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Kerala’s Zeenat Banu hides gold in sanitary pad, Md Iqbal wraps gold in condom and puts in his rectum: Both arrested at Mangaluru airport

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala’s Zeenat Banu hides gold in sanitary pad, Md Iqbal wraps gold in condom and puts in his rectum: Both arrested at Mangaluru airport

On Wednesday, the customs officials in Mangaluru arrested two persons for smuggling gold from Dubai in two separate incidents. The accused were arrested at Mangaluru International Airport and have been identified as Zeenath Banu and Muhammad Iqbal.

According to the report by Mathrubhumi, Banu is 45 years old and Muhammad Iqbal is 47 years old. Both the accused are residents of Kasaragod, Kerala and were arrested at Mangaluru International Airport as they arrived in an Air India Express flight from Dubai smuggling gold weighing around 2.648 kgs.

The Customs officials in Mangaluru confirmed the arrests and stated that the gold that was being smuggled is of 24-carat purity and value worth Rs 1.366 crore. Reports mention that the lady carried the smuggled gold in her sanitary pads whereas Iqbal concealed the gold inside his rectum as four balls wrapped in celluloid-based tape and a condom, Mathrubhumi reported.

The gold that was smuggled by Zeenat was weighed around 1.684 kgs. The gold she had hidden in a sanitary pad inside her underwear valued over Rs 86.89 lakhs. Whereas the gold that was smuggled by Iqbal was valued at over Rs 49.74 lakhs, as per the information by the Customs officials.

According to the reports, the officials conducted the medical examination of the accused and then produced both before the First Class Judicial Magistrate. Further investigations are underway.

Prayagraj Violence: After bulldozing house of mastermind, UP govt to auction houses of absconding accused if they don’t surrender

OpIndia Staff
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Prayagraj Violence: After bulldozing house of mastermind, UP govt to auction houses of absconding accused if they don’t surrender

After demolishing the illegally built houses of violence accused in Prayagraj, the Uttar Pradesh has decided to auction the houses of the accused who are absconding. CM Yogi Adityanath ordered the state police to auction the illegally constructed residential properties of the absconders who refuse to surrender in the Prayagraj violence case.

According to the reports, the Uttar Pradesh Police has issued an ultimatum to the absconding accused to surrender, failing which they’ll have to lose their residential properties to auction. This is a few days after the state government bulldozed the house of Prayagraj violence mastermind Javed Ahmed. The Prayagraj administration initiated action to demolish his house on June 12.

Earlier, the authority had issued notice to Ahmed and had asked him to vacate his unlawfully constructed house. The notice also stated that the government had scheduled the demolition of his illegally constructed property. As per the notice further, the house in the Kareli Police Station area was built unlawfully and without approval from the competent authorities. On May 10 of this year, a show-cause notice was also issued in this respect, with the date of hearing set for May 25.

Reportedly, Javed Ahmed failed to appear before the authority, thus the authority issued orders to self-demolish the house by June 12. Javed Ahmed alias Pump is the one who had executed the stone-pelting at the police by pushing the children in the front during the violence in Prayagraj. He used stone-pelting kids as rioters’ shields during the violence. He was arrested on Saturday.

On June 10, violent protests were staged by Islamists in the city of Prayagraj this Friday after the weekly prayers. The city saw heavy stone-pelting on the police forces by Islamists who demanded strict action against ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her alleged blasphemous remarks.

Strict action is being taken in the case of violence by Islamic fundamentalists in Prayagraj. A case has been registered against 70 accused and 5000 unidentified persons under 29 important sections, and action has been initiated under the Gangster Act and NSA. Meanwhile, the bulldozer action hosted by the state against the illegally constructed houses of the accused is underway in Kanpur and Prayagraj.

Fake news peddler CJ Werleman share misleading old video to label Police as ‘Hindutva radicals,’ Islamists use it to threaten Hindus with bomb blasts

OpIndia Staff
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Fake news peddler CJ Werleman share misleading old video to label Police as ‘Hindutva radicals,’ Islamists use it to threaten Hindus with bomb blasts

Several liberals and Islamist apologists are sharing a misleading video on Twitter in which police can be seen beating a man with a beard wearing a skullcap and Lungi. The video was first posted by serial fake news peddler and Islamist sympathiser CJ Werleman who yet again took to Twitter to put the video to claim that an ‘elderly Muslim’ man was ‘brutally’ assaulted by ‘Hindutva radicalized cops.’

screenshot of Werleman’s tweet

Several other liberals and Islamists joined him in disseminating the video, leading the way. It was shared by Milli Gazette, which claims to be “Indian Muslims’ Leading English Newspaper.” Milli Gazette shared the video writing, “Looks like men in uniform have some personal score to settle.”

Islamist portal Milli Gazette spreading misleading info

Another person to share it was Dr Gagan Bhagat, whose Twitter profile says he is a former MLA from the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference party.

screenshot from Dr Gagan Bhat’s Twitter

A Twitter account with the name Anti-RSS Muslim also shared the video with a hateful message. It reads, “There is an urgent need for 1992 Mumbai type incidents and Indira Gandhi assasin@tion history to repeat in order to control these cow worshipers.”

screenshot from a Twitter handle peddling hate against Hindus and threatening bomb blasts.

However, this video is taken out of context to spread as it is a two-year-old video of the UP Police enforcing the strict lockdown during the first wave of Covid-19 in 2020. The Uttar Pradesh Police clarified the video through the Twitter handle of Bareilly Police. The Bareilly Police replied to the tweet by CJ Werleman asserting that this is an out-of-context video and shows police action towards a group of people who had violated Covid lockdown but the reply was deliberately hidden by him.

Bareilly Police wrote, “Concerned video is from 2020 when the complete lockdown was implemented. Unlawful gathering tried to misbehave with police and police used mild force to disperse the crowd so that COVID infection would not spread.”

The Bareilly Police had also tweeted about the incident in 2020 when some people flaunted the lockdown guidelines and upon action by the police, they crowded a police station in order to attack the police. The police used appropriate force and dispersed the crowd to ensure everyone’s safety.

The fact that Werleman has hidden the reply by Bareilly police shows he doesn’t want his followers to know the truth and wants his false propaganda to spread.

This is not the first time that the Islamist sympathiser CJ Werleman highlighted by Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint has used false news to incite violence and hatred. He shares old videos, and incidents of petty crimes and even sometimes peddles blatant lies to claim to the outside world that the Indian government is selectively targeting only Muslims. He spreads hatred and lies against the Hindus of India.

He continues to spread such bogus news on a daily basis, yet Twitter, shockingly, does not flag his tweets as fraudulent. He claimed on his Twitter profile last year that a group of Hindu men desecrated and demolished a Muslim graveyard in Nathan, India. Which again turned out to be fake.

CJ Werlemen appears to have a particular grudge against Uttar Pradesh, probably because a saffron-clad monk is the Chief Minister of the state. In several tweets, he had mentioned Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as a ‘Hindutva terrorist’.

The Nupur Sharma fiasco and the Liberals: 9 ways how the Islamo-fascists and their ideological comrades have shot themselves in the foot

Ganesh R
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The Nupur Sharma fiasco and the Liberals: 9 ways how the Islamo-fascists and their ideological comrades have shot themselves in the foot

Dear Liberals,

I would like to congratulate you!

By over-reacting to the Nupur Sharma affair, you have made life much more difficult for yourself for years. Let me list out the consequences of all your actions and inactions over the last few days.

1. You have proved that your “dara hua” slogan is a big lie and was never true. After all, if as you yourself proudly point out, Modi had to bow to the Ummah and sack Nupur, it can no longer be true that our minorities are helpless and cowering in fear. Two billion people are ready to use their collective monetary and other muscles at the drop of a skull cap and a signal from our liberals to intervene on their behalf is no laughing matter.

2. In fact, thanks to your actions, we can logically argue that the concept of majority-minority just does not apply to national borders anymore because, at the first chance, Islamists mark copies of tweets to the US President, State Dept and every Gulf country they can think of.  It is the Hindus that are a minority in this connected world and are left to fend for themselves.

3. Yes, you have made it very clear to all Hindus that they are alone. No country will speak for them, no one will condemn atrocities against them. After all, foreigners don’t owe us a right to life. What is important is that the Indian left – Islamo-fascist continuum that passes for liberals will not lift a finger to help Hindus, even joke about their killings like Kejriwal did. If this does not unite Hindus, please tell me what else will.

4. Most of you have been ignoring, obfuscating even openly lying about death threats issued to Nupur. For example, P B Mehta in his article says “except in Kanpur, the push-back was entirely in the realm of opinion and condemnation”. That this is a blatant, monstrous lie should be obvious to anyone that has objectivity and access to Twitter, FB and watches TV. Hundreds, if not thousands of hate messages, death and rape threats have been issued, on SM as well as on live TV. If someone feigns ignorance and blatantly lies about it, they become accessories to these murderous fanatics. It also tells us not to believe anything they ever say because they are likely lying through their teeth, and filled with anti-Hindu hatred. You have insulted your readers and their common sense through your shameless lies to protect Islamist killers. And everyone knows WHY you do this – because it suits the agenda of Pol Potist left.

5. Modi Government did not act against open hate spread against Hinduism and Lord Shiva by Isalmo-fascists and Stalinist left in liberal masks. That was a big mistake. Now by demanding action against Nupur, you are also forcing the government to act against you! No court in this land is going to say insulting Hindu Gods is fine but not other Gods. Go read the constitution and relevant laws again.

NDTV is complaining that actions vs Nupur is “late”. Well, the government has finally moved against Saba Naqvi, Owaisi & co too, try telling us it is not late! I would not be surprised to see everyone that posted insulting messages about Lord Shiva now dragged to court and asked to pay for their crimes, exactly as you think Nupur should.

In fact, rabid Hindu-hating Islamist Zubair, posing as a “fact-checker” had to go delete his FB account even as his hate-filled tweets and posts about Hindu Gods are now being unearthed. For just one remark by Nupur, be prepared to account for literally thousands of even more venomous hate messages by you and your ilk.

I wish our Foreign Minister would compile a dossier of all anti-Hindu posts by Zubair & co, present it to our esteemed Gulf/Middle East friends, and ask them what should be done about them. I am pretty sure they will advise that it should also be prosecuted, and punishment meted out. After all, they are not hypocrites, unlike Stalinists with forked tongues in liberal masks.

Congratulations! A million complaints from Hindus would not accomplish this. After all, you know that insulting Prophet happens once in a blue moon (thanks to peaceful and democratic ways such things are dealt with) but insulting Hindus and their Gods happens practically every other minute. Be ready to be judged on the same yardstick. In fact, PBM himself sees this coming and his article is trying to tell the liberals to be prepared to be hoisted on their petards.

Looking forward to the fun of watching liberals twist themselves into pretzels, trying to argue that insulting Shiva is kosher but some other religious figure is haram. The more they try, the sillier they will look. And damage their cause even more.

6. You keep demanding that Modi should speak out against “hate”. Be careful what you wish for! Modi also doesn’t speak out against anti-Hindu hate. He rarely condemns death threats to blasphemers or outrages over insults to Lord Shiva. If he starts doing that you will live to regret having asked him. Unless you stop lying and admit insulting Hindus or their way of life is not hate. I know you won’t do this as you want to maintain this farcical façade.

7. Perhaps you have blasphemed against Islam more than Nupur did. After all, don’t you always tell us “Is Hinduism so weak that one person’s words will hurt it?”. Well, go figure. By demanding international action against India and Nupur, what are you saying? And since Nupur was simply quoting authentic sources, you are also declaring that those scriptures are not true. Tell me please, isn’t that blasphemy? To me it is, and you should apologise or even face prosecution.

8. You have helped focus international attention on the medieval laws and practices, fanaticism, and horrendous human rights record of the countries shouting from rooftops about Nupur. You have also seen many in the West letting out a collective yawn that can be heard across the Atlantic and Pacific – after all, they have seen this picture again and again. Fanatics burning cars, destroying property and rioting because “someone said something”. 

Some are openly supporting Nupur. 

Remember, you can kill a few, yes. You liberals killed Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and Kamlesh Tiwari or many others or provided cover fire for the killers through your propaganda. But every such action exposes you for who you really are. And make your words sound that much hollower. And frankly, lead to more cases of insult, not less. 

9. You have made many Hindus angry with Modi and NDA government. Some of you are rejoicing in that. As if you achieved something. Do you think they are going to turn around and vote for Stalinists, Owaisi or dacoit families? No sir! They are going to unite, regroup, demand that laws apply fairly, and Hindus get protection against hate too. And that is going to be something you will regret most – because that is the exact opposite of what you want.

I would really love to see a strong, evidenced compilation of all the hate speeches, death threats, tweets and SM postings by godless Stalinist mass butcher leftists, brown-nosed (Tharoor copyright) serfs of corrupt dynasts and Islamo-fascists that run the liberal show in India. Many of us are busy with our daily lives and its struggles, but this can be crowd-sourced so each one can pitch in. Two can play this game. 

To repeat, this week will be regretted by the Left for years to come. I can see some furious backpedalling underway and expect it to get more furious in the coming days!

Tamil Nadu: Police arrest 24-year-old ABVP activist Karthi for sharing FB post in support of Nupur Sharma, charge him for promoting religious enmity

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Police arrest 24-year-old ABVP activist Karthi for sharing FB post in support of Nupur Sharma, charge him for promoting religious enmity

On Wednesday, the Coimbatore rural cyber crime police arrested a 24-year-old ABVP activist for supporting ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma through a Facebook post. The activist arrested from Sennanur, Coimbatore has been identified as Karthi Thandamuthur who had shared Nupur Sharma’s debate video on Facebook and had captioned it saying, “I’ll repeat this every day…Nupur Sharma only repeated what’s written… what wrong did she say?”

According to the reports, several Hindu organizations questioned the Tamil Nadu government for arresting Karthi and also criticized the Police. The Police stated that Karthi was produced before a judicial magistrate and was later remanded to judicial custody. The video and the caption posted by Karthi have been removed from his Facebook wall.

Earlier a similar incident was reported in Maharashtra’s Thane district where Saad Ashfaq Ansari, an engineering student had extended his support to Nupur Sharma. In an Instagram story, Ashfaq had written, “A 50-year-old man marrying a 6-9-year-old kid is clear child abuse. And I don’t know how you people support this. Will you give your 6-year-old daughter to a 50-year-old man? (think about it).”

Saad, for his Instagram story, was assaulted and abused by a Muslim mob and was later arrested by the Bhiwandi police amid the ongoing row over Nupur Sharma’s comments on Prophet Muhammad. Police also arrested him for his extended support to Nupur Sharma by referring to her as a ‘brave lady.’

The controversy over Nupur Sharma’s comments seems to be still burning as several FIRs have been registered against Nupur Sharma. Recently, the Bhiwandi Police and also the Kolkata Police issued summons against Sharma to question her. Mumbai police have also summoned her asking her to appear on June 25. Similarly, Mumbra police in Thane have also asked her to appear on June 22.

Sharma has been facing threats including death threats from Islamists since she made some comments as per the Islamic texts on Prophet Muhammad that irked the Muslims. She argued that since people are mocking the Hindu faith repeatedly, the Hindus can also mock other religions by referring to Islamic beliefs and the life of Prophet Muhammad.

Her statement was taken out of context by Alt News co-founder and alleged fact-checker Mohammed Zubair, who released an army of trolls and Islamists after Sharma. Multiple FIRs have been registered against Sharma after the remarks and open calls for her death have also been made. Sharma meanwhile also received threats from extremist organizations across the border. The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) supporters from Pakistan announced a cash reward of Pakistani Rupees 50 lakhs (Around 19.5 lakhs INR) to anyone who would behead Nupur for allegedly committing ‘blasphemy’.

In the recent case, the Coimbatore Police has booked the 24-year-old ABVP activist named Karthi under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code and section 67 of the Information Technology Act for extending support to ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

National Herald case: Rahul Gandhi throws deceased Motilal Vora under the bus over alleged financial irregularities during ED probe

OpIndia Staff
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National Herald case: Rahul Gandhi throws deceased Motilal Vora under the bus over alleged financial irregularities during ED probe

Senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi during his probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over last few days blamed now-deceased Congress leader Motilal Vora for alleged financial irregularities. As per a report by Times of India, Rahul Gandhi told the ED officials that former Congress Treasurer was responsible for all transactions related to the acquisition of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) by Young Indian. AJL publishes National Herald, the party’s mouthpiece masquerading as a newspaper.

Motilal Vora passed away in December 2020 at age 92.

As per the report, Rahul Gandhi has washed his hands off from having any personal knowledge about the transactions which are being probed for money laundering. Young Indian and AJL are both companies which are controlled by the Gandhi family. Citing sources, the ToI report states Rahul Gandhi has denied having any knowledge of loans or the accommodation entries made by the Young Indian and put the blame squarely on shoulders of Motilal Vora, a Gandhi family loyalist who is no more. Congress, however, has refused to comment on the same.

Citing ED sources, the report further stated that it the ED did not grill Rahul Gandhi continuously for hours as suggested by Congress workers. The reason the questioning was delayed was because after every few hours Rahul Gandhi kept reviewing his answers. So effectively, they only managed six hours of questioning in three days of questioning. Rahul Gandhi has sought exemption from questioning on Thursday and hence it shall now continue on Friday.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who has also been summoned by the ED for questioning on June 23, and her son Rahul Gandhi together hold 76% stake in the Young Indian. Of the remaining 24%, deceased Motilal Vora and another Congress loyalist Oscar Fernandes held 12% each. Sonia Gandhi was last week admitted to hospital after she tested positive for Covid.

In April this year, the ED recorded statements of Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and current treasurer of Congress Pawan Bansal, who are also office bearers in AJL and YI. The summons to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi were issued after that.

However, the Congress workers have taken to streets since Monday to protest against the summons by ED. In fact, the party workers indulged in arson and burnt tyres on streets of Delhi to protest. Now, the questioning will take place on Friday.

However, since past three weeks now, Fridays in some part of the country have turned violent after Muslim mobs have taken to streets to pelt stones while protesting against ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s comments on Prophet Muhammad. People have raised concerns of law and order situation for Friday as there is fear of Islamist mob resorting to stone pelting yet again as well as Congress workers who have been taken to violent protests as well. The two sets of protestors coinciding might worsen the law and order situation.

National Herald case

The National Herald scam is one of the most notable legal cases in Indian history, as the Gandhis are directly accused. The Mother-Son duo of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, along with their aides – Oscar Fernandez, Motilal Vora and Sam Pithroda are alleged to have been involved in massive ‘cheating and breach of trust’ in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) by Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YIL). Assets worth crores of rupees had been allegedly transferred for purposes other than originally intended for a paltry sum. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi got unconditional bail in December 2015.

As an NRI Hindu, here is why the Nupur Sharma incident hurts me

Rudra Prasanna Banerjee
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As an NRI Hindu, here is why the Nupur Sharma incident hurts me

The suspension, the death threats and the protests against BJP leader Nupur Sharma from the party augmented a nationwide debate on the correlation between freedom of speech and religious sentiments. I would like to use this opportunity to express two incidents which are similar perhaps intertwined in some way and discuss my perception of life as an NRI, particularly as a Hindu, for the last seven years.

The first incident I have faced after the Kathua rape case in 2018. Many Indians irrespective of their religious beliefs protested against that incident on social media and also on the streets of India. I had been living in the capital of Alberta province in Canada at that time. Suddenly a notification popped up on Facebook that a rally was organized in the city to condemn the reprehensible incident in Kathua. While the heinous incident at Kathua needed to be condemned in the strongest words, the event itself was very surprising to me. I found that event offensive as the organizer tried to portray Muslims as being oppressed by Hindus in India and that led me to make a comment on that post to debunk their baseless claim with the fact that the Muslim percentage in India has been constantly expanding while Hindus from Pakistan and Bangladesh wiped out due to ethnic cleansing.

As a consequence of that, I received a death threat on messenger. Consciously, I contacted the local police station at that time to avoid any problem. I was advised not to chase that down any further. Owing to their advice I rested my case there and moved on, as it was vehemently difficult for me to fight against that force as an international student.

The second incident took place after the historic verdict of the honourable Supreme Court of India on Ram Janmabhumi. I went to have some coffee during my lunch break and suddenly a group of students from one of our neighbouring countries called me to have some chit-chat. They were previously known to me, and we used to maintain a friendly relationship despite the fact that they belong to a different religion. On that day, they suddenly started asking my opinion on the Ram Janmabhoomi verdict. I made it very clear that I was exceedingly happy with the judgement.

They started arguing with me that it was unfair to them. I tried to keep quiet and ignore them, and subsequently, they started abusing Lord Rama and Lord Krishna to provoke me. I kept smiling all the time and tried to clear their doubts. Before I left there, I politely explained to them that to produce a baby we need a sperm from the male and an oocyte from the female, so, it is not possible to give birth to a child if the gender of that person remains unknown. I further asked them to explain this inconsistency as per their religious beliefs. For that comment, they lodged complaints to many places against me. Again, I was advised not to agitate other students based on religious issues as that could lead to some drastic actions against me. So, I moved on with a smile. 

I do not have any complaints with my Government when I had to keep silent abroad after my fellow friends from another religion purposely abused my religious beliefs but when a Hindu woman in India is forced to keep silent to react to abusive comments on her religious beliefs, it truly hurts! Reiterating Swamiji’s notion of being a Hindu, I believe every religion is true. Also, being a scientist, I believe in the fact that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Nupur Sharma’s comment on Prophet Mohammad was a reaction to recalcitrant comments on Hindu beliefs made by a Muslim panellist on that program. Hence, it makes no sense to leave her alone and fight against the system that killed Kamlesh Tiwari in India or Charlie Hebdo in France. The suspension of Nupur Sharma from the BJP should not be a matter of concern for us but those who are using Nupur Sharma’s reaction to capitalize on some political mileage must be identified as traitors to the nation. Being the homeland of Hindus, in India, we should have the liberty to use our freedom of speech in a meaningful way to criticize those who have been keeping faith in the medieval mindset with a lack of common sense, respectfulness and gratitude. 

Chandigarh university removes alumni section after netizens point out distorted map of India, had shown parts of J&K as Pakistan territory

OpIndia Staff
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Chandigarh university removes alumni section after netizens point out distorted map of India, had shown parts of J&K as Pakistan territory

On June 15, netizens pointed out that the Alumni section of Chandigarh University shows the wrong map of India and depicts Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as part of Pakistan. It was first pointed out by Twitter user root3vil. He published a screenshot of the page and asked, “Hey Chandigarh University, don’t you consider POK a part of India?”

Several netizens reacted to the post and demanded action. Supreme Court lawyer Shashank Shekhar Jha tagged Punjab Police and said, “Dear Punjab Police, Kindly initiate legal action against Chandigarh University for putting incomplete map of India on their website and showing parts of Ladakh and Kashmir in Pakistan.”

Author Arin Kumar Shukla said, “Use of these kind of maps must be prohibited in the nation. This not only is anti-India, but also hurts sentiments of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters.” Shukla tagged Home Ministry and Prime Minister’s office in his tweet.

Netizen Durgesh Kumar Lath tagged Home Minister Amit Shah and said, “Can this be rectified? This happens many times, either by oversight or intent? Corporates/educational institutes/individuals must use map provided by the government.”

Twitter user Shreeniwaz said, “Have shame you Chandigarh University! DGP Chandigarh Police, Home Minister Office, Amit Shah take strict and immediate action on the culprits. Extremely irresponsible behaviour by #Chandigarh University which is responsible for shaping the young generation of this country.”

Pakistani users jumped in to take advantage of the wrong info. A Twitter user from Pakistan Aligoga said, “Even Chandigarh University knows Kashmir belongs to Pakistan.” He tagged the wrong Twitter handle in his Tweet.

Tweet by Pakistani user. Source: Twitter.

Chandigarh University removed the Alumni section after outrage

After netizens pointed out the wrong map, the Alumni section disappeared from the University’s official website. When we tried to access the “search by map” page on the Alumni section, it showed a 404 error.

Alumni section removed from Chandigarh University’s website. Source: Chandigarh University Website

However, the page was available on Archive.org. From the screenshots available on Twitter and from the archived page, it is clear that the University used the wrong map of India. However, there is a catch to it.

Now-deleted page of Chandigarh University Alumni section. Source: Archive.org

It seems that the developer who created the website used a third-party map to embed it in the website. On the bottom-right corner of the map, it says, “Leaflet | Map tiles by Stamen Design, CC BY 3.0 — Map data © OpenStreetMap”.

OpenStreetMap is a free-to-use open map built with the help of contributors. When we checked the website OpenStreetMap, it also had the wrong map of India. As it is an open-source map and users contribute the data, it is possible that the incorrect information was fed by the contributors.

Home screen of OpenStreetMap as seen from India. Source: OpenStreepMap.

It is notable that, unlike OpenStreetMap, Google Maps (which would have cost Chandigarh University to embed) show maps according to the location of the user. For example, if someone is looking at the map from India, PoK will be shown as part of India, but if someone is looking from Pakistan, PoK will be shown as part of Pakistan. Google maps have redrawn the maps to avoid any legal challenges it may face in different countries depending on their official political maps.

How Google Map shows Indian map when checked from India. Source: Google Map

Chandigarh University is not in Chandigarh, it is in Punjab

It is notable that Chandigarh University is a private university located in Punjab. It is not affiliated or linked in any way to Panjab University, which is a government-funded university located in Chandigarh. In the footnote of Panjab University, it is clearly mentioned that both Universities are different and have no affiliation with each other.

It reads, “Panjab University (Established in 1882) is a Central and State Governments Funded University located in Chandigarh. Panjab University is not related at all to Chandigarh University, which is a private university and located in Distt Mohali, Punjab about 25 Kms from Chandigarh. No official of Panjab University or Admission Cell is giving any call to the prospective candidate for seeking admission to PU or for submitting admission fee etc.”

Footnote disclaimer on Panjan University Website clarifying it is different from Chandigarh University. Source: Panjab University Website.

In a recent communication, Panjab University has decided to create videos and use social media to attract admissions. During the process, the University has made sure to point out the difference between Panjab University and Chandigarh University.

PU’s dean of university instruction (DUI), Renu Vig, said, “It was discussed that departments should make videos mentioning their strengths and also highlight their alumni. At the university level, we will make videos on PU, underlining its salient features, such as being one of the oldest universities with campus spread across 550 acres in sectors 14 and 25 in Chandigarh. We will also mention various rankings, highlighting famous alumni so as to differentiate it from Chandigarh University.”

OpIndia contacted Chandigarh University via email and will update the report when and if we get a reply.

Kerala CM removes police officer for warning mosques against hate speech on Fridays

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala CM removes police officer for warning mosques against hate speech on Fridays

On 15th June 2022, the Kerala government removed Biju Prakash, the station house officer of Mayyil police station in Kannur from his duties after the police officer issued a notice to the local mosque committee in which he had asked the responsible persons in the mosque to restrain from delivering any hate speech from the mosque during the Friday Namaz. Biju Prakash had issued the notice considering the recent violent protests and subsequent riots by the Islamists in different parts of the country against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her so-called derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad.

SHO Biju Prakash had sent the notice to the Juma Masjid committee in the area asking them to refrain from delivering provocative speeches during Friday prayers. He had told the mosque committee that the Friday prayers in the mosque should not be used to disrupt communal harmony and incite communal hatred. The notice had also said that appropriate actions will be taken against those who violate this advisory and delivers hate speech.

However, soon after the Mosque received the circular, there was an outrage against the cop. The Muslim community, including parties like Muslim League and SDPI protested against the circular. Muslim League Kannur district general secretary Abdul Karim Cheleri asked Chief Minister to clarify the govt’s stand on the issue. The Muslim leaders also lodged a complaint against the police officer with the Kannur City Police Commissioner.

Following the outrage, the circular was withdrawn and the SHO was removed from his post. After the govt action, the officer said that it was actually an oral advisory to the mosque committee. Withdrawing the circular, the police commissioner also sought an explanation from SHO Biju Prakash.

Reacting to the incident, an official release from the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office mentioned that the notice issued by Biju Prakash was against the policy of the state government. It said, “The SHO had issued the notice without understanding the government policy. Hence, the DGP (director general of police) has removed him from duty. The notice was completely unwarranted and contrary to the view of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.”

It further said, “The government does not believe that communal propaganda is going on at masjids. All should cooperate with the government considering the importance of communal harmony. Certain forces are trying to create communal tension in the country. At this stage, it is vital to protect peaceful life and harmony.”

This statement was issued by the chief minister’s office after the police were criticized for serving this notice. VT Balram, the vice president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee had questioned if the LDF government was going to issue notices to temple committees in the state to ban hate propagandists. VT Balram essentially referred to the recent alleged hate speech by veteran politician PC George at a temple event. Currently, Biju Prakash – the SHO who had issued the notice to the mosque committee – is removed from his duties.

All India Women’s Conference says Nepali is not an Indian language, furious Gorkhas demand apology and removal of ‘racist’ individuals

OpIndia Staff
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All India Women’s Conference says Nepali is not an Indian language, furious Gorkhas demand apology and removal of ‘racist’ individuals

A new controversy over languages arose in the north-eastern part of India as the NGO All India Women’s Conference failed to recognize Nepali as an official Indian language and barred a participant from performing a Nepali song in a program celebrating ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to mark 75th anniversary of India’s independence. AIWC refused to allow performance of Nepali song saying that the language is not from India. The matter surfaced as an audio clip of a conversation between an AIWC member from Kalimpong and the AIWC officials in Delhi surfaced. Getting furious over this insulting negligence, the Gorkha community and local elected representatives from Darjeeling are demanding an unconditional apology from the NGO and removal of officials who made the claim.

While shortlisting the performances for the program to be held on the 75th Independence Day, All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) member Chandra Prabha Pande rejected a performance in the Nepali language citing that ‘Nepali is a non-Indian language’. When Aruna Pradhan from Kalimpong tried to reason with AIWC Executive member Chandra Prabha Pande, instead of listening to her, Chandra Prabha Pande further insisted saying, “they [artists from Darjeeling Kalimpong region] cannot send performances in the Nepali language for India’s 75th Independence Day celebrations, as it is not a language from India”.

Nepali is a widely used language in the northeastern part of the country. It is included in the eighth schedule of the constitution of India. A body like AIWC was expected to know this. But the negligence in the current incident caused a great disappointment to the Gorkha community numbering around 1.5 crores which is one of the most prominent Nepali-speaking communities.

Gorkha rights activist Dr. Ashish Pradhan said while speaking to News18 about this issue, “We came across this telephonic conversation between the president of AIWC’s Kalingpom unit and her counterpart in Delhi. What the lady at the Delhi end had to say, we were deeply anguished. Because see, the entire language movement that happened in Darjeeling and Kalingpom and then after a long struggle the constitution of India was amended. The 71st amendment took place in 1992 and Nepali was included as one of the languages of India. Needless to say that the entire land has been the part of British India since 1860 and then part of the Indian Union and the contribution to the relation-building of the Gorkhas, the Nepali-speaking Gorkhas have been immense. In spite of this, we have ignorance amongst a large part of the intelligentsia. We seem not to register ourselves in the national imagination. This is deeply languishing.”

Raju Bista, Member of Parliament from Darjeeling Lok Sabha Constituency wrote a letter to the AIWC president in this regard and shared the same on his Facebook post. Calling AIWC racist, he demanded an apology form the NGO, and also demanded that the the racist persons who said Nepali is not Indian language should be removed from the NGO. He wrote, “What I find absolutely infuriating is that an esteemed organization like AIWC would have members, who are absolutely ignorant about the fact that the Nepali language is spoken by the 1.5 crores strong Indian Gorkha community, and it is duly recognized as one of the national languages such under the VIIIth Schedule of our Constitution. By claiming that Nepali is not an Indian language, and not allowing performance in the Nepali language, that too on the pious occasion of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations, AIWC has shown deliberate racism against the Gorkha community of our nation.”

BJP MP further Raju Bista further wrote, “Perhaps AIWC members are unaware that our Gorkha ancestors have played a vital role in ensuring India’s Independence, and I would suggest AIWC read about the contributions of Gorkha braves like Saheed Durga Malla of INA, Saheed Ms. Helen Lecha, Sh. Dal Bahadur Giri, Capt Ram Singh Thakuri of INA, Jangbir Sapkota, Subedar Niranjan Chettri, and thousands of other Gorkha brave hearts who have laid down their lives for our nation’s independence and keeping her safe from the enemies of our nation post-independence.

“I demand that AIWC issue an apology to the Indian Gorkha community forthwith, and ensure those racist individuals are all removed from their posts and positions in the organization,” the MP demanded in his letter to the organisattion.

It is notable that Nepali is listed the 14 languages in the 8th schedule of the constitution of India, and it is the native language for a large number of people in the country. Nepali speaking Gorkhas are concentrated in North Bengal, while large numbers of Nepali speaking people live in Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal and other northeastern states.

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