A gunman opened fire in a school in the central Russian city of Izhevsk, killing at least At least six people and injuring 20 before killing himself, the interior ministry said Monday.
Victims of the attack include children and a security guard at the school, media reports from Russia said.
The incident took place reportedly at school number 88, which has close to 1,000 pupils and around 80 teachers.
The school was evacuated and the area around it has been cordoned off. The Governor of the Udmurtia region confirmed that the gunman shot himself dead.
The authorities revealed that after randomly firing at the pupils, the gunman killed himself. They are yet to ascertain the motive behind the killing.
The videos posted by the Russian media outlets show gory visuals of blood splattered on the floor and a bullet hole in a window, with children crouching down underneath desks.
Meanwhile, some reports say the death toll has risen to nine, with 8 children and a security guard among the victims.
A presumed nazi sympathiser has enter a school in Izhvesk, Russia, killed the security guard and at least 8 primary school children after which he killed himself. He was wearing clothes with Nazi symbols and was identified.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi last week announced three candidates for the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls which are expected to be held in December 2022. One Wasim Qureshi will contest from Surat East and Sabir Kabliwala, Gujarat state president AIMIM, would contest from Jamalpur-Khadia in Ahmedabad. One Kaushika Parmar will contest from Dani Limda in Ahmedabad. Dani Limda is a reserved seat and Parmar is AIMIM’s women’s wing president for Ahmedabad city unit.
Surat East constituency
Surat East area is where Gopipura area situated which has significant Muslim population. Some parts of the constituency has the Disturbed Areas Act in place which was brought in to prevent polarisation of communities and demography change. The Surat Municipal Corporation building where the waqf recently staked claim, that is also in Surat East area. Earlier this year, OpIndia had reported how Gopipura, where most residents were of Jain community, has seen demography change and many such apartments are being sold on lower than market rate because most Jain residents want to leave.
In 2014, a Jain Sadhvi who stayed in Surat’s Gopipura area wrote a letter to President of India, Governor of Gujarat, Prime Minister Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel and other leaders about the harassment she was facing in Gopipura, a traditionally Jain locality in Surat, which has slowly turned into a Muslim majority area. In the letter, the Sadhvi had written how near the Upashrays where Jain Sadhvis stay in Gopipura, there are around 25 Jain temples and 35 Upashrays within a 1 km radius. About 70-80 Jain Sadhvis were staying in this place. The Sadhvi pointed out that slowly the area has seen more and more Muslim residents come and live there.
The Sadhvi in her letter had stated that God has made all living beings the same but Muslims have very ‘tamsic and janooni‘ (aggressive, to put it mildly) and the Sadhu-Mahatma are facing difficulties. “Some Muslim families keep 4-5 cats and goats. Near Sulasa Shravika Aaradhana Bhawan, a Muslim family that has come to stay has tied two goats. These goats can be heard crying in middle of the night because of cold. This pains me too much. I have grown up being kind to animals and this kind of suffering of theirs is very painful for me,” she said.
Of total voters, about 77,365 voters are of Muslim community in Surat East while Hindu voters are 35,427. Interestingly, despite being Muslim majority area, the BJP has managed to win this seat over the years since 1990 – except for 2002 when Congress’ Manish Gilitwala won. Political analysts say that this is because the majority of the Muslim residents here belong to the business-class Bohra community who just want peace and want to make their own living. Bohra/Vohra community voters prefer to vote for the BJP which promises conducive environment for thriving business.
Jamalpur Khadia constituency
Jamalpur-Khadia area in Ahmedabad is also a predominantly Muslim area. Earlier this area had a mix population with Hindus being in majority, but with time, the Hindus migrated to newer parts of the city while more and more Muslim residents purchased properties here.
Jamalpur area is also where the Jagannath temple in Ahmedabad is situated. Every year on Rath Yatra a procession is carried out of Lord Jagannath and invariably it would culminate into communal riots as the procession would pass through old city where demography change had made those areas ‘Muslim dominated areas’.
For the last two decades, the Rath Yatra has been going on in a very peaceful and grand manner. But that was not always the case. In Gujarat, when Congress was in power, the Rath Yatra witnessed bloodshed, and stones pelted at it, forcing the administration to impose curfews. Devotees had to attend the Rath Yatra under a perpetual threat of being attacked.
But this picture changed after Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001. From 2001 to date, not a single such incident took place during the Jagannath Rath Yatra of Ahmedabad. During his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi paid special attention to the safety of the Rath Yatra and also ensured that the Rath Yatra event is respected on the global stage.
This constituency includes majority of the old city of Ahmedabad where Muslim voters constitute about 60% of total voter base. Like Surat East, this area, too, has many portion which are notified under the Disturbed Areas Act. Currently, Congress’ Imran Khedawala is the MLA from this constituency who defeated BJP’s Bhushan Bhatt with over 30,000 votes.
Don Abdul Latif, a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim, operated mostly from in and around these areas. The film Raees starring Shah Rukh Khan was loosely based on Latif. The area has also been controversial in recent times due to violence during the anti-CAA protests. This seat has been traditionally a Congress stronghold but in 2012 BJP had registered a surprise victory. Sabir Kabliwala is a former Congress leader and has also contested and won from Congress ticket. He is currently the Gujarat state president for AIMIM.
Interestingly, in the 2021 local body polls in Ahmedabad, AIMIM had fielded 21 candidates of which 7 had won. All four corporators of Jamalpur ward which falls under the Jamalpur-Khadia constituency belong to the AIMIM. Earlier, all these were with Congress. Similarly, in Behrampura ward which also falls under Jamalpur-Khadia constituency, AIMIM leaders gave a very tough fight to Congress corporators where victory margin was just 200-1000.
Dani Limda constituency
Dani Limda is another Muslim-dominated area. However, this is a reserved seat and only a member of the Scheduled Caste can contest from this seat. Here about 50% voters are Muslims and has significant population of people from Dalit community. This area is also considered a communally sensitive area and the Disturbed Areas Act is in place here.
It is notable that Shah Alam area in Ahmedabad falls under the Dani Limda constituency and during the anti-CAA violence, this area saw some of the worst communal riots where even policemen were attacked by rioting mob consisting mostly of people belonging to Muslim community.
Investigation had revealed how local Muslim leaders including a corporator were involved in the violence.
It is also believed many illegal Bangladeshis live in this area, especially near the Chandola lake area. During the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts, many bombs had gone off in this area and accused were found living in this area. Indian Mujahideen terrorists who planted the bombs lived in the Dani Limda society and many provocative speeches were given to the Muslim youth to join the terror ranks.
Currently, Congress’ Shailesh Parmar is the MLA. Local residents believe Parmar has the patronage of local Muslim leader Nawab Khan’s family. One of his relatives, Shehzad Khan Pathan is also a corporator here. Localites believes that if the seat were not a reserved seat, Pathan would have been the MLA. However, due to the reservation, they have extended support to Parmar instead.
The Disturbed Areas Act
District Administration, to maintain communal harmony and peace, could declare certain areas as ‘Disturbed Areas’ which are susceptible to demography change. The transfer of immovable property in these areas would require an elaborate procedure. The seller, in the application, must mention that the seller is selling the property of their own free will.
Disturbed Areas Act is often wrongly interpreted as it applicable where at least one party between buyer and seller is either Hindu or Muslim. The thing is, any such transactions in such areas would require following due process. This is to preserve the religious and community value and identity of the areas which are susceptible to demographic change.
AIMIM vote-cutter party?
Political observers believe that AIMIM along with Aam Aadmi Party may end up winning a few seats here and there mostly because the disgruntled Congress voter may end up voting for them. More than AAP gaining ground, it is likely the AIMIM might bite into a significant chunk of the Muslim voter-base which has traditionally belonged to the Congress. Thus, the entry of new players in Gujarat arena may just end up reducing Congress’ relevance in the state even further.
With inputs from Lincoln Sokhadia. You can read his analysis in Gujarati here.
On September 25, the self-proclaimed fact-checking website Alt News again came to rescue Islamists. This time, they attempted to give clean chit to the Popular Front of India members that were protesting in Pune. As per reports, videos of the protests organized by PFI members in Pune surfaced on social media platforms where they could be heard raising slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad.’ As the videos got traction on social media, the obvious saviours of Islamists, including Alt News and Newslaundry, came rushing to their rescue.
In its report, Alt News talked about the protests that took place to oppose the raids by National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) on several locations linked to PFI in 15 states. During these raids, 106 PFI officials and workers were arrested by the investigating agency.
The protests were organized against the raids and arrests by PFI workers in multiple cities across the country in Pune. In the videos of the Pune protests, the members of PFI were heard raising slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad.’ Several netizens and prominent personalities on social media shared the videos and condemned the slogans. OpIndia had also covered the matter.
Alt News, owing to its reputation, could not digest the fact that such slogans were raised. In their “explanation,” the portal said the slogans were not “Pakistan Zindabad” but “Popular Front Zindabad.” They even targeted those who condemned PFI workers for raising the slogans.
The portal shared a 26-second video and claimed that upon gathering videos from different sources, including journalists on the ground, they “found” that slogans were not “Pakistan Zindabad” but “Popular Front Zindabad.” They also shared a long video version of the protest recorded by Policenama.
The reality of the slogans
OpIndia re-examined the videos, including the video shared by Policenama. There were multiple slogans that were being raised by the protesters. Among those slogans, ‘Nara-e-Takbeer Allah hu Akbar,’ ‘Popular Front Zindabad,’ and others were included. Now, the question is, was the slogan ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ raised? The answer is yes, the slogan was, in fact, raised.
At the 7:34 timestamp in the video, the slogan ‘Popular Front Zindabad’ can be easily heard. However, following the said slogan, ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ was also raised by the protesters.
Twitter user Hawk Eye also published the analysis of the video and debunked Alt News claims. In his reply to Alt News, The Hawk Eye published the video compilation at three different speeds. He said, “Sharing the same video in a loop, with 3 different speed variations. The last part is with zoom to read the lip sync. Let ppl decide – “Pakistan” or “Popular front.”
Hawk Eye also slowed down the video and zoomed in on the PFI member who was detained by the Police and raised the controversial slogan. It was clearly evident that the slogan was, in fact, ‘Pakistan Zindabad.’
Same vid with audio noise reduction. Observe the audio amplitude variation if its matching with “Pakistan” or “Polular Front”? 2/ pic.twitter.com/YZzcYNWtCv
As there was a lot of background noise in the video, there was still a chance that the likes of Alt News may raise questions over the slogans raised. The Hawk Eye went ahead and cleared the background noise to make it clearer. In the three-speed variants of the audio with reduced background noise, the slogan ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ became more prominent.
Newslaundry’s attempt to shield PFI
A similar “fact-check” was done by the Leftist propaganda website Newslaundry. They quoted Pune Police, suggesting that no such slogans were raised, and shared the same video by Policenama as well. They talked to the protesters as well, who “denied” the allegations of raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans.
RJD leader shielded PFI
While Alt News and Newslaundry were insisting that ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were not raised, RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari bluntly supported PFI workers and said such slogans are part of routine protests. He said that ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans raised during a protest in favour of PFI were only a “sign of protest.” Tiwari’s comments came after over a hundred PFI activists were arrested in several states in a nationwide operation on Thursday, after which PFI workers had chanted Pakistan Zindabad slogans in Pune during a protest against the arrests.
Unidentified people on social media are harassing a Sikh girl in the United Kingdom for protesting against the attacks on Hindu temples by Islamist extremists in Leicester. According to a series of tweets shared by a Twitter user named ‘Duke of the Diaspora’, the girl is being threatened by unknown persons who are fully aware of all her personal information as well.
As per the Twitter user, he shared the information with the permission of the victim. In a conversation with the Twitter user, the victim shared that she got a message from an anonymous account on Instagram on September 21. The anonymous user threatened her saying that all the information about the girl was known to her. The victim revealed that she came to know that the user attended the same school she attends.
The first convo was followed with another which included physical threats and pictures being sent to her of make genitalia. pic.twitter.com/NWCJMfXJb6
The victim further revealed that she continued to receive threats even though she did not say anything regarding Muslims or Islam. She even said that she opposed the attack by the rioters and that it was in opposition to Islam.
They know like current details about her hair length so it’s obvious they have been planning or zeroing in on her. pic.twitter.com/n1XVkVxFd0
The Sikh girl said that the people threatening her know everything about her, ranging from the length of her hair to that she is Vegan. The users then kept threatening her saying that she attends a Muslim majority school and she should stay careful in expressing her views. She continued receiving threats and obscene pictures. No more details in the matter are known further except that the victim is receiving no help from the authorities.
Islamist attack on Hindus in Leicester
Violence erupted in Leicester city following the defeat of Pakistan by India in the Asia Cup match on August 28. According to reports, Muslims, primarily Pakistani Islamists, assaulted Hindus and their homes in the area. Several videos of the incident went viral a week after the incident.
The videos showed Hindus being assaulted in their cars while parked in their driveways, and Hindu families huddled in their houses, stunned, while massive groups wandered the street vandalising property. The majority of these incidents of violence and provocative religious sloganeering were reported in the city’s Belgrave region.
After hundreds of people crowded the streets in the city’s eastern section, violence erupted again on September 17 afternoon in Leicester. Police officers swarmed the streets, exercising disposal powers and encouraging peace as disturbance persisted on the streets following a protest by Hindus against the violence by Islamists.
A Saffron flag atop a Hindu temple was also desecrated by a mob of Islamists in front of the police during the violence in Leicester. So far, a total of 47 people have been arrested in connection to the violence in Leicester that began last month.
Days after the brutal murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, it has come to light that the son of an ex-BJP politician tried to coerce her into prostitution. The accused, identified as one Pulkit Arya, is the owner of the resort where the victim worked as a receptionist.
The matter came to light after the Special Investigation Team probed the Whatsapp conversation between Ankita and her friend (name withheld). The victim confided in her friend about how Pulkit was forcing her to provide ‘special services’ to the guests.
“They are trying to turn me into a prostitute…I may be poor, but I won’t sell myself for Rs 10,000”, Ankita said in one Whatsapp message. She also informed her friend how the resort owner tried to forcibly kiss her in a drunken state.
Ankita also told her friend how one of the resort guests hugged her in a drunken state. The victim was however intimidated into silence by one of the co-accused Ankit Gupta, who worked as the assistant of Pulkit Arya.
“Today, Ankit came to me and told me that he wanted to talk to me about something. I agreed and went to a corner near my reception desk. There, he asked me if I was ready to give ‘extra services’ to a guest who was willing to pay Rs 10,000 to your resort,” her message read.
Ankita added, “To my reply, he then tried to clarify and say that he was not asking me to do it but to inform him in case I knew of any other girl who might be willing. But I know that he had directed that offer towards me only, thinking I might agree after learning of the amount (sic).”
The victim was also threatened that she would be fired from her job and replaced with another girl if she refused to give in to the demands of Pulkit Arya. Ankita also told her friend how her room in the resort was being shifted on the directions of the accused.
My room has been shifted. In Sir’s (Pulkit Arya) room for a few days, because many guests are to come…It seems safe till now,” she had said.
Ankita Bhandari murder case
As per reports, Ankita worked as a receptionist in the Yamkeshwar Vidhan Sabha’s Ganga Bhojpur resort named Vanantra resort, owned by Pulkit Arya. She was reported missing from September 18.
The police launched an investigation after the girl’s family reported a missing case and feared murder. Ankita was murdered after she turned down the demand of the resort owner for sexual favours.
Three people were arrested by the Uttarakhand Police on September 23, in connection with the killing of Ankita Bhandari. The three people detained were identified as resort manager Ankit, Saurabh, and Pulkit Arya, the son of former state politician Vinod Arya.
The police interrogated the three accused who confirmed that Ankita Bhandari had been murdered. According to ASP Shekhar Suyal, the three accused murdered the girl and threw her in the Rishikesh Chila barrage. The dead body of the girl was recovered later.
The Hindu community in the UK, particularly in Leicester and Birmingham, was under attack by the Islamists. What initially appeared to be a clash between the two communities following the T20 match between India and Pakistan turned out to be a well-planned and well-organized attack on Hindus, their homes, businesses, and properties in Leicester. After that, there have been multiple spates of attacks against Hindus in Leicester, fuelled by the misinformation spread by Islamists, even Al Qaeda and ISIS supporters like Majid Freeman.
While Hindus have been living in fear, BBC – UK’s state media – has been busy blaming Hindus for the violence committed by Islamists. Recently, however, they attempted to do a tacit u-turn by reporting that there is no evidence that the violence was started by Hindus. While BBC acknowledged this fact grudgingly, there were subtle hints that showed the intention of BBC, where they continued to whitewash the Jihadi elements who instigated violence against Hindus.
In a recent report titled “Did misinformation fan the flames in Leicester?”, BBC said, “Some people link the disorder and the reaction to it to the Hindutva ideology. They believe that Indian politics is being imported to the city, but thus far the BBC has found no direct link to such groups in the run-up to the disorder”.
Report by BBC on Leicester
After days of trying to push the narrative that Hindus were responsible for the violence while using Hindutva as a euphemism, this seems to be the best acknowledgement that we can possibly get from BBC that Hindus did not initiate the violence in Leicester and that it was indeed the Islamists who went on a rampage against Hindus.
While BBC acknowledged this fact in a watered-down manner, it is interesting to note that even after “investigating” the violence, the BBC also could not find any evidence to support the FACT that it was the Muslim community of Leicester that had started the violence. In fact, BBC was so fearful of mentioning certain facts that are corroborated by video evidence, that it failed to even mention the Muslim community. Right after the para where they admitted, as much as they could, that the violence was not initiated by the Hindu community, they wrote the following para:
“Another narrative being pushed is that a particular, small South Asian community, allegedly with conservative views, started these tensions. Both Hindus and Muslims we’ve spoken to have expressed this. Again, there is no concrete evidence to support, nor counter this claim. It is difficult to pinpoint what has caused this violent unrest, but one thing is clear, social media stands accused of being the catalyst for sowing further divisions”.
BBC claims that there is a theory that a “small South Asian community with conservative views” started the tension. Allegedly, BBC says that Hindus and Muslims both attested to this but there is no evidence to back this claim. Now, which community is BBC talking about? Logic dictates that BBC is saying that the Islamist community – basically radicalised Muslims – started the violence according to locals, however, they have not mentioned which community they are talking about. Further, it is even more problematic that despite video evidence, BBC could not establish how the radicalised Muslim community started the violence.
In this report itself, which is being touted as a “neutral” retelling of events by BBC, the UK state media does admit that there was a string of misinformation spread by Islamists. Naming ISIS and Al Qaeda supporter Majid Freeman, BBC says that he was the one who spread the fake news about a Muslim girl being kidnapped by a Hindu man. The BBC further admitted that there was other fake news also spread like a London coach carrying Hindus from outside Leicester to create violence. That news was also fake. OpIndia had earlier reported that the London Coach owner had debunked the news, saying that his coaches were not even in Leicester on the days of the violence. BBC writes:
A video that circulated on WhatsApp and Twitter from 18 September showed a coach outside a Hindu temple in London, with a voice claiming the coach had just returned from Leicester. In a video posted the next day on Instagram the owner of the coach company said: “lots of people are calling me, threatening me, abusing me without any reason.” He said that none of his coaches had travelled to Leicester in the past two months and provided evidence from the GPS tracker of the bus in the video showing it had remained in south-east England on the weekend of 17-18 September.
However, while talking about such dangerous false information spread by Islamists, BBC tried to shamelessly monkey balance by blaming Hindus for misinformation as well – this, without any proof whatsoever.
While talking about the temple in Leicester being desecrated and the flag being pulled down (they fail to mention that one flag was also set on fire), they almost insinuate that it could have been a Hindu who desecrated the flag – since they say that the identity of the person who pulled the flag down hasn’t been ascertained yet.
Report by BBC on Leicester
While monkey balancing and falsely blaming Hindus, the BBC also shows sleight of hand in trying to shield the Islamists who spread fake news against Hindus, ultimately instigating violence against them. When talking about a post where a Twitter handle was spreading misinformation about a temple being implicated, BBC masks the identity of the Twitter handle.
Report by BBC on Leicester
OpIndia managed to find the original post and it was published by a handle called @aart123. The fake news tweet is still published and for some inexplicable reason, BBC decided to shield the identity of the handle.
If one goes through the handle, it has furthered and amplified every single fake news targeting the Hindu community – it has constantly retweeted Majid Freeman, and furthered the hateful videos of Mohammad Hijab and other Islamists. Why BBC felt the need to hide the account’s identity is unknown – save for the fact that BBC perhaps wanted to protect those who spread hatred against Hindus. An archived version of his Twitter timeline as of 26th September can be accessed here.
Further, to soften the effect of Islamists targeting Hindus, BBC brands Al Qaeda and ISIS supporter Majid Freeman as a “community activist”, without giving their readers context about his problematic and Islamist antecedents. A profile of the fake news he spread and his ISIS/Al Qaeda links can be read here.
Report by BBC on Leicester
BBC bemoans that Hindus in Leicester were supported by Hindus in India
The central aim of the article was to talk about misinformation, however, there were several other elements that show the true intent of BBC. First, they watered down the misinformation spread by Islamists by monkey balancing and blaming Hindus for an act committed by Islamists. Then, they also bemoaned how Hindus from India had extended their unquestioning support to the Hindus of Leicester.
In their report, the BBC basically says that they analysed 200,000 tweets in English that used certain hashtags about Hindus being under attack and that over 50% of these tweets came from India. They then call this “manipulation of the hashtags” insinuating that the Hindu support from India somehow worsened the violence in Leicester.
Report by BBC on Leicester
They also bemoan the fact that 11 out of the 30 top URLs shared to talk about Leicester violence were OpIndia links. One of the articles they cite is where OpIndia wrote about the investigation by Charlotte Littlewood, the Henry Jackson Society fellow, saying that several Hindu families had fled Leicester due to fear of Islamist violence. They write about how the police denied these reports, however, Littlewood has stood by her investigation – something that BBC fails to mention.
BBC, as the state media, is not predisposed to ask tough questions to Leicester police, however, simply because the Police are not aware of families leaving Leicester, or so they claim, does not mean that the investigation of a journalist is false.
Further, it is almost comical that BBC is concerned about support for Hindus emanating from India. One wonders if BBC thought that Hindus of Leicester should not be supported by their own community, a majority of whom lives in India.
Essentially, a report that is being touted as “fair and neutral” by BBC, is yet another attempt to demonise the Hindu community and slyly save the Muslim community that fanned the violence in Leicester where Hindus were targeted.
Interestingly, not too long ago, BBC had summarily blamed the Hindus for the violence in Leicester. On 23rd of September, when Hindus were just reeling from the barbarity heaped on them, BBC had this to say:
Earlier report by BBC
At best, the BBC has shifted from totally blaming Hindus for the violence to essentially saying that they don’t know who started the violence. However, they are continuing to shield the Islamists of Leicester while tacitly throwing the victims – Hindus – under the bus. It is also pertinent to note that the BBC has not offered any apology or retraction of their previous reports where they falsely blamed Hindus for Islamists going on a rampage against the community.
On the occasion of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 90th birthday on September 26, ‘journalist’ Sagarika Ghose took to Twitter to wish him. However, the picture she shared to wish India’s prime minister between 2004 and 2014 during the Congress-led UPA spoke volumes about how Singh was always treated by the grand old party.
The image shared by Sagarika Ghose showed her shaking hands with former American President Barack Obama, while Manmohan Singh stood behind him like a mere non-entity. However, after being criticised for humiliating Singh on his birthday by uploading a picture-like way, Sagarika Ghosh quietly removed her tweet.
Sagarika Ghose, the Nehru fangirl, who masquerades as a journalist, had tweeted: “Happy Birthday to former PM unassuming scholar statesman #Manmohansingh, born in a rural Sikh family, gained an Oxbridge education through sheer talent and was the FM who transformed India’s economy. Whatever his rivals throw at him, Manmohan Singh’s legacy will shine on undimmed.”
Screengrab of Sagarika Ghose’s now deleted Tweet
While there was nothing unusual in wishing the former prime minister, as many people including PM Narendra Modi did, what attracted the eye of many netizens was the picture of Manmohan Singh, which Ghose tweeted to wish the UPA era’s ‘remote control’ Prime Minister, as he was famously called.
The picture Sagarika Ghose used to wish ex-PM Manmohan Singh on his b’day
After drawing flak on social media, Ghose deleted the tweet and posted it again, however, this time she did not share the picture she had shared in an earlier tweet.
The picture Sagarika Ghose shared was from the year 2015, when Barack Obama, the then-serving President of the United States was on a visit to India. Ghose has periodically reposted her picture with Obama on Twitter, perhaps to brag about her meeting with the former US President.
As seen in the above photo, Sagarika Ghose is seen shaking hands with former US President Barack Obama, while India’s ex-Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is seen standing like a non-entity behind Obama. It’s evident from the picture that no one there seemed to even notice Manmohan Singh’s presence. He stood there like a statue, hands folded, watching Obama greet Ghose.
Many Netizens chastised the ‘journalist’ for humiliating the former Prime Minister.
Some thought it was a ruse, and she wanted to make the most of the opportunity to brag about her encounter with Obama.
Photo deleted…?? What’s wrong with it …even people came to know that you meet with legendary Barak Obama. A birthday to the former PM of India with dignity is not an issue at all.
A few Netizens sympathised with Manmohan Singh, for being always disregarded by the party despite doing some great work.
He seemed to have done a great job as FM but under the great leadership of PVN who the Congress and their godi media ignored . As PM poor guy seemed to have no authority under the reins of a shadow PM .
Others mocked Ghose for continuing with her normal practice of posting ill-thought-out Tweets and then discreetly deleting them when called out.
So @sagarikaghose deleted her tweet. Embarrassed by her gracelessness and deviousness? I reckon not. Shamed into doing so. Such are the garbage standards of the Indian media and commentariat. https://t.co/fkhY2TnyAA
How Dr Manmohan Singh was mistreated during the UPA rule
Unfortunately, this is exactly how things were when Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister in Sonia Gandhi’s UPA government. Manmohan Singh was always a weak person controlled by the party’s high command. In 2004, the Congress party described Sonia Gandhi as having “sacrificed” the Prime Ministership and offering it to Manmohan Singh.
However, as soon as Singh took office, it became evident that this was one of the Congress party’s most significant political ploys. Sonia Gandhi clearly behaved as the Super Prime Minister even though she was not the Prime Minister of India, making the most essential decisions from 10 Janpath Road in New Delhi via her National Advisory Council. Manmohan Singh was merely a puppet in the hands of the Gandhis. Manmohan Singh was famously characterised as the “remote-controlled Prime Minister” because of this. In other words, Sonia Gandhi was running the government, without being accountable for it.
In Karnataka, the Hubballi Police have filed a case against 12 persons, including a Muslim preacher, over the allegations of forcefully converting a Dalit man to Islam. Sridhar Gangadhar (26), of Yadavanahalli in Mandya district, filed a complaint with the Nava Nagar Police, alleging that the accused compelled him to undergo circumcision and converted him to Islam.
Attavar Rehman of Mandya, Azeesab of Bengaluru, Nayaz Pasha, Nadeem Khan, Ansar Pasha, Syed Dastagir, Mohammad Iqbal, Rafiq, Shabbir, Khalid, Shakeel, and Altaf were all identified by Sridhar as the accused. The accused, according to the complaint filed on Saturday, brought the victim to Bengaluru. They confined him in a mosque in Banashankari. They then began preaching Islam to him.
The accused subjected Sridhar to torture and pushed him to consume beef, as per the complaint. The victim experienced complications following circumcision, including bleeding and agonising wounds with abscesses.
“They took me to a mosque in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, for preaching Islam to me,” he has said in the complaint. “They also forced me to sign an affidavit saying that it was a wilful conversion and gave me a target to convert three people every year to Islam,” the complainant said.
The accused allegedly forced him to hold a gun while taking pictures of him holding it, according to the complaint. In addition, they forced him to make a 35,000 Rupee deposit into their account, Sridhar has stated.
The victim was attacked near Bhairidevarakoppa by unidentified men when he arrived in Hubballi to visit a woman he met online. Then, he was brought to KIMS Hospital. He stated that’s the reason he made the decision to file a case in Hubballi.
Pramod Mutalik, the head of the Sriram Sene, has vehemently criticised the forced conversion of the Hindu youth. He stated that the government should take proactive steps against the perpetrators of the crime. He stated that the state government has gotten the anti-conversion measure enacted in the legislature and that it should demonstrate its commitment to acting against forced conversions. Madarsas, according to Muthalik, are behind such crimes.
The politics in Rajasthan has heated up since Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot decided to run for the presidential post of the Congress Party. It is noteworthy that on September 23, Rahul Gandhi announced that no one from the Gandhi family would contest for the Presidential post. Apart from Gehlot, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is likely to contest for the Presidential post in the party.
Amidst the announcement of Gehlot’s candidature, the politics in Rajasthan got stirred up as Congress leader Sachin Pilot’s name started making rounds as the successor of Gehlot for the CM post. It is a known fact that there are frictions between Gehlot and Pilot, and as a result, the leaders of the Gehlot group got agitated with Pilot’s name for the post of Chief Minister.
Here is the chronology of the events that transpired since Gehlot’s announcement for the post of Party President
On September 23, it was reported that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot would contest for the post of Congress Party President. However, he also expressed his intentions to continue as the CM of Rajasthan even if he got elected as the Chief of the Congress Party.
Later, on the same day, Rahul Gandhi made it clear that if a person holding any post gets elected as the chief of the Congress Party, that person will leave the post. One person will hold a single post in the party, Gandhi confirmed. The idea of ‘one party, one post’ was apparently decided upon during the ‘Chintan Shivir’ of the Congress Party. Gehlot then dropped the idea of remaining the CM of the state if he were to be elected as Congress President.
In a statement, Gehlot said, “I have requested Rahul Gandhi multiple times to accept everyone’s proposal of becoming the Congress President. He made it clear that no one from the Gandhi family should become the next chief.”
As now there was a chance that Gehlot might have to leave the CM post, the political arena in Rajasthan got stirred up, especially because of the speculations that Pilot would become the next CM. Not to forget, Sachin Pilot had tried to topple the Gehlot government in 2020, but he failed.
The Congress MLAs of Rajasthan were apparently not kept in the loop about the proposed change. The friction between Gehlot camp and Pilot camp are well known, and as soon as speculations over Sachin’s name started making rounds, the MLAs backing Gehlot got agitated.
The Congress leadership in Delhi was keenly watching the situation heating up, and seeing the situation getting out of control, interim president of Congress Party Sonia Gandhi sent Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Rajasthan general secretary-in-charge Ajay Maken to control the situation.
A Congress Legislature Party meeting was supposed to happen on September 25, the second in one week. However, at the last moment, around 90+ MLAs threatened the leadership that they would resign if the Pilot’s name got finalized. They wanted Gehlot to remain CM of the state. The MLAs appear to be adamant over Pilot becoming the CM.
Independent MLA and Gehlot advisor Sanyam Lodha were quoted by Indian Express saying, “If the decision is as per the wishes of the MLAs, then the government will run. But if it is not as per the wishes of the MLAs, then can the government function? Obviously, there will be a threat of the government falling.”
Referring to the 2020 rebellion fiasco, cabinet minister Govind Ram Meghwal said, “This is a sensitive issue. There is resentment among the MLAs. There were independents who helped us during the political crisis. Hence, we will all sit down and discuss.” The MLAs are expected to meet at Congress leader Shanti Kumar Dhariwal’s residence to discuss the matter.
CP Joshi – another candidate for the CM post
It is evident that the MLAs of the Gehlot camp are not in favour of Pilot’s name as CM. Even Gehlot himself will not be pleased if Pilot becomes his successor. Interestingly, there is a possibility that Gehlot will not resign from the post of CM until the results of the party presidentship come in his favour.
Furthermore, because of the frictions of the past, Gehlot might not allow Pilot to become CM in Rajasthan. If the state Congress unit fails to decide on the Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs, Gehlot, as the president, would decide on the nominations. In one way or the other, the Pilot’s desire to become CM seems bleak.
In such a case, another candidate who can become Chief Minister of the state is assembly speaker CP Joshi. Notably, Joshi had attempted to become CM in 2008 but failed by one vote. Gehlot had become the CM despite Joshi’s role in Congress’s victory in state elections. At that time, Gandhis tried to please Joshi by making him Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister in UPA II. However, as per the Indian Express report, the sense of anger for Gehlot remained in Joshi.
Furthermore, Joshi is one of the favourite Rajasthan leaders of the Gandhi family, which might help him in his pursuit of the post of Chief Minister.
The Gehlot-Pilot frictions
In July 2020, Sachin Pilot was Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan. He attempted to topple the Gehlot government, stating he had the support of 25+ MLAs in a 200 members Assembly. At that time, Congress had 107 MLAs, including 13 independent MLAs. There were rumours that BJP’s 72 MLAs were backing Pilot through Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
Some audio clips of alleged horse-trading being conducted by Shekhawat were also made to social media, following which Pilot’s attempts fell flat. At that time, Rahul Gandhi intervened to control the situation. There have been several instances since then where Gehlot and Pilot indulged in mudslinging.
In August 2022, the situation went worse after reports came out that a Dalit boy died after a school teacher assaulted him for allegedly drinking water from the pot kept for ‘upper-class’ school students. The Pilot camp used the reports against Gehlot, and Pilot-Gehlot indulged in a war of words. The pilot accused Gehlot of delaying Police action. However, later it was revealed there was no separate pot for ‘upper class’ students in the school, and the whole story was cooked to give it a caste angle.
It is unclear what will transpire in Rajasthan politics in the coming days, but in case Gehlot wins the election and becomes Party President, there is a possibility that the state government will fall owing to friction among the party leaders.
Dr S Jaishankar, the Union Minister of External Affairs, questioned the “merits” of the US-Pakistan alliance, asserting that Washington’s ties with Islamabad had not served either of the two countries. Jaishankar criticised the Biden administration’s plan to provide 450 million dollars in spares and maintenance for Pakistan’s F-16s, asserting that claims that these highly proficient fighter aircraft are exclusively for counter-terrorism operations are nonrational and delusional.
At a gathering organised by the Indian American community in Washington on Sunday, Foreign Minister Jaishankar said, “It’s a relationship that has neither ended up serving Pakistan well nor serving the American interests. It’s really for the United States today to reflect on the merits of this relationship and what they get by it,” Jaishankar said.
“For someone to say I am doing this because it is all counter-terrorism content and so when you are talking of an aircraft like a capability of an F-16 where everybody knows, you know where they are deployed and their use. You are not fooling anybody by saying these things,” Jaishankar noted.
The statements follow after Jaishankar was questioned by the audience on the United States’ decision to sell F-16 combat planes to Pakistan. The Pakistani government has received a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) from the US State Department for the first time since 2018 in the amount of USD 450 million to maintain the F-16 aircraft and its individual parts.
Rajnath Singh, the Indian Defence Minister, immediately voiced India’s reservations to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Washington’s proposal to provide a maintenance package for Pakistan’s F-16 fleet.
Jaishankar’s four-day visit to Washington, DC, started with an unprecedented public interaction with the Indian American community, a Q&A session in which he took direct questions from the audience and his every response was met with multiple rounds of applause.
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar wrapped off the high-level discussion about the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday and will spend the following three days in Washington. The foreign minister will meet with Anthony Blinken, secretary of state for the United States, and other senior members of the Biden administration.
