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116 Villages along Nepal border are now ‘Muslim majority’, madrasas and mosques mushrooming everywhere: Report

OpIndia Staff
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116 Villages along Nepal border are now ‘Muslim majority’, madrasas and mosques mushrooming everywhere: Report

Intelligence agencies have recommended increasing the range of Border Security Forces (BSF) to 100 KM, owning to the unexpected demographic change in the border areas. As per reports, the Muslim population in border areas has increased by approx 32 per cent, significantly above the national average.

Based on the latest records of Gram Panchayats, the Police of Uttar Pradesh and Assam have sent separate reports to the Union Home Ministry depicting the change in demographics in the last ten years in the border areas of Nepal and Bangladesh.

As per the reports, the population of Muslims in border districts has increased by approx 32% since 2011. On the contrary, the population change across the country has been somewhere between 10% and 15%. Security agencies and state police have described the demographic change as very sensitive in the context of national security. Hence, both Assam and UP have recommended that the scope of the jurisdiction of BSF should be increased from the present 50 KM to 100 KM. If it happens, BSF will have the right to search and investigate areas up to 100 KM from the international border.

It is not just about the increase in population

Dainik Bhaskar quoted an unnamed official from the Union Home Ministry saying that the change in demographic is not just about the increase in population. It could be a new design of infiltration in India. “Therefore, keeping national security in mind, have to make strong preparations from now on. That is why the security agencies of Assam and UP have suggested increasing the scope of BSF,” he said.

It is noteworthy that the Home Ministry increased the BSF’s jurisdiction from 15 KM to 50 KM in October 2021. While some states have objected to the increase from 15 KM to 50 KM, UP and Assam have recommended further increases.

Mosque-madrasas increased by 25 per cent in 5 districts in UP

As per UP Police, the population of Muslims has increased by more than 20% since 2011 in five districts that are Pilibhit, Kheri, Balrampur, Maharajganj and Bahraich. All these districts share borders with Nepal.

One of the biggest challenges that the state Police are facing is determining how many new Muslim families who have settled in the area have valid documents and how many are illegal. Security agencies suspect that many of these people may be illegal immigrants. There are around 1,000 villages in 5 border districts of UP. Out of these, 116 have more than 50% Muslim population. Around 303 villages have a Muslim population anywhere between 30% and 50%.

Not only the number of Muslims but the number of mosques and madrasas have also increased in these districts by at least 25% from April 2018 to March 2022. As per reports, compared to 1,349 mosques and madrasas in the border districts in 2018, the number stands at 1,688.

According to the Police report, the infiltration has been active in the border areas for a long time. Most of the people who come from outside are Muslims. In Assam, the Muslim population has increased by approx 32 per cent in Dhuvari, Karimganj, South Salmara and Cachar districts. These districts share borders with Bangladesh.

Unexpected increases in the Muslim population have been reported before

This is not the first time such reports are making ways to headlines. In March 2022, OpIndia reported that the sudden increase in the Muslim population in border districts in West Bengal had forced Hindus to migrate.

A journalist with the Organiser magazine named Pranay Kumar visited a few cities like New Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, Islampur, Malda Town, Murshidabad etc. Villages and towns were situated adjacent to them, where he noticed a terrible imbalance in the demographics in these villages. Many Rohingya immigrants from Bangladesh have come and settled in these areas. This unprecedented increase in the Muslim population in specific areas of the state bordering Bangladesh has forced many Hindus to migrate from these regions.

In most villages and small towns, Muslims outnumber non-Muslims. There are also a large number of suspected Rohingyas from the bordering country of Bangladesh, who are being deliberately pushed into the villages for vote banks, despite the Centre identifying them as a security threat. As a result of their abundance, local Hindus migrate to other cities or safer locations. They flee as a result of organised and sponsored violence. They are terrified by the spread of violence, said the journalist.

As a result, Hindu migrants are selling their homes, farms, businesses, and other assets.

In December 2021, following the notification of an increase in BSF jurisdiction from 15 KM to 50 KM, BSF DG explained the reasons. The Director-General of BSF, Pankaj Kumar Singh, said that a greater degree of demographic imbalance in the bordering states was one of the key reasons behind the Centre’s decision. 

BSF DG said that over a period of time, the demographic balance in border states like West Bengal and Assam has been upset. He said a survey done by the BSF had confirmed demographic changes. He said that it was one of the probable reasons behind the Narendra Modi government extending the jurisdiction of the BSF from 15 km to 50 km in Punjab, Assam and West Bengal. The DG said that India has been facing infiltration on a large scale. Be it Assam or West Bengal, the demographic balance has been upset to a great degree, he said.

A similar change in demographic has been reported in Uttarakhand and Gujarat as well. In 2018, BSF warned about changes in demographic in border areas of Rajasthan.

Laal Singh Chaddha: Why is Mr Perfectionist rattled? Isn’t he confident in his craft?

Sharmi Adhikary
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Laal Singh Chaddha: Why is Mr Perfectionist rattled? Isn’t he confident in his craft?

Is Mr Perfectionist palpitating? Wonder why. Considering he is known to invest time, energy and immense research in his films that appear not too frequently in the scheme of the Hindi film industry, is he sounding a little unsure about how the audience would react to his next offering, Laal Singh Chaddha (LSC), a copy of the iconic and heartwarming Forrest Gump, starring the inimitable Tom Hanks. Well, if the audience at all watches the film that is!

Going by how Aamir Khan is on a spree requesting the audience to not boycott his film, he seems to be feeling the pre-release jitters quite strongly. This time though, this feeling of isolation has nothing to do with the creation, aesthetics and content of his film. Means if Rajkumar Hirani’s PK, a film that gave Khan a merry lease to go overboard in making fun of Hindu Gods, rituals and traditions, could earn Rs 854 crores at the box office, why exactly should the actor feel so insecure even if LSC makes a decent turnover that is not as fancy as the 2014 release. 

It’s also not like Khan, who had openly declared during that time that he wants the people of India to see that the Bharatiya Janata Party doesn’t believe in democracy and in the rights of poor people, has not faced commercial failure before. When Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan failed to impress his fans and the masses in 2018 and barely scraped Rs 335 crores against its Rs 300 crores budget, the method actor took the debacle in his stride. After all, an actor is supposed to learn from the flaws in such projects, where not everything is considered as perfect as the filmmaking team is supposed to believe.

Then why is he suddenly churning out media interviews to justify his love for the country when he should be confident of flooring his audience with LSC in which he even dons the Indian Army uniform. The image might have him wearing an expression that has invited the strongest critique from social media chatteratti but isn’t this Ram Shankar Nikumbh who seemed to have a solution for every exigency in Taare Zameen Par not supposed to take the flak in his stride? 

Is Khan hoping that the social media hashtag of #BoycottLaalSinghChaddha will stop trending as August 11 nears and the first day collections of the Advait Chandan film, made on a budget of Rs 180 crores, will appear promising? Actually if the actor would have taken his art more seriously than indulging in divisive politics in urban chatrooms maybe this moment of tension would not have arrived. Maybe the mainstream Indian audience who made Khan a superstar watching his films wouldn’t have reacted so strongly against LSC. They would have glossed over the campaign he conducted to ensure the United States of America denies PM Narendra Modi a Visa in 2005 as a mere misjudgment on his part to gauge the real perpetrators of the 2002 Godhra riots.

When Aamir Khan strolled around a Delhi monument with Shekhar Gupta for a TV interview in 2005 to promote his film Fanaa, where he played terrorist Rehaan Quadri, he didn’t know that his comments slamming PM Modi for the Gujarat disturbance would come back to bite him in 2022. Especially because, LSC is not a film that would justify Islamic terrorism in Kashmir and glorify lawbreakers like the character he played in Fanaa. It is after all about a slow-brained Sikh whose characterization is under the scanner for being blatant stereotyping and distortion of how Sikhs are. That much artistic liberty the audience must give Mr Perfectionist, right? 

Some doctors are writing open letters to Khan on Twitter about an episode he conducted for his show Satyamev Jayate in 2012, a production targeted at bringing out the follies not just in the Indian democracy but also Hindu festivals, traditions and rituals. Since the actor went on to vilify Indian doctors without understanding what repercussions the unwarranted statements would create, the letter wants him to gauge how his shoddy remarks resulted in the loss of trust between the medical fraternity and patients in India. Should LSC be abandoned because of that? In another episode, he guilt tripped Hindus for pouring milk on the Shivalinga and suggested they use the money to feed the poor. Why should the audience take him to task for denigrating Hindu religious traditions repeatedly instead of spending a lump sum on tickets and popcorn when LSC plays in a neighbourhood posh multiplex? Surely, the poor can eat later, or skip a meal! 

The curious question however is that why is Aamir Khan even bothering to pacify the Indian audience. His proximity to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish President, was for all to see when he paid the family a visit in 2020. Indians even witnessed him beaming with the first lady when the country openly criticized the Abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and favoured Pakistan in 2019. With so much faith in the Turkish way of things Khan should have considered a Turkey release instead of bending before Indians, especially Hindus, to ensure a box office victory for his latest venture. Surely, flooring his Turkish brethren would be easier than amassing virtual support from a pronounced left cabal on Twitter who would never talk about the atrocities meted out to Hindus in India, Bangladesh or Pakistan but jump to dismiss the fabric of a peaceful, tolerant democracy like ours just because Aamir Khan’s film might land up in the dumps.

Interestingly, at this juncture, one is also reminded of how the actor explained during a media award function in 2015 that he was disturbed and depressed because Kiran Rao, his second wife, had suggested they leave India because the growing intolerance in society made her feel unsafe here. He reiterated that coming from a Hindu, the statement carried immense weight. The fun part is, this is 2022 and both Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao continue living their privileged lives here in this country. However, Khan has left Rao and Rao has left the Bollywood celebrity. So, who is the joke on at this moment?

Rahul Gandhi wants Murugha Math to send him a private tutor because he has read about seer Basavanna ‘a little’

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi wants Murugha Math to send him a private tutor because he has read about seer Basavanna ‘a little’

On 3rd August 2022, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Murugha Math in Karnataka and expressed that he wants the Math to send him a private tutor to teach him more about Shivayoga in detail because he has read a little about the founder of the Veer Shaiva sect Shri Basaveshwar. Party leaders DK Shivakumar and KC Venugopal were among the other leaders who accompanied Rahul Gandhi during his visit to this Math situated in the Chitradurga district of Karnataka.

The temple run of Rahul Gandhi ahead of elections is not an unfamiliar fact anymore. The Karnataka state legislative assembly is about to complete its tenure in the upcoming 10 months and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is already on his temple run to showcase his seasonal association with Indic faiths and sects. In one such attempt, he visited the Murugha Math in Karnataka. This Math is one of the major centres of the Veera Shaiva sect that covers an influential community in Karnataka.

During his visit to the Murugha Math, Rahul Gandhi said that he wants to know more about Ishtalinga and Shivayoga. However, instead of making any efforts to learn himself, he suggested that the Math should send a private tutor to him to teach about the matter. Rahul Gandhi said, “I’ve been following & reading a little about Basavanna ji for some time now. So, it’s a real honour for me to be here. I’d make a request, if you can send me somebody who can teach me a little more in detail about Ishtalinga & Shivayoga, I’d probably benefit from it.”

It is notable that, in Chitradurga, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi got Linga Deeksha from Sri Murugha Math seer Dr. Sri Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru. People from the Lingayat community usually execute this process while going to wear a crystalline Ishtalinga.

‘Love Jihad’ in Greece? 30-year-old Pakistani man on the run after brutally killing 17-year-old girlfriend in Athens

OpIndia Staff
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‘Love Jihad’ in Greece? 30-year-old Pakistani man on the run after brutally killing 17-year-old girlfriend in Athens

On Tuesday, the Athens Police in Greece launched a massive manhunt to search for a Pakistani man who is wanted for the brutal murder of his 17-year-old girlfriend named Nicoletta in the Athens neighbourhood of Peristeri. The accused is said to have killed the girl after an argument between the two.

According to the reports, the man was hosted at the house of the victim who was staying with her mother and her sister. The teenage minor girl’s affair with the 30-year-old Pakistani man was reportedly objected to by her mother. The man has been absconding after the crime.

The body of the dead girl was sent for medical examination which confirmed that the victim was suffocated to death. The perpetrator might have pressed his hand on the girl’s face disallowing her to breathe. Georgios Dilernia, the medical examiner also said that the accused had pressed his fingers and nails on her mouth and nose to kill her.

The examiner also discovered bruises on the victim’s right hand which reveal that the girl must have attempted to save herself by resisting the Pakistani killer. While the police are investigating the case, they are searching for the man who is on the run since the incident happened. Reports mention that the man was the last person to see the teenage girl alive.

The man reportedly fled from the spot after the murder, taking a few valuables with him. While the case is being investigated and the Police are looking for the accused to know the exact trail of circumstances, local reports mention that the man is likely to surrender to the Police today. He fled to the northern suburbs to prepare the ground for his surrender to the prosecuting authorities.

Nicoletta’s father talked to the media to reveal that he was shocked to hear about his daughter’s death from his second daughter. She messaged him saying, “Dad, we lost Nicoletta, Sunny killed her”. He added that the duo was in a relationship for the past 10 months and they both “were happy”. The girl’s friends had also stated that the victim seemed ‘happy’ and the murder has come as a shock.

To note, the Police are examining everything around the 30-year-old’s identity. The accused had also switched off his mobile phone.

Eighth anniversary of Yazidi genocide: A grim list of some of the most brutal atrocities ISIS committed against Yazidi women

Jhankar Mohta
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Eighth anniversary of Yazidi genocide: A grim list of some of the most brutal atrocities ISIS committed against Yazidi women

August 3, 2014, is etched in the memory of Yazidis worldwide as the day ISIS carried out one of the biggest genocides in modern history in the northern Iraqi province of Sinjar. Fearing persecution, as many as 4,00,000 Yazidis had fled to the neighbouring Kurdistan region of Iraq. Since Yazidis are non-Muslims, the Islamic State view them as ‘devil worshippers’ who ought to be converted and enslaved. 

Thousands of hapless Yazidis took refuge on Mount Sinjar remaining stranded and on the verge of starvation until foreign forces intervened. Their plight was worsened following the withdrawal of Kurdish Peshmerga forces from the region.

As many as, 3000 to 5000 elderly Yazidi men and women who could not flee were brutally massacred by ISIS. Using sexual abuse as a weapon, approximately 7,000 Yazidi women and girls as young as nine were enslaved, forcefully converted to Islam, married off to ISIS soldiers, and moved around Iraq and eastern Syria.

In fact, according to reports, as many as 300 Yezidi women and girls from Iraq were distributed to ISIS fighters in Syria. In at least 27 cases, Islamic State supporters bought the women for $1,000 each, in order to marry them. The victims were described as “booty from the war with the infidels.” 

Those who attempted to escape were brutally gang raped. The abducted boys, some of whom were as young as seven years old, were indoctrinated into Islam and used as child soldiers.

Though the exact number of the Yazidi killed by ISIS is still unknown, the Yezidi mass burial in Iraq’s Sinjar area bears witness to the horrors inflicted on them by their Islamist oppressors. Today, on August 3, 2022, eight years into the horrific genocide, we have tried to compile some of the worst testimonies of the cruelty and atrocities Islamic terrorists committed on Yazidi women and young girls.

ISIS cooks and feeds Yazidi woman her own 1-year-old son

On May 17, 2022, Twitter user Zidan Ismail (@zidan_yezidi) posted a Twitter thread, chronicling the ordeal faced by the Yazidis at the hands of the Islamic State. He shared a 2017 television interview wherein the Iraqi MP Vian Dakhill claimed that a Yazidi sex slave, whom they had managed to retrieve from ISIS had said that she was held in a cellar for three days without food or water. He further revealed that the ISIS terrorists forced her to eat her one-year-old child with rice.

The Yazidi woman, who was not named, was quoted as saying that she ate the food because she was very very hungry, but only after she had finished eating, they had said to her, “We cooked your one-year-old son that we took from you, and this is what you just ate.”

Yazidi survivor recalls how ISIS terrorist inked his name with a filthy needle on her hand

Twitter user Azzad Alsalem (@AzzatAlsaleem) took to Twitter on May 8, to share the ordeal of a Yazidi survivor. #YazidiGenocide survivor ‘I was sold 3 times when I was in IS captivity. Last IS terrorist who ensIaved me engraved his name on my hand with a filthy needle.I couldnt sleep from the pain of my swollen arm” After she survived she tattooed peacock on her arm,” read the Tweet.

10-year-old Yazidi raped to death in front of her father and other sisters

The Iraqi politician also recounted another horrific incident as narrated to her by another Yazidi victim, who told her how ISIS took six of her sisters and raped her 10-year-old sister to death in front of her father and other sisters.

Sold, Wipped and raped: Yazidi woman keeps a secret notebook in which she recorded the abuses committed against her and other

In October 2020, AlJazeera reported about a Yazidi woman named Layla Talu, who while speaking to the media house, recounted how she was abducted, beaten up, starved, raped and subjected to brutal torture by Islamic terrorists in 2014. Layla spoke of how on the morning of August 3, 2014, Layla, her husband, Marwan Khalil, and their two children, who were aged four and 18 months were abducted by ISIS terrorists while they were trying to flee the Sinjar district in Iraq like many other Yazidis tried to do to save themselves from the ISIS atrocities. They were captured by the terrorists after her neighbours in Sinjar exposed her location in her town.

Layla then said, “the way they (ISIS) dealt with us was not different from how you deal with sheep and animals; they did not even provide us with adequate food and drink. We slept on the floor and received three daily meals and beatings by ISIL operatives”.

Layla was imprisoned for 40 days with her children before being transferred to other ISI senior members who abused and raped her. Recalling the atrocities inflicted upon her, Layla revealed how she was raped and sold multiple times to ISI terrorists. She maintained a notebook during her time in Raqqa, in which she recorded some of the horrifying details of the experiences she and other Yazidi women and girls endured.

ISIS bride reveals murder of a 5-year-old Yazidi girl

In 2019, an ISIS bride spilt the beans about the excesses meted out by her and her husband to a German security service official posing as a driver. The ISIS bride identified as Jennifer W, 27, is a German national who got converted to Islam in 2013. As per the formal charge against Jennifer, she and her husband bought a 5-year-old Yazidi girl as a slave in the summer of 2015.

According to the German authorities, the girl child was tied up by Jennifer’s husband and left to die of thirst. The defendant’s husband chained up the girl in the scorching heat and left her to die after she fell ill and wet her mattress. Jennifer allowed her husband to do what he wanted and displayed no intention of saving the girl.

ISIS burns 19 Yazidi women alive for refusing to have sex

In 2016, as many as nineteen Yazidi women were burnt alive by ISIS terrorists in the Iraqi city of Mosul after they refused to have sex with the extremists.

The ARA News agency reported then how these destitute women were put in iron cages and burnt to death as hundreds of people watched in horror. “They were punished for refusing to have sex with ISIS militants,” the news agency quoted Abdullah al-Malla, a local media activist, as saying.

10-year-old Yazidi girl becomes pregnant, feeds on sticks and animal dung to survive

In yet another horrific story to emerge from war-torn Syria, a Yazidi woman alleged that her niece, who was forced to become a sex slave for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), became pregnant at the age of ten. The lady, identified as Mahdya, alleged that children like her 10-year-old niece were thrashed with cables if they defied the ISIS orders. Further throwing light on the appalling conditions in which Yazidi women and children are held captive, Mahdya said that her niece was pushed to feed on sticks and animal dung to survive.

Meanwhile, speaking about the 10-year-old, Ziad Avdal, a former teacher who runs safe houses for Yazidis escaping ISIS, said, “It is not just terrible that she is pregnant. These young girls may have been raped by 100 men before they become pregnant.”

15-year-old sold 7 times

Last year, Twitter user Azzad Alsalem (@AzzatAlsaleem) posted a Twitter thread, chronicling the ordeal faced by the Yazidis at the hands of the Islamic State. In one of his Tweet, a woman, who was just 15 years old, recounted how she was sold 7 times after she was held captive by ISIS. The believers of ‘sex jihad’ did not feel any remorse before subjecting a child to a lifetime of trauma.

Yazidi child sold as a ‘gift’ during Eid

Another ISIS survivor, who was sold during Eid, recounted, “I was a child when I was kidnapped. I was sold 8 times, 3 of my owners raped me. I was given a gift during Islamic Eid. I was separated from my mother and tortured. My sister is as sold too.”

14-year-old Yazidi girl sold to a 50-year-old ISIS fighter; beaten mercilessly, fed only one meal a day for resisting rape

A 14-year-old Yazidi girl narrated her horrifying ordeal when she was taken captive and sold off to a 50-year-old ISIS fighter.

“The militants divided us by gender and age: One for young and capable men, another for girls and young women, and a third for older men and women. The jihadists stole cash and jewellery from this last group and left them alone at the oasis. Then they placed the girls and women in trucks. As they drove us away, we heard gunshots. Later we learned that they were killing the young men, including my 19-year-old brother, who had married just six months ago,” recalled the devastated Yazidi girl while speaking to a WaPo journalist.

She added how one day the guards separated the married from unmarried women. “My good childhood friend Shayma and I were given as a gift to two Islamic State members from the south, near Baghdad. They wanted to make us their wives or concubines. Shayma was awarded to Abu Hussein, who was a cleric. I was given to an overweight, dark-bearded man about 50 years old who seemed to have some high rank. He went by the nickname, Abu Ahmed.”

Abu Ahmed kept telling me to convert, which I ignored. He tried to rape me several times, but I did not allow him to touch me in any sexual way. Instead, he cursed me and beat me every day, punching and kicking me. He fed me only one meal per day,” the teenager recounted. 

Raped and abused by ISIS, Yazidi teenager burns her face to “make herself undesirable”

Another implausible incident came to light wherein a 17-year-old Yazidi girl burnt her face on her own so that she no more becomes prey to ISIS’ barbarity. In 2016, Hindustan Times reported about this Yazidi teenage rape survivor, who was so petrified of the prospect of enduring rape and abuse at the hands of ISIS once again, that she doused herself in gasoline and lit a match. The flames burned her hair and face, peeling away her nose, lips and ears.

She was so physically deformed and psychologically wounded when a German physician by the name of Jan Ilhan Kizilhan discovered her in a refugee camp in northern Iraq in 2015 that she had mistakenly believed her old captors were after her. Such was her trauma that she burnt herself alive, hoping to render herself no longer desirable to the extremists.

In 2014, the United Nations reported that about 5000 Yazidis were murdered while 5000-7000 women and children were captured. In its digital magazine Dabiq, ISIS justified, “One should remember that enslaving the families of the (non-believers) and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of the Shariah, that if one were to deny or mock, he would be denying or mocking the verses of the Quran and the narrations of the Prophet.”

Assam: Private board headed by Badruddin Ajmal runs 1000 madrasas, CM Himanta Biswa assures strict actions against jihadi elements

OpIndia Staff
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Assam: Private board headed by Badruddin Ajmal runs 1000 madrasas, CM Himanta Biswa assures strict actions against jihadi elements

The nearly 1,000 private madrasas currently running in Assam are being considered for regulation by the state government led by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. This follows the recent detention of 11 people in the districts of Morigaon, Barpeta, Guwahati, and Goalpara for their purported connections to international terrorist groups including Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and the Bangladesh-based Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).

The mastermind of this network, Mustafa alias Mufti Mustafa, was imprisoned with other people on Wednesday 27th July 2022. He was a teacher at the Saruchala Al-Jamiatus Salihat Madarasatul Banat in the Saharia Gaon village of Morigaon.

According to a report by India Today Northeast, there are at least 1,000 private madrasas operating in Assam, up from 788 in 2016, despite the fact that there is no formal tally of them. Government records regarding these madrasas affiliation are not proper. The state government has already made the decision to turn government-aided madrasas into conventional schools.

Assam’s Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said, “We are collecting reports and examining if we can enforce certain rules in the private madrasas and give direction to impart modern education there. We are taking legal opinion. I am not aware of any board which is running these private madrasas. We don’t have any specific data on these madrasas.” Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, the director general of the Assam Police, asserted that the police had conducted a survey of these madrasas and had full information. Nonetheless, the officer withheld the specifics.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s strict action

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that a few more madrasas will be investigated by the police. According to a report by The Sentinel, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “We have already sealed two madrasas for their jihadi link. The government has the policy to seal madrasas if it gets any concrete complaints regarding their jihadi link. The authorities will admit the students of the sealed madrasas in nearby general schools.”

He added, “We have no government madrasas in the state. We have already closed down 750 government madrasas. Only privately run madrasas are operational. However, if we get any concrete information on their link with fundamentalists, we will not have any second thought to take action against them.”

A private body governing the madrasas

The report by India Today Northeast revealed that the All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya, with its headquarters in Nilbagan in the Hojai district, governs all private madrasas in the state of Assam. It is a private board that controls madrasas in adjacent states Nagaland and Meghalaya as well. These madrasas in Assam have enrollments of close to 100,000 students. Most of these madrasas are located in the districts of Nagaon, Hojai, Dhubri, and Goalpara, where enrollment rates are also significantly greater.

It further states that the madrasa where Mustafa taught, Saruchala Al-Jamiatus Salihat Madrasatul Banat, is also affiliated with All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya. According to Morigaon SP Aparna Natarajan, Mustafa was also heading another private madrasa from which he was detained. However, according to government officials, Mustafa’s arrest does not necessarily imply that all madrasas, or the students and instructors connected to them, have any links to terrorism.

All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya

The All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya, formerly known as Madaris-E Quawmiya, was founded in 1955 with the aim of not only establishing madrasas but also optimizing their administrative and educational processes. It was given its present name in 1982. Initially limiting its operations to the southern portions of the Nagaon district, the board steadily broadened its reach. Badaruddin Ajmal, leader of the AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front) and a wealthy perfumes businessman, serves as the board’s president.

According to the board’s preamble, it was established to protect and propagate Islam’s philosophy as well as “Islamic science” and knowledge around the globe in order to create individuals who could counteract the so-called falsehoods and misrepresentations allegedly being promoted about Islam and madrasas as well as dismantle the anti-Muslim influences. According to Moulana Abdul Qadir Quasimi, general secretary of All Assam Tanzim Madaris Qawmiya, the board does not provide donations to madrasas, yet, under the promise of secrecy, the chiefs of several madrasas acknowledged to India Today that they do get regular funding from the board.

More girl students enrolled in recent years

Remarkably, one of the three types of madrasas in the state is a Banat madrasa (intended solely for girl students); the other two were Arabia (a quami madrasa controlled by the community) and Hafizia (where Quran is memorized). The number of Banat madrasas in Assam grew from 140 to 219 between 2016 and 2021, reflecting the biggest increase of the three.

The number of Madrasas exclusively run for girls has sharply increased in the last few years. Image Source: India Today Northeast

Mustafa’s madrasa was not affiliated with this board

Although the second madrasa Mustafa was operating was not connected to the board, Moulana Abdul Qadir Quasimi acknowledged that Mustafa had been working part-time in a madrasa that was recognized by the board. Quasimi acknowledges that mistakes have been made in spite of the board’s tight supervision.

He said, “We have asked madrasas to ensure that no suspicious people are admitted. Not only teachers but even students should also be scrutinized. No unidentified person should be allowed to stay as a guest. There are some who manage to evade scrutiny and we cannot install CCTV cameras everywhere.”

Some Muslim bodies and leaders are worried about mushrooming of madrasas

Some Muslim leaders are apparently concerned about the growth of private madrasas. According to Advocate Hafiz Rashid Choudhury, a working committee member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, there is a need for a regulatory agency to supervise the activities and functions of the madrasas.

Choudhury said, “Modern education like English, history and social studies need to be included along with religious education in the madrasas. A subject on comparative religion should also be introduced to strengthen the integrity of the nation.”

Rejaul Karim Sarkar, head of the All Assam Minority Students’ Union, criticized the rise in the number of madrasas that did not achieve their fundamental goals, as per the report in India Today. He said, “We do need madrasas, but it doesn’t mean that these institutions start spreading everywhere. Many are functioning even though they can’t produce one good student.” Moulana Abdul Qadir Quasimi has also said that there are more madrasas than required.

After Mufti Mustafa’s arrest, the government scrutiny of madrasas is expected to increase.

Punjab CM announces cash prize for Hindu athlete after netizens point out he only gave ‘good wishes’ while Sikh athlete got prize money for winning medals at CWG

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab CM announces cash prize for Hindu athlete after netizens point out he only gave ‘good wishes’ while Sikh athlete got prize money for winning medals at CWG

The Indian athletes are performing well at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 at Birmingham. Two of the athletes from Punjab, Harjinder Kaur and Vikas Thakur, won Bronze and silver medals in weight lifting competitions. However, there were allegations of discrimination Thakur by the Punjab govt after the wins, after which the AAP govt took a ‘corrective’ step.

Harjinder Kaur is a native of Mehs village near Nabha, Punjab. While congratulating her, the Chief Minister of Punjab wrote, “Congratulations to Harjinder Kaur, a native of Mehs village near Nabha, for winning a bronze medal in weightlifting in the Commonwealth Games. Harjinder, you will be a source of inspiration for the girls of Punjab. Congratulations to your parents and coaches too. Best wishes for the future. Chakde India.”

After the initial Tweet, within two hours, CM Bhagwant Mann announced Rs 40 cash prize for Kaur under the state government’s policy under the sports department. He said, “Weightlifter Harjinder Kaur of Punjab won a bronze medal in Birmingham Games 2022. Harjinder Kaur of Mehs village near Nabha will be given a cash prize of 40 lakh rupees by the Punjab government as per the policy of the sports department. This achievement of this proud player will encourage the upcoming players, especially our girls.”

On the same day, Vikas Thakur from Ludhiana won the Silver medal in the weight lifting tournament. CM wrote, “Another athlete from Punjab entered the medal list of India in the Commonwealth Games. Vikas Thakur of Ludhiana won the silver medal in the 96 kg weight lifting competition, lifting 346 kg. Congratulations. Keep up the hard work. Best wishes for the future. Well done. Chakde India!”

Hours passed by, but there was no announcement from the Chief Minister of any cash prize for Thakur. Netizens started to point out that a Sikh athlete who won a Bronze medal was awarded a cash prize, but a Hindu athlete did not get anything after winning the silver medal.

Twitter user 4racs sarcastically said, “UNESCO has declared AAP as the most secular political party in Universe,” and shared screenshots of CM Mann’s tweets.

Another Twitter user Ritik said, “Cash Prize of 40 L when a Sikh from Punjab won Bronze Medal, but just congratulations wish from Punjab CM when a Hindu from Punjab won Silver Medal. What a selective approch by Bhagwant Maan.”

Twitter user Equateall said, “Mr Bhagwant Mann Ji, the Silver medal is a higher honour than bronze. The Ludhiana weight lifter Vikas Thakur deserves an appropriate cash prize from the Punjab govt for winning silver medal.”

After 15 hours of initial tweet congratulating Thakur, CM Mann finally announced a cash reward for him. He said, “Ludhiana’s Vikas Thakur won a silver medal in weightlifting during the ongoing Commonwealth Games at Birmingham. According to the sports policy of the Punjab government, Vikas will be awarded ₹ 50 lakhs as a prize. My government is fully committed to encouraging and providing all possible help to the sportsmen of Punjab.”

It is unclear if he announced the cash reward following the backlash or if it was just a ‘Sarkari’ delay in the announcement.

Maulana Salman Nadwi, who attended inter-faith meeting with NSA Doval, backtracks on proposal to ban PFI, had earlier sworn allegiance to ISIS

OpIndia Staff
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Maulana Salman Nadwi, who attended inter-faith meeting with NSA Doval, backtracks on proposal to ban PFI, had earlier sworn allegiance to ISIS

Days after attending the All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council (AISSC) that demanded a ban on the functioning of the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI), Lucknow-based Islamic cleric Salman Nadwi opposed the call and said that it was illogical to ban the entire organization due to mistake of a few members.

Nadwi also compared the organization to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) and blatantly contended that the two organizations worked on similar lines.

According to the reports, Nadwi was part of the inter-faith conference that was held in New Delhi last Saturday. The conference was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and AISSC which is an Islamist organization set up for four years. The conference passed the resolution to ban the PFI involved in radicalism or incidents like the recent killing of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur or the Bihar terror module.

However, Nadwi on July 31 made an about-face and refused to support the call for banning PFI.

He said that the law should punish those members of the organizations who are involved in the crimes but banning the entire organization because of such people is not a good idea. He alleged that he had no idea that a call to ban PFI was made at the conference.

The Islamic cleric went on to say that action should be taken against a few members of any organization who engage in illegal activity. They should be punished if there is evidence to support it but this cannot be used as justification to outlaw the entire group. “The same”, he said, “also holds for groups like the RSS, VHP, and Bajrang Dal”.

“It is not right to demand a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, Tablighi Jamaat or the RSS, its branches, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad just because some of their members are found indulging in cruelty or making unlawful remarks,” he said in a video interview that was uploaded on his Youtube channel on July 31. He added that RSS and PFI worked on similar lines. “RSS says that it works for the society. PFI also does the same. It is not good to target the entire organization”, he stated.

He reiterated that no such resolution to ban the PFI was brought before him at the conference on Saturday and said that he attended the conference just to promote interfaith harmony. “I was not even aware that some resolution was to be passed,” he said.

It is worth noting that Salman Nadwi’s volte-face comes days after participating in the All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council (AISSC), which was also attended by NSA Ajit Doval, and which passed the resolution calling for the ban on PFI. Visuals of Nadwi bear-hugging Mr Doval and animatedly shaking hands with other religious leaders had gone viral on the internet. 

Swearing allegiance to ISIS, congratulating Al-Baghdadi for becoming Caliph

Nadwi, who is known to profess hardcore support for Muslim Brotherhood, had in the past made no bones about his allegiance to the Islamic State. He had also congratulated Al-Baghdadi for becoming the Caliph and expressed excitement at the establishment of ISIS. 

The criminal antecedents of PFI

It, therefore, comes as no surprise that Salman Nadwi has a soft spot in his heart for a radical outfit like PFI, which is known for spreading Islamism in India and carrying out nefarious activities against non-Muslims. 

Recently, the Bihar Police busted the terror module in Patna that had links with the Islamic extremist outfit PFI. The NIA also raided 10 locations in Patna, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Nalanda, and Madhubani districts in Bihar in the case in which the suspects involved were closely associated with the PFI. The accused had planned anti-national activities during PM Modi’s visit to Patna.

The PFI activists have been involved in several other crimes. The one accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case is associated with the PFI. Recently a BJP Youth Morcha member named Praveen was murdered in Karnataka. The arrested accused Shafiq and Zaqir have links with PFI and SDPI. The PFI has been working as a radical organization for years. It also had a major role to play in chopping off the right hand of a professor from Kerala named TJ Joseph. Also, in 2019 when the NIA was probing the murder of Ramalingam, the agency filed a charge sheet against 18 persons. All 18 persons are allegedly associated with the PFI and SDPI.

‘Screaming Butterflies’, an award-winning film on love jihad by Assamese actor-director Aimee Baruah, to be screened at South Asian Short Film Festival

OpIndia Staff
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‘Screaming Butterflies’, an award-winning film on love jihad by Assamese actor-director Aimee Baruah, to be screened at South Asian Short Film Festival

Aimee Baruah, an Assamese actor-turned-director, will be participating with her documentary about love jihad in Assam at the forthcoming 5th South Asian Short Film Festival to be held in Kolkata. The producer held one-to-one conversations with many victim ladies on camera where she asked them about their heinous victimization. The documentary named ‘Screaming Butterflies’, which most recently won the Silver Conch award for Best Documentary Film at the Mumbai International Film Festival will be screened by the Films Division this month in association with the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI). According to the schedule of the film festival to be held at Nandan in Kolkata, the documentary is being screened today, 3rd August 2022.

According to the reports, the documentary contains dreadful stories of all such women who became a victim of conversion to Islam under the pretext of love affairs by Islamist men. The reel in the very beginning displays a message that says that the documentary cannot be considered as evidence in the lawsuits that are underway in the Court of Law. Baruah also states that she has made no attempts to hide the faces of victims after the latter asked the director not to deliberately conceal the identities.

Elaborating about the film Screaming Butterflies, the director said that in early 2021, she knew 26 girls from Assam who were tricked and tortured by Islamist men who posed with false religious identities to lure them. It is then that she began to shoot the film. “I first wanted to hear their stories. I asked the permission for filming once I heard them out”, she was quoted. The Assamese actor says she is still in touch with each one of them.

Out of a total of 26 women, Baruah decided to focus on four women. To comfort the ladies, she also decided to operate the camera herself and no other crew members were present during the filming. Describing the plight of the women, the director said, “the women shared their stories with a hope that it might help other girls from being duped in this way. Every word they spoke came out from the depth of truth”. She added that the film is not about targeting one particular community. “It is wrong for a person from any faith to dupe girls this way and force them to convert”, she stated.

Talking about not blurring the faces of the victims in Screaming Butterflies, Aimee Baruah said that when the faces of victims are not shown, it is very difficult to show their emotions. And it was good that the victims themselves wanted to reveal their faces in cameras, and gave legal consent for the same. The victims said that they have narrated their stories to the media in the past, but the issue was not highlighted, therefore they came forward to tell their stories on camera.

Saying that the tortures that the women went through were unimaginable, Aimee said that she could not show everything as she felt it will be too much. She also said that her film is not against a particular community, but nobody in the world should be allowed to treat women like this using fake identities and falsehoods.

Though Love Jihad is not considered a problem by many leftists and Islamists, it is a fact that forces non-Islamist women to go through discomfort and unimaginable misery. Non-Islamist women are trapped in a ‘love affair’ by the Islamists who sometimes even hide their identities to lure the victims. The women are then sexually exploited and forced to follow the Islamic rituals and later accept the religion forever. In some cases, they are also forced to consume beef as a part of the Islam religion.

Though the problem of love jihad or grooming jihad has networked all over the country, cases like these are found more in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal. OpIndia has documented several such cases over the last few years.

In June this year, the film which shows the stories of the victims won the award for the Best Documentary film (below 60 minutes) in the National Competition section of the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival. The Director also received a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a Silver Conch. “For me, they aren’t just some mere film characters but original people who went through terrible experiences. And if we don’t observe their pain closely, we won’t understand their hardships,” she had said then.

The director stated that despite there are stringent laws that have been implemented against love jihad in various states, the country sees no slump in such continuing incidents of love jihad. She said that the life of women gets ruined after facing misery. “They hardly have friends even now. Unfortunately, our laws are not strong enough to punish the perpetrators”, she noted.

Before ‘Screaming Butterflies‘, Aimee Baruah also earned accolades for another film titled ‘Semkhor’. The Dimasa language short film was screened at several film festivals including Berlin International Film Festival, and she made her Cannes debut this year where the film was screened, and she was also invited to talk about the film. Semkhor won awards the National Film festival, and film festivals at Bengaluru, Dhaka and Toronto.

Actor-director Aimme Baruah, who has acted in a large of Assamese feature films and video films, is married to current Assam minister and BJP leader Pijush Hazarika.

Baloch freedom fighters claim responsibility for Pakistan Army helicopter crash, say military is lying by calling it ‘accident due to bad weather’

OpIndia Staff
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Baloch freedom fighters claim responsibility for Pakistan Army helicopter crash, say military is lying by calling it ‘accident due to bad weather’

A day after the media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces claimed that the Pakistan Army helicopter that went missing on August 1, crashed in an ‘accident‘, the Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS) an umbrella organization of Baloch armed rebel groups took responsibility for the same.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the rebel group claimed responsibility for targeting and downing the low-flying Pakistan military helicopter in the mountainous areas of Windar and Noorani in Balochistan. 

According to reports, the wreckage of the Pakistan Army helicopter carrying senior military officers that had gone missing on August 1 was found in Musa Goth, Windar, Lasbela on Tuesday, August 2. Six individuals who were on board including Commander 12 Corps were found dead.

The debris of the Pakistan Army helicopter carrying senior military officers that had gone missing on August 1 (source: @RupamDeodhai)

On Tuesday, Director-General (DG) ISPR Tweeted that the initial probe revealed that the accident had occurred due to bad weather. “The wreckage of an unfortunate helicopter which was on flood relief ops found in Musa Goth, Windar, Lasbela. All 6 officers and soldiers including l Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali embraced shahadat. …Accident occurred due to bad weather as per initial investigations,” Director-General (DG) ISPR said in a tweet.

The Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS) spokesperson Baloch Khan, however, said in a statement on Wednesday, “Freedom fighters of BRAS targeted a low flying helicopter of Pakistan military. The targeted helicopter crashed near Moosa Goth in Dareji.”

“In the attack, carried out with anti-aircraft guns, the helicopter was badly damaged and later completely destroyed. All six enemy personnel on board the flight were killed in the attack. They included Core Commander 12 Core Lieutenant General Sarfaraz Ali, Director General Coast Guard Major General Amjad, Brigadier Khalid, pilot Major Saeed, co-pilot Talha and crew chief Naik Muddasir”, the statement by BRAS added. 

The statement released by BRAS (source: Aditya Raj Kaul on Twitter)

The spokesperson for BRAS asserted that the helicopter was the target of its fighters and added that Lieutenant General Sarfaraz Ali, who had continued to serve as Director General of Military Intelligence and Inspector General of the Frontier Corps South of Balochistan, was directly involved in forced disappearances and the Baloch genocide. Lieutenant General Sarfaraz Ali was one of the six Pakistani commanders who were on board the helicopter, supervising the flood relief operations in Lasbela, Balochistan.

“Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS) will continue to carry lethal attacks against the enemy (Pakistan army) until the full withdrawal of the enemy forces and the liberation of Baloch motherland”, the statement of BRAS added. 

According to authorities, the helicopter left Uthal at 5:10 p.m. on Monday and was scheduled to arrive in Karachi at 6:05 p.m. but lost communication with the air traffic controller.

“A Pakistan army aviation helicopter which was on flood relief operations in Lasbela, Balochistan lost contact with ATC. 6 individuals were on board including Commander 12 Corps who was supervising flood relief operations in Balochistan. The search operation is underway,” Tweeted Director-General (DG) ISPR on Monday, August 1.

Balochistan has been devastated by flash floods and heavy rains, which have killed 147 people so far. Relief operations are now being offered to the displaced in the province by the Pakistan Army and civic authorities.

Police and Army officers combed the region on Tuesday in an effort to find the chopper. However, the hazardous hilly terrain and the region’s damaged roadways caused by the flooding hindered their attempts. Later, the Pakistan army’s media wing said in a statement that the wreckage of the helicopter was found and claimed that, “the accident occurred due to bad weather.”

Notably, in February this year, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) had attacked two posts in Pakistan’s southwest province neutralizing more than 100 Pakistani personnel and destroying a large part of their camps. The BLA issued an official statement confirming that the major parts of both the camps were still under their control. Then too the Pakistan military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) denied the intensity of the attack and declared a reduced number of deaths.

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