The Supreme Court, in a five-judge constitution bench, ruled that Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners will henceforth be appointed by a commission that would comprise the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India. This ruling comes in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed in this regard.
This judgment comes at a time when the General Elections are only a year away. The bench was headed by Justice KM Joseph and included four other judges namely Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy, and CT Ravikumar. The CEC and ECs prior to this ruling were appointed by the President on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
The Constitution does not contain detailed provisions regarding the appointment or powers of the Election Commissioner. The powers and scope of the EC have instead been dealt with in two separate pieces of legislation called the Representation of People’s Act 1950 and the Representation of People’s Act 1951.
Article 324(1) says- The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for, and the conduct of,all elections of parliament and to the legislatures of all states and of elections of offices of President and Vice-President help under this constitution shall be vested in a Commission, referred to in this constitution as the Election Commission.
Article 324(2) reads The Election Commission shall consist of the Chief Election Commissioner and such number of other Election Commissioners, if any as the President may from time to time fix and the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners shall, subject to the provisions of any law made in that behalf by Parliament, be made by the President.
As can be seen above, the Constitution majorly remains silent on the process or method of election of the CEC and ECs.
Meanwhile, the esteemed court said that the founding fathers of the Constitution left it to Parliament to frame the law for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and ECs but political dispensations betrayed the trust and the law has not been framed in the last seven decades.
The court also said that democracy is fragile and would collapse if lip service is paid to rule of law
On Thursday (March 2), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clinched the Tripura Vidhan Sabha elections with ease, despite facing strong opposition. Interestingly, Amit Shah made a similar prophecy about two weeks ago during an interview with the news agency ANI. The BJP-IPFT alliance was contesting against the Congress-CPI(M) alliance while facing a massive contest from the newly formed TIpra Moth in the tribal-dominated areas of the state.
The saffron party won 32 seats in an Assembly of 60 while its pre-poll alliance partner Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) managed to secure just 1 seat.
Screengrab of the Tripura election results, data via Election Commission of India
The main rival parties in the North-Eastern State, Congress and CPIM, joined hands in the hopes of overthrowing the incumbent BJP government but could win a grand total of 14 seats in the Tripura Vidhan Sabha elections. CPIM won 11 seats, while Congress won just 3.
Tripura Motha Party (also known as Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance), which has been demanding a separate State for indigenous people, was able to secure 13 seats in its maiden Vidhan Sabha election appearance, becoming the second largest party in the assembly. The party won more seats than CPIM and is all set to grab the position of leader of the opposition.
Putting a stop to the Communist rot in Tripura
Until 5 years ago, BJP did not have a real footing in Tripura. But the residents of the State were disillusioned with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) government (1993-2018).
Tripura government employees, mostly teachers, were forced to work for low salaries, with prolonged periods of no revision. They were stuck on the 4th Pay Commission scale (prevalent in the late 1980s) even in 2017. Needless to say, privatisation had taken a hit under the Left regime.
Most people were dependent on that one family member who had a government job. By 2018, people were desperately looking for a change. BJP saw an opportunity and under the banner of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it promised better wages to government employees.
The residents of Tripura, who were by then well aware of BJP’s development model, reposed their faith in the party. After being elected to power, the state government announced a hike in the pay scale for govt employees and pensioners at par with the 7th central pay commission.
After BJP managed to topple the CPIM government in 2018, the state government led by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb brought changes and developmental works long waited for by the people of Tripura.
Starting in January 2020, the BJP governments at the State and the Centre helped resolve the long-standing Bru refugee crisis in Tripura. The Bru refugees from Manpur were given permanent shelter in the state, their names were included in the voter list, and they voted in these elections.
In February 2021, the BJP government announced a 3% hike in Dearness Allowance/ Dearness Relief for employees and pensioners. In May of that year, it launched an online portal for supporting businesses that were impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.
Register now on https://t.co/abVKv0Kxy9 if your business was impacted by COVID. Jagrut Tripura is the portal for your loan needs and more.
Our Government under PM Shri @narendramodi ji’s leadership are committed to supporting our people as we continue to recover from COVID.
Successful management of the Covid-19 pandemic, the inauguration of a new airport terminal and incentives to government employees were some of the other achievements of the government.
However, in the course of time, the CM started to lose popularity among the people for various issues, including several controversial comments that he made. Worried that it might affect the party, BJP replaced him a year before the election. Dr Manik Saha, a dental surgeon who was elected to the Rajya Sabha, was called in to fill in the role of Biplab Kumar Deb in May last year.
Within just two months in office, the newly appointed Tripura CM announced a hike of 5% in Dearness Allowance/ Dearness Relief for employees and pensioners.
Agartala | We’ve decided to increase the Dearness Allowance (DA) of state government employees and pensioners by 5% with effect from 1st July 2022, said Tripura’s Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury (03.08) pic.twitter.com/CEfmOxRlK3
In the month of December last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first dental college in Tripura, a long-standing demand of the medical community.
Not to forget the continued emphasis on the development of national and state highways, and airports and boosting of internet and railway connectivity as part of PM Modi’s vision of the HIRA (Highways, Internet, Railways, Airport) model.
Days before the turn of the new year, the BJP government announced an additional hike of 12% in Dearness Allowance/ Dearness Relief for employees and pensioners. The unprecedented move received overwhelming support and further sealed the victory in the favour of the BJP.
The aftermath
The Opposition parties, namely the Congress and CPIM, were shoved into a corner after the BJP turned the tide against them. Out of desperation, they decided to contest the 2023 Tripura Vidhan Sabha polls together.
The two parties relied on arithmetical calculations in the hopes of overthrowing the BJP. As per data [pdf] on the ECI website, CPIM secured 42.2% vote share while Congress received 1.78% votes in the 2018 elections.
BJP steered ahead of both parties with a 43.59% vote share in the polls, held 5 years ago. Assuming that they could topple the BJP if they got together and somehow transfer the votes among themselves, the CPIM and the Congress forged a pre-poll alliance.
The result was imminent, a large number of CPIM workers defected to the BJP, not to forget how Congress defied the CPIM and ended up filing more nominations than what was decided initially.
However, instead of fixing the mess in their own house, they decided to hound psephologists for predicting BJP’s victory in the 2023 Vidhan Sabha polls in Tripura. Not to forget attempts at fake opinion polls and complete indifference to Tripura by top guns in the Congress party.
As predicted by most exit polls, BJP won the elections with an absolute majority and a vote share of 38.97%. The 5% loss in its vote share from the last election can largely be attributed to the defection of top BJP leaders Sudip Deb Barman and Ashish Kumar Shah to the Congress party.
The Congress benefitted in two ways – the defection of the two BJP leaders to the grand old party and the transfer of CPIM votes in key constituencies. As such, it was able to increase its vote share from 1.79% in 2018 to 8.56% in 2023.
Screengrab of the party-wise vote share in the 2023 Tripura elections
However, the biggest loser turned out to be the Communist Party of India (Marxist) party, the vote share of which declined from 42.3% in 2018 to 24.6% now, post the alliance with Congres. It further went down to 11 seats from 16, partly due to the transfer of indigenous (tribal) votes to the Tipra Mohta Party.
However, BJP’s alliance partner ITFT also suffered a massive loss. While it had won 8 seats (7.38% vote share) in 2018, it was decimated to 1 seat (1.26% vote share) in the 2023 polls. It was again due to the transfer of tribal votes to the Tipra Mohta Party. It is notable that ITFT had its base among the tribal-dominated areas of the state, where Tipra Motha emerged as a major force. BJP kept its vote share almost intact among the majority Bengali voters.
With a clear majority of the saffron party, Tripura is set to have a stable government for the next 5 years. Given that Tipra Mohta’s hopes of being the kingmaker have been dashed, the fantasy of ‘Tipraland’, a separate State to be carved based on ethnic lines, will also not see the light of day.
The Tripura royal, Pradyot Kishore Manikya, had been able to unify several tribal factions under one banner by selling them the dream of a separate State called Tipraland, and was able to snatch tribal votes from ITFT and CPIM. However, for now, the demand for a separate state will have to be put on the back burner. It is notable that Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, who played a major role in the victory of BJP in the state, has said that the demand for a separate Tipraland state because it will open a pandora’s box as there are several such demands in the region.
Tipra Motha was able to win the votes of tribals due to the fact that some tribal populations in the state allege that they are reduced to a minority in the state. Tribals in the state keep demanding a new state for them from time to time, as they claim that they have become minorities due to the influx of Bengalis from East Pakistan during the partition and during the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971.
This year, the Indian Army deployed indigenous anti-drone jammers and spoofers in the Jammu and Punjab region to counter the drones carrying weapons, explosives, and drugs, launched by terrorist organizations with bases in Pakistan. Using the system which has worked effectively, Indian Army successfully prevented many such drones from flying into India, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.
Pakistani drones are Chinese-made, and like the majority of UAVs, they have two links, one to the GPS satellites and the other to the handler located on the opposite side of the border. Anti-drone jammers hinder the controller and drone from communicating, while the spoofer takes over the controller’s communication link to confuse the drone.
These native technological products have produced useful results, and the army is impressed with their performance, according to the report. They have boosted the country’s ability to combat the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) by terrorist organizations to transport supplies, weapons and improvised explosive devices (IED) into the two vulnerable areas of India.
The anti-drone system deployed by Indian Army has a range of over 10 km, and it is equipped with radar to detect incoming UAVs. After detecting intruding drones using electromagnetic waves or radio frequency, the system uses jammers and spoofers to disable them and prevent them from reaching their destination. The jammer blocks communication between the drone and its handler, as a result, the handler becomes unable to control the drone and it ultimately crashes. On the other hand, the spoofer confuses the drone by disrupting its link with the satellite, which causes the drone to loss direction and fails to reach its destination.
The army purchased 30 jammer and spoofer systems to be utilized in the Jammu and Punjab sectors, and tested them along the western border. The measures have successfully deterred drones from crossing the border into India for the past three months.
In addition to smuggling in weapons, drones are more frequently used to bring in drugs, mainly heroin and cocaine from the Afghanistan-Pakistan corridor. The army is particularly worried about the situation south of the Pir Panjal, where Pakistani terrorist outfits are smuggling weapons and military-grade explosives into India.
Terrorist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba have been sending explosive-carrying drones from their launch pads in the Sialkot sector to inflict damage in the Jammu region for the past three years. In June 2021, such a drone attack targeted the Indian Air Force base in Jammu, when two drones carrying explosives crashed into the IAF station, causing minor damage to the station.
The Pakistani establishment is also targeting Punjab with drones that are loaded with weapons and narcotics so that separatists can use the proceeds from drug sales (which are a major issue in the state) to buy more weapons and explosives and radicalize young Sikhs in the name of religion.
The Indian Army intends to procure more anti-drone equipment as well as armed drones, according to South Block officials, in order to be able to launch retaliatory strikes in addition to preventing cross-border smuggling.
Some Muslim students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University (JMIU) reportedly created a ruckus and opposed the celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi on the campus. The incident allegedly occurred on March 1, 2023, during an event named ‘Rangotsav’ organised by the university’s YUVA chapter, to celebrate the upcoming Hindu festival on campus. Holi will be observed on March 8 this year.
Twitter user Jatin Jain shared a thread of tweets on Thursday, March 2, with snippets from the varsity’s campus where a group of students were seen threatening and intimidating their peers against celebrating the festival on the premises. The user also shared a screenshot of an Instagram story posted by a Muslim student of JMIU where he instigates Muslims against Hindus and forbids them from participating in the Hindu festivals.
— जतिन जैन (Jatin Jain) (@NijVaani2019) March 2, 2023
The first video, posted by Twitter user Jatin Jain, shows a student who appears to be the group leader telling other students not to play Holi. He criticises the varsity proctor for permitting the Hindu festival to be celebrated on campus. The student, who is dressed in a black kurta pyjama set and a grey jacket, displays his wrath against the administration by referring to the proctor as a ‘Hijara’ (eunuch). He threatens the students as Holi revellers rejoice. He threatens the group of students who were celebrating Holi on the campus of the university.
In his subsequent tweet, Jatin Jain (@NijVaani2019) tweeted a screenshot of the Instagram story of a Muslim student of the University, going by the handle ‘dayar.e.shauq’, who instigates Muslims against Hindus and prevents them from partaking in the Hindu festivities.
Referring to a YUVA Jamia Millia Islamia poster inviting students to ‘Ragotsav,’ an event organised to celebrate the Holi festival on March 1, 2023, the student wrote, “Sahih Hadiths suggest that it is not allowed to participate in the festivals of disbelievers. When Hindus in India are oppressing Muslims and burning them alive just because they eat beef, still you’d want to “celebrate” it with them?”
Screenshot of the Instagram story posted by JMIU student dayar.e.shauq
OpIndia also obtained other similar messages in which other Muslim students discouraged other students of their community from participating in the Hindu festival.
Instagram stories of students of JMIU
In another video shared by Jatin Jain, Muslim students of the university opposing the celebration of Holi on the campus are heard raising “Naara-e-Takbeer, Allah-hu-Akbar,” slogans.
These so called student leaders identify the common students and then target them in their class through subtle methods of silencing and oppression, in which some teachers too support this cause in misguided belief of religion and victimhood. Why raise Naara-E-Takbir agnst #Holi? pic.twitter.com/RUYQBqvvlg
— जतिन जैन (Jatin Jain) (@NijVaani2019) March 2, 2023
Celebrating Hindu festivals is considered Haram in Islam and Islamists have for long opposed and perpetuated violence during every Hindu festival. Be it the Hindu religious processions for Hanuman Jayanti, Ram Navami, Navratri, or Saraswati Puja, Islamists have never missed an opportunity to create disturbances. In fact, several incidents of stone-pelting, arson, and vandalism are documented each year, but what is concerning is how these vicious attacks on Hindus are increasing in both number and intensity with each passing year. Last year, OpIndia chronicled a list of incidents where Islamists displayed Hinduphobia during the festival of Holi. We also compiled a list of attacks carried out by Islamists against Hindu processions from 2019 to 2022.
The Caravan’s designer, Samyak Prajapati, who was accused of stealing The Netherlands based artist Tijana’s artwork for the March 2023 issue to attack EAM Dr Jaishankar had earlier used Ganesh ji’s idol imagery to refer to ‘sab but uthwaye jayenge’.
Illustration by Samyak Prajapati
Prajapati had put up the image of idol of Ganesh ji with caption “hum dekhenge” (We shall see).
One of the couplet in the poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz is
Jab arz-e-Khuda ke kaabe se Sab but uthwae jaenge Hum ahl-e-safa mardood-e-harm Masnad pe bethae jaenge Sab taaj uchale jaenge Sab takht girae jaenge
Bas naam rahega Allah ka
It means when from the God’s Kaaba, all idols (but) will be removed. Then we, of clean hearts, the keepers of Faith (Islam) would be placed on throne… All crowns will be thrown, all thrones will be demolished… and only the name of Allah shall prevail.
The couplet by Faiz Ahmed Faiz essentially talks about the destruction of Murthis, the idols whom the Hindus worship. To demonstrate the same, The Caravan illustrator Samyak Prajapati put up an image of Ganesh ji.
The above couplet from the poem glorifies Islamic supremacy. Idol worship is prohibited in Islam and over the years, Islamic invaders have destroyed Hindu temples and idols in India to establish the same. The Somnath idol was broken and parts of the idol have been used in foundation of Islamic structures such that those who enter walk over what were Hindu idols.
Even now, we read about news from neighbouring Islamic countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh where Hindu temples, whichever remain after decades of destruction, are desecrated and broken. Hence, for Samyak Prajapati to show an image of a Ganesh idol when he talks about destruction of ‘buts’ (बुत – idol) is no coincidence. As a visual artist, he knows exactly what he has been doing. Murti puja is an integral practice of Hinduism.
When netizens had asked Samyak Prajapati if he would make such artwork on divine figures of other faiths, he mocked them.
Samyak mocking
In reality, visual depiction of Prophet Muhammad is ‘blasphemy’ as per Islam and is punishable by death. When French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published a cartoon of the same, terrorists blew up their office. When French teacher Samuel Paty showed the same image to his students in a class, he was beheaded publicly by an Islamic terrorist.
However, insulting Hindu gods and making a mockery out of them is hailed as something that is a liberal thing to do and aptly rewarded like how Samyak Prajapati was hired by The Caravan to create illustrations for them. Except, he seems to have stolen the artwork from someone else.
That’s not all. Samyak Prajapati also insulted the Hindu epic Mahabharat and other Hindu gods and goddesses.
Mahabharat
In what appears to be a perverse manner to create awareness about sexual abuse, Samyak Prajapati with an extremely skewed understanding of Hindu epics, talked about the episode in Mahabharat about the ‘vastra haran’ of Draupadi. Other illustrations around the ‘satirical’ news piece also mock Hanuman ji and Lord Ram.
Another Hinduphobic image
In another image, he has shown an ‘advertisement’ for ‘Fair and Godly’ (a so-called satirical take on Fair and Lovely), and in a racist comment mentioned how using the said cream will turn ‘Kali’ into ‘Lakshmi’. Kali is Goddess Kali, called so because of her ferocious form of ultimate power, time, and destruction. She is the ultimate manifestation of Shakti. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth.
Samyak has since removed the artwork he created for The Caravan from his public Instagram profile.
Here is the LinkedIn profile of The Caravan giving credit to Samyak Prajapati for the artwork for their December 2022 edition which Samyak has now removed from his public Instagram profile.
The Caravan giving credit to Samyak Prajapati
His other Hinduphobic content, however, remains.
As per his Behance profile, Samyak Prajapati is a visual communication student at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad, India.
On Thursday, March 2, the Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni met her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at Delhi’s Hyderabad House as the two leaders discussed wide-ranging issues ranging from bilateral trade to terrorism. The Italian PM praised PM Modi and referred to him as the “most loved” among all world leaders. The efforts of PM Modi to quell the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine were also commended by PM Meloni.
PM Modi is the ‘most loved’ global leader: The Italian Prime Minister
In her statement at a joint press conference with PM Modi, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni remarked, “Of all the world’s leaders, Prime Minister Modi is the most loved. This is really proven that he has been a major leader and congratulations for that.”
#WATCH | …(PM Modi) is the most loved one of all (leaders) around the world. This is really proven that he has been a major leader and congratulations for that: Italian PM Giorgia Meloni pic.twitter.com/DF2ohzicqu
As G-20 President, India can play a central role in ending hostilities in Ukraine: PM Meloni
Italy, according to PM Meloni, hopes that India would play a ‘central role’ in assisting and negotiating the process for the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine during India’s G-20 presidency.
According to PM Modi, he and the prime minister of Italy expressed their concerns about the detrimental consequences the unrest in Ukraine has had on developing nations. PM Modi said that the food, fertilizer, and fuel crisis brought on by the conflict in Ukraine has had an impact on all nations.
PM Modi greeted PM Meloni upon her arrival in India for the first time, “She was elected as Italy’s first female and youngest prime minister in last year’s elections because of the votes of the Italian people. I congratulate her on this historic accomplishment on behalf of all Indians,” PM Modi remarked.
It is pertinent to note that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is the chief guest and keynote speaker at the 8th Raisina Dialogue 2023. This year marks the diamond jubilee or 75th year of India-Italy bilateral ties. The Raisina Dialogue is a conference held annually in the national capital.
“Our “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” campaigns are opening up great investment opportunities in India. We have decided to designate the Indo-Italy partnership as a Strategic Partnership on this occasion. India will further strengthen its ties with Italy in the areas of space, semiconductors, IT, telecom, hydrogen, and renewable energy. We applaud the announcement of a Startup Bridge between India and Italy today,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi highlighted defense as one of the sectors where India and Italy could initiate a “new chapter”. The opportunities for “co-production” and “co-development” in the defense manufacturing industry could be beneficial for both nations as per the Indian PM.
The two leaders also decided to hold joint training sessions and exercises between the armed forces of both countries to further strengthen the cooperation in the fight against terrorism and separatism.
On 2nd March 2023, Rajasthan’s Congress MLA from the Ramgarh constituency Shafia Zubair said in the assembly that Meos, the Muslim Rajput community in Mewat, are descendants of Ram and Krishna. She said this while responding to BJP MLAs saying that Mewat is a backward area. She also demanded compensation for the families of dead cattle smugglers Junaid and Nasir of the Bhiwani case just like compensation was given to the family members of Kanhaiya Lal who was beheaded by Islamists in June 2022.
She said that the Meo Muslims may have converted to Islam, but they were originally Hindus, and they are descendants of Ram and Krishna.
Shafia Zubair said, “Meo community resides in Alwar, Bharatpur, Nuh, and in some parts of Mathura, where Krishna was born. I traced the ancestry of the community to know what our history is. The result says that we are from the lineage of Lord Krishna. Even if we have converted our religion, the blood does not change, and it belongs to Ram and Krishna.”
Shafia Zubair added, “You should all remember who Meos are (descendants of Ram- Krishna) and consider them as Mewa (dry fruits). Nobody should tell us again and again that we are backward. It has given three MLAs (Zubair, Wajid Ali from Nagar, and Zahida Khan from Kaman) and you will see where the Mewat will reach in the next 10 years.” Therefore, Mewat should not be considered a backward region, she said.
She also demanded that the budget for the region should be increased from Rs 25 crore to Rs 100 crore for the development of the region, and demanded more schools in the region.
Shafia Zubair also demanded compensation for the family members of Junaid and Nasir – the deceased in the recent Bhiwani case. She urged that the compensation for Junaid and Nasir be equal to that received by Kanhaiya Lal’s family. She said, “Different compensation was given in the Udaipur incident and different in the Nasir-Junaid murder case, why is this happening? It was a very shameful incident, but the compensation to the victims has also been given very little.” Shafia Zubair Khan earlier made it to the news when she performed Rudra Abhishek in the Pratapeshwar Mahadev temple of Amer in Rajasthan.
On February 17 this year, the Rajasthan Police reached Haryana to probe the Bhiwani case in which the charred dead bodies of ‘cattle smugglers’ Junaid and Nasir were recovered by the Haryana Police.
The Election Commission statistics indicate that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is poised to form the next government in Tripura and Nagaland. BJP has also solidified its grip on Meghalaya, where the party has increased its seat tally. In all three states, BJP held the reins of government with its coalition partners.
While BJP is rejoicing over its impressive performance, Congress is bemoaning the loss of its electoral relevance with recent poll results serving as additional proof of the same. The outcome of the assembly elections in three northeastern states is seen by the Congress “as a setback for the grand old party.”
Akhilesh Pratap Singh, the spokesperson of the Congress, stated that the three northeastern states’ election outcomes are not what he had anticipated. “This is a huge blow to our party,” he added.
Another party spokesman, Supriya Shrinate, defended her party at the same time by claiming that the results of the elections cannot be extrapolated to the entire country. She further alleged that people in charge of the central government triumphed in the elections in the northeast.
Congress’ election campaign has also drawn criticism from political analysts. Prominent Congress leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi who were named star campaigners weren’t even present in Tripura, while Rahul Gandhi held only one political rally in Meghalaya.
In contrast, BJP was actively involved in election campaigns across the 3 states. Numerous senior leaders, including prime minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and union minister Kiren Rijiju, along with party president Jagat Prakash Nadda were doing rallies for the party.
Since 2017, Northeast India has witnessed 47 visits from PM Narendra Modi. Since Independence, no prime minister has made as many visits as PM Modi has in the last 5 years.
On February 3, comedian Daniel Fernandes published a video, ‘Alive and Vaccinated’, on his YouTube channel, which was a recording of his live show. In the one-hour 39 minutes long video, comedian Daniel Fernandes displayed his bigotry unabashed and expressed genocidal and anti-Hindu views.
OpIndia recently reported how he mocked Covid-19 patients who voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and wished death upon them. He added even his friend thought the same. Quoting an unnamed friend, he said his friend gave the idea those who voted for PM Modi (referred to as “chai”) should have been denied hospital access. In a recently published 90-minute+ long recording of an alleged comedy piece, Daniel touched every aspect that would put him in the limelight for the wrong reasons.
In the show’s beginning, he said there was a supposed upside to the alleged “mismanagement of Covid-19 by the Government” that there would be considerably less traffic post-pandemic. Sadly for him, that did not happen. Though India faced a severe second wave of the pandemic, the country came out of shock and rose to the moment. As of now, India has less than 1,000 cases reported in a span of seven days, as per the WHO website. Comparing it to countries like the United States, we are doing far better, thanks to the proactive steps taken by the government at the centre.
During the show, he consistently mocked Covaxin and propagated as if those who took the India-made vaccine were inferior. According to him, those who took Covaxin were not as good as those who took other vaccines, for example, Covishield.
Excited for Munawar, a slap on Hindus
During his show, Daniel mentioned that he was happy for Munawar Faruqui, the controversial comedian who mocked innocent Hindus who were burnt alive in the Godra train burning incident and used derogatory language for Maa Sita. Interestingly, Daniel claimed Faruqui was jailed because of “jokes he never told”. In reality, he was jailed for around a month (the matter is sub-judice) because of the repeated offences.
He had to cancel and was still forced to cancel multiple shows because of the Hinduphobic rants he went on. He is indeed getting work on different platforms, and it is only because of the forgiving nature of most Hindus. Otherwise, Nupur Sharma still lives in hiding with hundreds of death threats on her back. Many, like Kanhaiya Lal, Umesh Kohle, Sreenivasan, Kishan Bharwad and others, are not even alive to comment on the issue.
The dream of Prime Minister Kunal Kamra
He consistently made jokes about Hindus and propagated Hinduphobia does not exist in the Indian comedy scene. He said, “We’re not some organised unit that selectively targets people of a specific religion. If we were, we would stand a chance at winning a general election. We would’ve had Prime Minister Kunal Kamra, you don’t know!” By this statement, he was also insinuating that the current government targets people of specific religions, which is patently false and conforms to the usual propaganda that leftists and Islamists spread regularly.
Interestingly, while Daniel continued to mock Hindus whenever he found a chance, he made sure not to mock “the other religion” openly as he feared the consequences. He made a joke about “someone from that religion” without taking names and beeping whenever he said a word “that should not be said” to ensure, he does not face the heat. He claimed that he was showing “guts” to joke about “that religion”. The joke was, “Jesus, Buddha, and _________
walk into a bar! Jesus, Buddha, and _________ walk into a bar. The bartender looks at them and goes, “What can I get you two gentlemen?” Was I right? Or was I right?” Daniel said the joke was not offensive to the people of the religion that he chose not to name and if the audience thinks about it, he was on the side of the people of “that religion”.
Essentially, while Daniel named either Allah or Prophet or Islam, he made sure the sound was beeped and there was an emoji covering his mouth because he is aware of the repercussions, however, he had no qualms in mocking other religions, especially Hinduism.
No castism in Christianity claimed the comedian
Daniel subtly claimed that Christianity does not have anything similar to castism. He said, “As a Catholic, I don’t understand the caste system. I don’t get this complex human Jenga that you play. And not because I don’t care. It’s just that growing up, I’ve never been exposed to this. Nobody ever spoke to us about it, Okay? As adults, yes, people are speaking to us now, but they’re doing it in a language called yelling! And we all know how well that works.”
Furthermore, he claimed that calling a Christian convert “Rice Bag” is like a person pointing a gun at himself. According to him, if a person gets converted, it is because of the atrocities he has faced in the religion he was born in. However, in reality, most conversations are systematically carried out with an agenda that the missionaries have laid down. These converts are lured into conversion using money, fear of diseases and more. There are countless reports out there that talk about forced conversion in detail. Also, if there is no castism in Christianity, why are there demands to recognise “Dalit Christians”?
Our previous report on the particular section on Covid-19, where he expressed his genocidal views for those who voted for PM Modi, can be checked here.
On Thursday, 2nd March 2023, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that everyone should feel proud of the legacy of Lord Shri Ram. Yogi Adityanath made this statement as he addressed the Uttar Pradesh state legislative council during the budget session.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said, “When Saint Tulsidas ji was invited to Akbar’s court, he refused to go. He had said that I have only one king – Ram. He had said I don’t consider anyone other than Ram as king. People who insult our heritage need to be recognized.”
जब संत तुलसीदास जी को अकबर के दरबार में बुलाया गया था, तब उन्होंने जाने से इंकार कर दिया था।
उन्होंने तो कहा था कि भाई! मेरे तो एक ही राजा हैं- राम।
— Yogi Adityanath Office (@myogioffice) March 2, 2023
Yogi Adityanath added, “In Uttar Pradesh, some people cursed Lord Shri Ram. Today, everyone knows what they are reduced to by the public now.”
विरासत को अपमानित करने वाले लोगों को पहचानने की आवश्यकता है।
उत्तर प्रदेश में जिन लोगों ने प्रभु श्री राम को कोसा था, जनता ने उन्हें ‘कहां’ पहुंचा दिया, सभी जानते हैं: मुख्यमंत्री श्री @myogiadityanath जी महाराज
— Yogi Adityanath Office (@myogioffice) March 2, 2023
Yogi Adityanath further said, “People used to say that not even a bird can flutter his wings in Ayodhya. Today, a grand Ram Mandir is being built in Ayodhya. In January 2024, when Ram lalla will sit again in his temple, not only India, but the whole world will be proud. We should all feel proud of the legacy of Lord Shri Ram.”
जनवरी, 2024 में जब रामलला अपने मंदिर में फिर से विराजमान होंगे, तब भारत ही नहीं, पूरी दुनिया गौरवान्वित होगी।
— Yogi Adityanath Office (@myogioffice) March 2, 2023
Earlier, while speaking in the Uttar Pradesh state legislative assembly, Yogi Adityanath said, “Socialism has not brought prosperity anywhere in the world. India does not need socialism. UP is the land of Ram Rajya and is moving ahead with this spirit. Only economic prosperity, a development-oriented society, and the creation of political integrity can bring happiness to the life of every citizen. The country will function on the principle of Ram Rajya. This Budget is going to be the foundation stone of Ram Rajya. A grand temple of Lord Ram is going to be built this year. Socialism turns the rich into the poor, the poor into slaves, and intellectuals into fools.”
Yogi Adityanath’s remarks came as a reply to the leader of the opposition in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who on 28th February 2023 said that Ram Rajya cannot be achieved without socialism. Mentioning the organized crimes in mining, forest, land, and animal trafficking during the Samajwadi Party’s regime in the state, Yogi Adityanath said, “Our government is promoting One District One Product (ODOP) scheme. It’s true, you could not give ODOP, but instead, you gave one district, one mafia.”
