mischievous characters spin using virtual media,” he said in an apparent reference to the so-called Khalistan leaders’ messages on social media.

Sandhu encouraged the Sikh diaspora to connect with their roots and said “Punjab and the youth in Punjab need to be connected with the economic, financial, tech and digital revolution happening in India.”

“The government, people and in particular the youth must take advantage of the expanding partnership with the US in various fields that Prime Minister Modi and President Biden are trying to implement,” he said.

Last month, Pro-Khalistan supporters in the US threatened the Indian embassy and Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu during their protest. While rallying outside the mission, a protestor in his speech made a direct threat to the Ambassador that the “hypocrisy” will come to an end and that the Ambassador could face a similar fate to what former president of India Zail Singh faced back in 1994.

Multiple incidents of protests by supporters of Khalistan have been staged outside the Indian embassy and the San Francisco Consulate. Earlier, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco was also attacked in March. A video has surfaced on social media in which pro-Khalistani protestors gathered at the consulate in San Francisco, shouting slogans in support of Amritpal and heckling staff as they abandoned the diplomatic mission.

The protesters made vague claims that the “Indian government is killing citizens from all communities all over the country.”

“This hypocrisy comes to an end now…… There will come a day when the windows of your cars will break and you will have nowhere to run to,” they threatened the Indian embassy with slogans of “Khalistan Zindabad”.
Hundreds of Khalistan supporters gathered outside the Indian Embassy in the United States.

The protesters included turbaned men of all ages who raised pro-Khalistan slogans. They came in from different parts of the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area. The organisers used mics to make anti-India speeches both in English and Punjabi and targeted the Punjab Police for alleged human rights violations.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

AAP’s ‘Degree Dikhao’ campaign: 40% of party’s Punjab MLAs are not graduates, 19 have not even passed 12th standard

OpIndia Staff
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AAP’s ‘Degree Dikhao’ campaign: 40% of party’s Punjab MLAs are not graduates, 19 have not even passed 12th standard

On April 10, amid Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) “Show Your Degree” campaign, OpIndia published a detailed report on the education qualification of the party’s MLAs in Delhi. It was revealed that nearly half of the AAP MLAs had actually not got a degree. Apart from Delhi, Punjab is the other state where AAP is running a government, and the situation is not much different there either.

Based on the information collected via publicly available affidavits of the MLAs for the Punjab Assembly elections 2022, OpIndia found that 37 out of 92 AAP MLAs have not completed graduation. Four MLAs did not even pass the 10th standard. Twelve MLAs have completed 10th as their highest education while two have done diplomas after doing metric. One MLA left education after finishing 11th standard. Fifteen have completed education till the 12th, and three have done diplomas after the 12th. As per the regulations, it is a must for a candidate to mention the highest education he or she has gotten in the election affidavit.

Chief Minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann (Dhuri) is a college dropout himself. His highest education qualification is 12th, as per the affidavit submitted by him at the time of the elections. He handles Civil Aviation, General Administration, Home Affairs & Justice,  Personnel, Vigilance, Industries and Commerce, Housing & Urban Development, Employment Generation, and Training and Jails ministries/departments.

MLAs who dropped out from school before passing 10th standard are Ashok Prashar Pappi (Ludhiana Central), Sarvan Singh Dhun (Khemkaran), Madan Lal Bagga (Ludhiana North) and Jagdeep Singh Brar (Muktsar).

Those who dropped out after 10th are Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal (Ajnala), Amansher Singh alias Shery Kalsi (Batala), Lal Chand Kataruchakk (Bhoa), Sheetal Angural (Jalandhar West), Gurmeet Singh Khudian (Lambi), Daljit Singh Grewal (Ludhiana East), Kulwant Singh (SAS Nagar), Hardeep Singh Mundian (Sahnewal), Jagtar Singh (Samrala), Harmit Singh Pathanmajra (Sanour), Kulwant Singh Bazigar (Shutrana) and Naresh Kataria (Zira).

Notably, Lal Chand handles Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs, Forests, and Wild Life ministries/departments. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal handles Rural Development and Panchayats, NRI Affairs, Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare ministries/departments.

Santosh Katariaa (Balachaur) and Jiwan Singh Sangowal (Gill) have done diplomas after the 10th, while Gurdit Singh Sekhon (Faridkot) dropped out after studying till 11th.

MLAs who dropped after completing 12th are Dalbir Singh Tong (Baba Bakala), Amandeep Singh’  Goldy’ Musafir (Balluana), Labh Singh Ugoke (Bhadaur), Jai Krishan Singh (Garhshankar), Gurlal Ghanaur (Ghanaur), Bram Shanker (Hoshiarpur), Tarunpreet Singh Sond (Khanna), Anmol Gagan Maan (Kharar), Sukhvir Maiser Khana (Maur), Gurdev Singh Dev Maan (Nabha), Laljit Singh Bhullar (Patti), Hakam Singh Thekedar (Raikot), Chetan Singh Jaura Majra (Samana), Manjinder Singh Lalpura (Sri Khadoor Sahib) and Jasvir Singh Raja Gill (Urmar).

Laljit Singh Bhullar handles Transport, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Diary Development, and Food Processing ministries/departments. Bram Shanker handles Water Supply & Sanitation, Revenue, Rehabilitation, and Disaster Management ministries/departments. Chetan Singh Jauramajra handles Freedom Fighters, Defence Services & Welfare, Information & Public Relations Department, and Horticulture ministries/departments. Anmol Gagan Mann handles Tourism & Cultural Affairs, Investment Promotion, and Labour and Hospitality ministries/departments.

Narinderpal Singh Sawna(Fazilka) and Master Jagsir Singh (Bhucho Mandi) did a diploma after the 12th and are among the ones who don’t possess a degree.

A complete list of AAP MLAs and their educational qualification are listed below.

Name Constituency Education Qualification
Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal Ajnala 10th
Amansher Singh (Shery Kalsi) Batala 10th
Lal Chand Kataruchakk Bhoa (SC) 10th
Sheetal Angural Jalandhar West (SC) 10th
Gurmeet Singh Khudian Lambi 10th
Daljit Singh Grewal Ludhiana East 10th
Kulwant Singh S.A.S. Nagar 10th
Hardeep Singh Mundian Sahnewal 10th
Jagtar Singh Samrala 10th
Harmit Singh Pathanmajra Sanour 10th
Kulwant Singh Bazigar Shutrana (SC) 10th
Naresh Kataria Zira 10th
Santosh Katariaa Balachaur 10th ITI Technical course after 
Jiwan Singh Sangowal Gill (SC) 10th/Diploma In typewriting
Gurdit Singh Sekhon Faridkot 11th
Dalbir Singh Tong Baba Bakala (SC) 12th
Amandeep Singh ‘Goldy’ Musafir Balluana (SC) 12th
Labh Singh Ugoke Bhadaur 12th
Jai Krishan Singh Garhshankar 12th
Gurlal Ghanaur Ghanaur 12th
Bram Shanker Hoshiarpur 12th
Tarunpreet Singh Sond Khanna 12th
Anmol Gagan Maan Kharar 12th
Sukhvir Maiser Khana Maur 12th
Gurdev Singh Dev Maan Nabha (SC) 12th
Laljit Singh Bhullar Patti 12th
Hakam Singh Thekedar Raikot (SC) 12th
Chetan Singh Jaura Majra Samana 12th
Manjinder Singh Lalpura Sri Khadoor Sahib 12th
Jasvir Singh Raja Gill Urmar 12th
Narinderpal Singh Sawna Fazilka 12th Advanced Diploma in Child Education & Applied Psychology
Master Jagsir Singh Bhucho Mandi (SC) 12th JBT Diploma
Bhagwant Mann Dhuri 12th/College dropout
Ashok Prashar Pappi Ludhiana Central 7th
Sarvan Singh Dhun Khemkaran 8th
Madan Lal Bagga Ludhiana North 9th
Jagdeep Singh Brar Muktsar 9th
Balkar Singh Kartarpur (SC) B Ed
Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer Barnala B Tech
Amritpal Singh Sukhanand Bhagha Purana B Tech
Amolak Singh Jaitu (SC) B Tech
Kuljit Singh Randhawa Dera Bassi BA
Devinder Singh Laddi Dhos Dharamkot BA
Ranveer Singh Bhullar Firozpur City BA
Raman Arora Jalandhar Central BA
Gurpreet Gogi Ludhiana West BA
Kulwant Singh Pandori Mehal Kalan (SC) BA
Inderjit Kaur Mann Nakodar BA
Manjit Singh Bilaspur Nihal Singh Wala (SC) BA
Neena Mittal Rajpura BA
Balkar Singh Sidhu Rampura Phul BA
Aman Arora Sunam BA
Jagroop Singh Gill Bathinda Urban BA LLB
Karambir Singh Ghuman Dasuya BA LLB
Lakhbir Singh Rai Fatehgarh Sahib BA LLB
Jagdeep Kamboj Goldy Jalalabad BA LLB
Barinder Kumar Goyal Lehragaga BA LLB
Harjot Singh Bains Anandpur Sahib BA.LLB
Harpal Singh Cheema Dirba (SC) Bachelor Laws
Jasbir Singh Sandhu Amritsar West (SC) Bachelors EMS
Vijay Singla Mansa BDS
Amit Rattan Kotfatta Bathinda Rural (SC) BE
Kultar Singh Sandhwan Kotkapura BE
Rajinder Pal Kaur Chhina Ludhiana South Graduation
Jeevan Jyot Kaur Amritsar East LLB
Kulwant Singh Sidhu Atam Nagar LLB
Rajnish Dahiya Firozpur Rural (SC) LLB
Dinesh Chadha Rupnagar LLB
Narinder Kaur Bharaj Sangrur LLB
Gurpreet Singh Banawali Sardulgarh LLB
Baljinder Kaur Talwandi Sabo M.Phil
Jaswinder Singh Attari (SC) MA
Rupinder Singh Bassi Pathana (SC) MA
Fauja Singh Sarari Guru Har Sahai MA
Saravjit Kaur Manuke Jagraon (SC) MA
Harbhajan Singh E.T.O. Jandiala (SC) MA
Ajit Pal Singh Kohli Patiala MA
Manwinder Singh Gyaspura Payal (SC) MA
Amarpal Singh Sri Hargobindpur (SC) MA
Budhram Singh Budhlada (SC) MA Med
Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra Amargarh MA/MPhil
Gurinder Singh Garry Amloh MBA
Ajay Gupta Amritsar Central MBBS
Dr. Amandeep Kaur Arora Moga MBBS
Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar Amritsar South MD
Dr. Ravjot Singh Sham Chaurasi (SC) MD
Dr Charanjit Singh Chamkaur Sahib (SC) MS
Dr. Baljit Kaur Malout (SC) MS
Balbir Singh Patiala Rural MS
Dr. Kashmir Singh Sohal Sri Tarn Taran Sahib MS
Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh Amritsar North PhD
Mohammad Jamil Ur Rehman Malerkotla (SC) PhD

AAP’s Show Your Degree campaign

Aam Aadmi Party started the “Show Your Degree” campaign in an attempt to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The step by AAP is being seen as retaliation to the judgment by Gujarat High Court where AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, was slapped with a Rs 25,000 fine over Degree Row. Since then, AAP has been trying to project as if PM Modi is hiding his education qualification despite his degrees being in the public domain.

During a press statement, Delhi education minister Atishi showed her graduation and double post-graduation degrees and boasted about her qualifications. She also claimed that one AAP leader would show his or her degree every day. Punjab MLAs can continue the campaign after Delhi MLAs finish their quote after 33 days. If it happens, they will be able to continue for 55 days. Ideally, they should have been able to show the degree(s) of one MLA a day for 154 days, but based on the information on the education qualification of MLAs from two states, they can do it only for 88 days.

By the time this report was published, AAP has not fulfilled its promise of showing one degree per day on the third day of the campaign.

OpIndia has collected the information from publically available affidavits submitted by MLAs as per ECI’s regulations. These affidavits are available on ECI’s website.

Dehradun: FIR registered against comedian Yash Rathi for remarks on Lord Ram

OpIndia Staff
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Dehradun: FIR registered against comedian Yash Rathi for remarks on Lord Ram

A case has been registered against comedian and blogger Yash Rathi at Prem Nagar police station for making objectionable remarks about Lord Shriram.

It is alleged that he made objectionable remarks about Lord Shri Ram during a program organized at Sheela Farm, Nanda Ki Chowki. In protest against this, office bearers and workers of various political and religious organizations lodged a complaint at the Prem Nagar police station after protesting at the farm.

Rathi can be heard saying “When Jesus tried walking on water for the first time, he drowned. His friend pulled him out of the water and asked Jesus why he had so much overconfidence., if he didn’t know how to walk on water, why didn’t he learn to swim? Jesus responds by saying, I made a small mistake, I forgot to write Ram on my chappal”.

Rathi can be watched saying this at 30 seconds in the video embedded below.

Sagar Jaiswal, president of the complainant organisation Bhairav ​​Vahini, told the police that on April 8, a ‘Youth for You’ program was organized at Sheela Farm, Nanda Ki Chowki. During the program, alleged comedian Yash Rathi used inappropriate language about Lord Ram. The video of Rathi making the crass joke is also going viral on social media platforms.

According to Jaiswal, this has hurt the religious sentiments of the people of the Hindu community. On Monday, people from various Hindu organizations reached Prem Nagar police station demanding the registration of a case against the accused, where they met SSI Praveen Pundir after which, a case was registered against Rathi for hurting religious sentiments.

Congress leader Jagdish Tytler submits voice sample in connection with the Pul Bangash Gurudwara fire during 1984 anti-Sikh riots: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Congress leader Jagdish Tytler submits voice sample in connection with the Pul Bangash Gurudwara fire during 1984 anti-Sikh riots: Details

On Tuesday, April 11, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned former Congress MP Jagdish Tytler to question him in a case related to a fire at Delhi’s Pul Bangash Gurudwara during the 1984 Sikh riots. The central agency had reportedly summoned the former Congress leader to the CFSL Lab to collect his voice sample as new evidence has emerged in the case.

Tytler arrived at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in the CGO Complex, where his voice sample was collected by experts after which he was allowed to leave.

Tytler was summoned as CBI wants to match his voice samples with the voice of a person who allegedly confessed to rioting in a sting video released by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in 2018. Tytler had denied at the time that he was the person in the sting.

The investigating agency has also requested Manjit Singh GK, the Sikh leader who released the sting videos in 2018, to join the investigation. Additionally, reports suggest that CBI may also contact the Delhi police to check if there are any police control room recordings from 1984 that can shed fresh light on this case.

CBI in its letter to Manjit Singh GK said, “The evidentiary value of the voice sample will be tested in due course. Legal opinion will be taken. But at this stage, we do want to look at all the new evidence that is coming up.”

Notably, in 2018, Manjit Singh GK, who was then the DSGMC president and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) national spokesperson, released a series of five video clips before the media, claiming that an unknown man on February 3, 2018, handed over an envelope to his security guards. The envelope had GK’s name written over it with the instruction “to be opened only by GK.” It contained a pen drive having the five video clips allegedly recorded in 2011 and some documents of transcripts thereof, he added.

GK alleged that in clip 3, Tytler has admitted that he has killed 100 Sikhs and nothing happened to him except a sham enquiry.

The Pul Bangash Gurudwara fire during the 1984 Sikh riots

The case against Jagdish Tytler, who continues to hold sway in the Congress party, was one of the three cases the Nanavati Commission, a one-man commission appointed by the BJP-led government in May 2000, had ordered to be reopened by the CBI in 2005.

Tytler is accused of leading a mob in the 1984 Pul Bangash case in which three Sikhs, namely Badal Singh, Thakur Singh and, Gurcharan Singh were killed during the riots at Gurudwara Pul Bangash in North Delhi on November 1, 1984, a day after the assassination of then-prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.

An eye witness account of the Pull Bangash Gurudwara fire

In fact, in 2017, Surinder Singh, who was the head granthi of Gurudwara Pul Bangash near Delhi’s Azad Market, told the media how Jagdish Tytler had played a crucial role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He recalled, “On the morning of November 1, 1984, a big mob which was carrying sticks, iron rods and kerosene oil attacked the Gurudwara. The crowd was led by our area’s member of parliament of Congress (I) Jagdish Tytler. He incited the crowd to set the Gurudwara on fire and kill the Sikhs. A few people were holding the flags of the Congress party and were raising slogans such as, ‘The revenge of blood will be taken by blood, the Sikhs are traitors, kill them, burn them’. Five to six policemen were also with the crowd. On incitement by Tytler, they attacked the gurudwara and set it on fire. Thakur Singh, who was a retired inspector of Delhi police and an employee of the Gurudwara managing committee, was killed by the crowd. Badal Singh, who was the sewadar of the gurudwara, was burnt alive. I witnessed this incident helplessly from the upper floor of the Gurudwara. The gurudwara too was set on fire, but the fire did not reach the upper floor.”

Lopsided Investigation into the 1984 Sikh Genocide

After the massacre, in which over 2700 people were killed, various committees and commissions were formed to identify the perpetrators, however, no committee accused Congress loyalists Jagdish Tytler or Sajjan Kumar of any charges relating to the 1984 riots.

The May 2000 Nanavati Commission, a one-man commission appointed by the BJP-led government, however, found “credible evidence” against Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar. The Nanavati Commission named Tytler as one of the organisers of the riots. It asserted, based on evidence, that Tytler was also an accused in the killing of three Sikhs outside the Gurudwara in his constituency.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), tasked with probing the case, closed all cases against Tytler for his alleged role in engineering riots against Sikhs. The CBI submitted a report to the Delhi court in 2007 which stated that no evidence or witness had been found to corroborate the allegations of instigating a crowd during the riots against Tytler.

In 2014, the CBI filed its third closure report (earlier closure reports were filed in 2007 and 2009), again giving a clean chit to the Congress loyalist. However, Delhi’s Karkardooma courts rejected the third CBI closure report on December 4, 2015, and asked the CBI to continue its probe in the wake of the allegation levelled by Abhishek Verma, an eye witness in the case pertaining to the fire that took place at Delhi’s Pul Bangash Gurudwara during the 1984 Sikh riots.

In 2019, noting the sensitive nature of the matter, a Delhi court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to expedite investigations into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and re-investigate the role of Congress leader Jagdish Tytler and the other accused in the case.

How Congress has always supported Jagdish Tytler despite serious allegations against him

Despite serious allegations against Jagdish Tytler and his alleged direct involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre, the Congress has never taken any punitive action against him nor have they ever attempted to disassociate themselves from him. Tytler has, in fact, until today, remained a mainstay of the party’s Delhi unit, often attending meetings and weighing in on matters of import.

Jagdish Tytler was subsequently given tickets to contest the election by the Indian National Congress and also made Union Minister of Civil Aviation first and then the labour department. He had contested the 2004 elections and won as well. He was finally dropped as a candidate during the 2009 polls. 

In December 2022, Tytler was seen attending Congress Delhi Unit’s meeting over the preparations for the Bharat Jodo Yatra. He was also seen campaigning for the Congress party in the run-up to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections.

Notably, in February 2023, the name of Tytler again made headlines, when he was elected as an All India Congress Committee (AICC) member. Also, last month, Jagdish Tytler joined the Congress protest at Raj Ghat, where the party carried out ‘Sankalp Satyagraha’ against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi. 

Pakistan fumes over India’s decision to host G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir, calls attempt disconcerting

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan fumes over India’s decision to host G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir, calls attempt disconcerting

Pakistan on Tuesday voiced severe disapproval of India’s choice to host the G20 summit in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. The country stated that India holding G20 summit in what it blatantly called the ‘Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)’ is disconcerting. The G20 Tourism Working Group meeting will take place in Srinagar from May 22–24, 2023, according to the announcement from the Narendra Modi administration.

The schedule of two additional sessions of the Y-20 consultative youth forum in Leh and Srinagar has also drawn criticism from Pakistan, who claim it is similarly disconcerting. IIOJK is a propaganda term used by Pakistan and its media when discussing about Kashmir in India.

Releasing an official statement in the matter, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry criticized India’s action and said it continued its ‘illegal occupation’ of Jammu and Kashmir. It added that such incidents could not obscure the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is a recognized international dispute that has been on the UN Security Council’s agenda for more than 70 years.

Along with breaking the UN Charter and international law, India was charged in the statement of exploiting its membership in a significant international organisation to further its own ‘self-serving’ interests.

Pakistan has also informed other Group-20 (G20) members of its reluctance about India hosting a tourism conference in Srinagar. Pakistan claimed that Srinagar is a part of the ‘disputed territory’ and that the UN Security Council is considering a resolution against India’s occupation of some areas of Kashmir. Therefore, no such international gathering could be held in established disputed areas, the statement added.

India has set the date for the G20 summit in Srinagar. India said the working group meeting on tourism will take place in Srinagar from May 22 to 24 in an update to the G20 calendar on Friday. In the past, New Delhi has made plans for organizing a number of summits, including one in the Run of Kutch.

India’s plan to host G20 has been criticized by Pakistan as well as China. Pakistan is gathering information and plans to raise the issue at global forums while it is known that Pakistan and China are in communication with one another over the issue.

Earlier in the year 2022, India reiterated its often-stated position and had told the United Nations that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. The country had also urged Pakistan to vacate the illegally occupied areas in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) region.

“Entire Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were, are, and will always be an integral part of India, irrespective of what Pakistan representative believes… We call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation,” R Madhusudan, Counsellor at Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations had said at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Madhusudan also back then had said that Pakistan has been globally recognised as the sponsor of terrorism and some of the most horrific terror attacks across the globe trace their origins to Pakistan. He was responding to allegations by Pakistan’s representative at the UN Munir Akram, who, in his statements claimed that India was sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan.

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