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‘Ready to be hanged if the allegations prove to be true’: Wrestling Federation chief Brij Bhushan Singh rejects molestation charges

OpIndia Staff
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‘Ready to be hanged if the allegations prove to be true’: Wrestling Federation chief Brij Bhushan Singh rejects molestation charges

The national president of the Wrestling Federation of India Brij Bhushan Singh has rejected allegations of dictatorship and sexual harassment raised by wrestlers on 18th January 2023. Brij Bhushan Singh has said that he is ready to be hanged if the allegations are found to be true.

Wrestling Federation of India’s president Brij Bhushan Singh has given an explanation about the allegations of sexual harassment of women wrestlers. He has denied the allegations of women wrestlers. Brij Bhushan Singh said, “Can anyone come ahead and say that the federation harassed an athlete? There has been no incident of sexual harassment. I am ready for any kind of investigation. I am ready to be hanged if the allegations of sexual abuse are found to be true. The accuser should come ahead and tell.”

Several veteran wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sakshi Malik protested against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and the Wrestling Federation of India at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Wednesday. Following the uproar, WFI president Brij Bhushan Singh lashed out at the wrestlers, saying they were not ready to give trials or fight at the national level. He also said that this is a planned conspiracy against him.

Brij Bhushan Singh said, “When I came to know that wrestlers in Delhi had started protesting, I didn’t know what the allegation was. I immediately came to Delhi. Regarding the allegations (of sexual harassment) that Vinesh has leveled, is anyone coming forward with these allegations? Is there any athlete who has come forward with these allegations? Has the Fed Press committed any kind of sexual harassment?”

Brij Bhushan Singh further said, “They will not give trials, nor will they fight at the national level. Did they not have any problem with the federation for the last ten years? All these things have been happening since the new rules came into force. None of these players who are sitting on protest today have fought in the nationals. This is a conspiracy against me. A big industrialist is behind all this. When Vinesh Phogat lost, it was me who inspired her. When Deepak Punia lost in the Tokyo Olympics, the Russian coach beat the referee. Vinesh Phogat did not wear an Olympic uniform.”

About the new rules, he said, “The organization made a rule by studying the rules of many countries of the world. We have made it a rule to conduct tests after the Olympics. If one wants to go to the Olympics he will be tested like any other athlete in the country. The athlete who has secured an Olympic quota will compete with the winner of the trial tests in the country. The wrestler will then be selected for the Olympics from there. If the Olympic quota holder loses, he will be given another chance. We are working according to the rules. There is no question of dictatorship. This decision is not mine but taken with the opinion of good coaches and these players.”

Brij Bhushan Singh added, “I will talk to the players. I am ready for any kind of investigation. Sexual harassment has never happened. If even one athlete comes out and proves it, I am ready to hang myself. I will not resign as WFI president. Whatever allegations have been made, I hope she (Vinesh) will send it to me in writing. I will respond to whatever I can and the rest can be investigated by the CBI or the police. This is a very big allegation. How can I take action when my own name has been dragged into it? I want to ask Vinesh Phogat why she wore a dress with the company logo at the Olympics. After losing the match, I just encouraged and motivated her.”

Earlier, while speaking to the media during the protest at Jantar Mantar, wrestler Vinesh Phogat said, “I know of 10-20 cases of sexual harassment of women wrestlers. Many coaches and referees are involved. When the High Court directs us, we will produce all the evidence. We are also ready to submit all the evidence to the PM. We will protest till the culprits are punished. No athlete will participate in any event.”

Gujarat: 8-year-old Devanshi Sanghvi, daughter of a Surat-based diamond merchant, embraces monkhood

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: 8-year-old Devanshi Sanghvi, daughter of a Surat-based diamond merchant, embraces monkhood

8-year-old Devanshi Sanghvi, the elder daughter of Surat-based diamond merchant Dhanesh Sanghvi has embraced monkhood. It is notable that Dhanesh Sanghvi is the owner of Sanghvi and Sons, one of the world’s oldest diamond companies. Devanshi Sanghvi has given up all the comfort of her luxurious life and renounced everything to take a spiritual path and lead the rest of her life as a Jain monk.

Pictures of Devanshi Sanghvi from her initiation rituals have gone viral on the internet. In one of the pictures that has been widely shared online, Devanshi, dressed in a pink dress, pays tributes to her parents by showering rice grain on them—a symbol of gratitude for giving birth to her and raising her up in accordance with principles held sacred by Jainism and to finally allow her to embrace monkhood and follow the path prescribed by Jain Tirthankaras.

Devanshi Sanghvi is the elder among the two daughters of Dhanesh Sanghvi. After attending 367 initiation rituals, Devanshi was motivated to give up worldly life. According to a family acquaintance, Devanshi has never viewed television or a movie before. She has never eaten at a restaurant.

In yet another picture that has gone viral, Devanshi Sanghvi, after completing her initiation rituals, could be seen in a white dress, an archetype attire of Jain monks and with a smile writ large on her face.

To mark the event before Devanshi’s significant transition into monkhood, a grand march with elephants, horses, and camels was brought out in Surat. The ritual is called ‘Varshi Dan’—a ceremonial parade symbolizing the rejection of material possessions that mumukshus or the ones who would soon initiate into monkhood undertake, which also entails donating clothes, grains, silver coins, and other belongings that signify one’s renunciation from the materialistic world.

The Sanghvi family, who are diamond merchants, could live a very opulent lifestyle but prefers to lead a very modest one. The family is quite devout, and Devanshi has always prayed three times daily according to family tradition. After embracing monkhood, Devanshi Sanghvi is known as Sadhvi Diganthpragnashreeji.

At a time when many people in society are seen committing crimes to accumulate wealth, the 8-year-old kid has set an example by renouncing all the luxuries that were readily available to her being the daughter of a rich diamond merchant.

Madras HC commutes the life sentence of a woman who set her minor daughter on fire

OpIndia Staff
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Madras HC commutes the life sentence of a woman who set her minor daughter on fire

The Madras High Court recently reduced the life sentence given to a woman who was convicted by a Mahila court for killing her 13-year-old daughter by setting her on fire while she was asleep, using kerosene.

On January 6, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, consisting of Justices PN Prakash (now retired) and G Jayachandran, issued a ruling reducing the life sentence of the appellant, Rajeshwari, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

The court determined that the woman did not intend to kill her daughter and subsequently issued an order accordingly.

The court overturned the trial court’s decision that found her guilty of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and instead ruled that she could be convicted of the lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304(1) of IPC.

The judges noted that Rajeshwari was furious with her daughter Mariselvi because she had left her hostel and returned home stating she had no desire to continue her studies. On June 12, 2012, a day after Mariselvi came home, Rajeshwari set her on fire in anger.

The victim died from her injuries four months after the incident.

Rajeshwari was apprehended and given a life sentence by a local court in 2019. She, however, filed a legal challenge to her conviction and sentence in the High Court by filing an appeal.

The High Court bench said that the issue before the court was to determine if Rajeshwari intended to kill her daughter when she set her on fire.

Going by the evidence, the bench contended, the conviction of Rajeshwari under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was “not sustainable.”

It stated that she could only be found guilty under Section 304(1) of the Indian Penal Code for the offence of culpable homicide not equating to murder.

It was reported that Mariselvi had been taken to the hospital by her father, and received treatment for four months for her 50% burn injuries sustained in the incident. She was discharged twice during this period, due to the slow healing of her burns, before being re-admitted.

In its ruling, the High Court stated that taking into account Mariselvi’s father’s confirmation that she had no interest in studies, her multiple hospitalizations and the fact that Rajeshwari was angry at the time of the incident, it was determined that it was a case of 304 (1) of the Indian Penal Code and not a case of murder.

“Taking all these facts into consideration, we are afraid that we cannot sustain the conviction of the appellant for the offence under Section 302 IPC and instead, the conviction can be one under Section 304(1) IPC,” the bench said.

Top wrestlers demand the removal of Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Singh, level allegations of dictatorship, sexual harassment

OpIndia Staff
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Top wrestlers demand the removal of Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Singh, level allegations of dictatorship, sexual harassment

On Wednesday, 18th January 2023, around 30 wrestlers including Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia and world championship medallist Vinesh Phogat accused the Wrestling Federation of India’s national president Brij Bhushan Singh of dictatorship, and sexually harassing women players. The wrestlers staged a protest at Jantar Mantar against him, and demanded his removal from the post.

The wrestlers said that they will fight this battle till the end and will not sit silently until Brij Bhushan Singh is removed from the post. Brij Bhushan Singh is also a BJP MP from the Kaiserganj seat in Uttar Pradesh.

Among the athletes who have at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar are 30 wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh, Rio Olympics medallist Sakshi Malik, world championship medallist Sarita Mor, Sangeeta Phogat, Satyavrat Malik, Jitendra Kinha and Commonwealth Games medallist Sumit Malik.

The wrestlers said that they are opposing some policies of the Wrestler Federation of India. Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat addressed a press conference during the protest. The wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar said that ever since they raised their voices, they have been threatened. They said, “We have all the wrestlers here today. What is being done to us will not be allowed to happen further. The mental harassment that is being done will not be allowed to happen.”

Bajrang Punia has accused the president of the Wrestling Federation of using abusive words and abusing him. He said, “We are here to play. He is specifically targeting the players and the state. We are being mentally tortured by the federation. The rules are made by the federation just one day in advance. The president is playing the entire role. The president abuses us. He even slapped the players.”

Bajrang Punia added, “Wrestlers do not want to tolerate this dictatorship. We want a change in the management of the Wrestling Federation of India. We hope the Prime Minister and the Home Minister will support us.

Vinesh Phogat accused the President of the Wrestling Federation of India of sexual harassment. She also complained about the coaching staff. She said, “Coaches sexually harass wrestlers. I raised my voice against this. Brij Bhushan Singh also sexually harasses women wrestlers.”

Vinesh Phogat said that no one takes responsibility when injured. She also said that the president talks about not playing on the national level. She said crying, “After the Tokyo Olympics defeat, the WFI president called me a ‘false coin’ (meaning non-reliable player). The WFI tortured me mentally. I used to think about ending my life every day. If something happens to a wrestler, the responsibility will be on the WFI president.”

Vinesh Phogat added, “They (the federation) also interfere in our personal lives and harass us. They are exploiting us. When we went to the Olympics, we didn’t have a physio or a coach. Coaches are harassing women wrestlers and some of the federation’s favorite coaches also misbehave with women coaches. The WFI president sexually assaulted several girls.”

British historian romanticises ‘love’ of Malwa Sultan – the cowardly Islamic ruler who had abandoned his so-called love leading to her suicide

Gopal Tiwari
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British historian romanticises ‘love’ of Malwa Sultan – the cowardly Islamic ruler who had abandoned his so-called love leading to her suicide

British historian Tom Holland recently visited Mandu in Madhya Pradesh and could not resist writing a thread romanticizing the so-called ‘love’ of the Sultans of Malwa. His ecstatic expressions were epitomized in his tweets about Baz Bahadur, the last Islamic ruler of this Sultanate who was allegedly in love with a shepherdess Roopmati.

However, in his thread, Tom Holland did not include the fact that Baz Bahadur was a cowardly Islamic ruler who left his so-called love only to commit suicide when Mughal tyrant Akbar attacked Malwa. Baz Bahadur fled to Khandesh where a joint force of the rulers of Khandesh and Berar, by defeating the Mughals, gave temporary relief to Baz Bahadur who was later forced to seek refuge in Ranas of Chittor when Mughal forces conquered his kingdom after a year.

Tom Holland started his thread by quoting William Dalrymple, a Scottish person who calls himself an art historian, to call Mandu one of the most singular experiments in pleasure that the world has ever seen. Holland tweeted, “Ghiyath Shahi filled Mandu with no less than 16,000 beautiful female slaves and the good-looking daughters of his feudatory rajahs; the walled hilltop citadel was defended by an army of five hundred armor-clad girls from Abyssinia.”

In the next tweet, Tom Holland described Ghiyath Shah’s other enthusiasms in which he mentioned samosas stuffed with saffron, fried aubergines & ginger; hunting; perfumes, especially aromatic oils; aphrodisiacs, that is, sparrow brains fried in milk and ghee; a mixture of balsam oil, cardamoms, Tibetan musk, and honey to apply on one’s penis, and what not. He was seen enjoying and romanticizing the details as he described the special qualities of the mixture saying that it would produce strong lust, bestow joy on one’s heart, and ensure erection, and a flow of semen.

Here, Tom Holland comfortably whitewashed the fact that Ghiyath Shah – the ruler of Malwa Sultanate – essentially unleashed his so hard-earned masculine lust on those 16000 female slaves and good-looking daughters of Rajahs to exploit them – all of whom were essentially Hindus.

Tom Holland also shared pictures of the mosque built by the first Muslim ruler of Mandu in 1404. The pillars of this mosque came from Jain & Hindu temples destroyed by the Islamist tyrants.

Tom Holland further wrote, “Most romantic of all the stories told about Mandu is the love of its last sultan, Baz Bahadur, for the beautiful shepherdess Roopmati. The Sultan built a lake which was formally declared to be a part of the river Narmada so that she could gaze out over it, & not feel homesick.”

Tom Holland added, “The Sultan originally fell in love with Roopmati because he adored music, and she was a beautiful singer. He built her a palace with wonderful acoustics – here demonstrated to haunting effect by our gloriously talented guide.”

Malwa Sultanate

What Tom Holland did not include in his thread is the actual face of the Islamist rulers of medieval India. The Malwa Sultanate was founded in 1401 by Dilawar Khan, a Turco-Afghani servant of the Delhi Sultanate. Ghiyath Shah mentioned by Tom Holland is the elder son of Mahmood Shah Khalji who replaced Dilawar Khan’s Ghauri dynasty in 1436. The Khalji dynasty ruled Malwa till 1531. After the short tenures of Bahadur Shah and Qadir Shah, Malwa was captured by Shershah Suri in 1542. Shershah Suri appointed Shujaat Khan as his governor in Malwa. Baz Bahadur mentioned in Tom Holland’s tweets is the son of this governor who declared himself independent king of Malwa in 1555, only to get twice defeated by Mughal tyrant Akbar in 1561 and 1562. All this while, the Malwa Sultanate propagated Islam and persecuted Hindu subjects in middle India.

Baz Bahadur who was not courageous

This Baz Bahadur is majorly identified by historians as a king involved in pleasures rather than governance – a trait common to almost every Islamist invader. Baz Bahadur was not that ‘Bahadur’ meaning courageous. Both his so-called love and so-called courage failed the test of tough times. He was defeated by Akbar’s Mughal forces in 1561 when he left his ‘love’ Roopmati behind and fled alone to Khandesh to seek refuge from the ruler of that area Miran Mubarak Shah. He joined hands with Tufal Khan of Berar to defeat the Mughal army. But his Sultanate was finished soon as the Mughals conquered Malwa in 1562. Roopmati committed suicide after Baz Bahadur was defeated in the 1561 battle.

Roopmati

The prime reason for the attack on Malwa by the Mughals in 1561 is cited to be the Mughal commander Adham Khan’s lust for Roopmati. Tom Holland essentially glorified this lust of Islamic barbarians through his tweet. Roopmati was a poetess and singer according to folklore and historic accounts. Some of her poems are available as the collection of manuscripts was translated into English and published by LM Crump in 1926. (Reference: Khare, M.D. (1981). Malwa through the Ages, Bhopal: Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of M.P.)

After the fall of Malwa, Baz Bahadur sought refuge from Rana of Chittor. He also roamed to other small kingdoms in Rajputana before surrendering to Akbar in 1570. This Baz Bahadur served the Mughal tyrant Akbar for the rest of his life. In this way, Tom Holland hid half of the facts about the Malwa dynasty while writing the thread and just focussed on romanticizing the lustful Islamic rulers’ alleged ‘love stories’.

‘Wikipedia not dependable; can promote misleading information’: SC cautions court authorities

OpIndia Staff
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‘Wikipedia not dependable; can promote misleading information’: SC cautions court authorities

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court noted that online sources such as Wikipedia are built on a crowd-sourced and user-generated editing model that is not totally reliable and can encourage incorrect information. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath acknowledged the usefulness of platforms that allow open access to knowledge throughout the world but advised against utilizing such sources for judicial conflict resolution.

“We say so for the reason that these sources, despite being a treasure trove of knowledge, are based on a crowd-sourced and user-generated editing model that is not completely dependable in terms of academic veracity and can promote misleading information as has been noted by this court on previous occasions also,” the bench said on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court stated that courts and adjudicating bodies should make every effort to urge counsel to depend on more reputable and genuine sources. The remarks were made in a decision concerning the proper categorization of imported ‘All in One Integrated Desktop Computers’ under the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act of 1985.

The Supreme Court observed that adjudicating agencies, particularly the Commissioner of Customs (Appeal), relied heavily on internet sources such as Wikipedia to support their judgments. The court also noted that Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia and information can be entered therein by any person and as such, it may not be authentic.

In 2010, former Supreme Court Justice Markandey Katju referenced to Wikipedia for searching the meaning of the word “common law marriage” while delivering a verdict.

Reports mention that Justice Katju had used material from Wikipedia to develop four-point criteria and rule that live-in relationships must satisfy it in order to be classified as a “relationship” like the nature of marriage under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

Jairam Ramesh dismisses disgraced Kathua-case lawyer turned Congress leader Deepika Rajawat as ‘neta’ over her ‘resignation’ during Bharat Jodo Yatra

OpIndia Staff
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Jairam Ramesh dismisses disgraced Kathua-case lawyer turned Congress leader Deepika Rajawat as ‘neta’ over her ‘resignation’ during Bharat Jodo Yatra

On 18th January 2023, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh dismissed disgraced Kathua-case lawyer turned Congress leader Deepika Singh Rajawat as ‘neta’ over her resignation from the party during Bharat Jodo Yatra. The video of Jairam Ramesh refuting a journalist asking him about the resignation of the former Congress ‘leader’ went viral on social media in which Ramesh asks the journalist how can he call any Congress member a leader.

A journalist asked Jairam Ramesh during a media interaction what he would say about Deepika Rajawat – a ‘leader’ from his party – who recently resigned. Answering this, Jairam Ramesh said, “I will not say anything about this right now. I will talk about this only when I go to Jammu. And let me tell you, she is not a ‘leader’. It is wrong to call everyone a ‘leader’.”

Jammu and Kashmir Congress spokesperson Deepika Rajawat resigned from the party on 18th January 2023. Her resignation came ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir leg of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra which is set to enter the Union Territory on January 19. She tweeted, “In view of Choudhary Lal Singh’s proposal of joining Bharat Jodo Yatra and the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Indian National Congress allowing the same, I am left with no other option but to resign from INC. Lal Singh was responsible for sabotaging the Kathua rape case in 2018 by brazenly defending rapists. Lal Singh divided the entire region of Jammu & Kashmir to protect the rapists and Bharat Jodo Yatra is ideologically opposite. On ideological grounds, I cannot share the party platform with such a person.” She also tagged Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal, and Rajani Patil in her tweet.

Advocate Deepika Singh Rajawat became an overnight celebrity in the media after she appeared as a lawyer for Kathua’s rape and murder victim. The Kathua rape case was top news for several weeks in the country, and Deepika was hailed as a hero of the case. It was argued that if Deepika Singh had not joined the case, the victim would have never got justice.

However, she was later accused of grandstanding by taking up the case the of Kathua rape victim’s tragedy but deserting the victim’s family during the court proceedings. In November 2018, it was revealed that Deepika had attended only 2 hearings in the case that was being heard by the Pathankot session court. Sessions Judge Dr. Tejwinder Singh was hearing the case on a daily basis as per Supreme Court order, and a total of 110 hearings had taken place already in the five and a half months. But the celebrity lawyer, who was supposed to lead the fight for justice for the victim, attended only 2 of these hearings.

Subsequently, an affidavit was filed at the Pathankot sessions court by the victim’s father, who was also the main complainant of the FIR, saying that Deepika will no longer be his advocate in the case and he is withdrawing the power of attorney issued to her. According to Yousaf, the victim’s father, Deepika Rajawat had said that there was a threat to her life in Pathankot, which was why she could not go there for hearings. In view of this, Yousaf informed the court that he was removing Deepika Rajawat from the case.

Fact check: Muslim man in Khandwa threatens a girl to marry him, propagandists attack Hindu men who came out in her defence

OpIndia Staff
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Fact check: Muslim man in Khandwa threatens a girl to marry him, propagandists attack Hindu men who came out in her defence

A video of a man being confronted and beaten by a mob is going viral on social media platforms, with the claim that the victim is a Muslim youth and is being attacked because of his religion.

Several Hindumisic users, including HindutvaWatch and inveterate fake news peddler Ashok Swain, shared the video alleging that a Muslim youth was assaulted by a group of Hindu men for talking to a Hindu girl in Madhya Pradesh, India.

HindutvaWatch, a Twitter account notorious for pushing anti-Hindu bigotry by unjustifiably giving a communal flair to criminal incidents with no religious motives, shared a thread alleging that a group of ‘extremists’ attacked a Muslim boy when he was talking to a girl about ‘books’.

The account also shared a copy of FIR in the subsequent tweet. The FIR, which was filed by the victim, says that the boy was attacked on 3 January 2023 when he was on his way back to his home. As per the complaint, a group of 3-4 men waylaid him and started abusing him over his ‘meeting’ with a girl. The FIR has no mention of the victim alleging that his assailants were Hindus or whether they had attacked him for being a Muslim or because the girl he spoke to was a Hindu.

However, colouring the version of the actual events with its inherent bias, HindutvaWatch insinuated that the Muslim youth was attacked because of his religious identity and his audacity to talk to a Hindu girl.

Since the claim dovetailed perfectly with Ashok Swain’s agenda to malign the Indian government as anti-Muslim, he instantly lapped up the claims and reshared the video, claiming that members of a ‘Hindu supremacist vigilante’ group thrashed a Muslim man for talking to a Hindu girl.

It is pertinent to note that Ashok Swain has been caught sharing communally sensitive fake news for a long time now. Recently, he shared fake news that a Muslim man was assaulted on a train in Moradabad and forced to chant Jai Shri Ram. The UP police later busted his lies, asserting that the man was beaten up by a group of people after a fellow female passenger accused him of molestation.

The Muslim youth had reportedly menaced the girl, threatened her with death on her refusal to marry him

As it turns out, Ashok Swain has peddled fake news in this case as well. The facts of the matter as claimed by anti-Hindu elements on social media do not add up. In addition to the FIR having no mention of the religious motive behind the attack against the Muslim youth, a report published 14 days ago in Dainik Bhaskar reveals shocking details of the matter that anti-Hindu elements have assiduously kept under wraps.

Source: Dainik Bhaskar

According to the report, the matter pertains to the molestation of a B.Com final-year female student. The Muslim youth, Shehbaz, had forcibly pulled the girl student’s hand while leaving the cyber cafe, the report mentions. He started threatening her that if she refuses to marry him, he will kill her and her parents. The girl then went back to her village and narrated the incident to her parents, who filed a complaint with the police. 

As per her complaint, the accused, Shehbaz, had been harassing her for the past several days. On the day she visited the cyber cafe, the boy surrounded her in front of the shop and forced her to get married, the Dainik Bhaskar report said. When the girl threatened him with filing a complaint with the police, he reportedly pulled her hand and threatened to kill her.

The accused also threatened the girl with spreading rumours that she was in an affair with him should she refuse to marry him. As she resisted the boy’s advances, a crowd gathered around the cafe. Among the crowd were members of the Hindu Jagran Manch, who came to her rescue, accosted the boy and got him arrested. The police filed a case against the boy under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation).

‘We respect Sikhism, but we are choosing Sanatana Dharma, Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita will be recited in Sindhi Temples’: Mahant Swami Tulsidas Udasi

OpIndia Staff
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‘We respect Sikhism, but we are choosing Sanatana Dharma, Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita will be recited in Sindhi Temples’: Mahant Swami Tulsidas Udasi

Following the conflict between Nihang Sikhs and Sindhi community, it has been reported that the Sindhi Temples will recite Ramayana, Bhagwat Gita, and Siddhant Sagar henceforth. Nai Dunia quoted Mahant Swami Tulsidas Udasi of Shri Gangadham Udasin Darbar, located in Sant Hirdaram Nagar, saying that Sindhi Temples have not “returned” Bir of Guru Granth Sahib but have sent them to the rightful place.

He added that the teachings and values of Guru Granth Sahib would remain in the heart and minds of the people of the Sindhi community.

Notably, after the reports of conflicts in Indore, copies of Guru Granth Sahib were submitted by Shri Gangadham Darbar to Gurudwara Management Committee. He added that Guru Granth Sahib was established in Sindhi temples in the 1600s during the time of Shri Guru Arjan Dev. Since then, the community has been serving Guru Granth Sahib with full devotion. Mahant added that with time, the situation changed, and Sikhism originated from other traditions and separated from Sanatan Dharma. The community is being asked to choose between Sanatan Dharma and Sikh Panth, so “definitely we will choose Sanatan Dharma with peace”.

He added that from now on, verses of Shrimad Bhagwat Katha and Ramayana would be recited in Sindhi Temples. Siddhant Sagar, composed by Bhagwan Srichand, son of Shri Guru Nanak Dec Ji and head of the Udasin Sant Sampraday, will be recited alongside. He added that this is not a decision that was made in haste but looking at the past incidents, the members of the Sindhi community were moving towards it over time.

The Indore conflict

A group of Nihang Sikhs had visited several Sindhi temples in Indore and objected to the presence of both idols of Hindu deities and the Guru Granth Sahib in those temples. After that, they demanded that the idols should be removed if the Sindhi community wanted to keep the Granth in their temples, or else the Granth should be removed from the Sidhi temples and deposited with a Gurudwara by January 12. The Sindhi community decided to return the Granth and submitted over 80 Shri Guru Granth Sahib at Gurudwara Imli Sahib at Jawahar Marg in Indore on January 11, a day before the deadline. After learning about the incident, SGPC sent a team to talk to the Sindhi community. A meeting has already taken place. Another meeting is scheduled for January 21.

GoMechanic co-founder admits to financial irregularities after due diligence report exposed them, 70% workforce to be sacked

OpIndia Staff
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GoMechanic co-founder admits to financial irregularities after due diligence report exposed them, 70% workforce to be sacked

On January 18, the co-founder of GoMechanic admitted to financial irregularities in the company in a LinkedIn post. Amit Bhasin, in a lengthy post, mentioned that the company is letting go 70 per cent of the workforce, and a third-party audit is in the pipeline. The post came after prospective investors at the venture found serious anomalies in the financial records of the company. GoMechanic was in talks with Softbank to raise $70-80 million, which is no longer happening as a result of the development.

GoMechanic is a network of car service centres that provides auto services such as repairing and carwashing through an online platform. The Gurgaon-headquartered startup is backed by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.

According to a Bloomberg report, the irregularities were revealed in due diligence conducted by Ernst & Young on behalf of some prospective investors. The due diligence report stated that several GoMechanic service centres may have violated accounting norms to overstate revenue and divert funds. About 60 of the more than 1,000 service centres were violating accounting norms, the report stated. The investors informed the findings of the report to Sequoia Capital, which led to the development.

Bhasin said that GoMechanic was founded in 2016 to bridge the gap between process-oriented authorized service centres and cost-effective local workshops for people who were looking for a better car repair experience. He shared how in a short span, the company managed to bring 7 lakh customers on board.

However, the company owners, including him, got “carried away”. He said, “Our passion for surviving the intrinsic challenges of this sector, and managing capital, took the better of us, and we made errors in judgment as we followed growth at all costs, including in regard to financial reporting, which we deeply regret.”

While taking responsibility for the situation, he said the founders would reconstruct the business while looking for capital solutions. One of the aspects of the reconstructing business is to let go of 70 per cent of the workforce. Furthermore, a third-party firm is going to audit the company accounts soon. He added, “While the situation is far from anything we could have ever imagined for GoMechanic, we are working on a plan which would be most viable under the circumstances.”

SoftBank pulled out of the deal over irregularities in accounts

As per reports, GoMechanic was in talks to raise $75-80 million in a funding round by SoftBank. However, SoftBank pulled out of the deal over accounting irregularities. The bank was planning to invest around $35 million in the company via its vision fund along with the Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional.

Last year GoMechanic was in talks to raise a round of funding led by Tiger Global at over $1 billion valuation, however, the talks did not materialize into a deal. Reportedly, that funding initiative had failed after some serious discrepancies were found during the due diligence process.

Meanwhile, it was reported that GoMechanic’s biggest investor Sequoia Capital launched a forensic audit of the company. A source was quoted by Inc42 stating that the company has a total loan of Rs 120 crore and a market pendency of Rs 40 crore. Notably, other companies in Sequoia India’s portfolio have been under the radar in the past. Companies like BharatPe, Trell and Zilingo have undergone forensic audits over similar reports of account irregularities.

Kushal Karwa, Nitin Rana and Rishabh Karwa, the three other co-founders besides Bhasin, have not commented so far on the current situation in the company.

Grapevine user hinted GoMechanic mess a week ago

A user on Grapevine, a social media platform for professionals, had hinted at the mess at GoMechanic a week ago.

Source: Grapevine

In a post, user Layoffs said, “Gomechanic going bust? A little birdie tells me that go mechanic is on the verge of shutting shops. Any truth to that?”

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