Candle marches were organized in various cities of Jharkhand in protest of Rupesh Pandey’s murder by Islamists during Saraswati Visarjan. 17-year old Rupesh Pandey was lynched by a mob of Islamists in the middle of a ruckus that emerged when a Saraswati Visarjan procession was passing from Lakhna Dulmaha Imambada of the Nai Taand village in Hazaribagh.
A crime report has been registered against 27 accused Muslims and 100 other unknowns and several leaders have come in the front to support the family of the boy. On 10th February 2022, various cities and towns in Jharkhand witnessed the outrage of the Hindu community over this incident of lynching by Islamists.
Protest March in Jamua
In Jamua of Giridih, Vishwa Hindu Parishad protested against the murder of Rupesh Pandey in Barhi by taking out a candle march on Thursday evening. The march started from Jamua Chowk and turned into a meeting after reaching the Main Chowk via Rajdhanwar Road, Deoghar Road. The people involved in the candle March demanded capital punishment for the killers of Rupesh Pandey.
People raised slogans for Rupesh Pandey and demanded justice. They questioned the government about the law and order in the state. A tribute meeting was organized at Jamua Chowk. People offered flowers to Rupesh’s photograph and prayed for his soul to attain Sadgati.
Thousans of people came on the streets of Chatra
The youth of Chatra took out a public protest rally on 10th February 2022 in protest against the murder in Barhi of Hazaribagh by Islamists. The youth demanded the government action against the culprits. The youths involved in the rally said that the state government is giving protection to the accused of mob lynching. People have warned that if strict action is not taken against the culprits, the protests will be more aggressive.
It has become very big issue in Jharkhand, can turn into a riot anytime but except a few no any mainstream media/news channel is covering this story… pic.twitter.com/5JwS1yPqpH
In view of the protests, security arrangements in the city were increased. All the officers including SDO Mumtaz Ansari, SDPO Avinash Kumar, BDO Ganesh Rajak, CO Bhagirathi Mahato, and the station in-charge Luv Kumar were monitoring the activities.
Protest March in Dhanwar Bazar
Citizens of Dhanwar Bazar took out a protest march on 10th February 2022 to mark their outrage against the brutal lynching of Rupesh Pandey by the Islamists. Gautam Kishor led the march that started from Bada Chowk and passed from the main market areas and concluded at Gandhi Chowk. The slogans were raised by the protesters, They demanded immediate arrests of all the culprits and capital punishment for the killers.
Gautam Kishor said “The way our Hindu brother was killed, all of us are pained. We demand the resignation of Hemant Soren. We demand immediate arrests of the culprits and they must be hanged.”
The first Indian superhero Shaktimaan is all set to hit big screens. Sony Pictures India announced on 10th February 2022 that it will bring the iconic superhero on big screens soon. The first native superhero experienced by the generations of the 80s and especially the 90s has again become a talk of the town with an attractive teaser launched by Sony Pictures India on Thursday.
Sony Pictures India tweeted today, “After the super success of our many superhero films in India and all over the globe, it’s time for our desi Superhero!” Tagged in the tweet are many others along with none other than Mukesh Khanna who had conceptualized and played the role of Shaktimaan in his superhit Doordarshan TV serial.
Sony Pictures India has further posted on its Twitter handle “Sony Pictures International Productions is set to bring ‘Shaktimaan’ to the big screen, and will recreate the magic of the iconic superhero, to be headlined by one of India’s superstars.”
Sony Pictures International Productions is set to bring ‘Shaktimaan’ to the big screen, and will recreate the magic of the iconic superhero, to be headlined by one of India’s superstars.
Sony Pictures India has also shared a teaser of the upcoming trilogy on youtube. The teaser opens up with the visuals of a meteorite in space, revolving randomly and probably headed to hit the artificial satellite orbiting the earth. It further goes on to depict the aerial view of the Colaba area of Mumbai covering the Gateway of India and The Taj Hotel. It also shows the stills of marine drive and the BSE building in Mumbai. This is followed by the quote, “As the darkness and evil prevail over humanity, it’s time for him to return.” While it has been reported that the role of Shaktimaan will be played by a top film star, the identity of the actor has not been revealed by the company.
Film critic Taran Adarsh revealed that it will be a trilogy, meaning there will be three Shaktimaan movies in a series. He also said that One of India’s major superstars will enact the title role.
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: SONY PICTURES TO BRING THE ICONIC 'SHAKTIMAAN' TO THE BIG SCREEN… ⭐ This time, #Shaktimaan will be made for *cinemas*. ⭐ Will be a trilogy. ⭐ One of #India’s major superstars will enact the title role. ⭐ A top name will direct. pic.twitter.com/ood6KvghPM
Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired the film adaptation rights of the TV serial, and has partnered with Brewing Thoughts Private Limited and Mukesh Khanna’s Bheeshm International to produce the trilogy. The studio will bring its expertise from its headquarters in Los Angeles to use the latest film technology in the production and post-production of the movie.
Shaktimaan movie announcement teaser
Shaktimaan – the iconic TV series
Shaktimaan as made by Mukesh Khanna was a superhero with his altar ego Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri working as a photographer assisting a journalist Geeta Vishwas in a newspaper called ‘Aaj Ki Aawaz’. The teaser also shows a news reporter’s camera, the iconic Shaktimaan suite, and the thick glassed spectacles of none other than Pandit Gangadhar.
Shaktimaan was first aired on Doordarshan as a TV serial from 13th September 1997 to 27th March 2005. Shaktimaan was depicted as a human who has attained superhuman powers through meditation, Yoga, and five elements of nature viz. Space, Earth, Air, Fire, Water. Other key characters in the series were journalist Geeta Vishwas and the antagonist Tamraj Kilvish who is supposed to be the living embodiment of the evil and dark forces of the world.
Shaktimaan holds unique importance as an Indic superhero as it has depicted the core Indic concepts as the prime source of the superpowers he possesses. As per the show conceptualized by Mukesh Khanna, greed and hatred have taken over humanity and have been deteriorating the world for the past 6000 years, the onset of Kaliyuga as per the Indic faith. To end this, a mystical sect of saints known as “Suryanshis” chose a man to rise up against all odds and defeat the evil prevailing within the society. He was taught the way to energize the 7 chakras of his body through the Kundalini Yoga that helped him get mystical and supernatural powers.
During his training, he also conducted the ritual of death in order to get total control over his powers by entering the holy fire and immersing his physical body in it. When the five natural elements of life, fire, earth, water, wind, and sky invigorated his body, he gains superpowers and becomes superhuman. Shaktimaan takes a vow to fight the evils and sticks to it throughout the series.
In this famous vow to finish the evil and darkness spread in the lives of humans by Tamraj Kilvish, he was listened to have said “I swear by all the directions, the earth, the sky, and the space; I swear by every living plant and animal of this universe; I swear by the past, the present and the future; I swear by every single ray of light that fights with darkness; that I will do my duty.” This is enough to underline the Indic identity proudly carried by Shaktimaan.
Mukesh Khanna had become popular in the 80s and 90s when he had played the role of Bheeshma in the iconic Doordarshan TV serial Mahabharat by BR Chopra. This role played by him was so popular that he went on to name his production house Bheeshma International. The same company produced the TV serial Shaktimaan. In this serial, Shaktimaan is shown as the rebirth of Shri Satya who was part of the Suryanshi Sect during the Mahabharata era 5,000 years ago.
His alter-ego is a funny geek named Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri, who works as a photographer in a daily newspaper office to maintain his secret identity as Shaktimaan and speaks pure Hindi with added flavours of words of Sanskrit origin normally difficult to get for the people using Hindi language predominated by Urdu words.
Shaktimaan’s initiation as a superhuman finds its roots in Yoga, something very Indian. In every adverse situation, Shaktimaan is shown to recite the first four hymns of Kundalini Jaagaran Stotram. These hymns are believed to awaken his hidden super-self owing to which Shaktimaan finishes off his enemies who are by large agents of Tamraj Kilvish. Tamraj Kilvish was played by Surendra Pal.
Mukesh Khanna had joined the BJP in 1998. Shaktimaan was also in the middle of the controversy after a few incidents were reported according to which children were injured while imitating their favourite character Shaktimaan. Taking cognizance of this, Mukesh Khanna had made several changes in his show besides publicly apologizing for the injured children.
Shaktimaan was not only an entertainer but also a moral educator and motivator for the children. Besides the main storyline, the show also consisted of educating sections like “Body is Temple” and “Isse Kya Hoga?” In later years, children would watch the serial more for the knowledge and Sanskaras shared by Shaktimaan in his unique way rather than enjoy his usual fights with evil Tantric Kapala, self-proclaimed great Satanic Scientist Dr. Jackal, and their bossTamraj Kilvish.
With a new avatar of the old Indic superhero to arrive soon, a whole generation of the 80s and 90s is awaiting the most awaited comeback. As shown in the concluding episode of the TV serial, Shaktimaan had disintegrated his body into five elements to save the city from a terminal calamity created by Tamraj Kilvish. It would be very interesting to watch how does the film marks his comeback, where does it start, what characters it includes, and what message is given by the Indic flag bearer superhero in the new India.
On Thursday, February 10, investigative journalist and activist Vijay Patel shared a Tweet thread revealing how radical groups and the left-liberal media have exploited the hijab controversy in Udupi, Karnataka, to spread their venomous anti-India propaganda. That is to create a fear psychosis in the minds of Muslims, painting a dystopian picture about the current state of affairs and painting the centre as working against the Muslims.
The activist disclosed that the groundwork began in September 2021, when Campus Front of India (CFI), the notorious student arm of the extremist Islamist organisation Popular Front of India, started its membership drive in colleges including Udupi.
In his next Tweet, Patel explained how exactly a month after the CFI launched its membership campaign, the four initial alleged victims of the Hijab controversy namely, Aliya Assadi, Ayesha Hajeera Almas, Ayesha and Muskaan opened their accounts on Twitter. They then started promoting CFI’s agenda by taking part in hashtag campaigns, he said.
To substantiate his claims, the activist shared screenshots of the Twitter profiles of the four women. All but one, as rightly pointed out by the activist, joined Twitter in October 2021. Ayesha joined the microblogging site in November 2021.
The four aforementioned women, who have filed petitions in court questioning hijab restriction in college, had “HIJAB BAN VICTIM” as their profile status.
Image source: Activist Vijay Patel
In his next few Tweets, the activist goes on to bust the lie spread by one of the Muslim students who spearheaded the hijab controversy. She had claimed that they were not part of CFI and that the radical organisation contacted her only after the hijab controversy broke out.
First, Patal shared the screenshot of Almas’ interview with BBC, where she claimed that they were not members of CFI but were contacted only after the Hijab controversy. BBC, in its report published on January 22, 2022, titled: “Udupi hijab issue: The Indian girls fighting to wear hijab in college”, had quoted Almas as saying that “she was not a member of CFI but contacted the organisation when the college stopped them from attending classes.”
SS from the BBC report published on January 22 as shared by Vijay Patel
The report said that the Muslim woman had dissociated herself from CFI in response to the college’s allegation that the hijab issue was further complicated by the involvement of Campus Front of India (CFI), the student wing of the radical Islamic group, Popular Front of India.
In his subsequent Tweet, the activist goes on to produce evidence of how Almas had blatantly lied about her association with the notorious student wing of the Islamist organisation PFI. He shared screenshots of Tweets where these women have regularly promoted CFI.
“They have started to post copy-paste tweets to take part in the hashtag Champion of CFI on 1st November 2021. This hashtag was against the new education policy,” Tweeted Vijay Patel. He provided screenshots of Tweets in which these four women put the same content on their timelines, with the same hashtag, on the same day, November 1, 2021, virtually at the same time, to denounce the central government’s new education policy.
The activist then shared a Tweet from one of these four Muslim women, in which she shared a screenshot of the identical hashtag that was first released by the Campus Front of India (CFI), the extremist Islamist organisation Popular Front of India’s student arm, that too on the same date. “As you can see in one of Muskaan’s tweets, this hashtag campaign was started by CFI,” Tweeted Vijay Patel.
To reinforce how these women have continuously advocated and spread the anti-India propaganda peddled by the radical Islamist organisation CFI, the activist further shared screenshots of how they went on to collectively popularize the hashtag started by CFI on 8 November 2021 to disrepute the Supreme Court’s decision putting an end to the decades-old land dispute in Ayodhya.
Interestingly, these four supposed Hijab row victims’- Aliya Assadi, Ayesha Hajeera Almas, Ayesha and Muskaan had on November 8, 2021, shared the hashtag #BabriMasjidVictimsOfJustice to oppose the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict.
The same hashtag was also posted by the President of the CFI, MS Sajid, on the same date clearly indicating how these four ladies were a part of CFI’s sinister design to malign the central government and peddle a motivated agenda against India’s judiciary for handing over the land to Hindus where the disputed structure often referred to as ‘Babri Masjid’ once stood.
CFI President MS Sajid Tweet’s same hashtag against the Ayodhya verdict
MS Sajid identifies himself as the president of the Campus Front of India(CFI), the notorious student wing of the radical Islamist outfit Popular Front of India.
SS of the Twitter profile of MS Sajid
“Next Twitter champion of CFI was on 11th November 2021 regarding Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad”, Tweeted activist Vijay Patel in his subsequent Tweet to further explain how this was a clear pattern that has been meticulously followed by these four Muslim girls studying in a Government Pre-university College for Girls, Udupi to promote CFI’s nefarious objective.
During the anti-farm law protests, we saw how a ‘toolkit’ was created to drive a negative campaign against the Indian Government.
Likewise, on 19th November 2021, the four Muslim students had again participated in the hashtag campaign of CFI against the state government of Karnataka.
12. On 19th November 2021, they are again part of a hashtag champion of CFI. Look at the language and words they have copy-pasted from the toolkit. pic.twitter.com/55uqzNdesd
On November 21, 2021, the activist noted that the CFI State President had launched a Twitter champion for Azaan, and that these Muslim students had copied and pasted the same language and used the same hashtag to promote CFI’s campaign.
14. Look how these girls had done word-to-word copy-paste work while following WhatsApp groups or the toolkit of CFI. Don’t forget to see words like ‘Sanghi’ while advising Hindus to go to Nepal. pic.twitter.com/bEvzyUPprC
In his sixteenth Tweet, the Twitter user shared the next hashtag campaign of CFI that was started on 12th December 2021 to support arrested criminal Rauf Shareef. He again posted screenshots of copied Tweets and identical hashtags shared by these students to push CFI’s anti-India campaign. He pointed out the hateful language used in the Tweets to highlight the extent to which these students had been radicalised by Islamist outfit like CFI and PFI.
“This proves that these girls were very well connected with CFI and their claim to come in contact with CFI only after Hijab propaganda is disloyal”, wrote the activist, after producing the above umpteen evidences.
CFI and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind counselling us in the row, we started wearing Hijab only in December, confessed Muslim student
Notably, on February 9, OpIndia had also reported that the Muslim students who are protesting against uniform regulations in the state were in contact with radical Islamist outfit CFI. The students admitted that they began wearing the hijab in college only in December 2021, realising that there was no particular rule banning the hijab in the college rulebook.
The Hijab-clad Muslim students also admitted that the Campus Front of India members are counselling them on the ongoing controversy.
Not just PFI, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, another radical Islamist outfit accused of receiving funds from abroad to promote Islam in the country, has been playing an influential role in the ongoing controversy. Both Campus Front of India (CFI) and Students Islamic Organisation (SIO), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, had even approached the authorities on December 30 asking that the Muslim girls will be allowed to wear Hijab.
How Leftist media played a crucial role in fanning the controversy
Patel then went on to discuss the timeline of the Hijab dispute, which has lately taken an ugly turn in the state of Karnataka, as well as the critical role played by the leftist media in stoking the flames. The activist provided the chorology of events that eventually flared up to what Kartanataka is witnessing now, with pertinent screenshots to back up his assertions.
He stated that on 31st December 2021, these girls and the state committee member of CFI, Masood Manna had started the propaganda from a college campus. On 1st January, a “propaganda reporter”, associated with leftist media portals lie The Wire, The Quint and Islamic web portals, Meer Faisal had taken an interview of the girls.
On 2nd January 2022, these girls did a press conference along with CFI to take this propaganda to the next level, he stated.
Tweet confirming the Press meet posted by one of the Muslim students, Almas
“On 13th January 2022 another propaganda reporter came to take their interview,” wrote Patel, sharing details of which news portals was this reporter associated with.
He too, as mentioned in his Twitter profile, the screenshot of which was also shared by the activist, has worked for the ultra-leftist media portals like The Wire and The Quint.
“On 19th January 2022 left-wing students and left-wing TV channel NDTV came into the picture,” Patel revealed how the liberal media helped these Islamists progressively build up their nasty narrative by giving them a platform to play the victim card, as he tweeted.
“On 20th January 2022 another leftist propaganda journalist came and did her job”, wrote the activist sharing the screenshot of a Tweet posted on January 20, 2022 by The Wire journalist Rabia Shireen, where she appeared to be sympathising with the students who were “deprived of their fundamental rights” by not be allowed to wear hijabs to colleges.
This nasty propaganda was being pushed to depict Muslims as victims in Modi’s India, conveniently ignoring the reality that the demand is a clear breach of the universal rules followed by educational institutions across the country, not just in Karnataka.
Vijay Patel went on to explain how many other leftist news organisations, including News Minute and Mohammad Zubair, the co-founder of Islamist propaganda site Alt News, seized on to the brewing controversy and twisted it to assist them peddle their anti-Hindu agenda.
Later when this case finally went viral, all the leftist propaganda media including IPSMF funded media and their propaganda journalists has started to play their roles. pic.twitter.com/x9CGcQz9zv
Advocate Devadatt Kamat who appeared in Karnataka High Court to support Hijab is a congress member
Towards the end of the thread, journalist Vijay Patel went on to also reveal how Congress also jumped into the fray and used the opportunity to promote its anti-India, anti-BJP agenda. Sharing a thread of Tweets he posted on February 8, Vijay Patel revealed that lawyer Devadatt Kamat, who appeared in Karnataka High Court to support Hijab is a congress member.
“Recently Devadatt Kamat has been appointed as a chairman of the Congress legal coordination committee for the UP election,” Patel Tweeted, as he shared a letter by the All India Congress Committee, approving the appointment of Kamat as the Chairman of the legal coordination committee of the Congress party in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh elections.
The SS of the Congress letter shared by activist Vijay Patel
It must be mentioned that Devadatt Kamat was appointed as the Chairman of the legal coordination committee of the Congress party in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh elections. The committee was formed to coordinate with the Election Commission of India (ECI) in light of the Assembly elections. His appointment was made by the Central Committee of the Congress.
Kamat is a native of Karwar, which is located in the Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka. He was earlier appointed as the Additional Advocate General to the Government of Karnataka during the Congress-JDS reign in the State. In 2019, he was elevated to the status of ‘senior advocate’ in the Supreme Court of India.
Investigative journalist Vijay Patel in his thread of Tweets posted on February 8, pointed out that Devdatt Kamat had fought several cases on the behest of the Congress party and its allies. Kamat was the advocate for the Mumbai police in the fake TRP scam case against Republic TV and its Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami.
Football Player from France Paul Pogba has shared a propaganda post on Instagram supporting the Muslim girls demanding to wear Hijab and Burqa in colleges. He shared a video of Hindu students protesting against the demand of the Muslim girls, which claimed that the Hindutva mob is harassing Muslim girls for wearing Hijab. The one-minute video shared by Pogba on his Instagram stories was posted by an extremist Islamist page called “Islam is my deen” on Instagram.
In the video originally posted by the page, it can be seen that students wearing saffron robes were protesting against the adamancy over Hijab, whereas Burqa-clad girl students were seen gathered in a corner. While no portion of the video highlights harassment by one individual/group to another, The title of the video read, “Hindutva Mobs continue to harass Muslim girls wearing Hijab to college in India.”
The caption posted by the admin who resides in London asked, “Where are the feminist organisations calling for the right for these girls to wear what they want? Where are the girl education activists calling for the rights of education for these girls?” Footballer Pogba, a practising Muslim himself who has shared the video in his story hails from France – The first country to impose a ban on full-face veils in public areas.
The page ‘Islam is my deen’ on Instagram from where Pogba has shared the controversial post has earlier shared open hateful, misogynistic and communal content with Islamist undertones. On Thursday morning the page asked in a story that when politicians in India can wear cultural dresses including saffron robes and Sikh turbans, then why Hijabs in schools are being opposed.
Story shared by _.Islamismydeen._ on Instagram
The Page has often engaged in misogynistic content while strictly advocating for hijabs. One of the posts shared by the page has the blackened photo of Miss Universe Lara Datta (suggesting that the woman should wear a Hijab) and compared her inferior against a Niqab clad Woman winning a beauty contest.
The page has also involved itself in mudslinging against India and hindus by sharing offensive content with Kuffar (Kufr) mentions and comments against Hindus using cow pejorative.
While Paul Pogba has put hateful content by Islamic extremists on a pedestal, it can also suggest that global level narratives have started to infest the Hijab debate in India. This looks like a similar case with the Farmer protests when the likes of International celebrities like Rihanna and Mia Khalifa were found doing paid endorsements of anarchic elements in India. The protests for Hijab too were found to be motivated by banned Islamic outfits like PFI and Jamaat-E-Islami who were found counselling girls to wear Hijabs last year.
The post by Paul Pogba stands as yet another example where foreign elements are used to amplify issues concerning Indian society. With this the unworthy demonization of Hindu students protesting against the adamancy of Hijabs in educational institutions has also come to play.
Shocking revelations in the Kishan Bharwad murder case are not over yet. The investigations have now revealed that the accused Maulana Qamar Gani Usmani of Delhi was operating a social media team that would run numerous accounts on various social media platforms to attract vulnerable Muslim youth towards the fanatic Islamic network. It was the same youths who were later being used to execute the target killings of the Hindus like Kishan Bharwad who used to post the so-called blasphemous content on social media.
The investigation into the murder of Dhanduka’s Kishan Bharwad is going on. It is now revealed that the entire social media team was led by Maulana Qamar Gani Usmani from Delhi, who is the lead conspirator and mastermind. The team targeted the youth by creating multiple accounts on all social media platforms. The police are probing details of several accounts used to attract youths by talking about religion.
Alongside, profiles of people made by Usmani, what was he planning, where these young boys were planned to use, etc. is also being investigated. Also, the ATS team has reached Porbandar for investigation. The police are also keeping a close eye on the youth associated with social media.
Dhandhuka’s Kishan Bharwad was murdered for sharing a so-called blasphemous post on social media. Shabbir and Imtiaz of the local area shot him publicly to teach him a lesson. Not only the Dhandhuka police but all the teams from Ahmedabad rural police and other investigation agencies at Ahmedabad were involved in the investigation of the case.
Ahmedabad Rural Police had arrested the killers Imtiaz and Shabbir within a few hours. During interrogation, it was revealed that Maulana Ayub of Ahmedabad had instigated them to do so and behind this whole racket was none other than Maulana Qamar Gani Usmani of Delhi, who is known for his provocative speeches.
All have been arrested by the team of Gujarat ATS. Qamar Gani Usmani is being interrogated intensively. In this interrogation, shocking information keeps coming out every day. Usmani’s mobile phone contained profiles of 26 important people of the country who are criticizing the Prophet and propagating Hindutva and all their details have been collected in a file on his mobile phone. Officials are now questioning what he was supposed to do with these people.
Officials have also noted that Qamar Ghani Usmani’s social media team was very active. The team was constantly attracting young men and women towards him by being active on different platforms of social media. This team gave more importance to people involved in religion and extremism and tried to keep in touch with them and extremize them on various issues. All these accounts are being investigated by the police and the youths who are continuously following these accounts are also being monitored.
On Thursday, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) held demonstrations in Maharashtra’s Pune district to support the hijab-wearing Muslim women in the state of Karnataka. NCP’s Pune unit president Prashant Jagtap hit out at the boys who had protested against the hijab and styled themselves in saffron scarfs.
“A Muslim girl at Udupi in Karnataka was hounded by several right wing youths some days back. The heads of Indians have hung in shame due to the incident”, he was quoted. According to reports, Jagtap also slammed the BJP government for bringing religion and politics in the educational institutions, conveniently forgetting that the Karnataka hijab row was first initiated by eight Muslim girls who refused to follow the college uniform rules.
Several women and girls at the Pune’s Phule Wada demonstrated in support of hijab and held placards yelling ‘hijab is our right, hijab is our pride’. This is a day after NCP leader Supriya Sule raised the hijab issue in the parliament and said that what to wear, what to eat, what to say and what to think is a matter of an individual`s personal liberty and no one has a say in it. She called the action to ban hijab dictatorial in nature.
Hon. @supriya_sule Tai condemned the hijab ban in Karnataka. She emphasized that what to wear, what to eat, what to say and what to think is a matter of an individual`s personal liberty and no one has a say in it. She called the action to ban hijab dictatorial in nature. pic.twitter.com/7sX64D1bSe
However, Maharashtra Home Minister and senior NCP leader Dilip Walse Patil had appealed against staging protests over an issue that has nothing to do with Maharashtra. “Disturbing peace for political gains is not appropriate. Staging protests in Maharashtra over any issue that has roots in some other state is wrong”, he had said.
Also, Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray yesterday had opined that there should not be a place for any other dress other than the school uniform at the schools. Amid the hijab controversy he yesterday added that schools and colleges are the Centres of education and only education should be imparted there.
It is important to note that NCP had invented an extra bomb last during 1993 bombings in Maharashtra, just to balance out the victimhood between Hindus and Muslims. Sharad Pawar, who was the State Chief Minister then had announced publicly that 13 bomb blasts had occurred and not 12. He had invented another blast out of thin air. Pawar had stated that a 13th blast had taken place in Masjid Bunder.
SHOCKING- Sharad Pawar ADMITS that he “DELIBERATELY MISLED” people during 1993 bоmbings. “Instead of 11 bоmbings I said 12- one in Masjid Bandar- a minority area- JUST TO SHOW that bоmbings are not only in Hindu Areas but also in MusIim areas”#SharadPawarpic.twitter.com/Damx7y4zNO
As all 12 actual blasts had happened in Hindu dominated areas, Pawar had added a blast out of his imagination to portray that Muslims were the victim too. He had admitted it himself after 22 years and even claimed that he was praised for his crafty invention.
Several protests have erupted in Karnataka after eight students were denied entry to college wearing hijab earlier this month. The pre-University education board had released a circular stating that the students can only wear the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious practices will be allowed in colleges.
The Muslim women, adamant on wearing hijab, then filed a petition in High Court seeking permission to attend classes with hijab. They stated that wearing hijab was their ‘fundamental right’ granted under Article 14 and 25 of the Indian Constitution and ‘integral practice of Islam’.
The Court has however today passed the order to avoid wearing religious garments to the institution till the matter is pending before the Court.
A day after the Taliban extended its support to the Muslim women wearing hijab in the colleges in Karnataka, over a thousand of feminists, collective groups, lawyers and individuals have come together and condemned the exclusion of hijab-wearing students from colleges in Karnataka. In a letter, which has been signed by more than 1850 people, the feminists have claimed that the hijab is only the latest pretext to impose apartheid on and attack Muslim women.
Supporting the burqa-clad women, the letter stated that uniforms are not meant to impose cultural uniformity on a plural country and that Muslim women should be allowed to wear hijabs in the classrooms. “Uniforms in institutions are intended to minimize differences between students of different economic classes, not to impose cultural uniformity”, it read.
The feminist organisations also attacked Hindu groups saying they have created enmity between the Hindus and Muslims. “Islamophobia hate crimes have joined at the hip to patriarchal hate crimes against Muslim and Hindu women by Hindu supremacist perpetrators”, it added.
Press Release: Statement issued by close to 2000 individuals, incl. hundreds of feminists & 130 + organizations, from across India, condemning the targeting & exclusion of hijab wearing muslim women students in #Karnataka. Share widely. #EducationMyRight#KarnatakaAgainstHatepic.twitter.com/PjNx5NDUE3
The letter has reportedly been signed by over 130 groups across 15 states including Awaaz-e-Nizwan, Feminists in Resistance, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Saheli Women’s Resource Centre and more. The letter has also been signed by individuals who include Kavita Krishnan, Hasina Khan, Aruna Roy, Safoora Zargar, Khalida Parveen and others.
The Taliban today praised the Muslim hijab-wearing girls in Karnataka for standing up for the Islamic values amid the hijab row. “The struggle of Indian Muslim girls for hijab shows that hijab is not an Arab, Iranian, Egyptian or Pakistani culture, but an Islamic value for which Muslim girls around the world sacrifice in various ways and defend their religious value”, tweeted Inamullah Samangani, the Deputy Spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
It is pertinent to note that the Taliban has a history of torturing women and assaulting them for not following Islamic regulations, including the full veil dress code. Last year, the Taliban in Afghanistan had ruled its first indication after coming to power that they would make hijab compulsory for women in Afghanistan if not burqa. Suppressing the rights of women, it had also ordered the televisions to stop airing shows featuring women artists and had reiterated that women scribes must cover up themselves.
Hundreds of women had then come out on the streets of Kabul demanding equal rights for men and women. The Taliban had reportedly arrested a few for raising their voices against the authorities. they were beaten and assaulted. Interestingly, the claimed feminists had then bashed the Taliban government for their atrocities on Afgan women. “Elimination of women = elimination of human beings”, Kavita Krishnan had said who today is supporting the concept of hijab.
Did you stand in solidarity with Afghan people against US occupation? Good. Now you need to stand with Afghan women telling the Talibani “Virtue and Vice Ministry” – “you took my holy soil don’t take my education! Elimination of women = elimination of human beings.” https://t.co/cojNJirzCg
Feminists like Kavita Krishnan, Aruna Roy, Safoora Zarga who have today signed in the letter to extend support to Karnataka hijab girls are better known for their anti-national elements and history of backing radical Islamists, fake news peddlers, and pro-Pakistan propagandas.
Kavita Krishnan had earlier compared Hindutva to Taliban, while Aruna Roy had blatantly attacked the Hindu ideology. She had opined that there was growing intolerance against free speech in India and that the Indian youth considered Gandhi as the traitor and Godse as the hero. Safoora Zargar was one of the key conspirators in the northeast Delhi riots conspiracy case and was charged under the stringent anti-terror law.
The hijab controversy in Karnataka gained momentum since the first week of January after eight Muslim girls were denied entry to classes in a Udupi college because they were wearing hijab. The college authorities had informed that the hijab was not a part of the uniform dress code suggested to the students. The Muslim women, adamant on wearing hijab, then filed a petition in High Court seeking permission to attend classes with hijab. They stated that wearing hijab was their ‘fundamental right’ granted under Article 14 and 25 of the Indian Constitution and ‘integral practice of Islam’.
The Court has however today passed the order to avoid wearing religious garments to the institution till the matter is pending before the Court.
The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs 1.77 crores of alleged journalist Rana Ayyub under the Money Laundering Act. The ED has, in its attachment order said, “Rana Ayyub has cheated the general Public Donors in a pre-planned manner and with the intention to cheat the general public donors”.
The order says that Rana Ayyub’s scam started right from the time she collected the money and started withdrawing it from the savings account of herself and her family members. The ED order further said that a Fixed Deposit amounting to Rs. 50 Lakh was booked from her saving bank account through net banking and opening a separate Current bank account and subsequently, funds were transferred from her saving bank account and bank account of her sister and father and did not utilize for the purpose for which it was raised by Rana Ayyub.
Terming the funds raised and misused by Rana Ayyub as “proceeds of crime”, the ED order stated that Rana Ayyub knowingly indulged in “Proceeds of Crime including its acquisition, possession, use and projecting it as untainted property and therefore, she has committed the offence of money laundering as defined under section 3 of the Act, 2002 which is punishable under section 4 of the Act”. The actions by Ayyub are considered scheduled offences under the PMLA, ED said.
While the Uttar Pradesh Police has not yet filed a chargesheet in the case, the ED has stated that if the assets of Rana Ayyub are not attached by the ED, the department has reason to believe that this money would be siphoned off, making it impossible for the amount to be attached later, if the ED were to wait for the chargesheet to be filed.
Considering the reasons stated, ED provisionally attached the amount collected by Rana Ayyub, obtained and used criminally, for a period of 180 days from the date of the issuance of this order.
Details of the FIR filed in the case against Rana Ayyub
FIR No. 2049/2021 dated 07/09/2021 was registered by the Indirapuram Police Station, Ghaziabad Police, U.P, against Rana Ayyub for the commission of offences under Sections 403/406/418/420 of IPC, 1860 and Section 66D of Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 and Section 4 of Black Money Act. The allegation in the FIR was that she illegally acquired money from the general public in the name of charity. The complaint was filed by Vikas Sankrityayan on the 28th of August 2021.
There were three campaigns mentioned in the FIR, pursuant to which, Rana Ayyub had raised crores from the public.
(a)Funds for slum dwellers and farmers during April- May 2020.
(b)Relief work for Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra during June- Sept 2020.
(c)Help for Covid-19 impacted people in India during May-June 2021.
The FIR mentioned that while Rana Ayyub is a journalist, she received money from foreign donors for which she did not have the required permissions mandated under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010.
Details of the investigation by the Enforcement Directorate under PMLA
The ED had, on the 11th of November 2021 received an email from the complainant with details of the case. In the email, the complainant had sent a letter received from Ketto, sent to donors. The letter by Ketto informed the donors that for the three campaigns ₹1.90 Crore and USD 1.09 Lacs [total in INR 2.69 Cr. Approx.] were received out of which only ₹1.25 Crores have been spent. “For any query relating to utilization of funds the donor has been advised to reach out directly to the campaigner at [email protected]”, the letter read.
After receiving the email, ED reached out to Ketto for details. On the 15th of November 2021, Varun Seth of Keto Foundation wrote back to ED saying:
The fundraiser campaigns were launched through the website ‘www.ketto.org’ which is operated by a private company Ketto Online Ventures Private Limited in which Varun Sheth is one of the directors.
Rana Ayyub wrote an email to Ketto on 23.08.2021. In the email, she said that she received an amount of Rs. 2.70 crores from Ketto, out of which 1.25 crores had been spent. She said she would pay an Income Tax of Rs. 90 lacs and that she would be left with around Rs. 50 Lacs.
Thereafter, Varun Seth was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate. In his statement to the ED, Seth said the following:
Seth said he is one of the Directors of M/s Ketto Online Ventures Pvt. Ltd which is an online crowdfunding platform for social and medical causes from India.
Rana Ayyub started 3 fundraisers on Ketto.org in the last 20 months. when a user starts a fundraiser on Ketto.org they agree to Ketto Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and digital agreement for raising funds on the platform. They also submit KYC information to withdraw the funds.
Rana Ayyub started 3 fundraisers and withdrew the entire amount.
Details of the money withdrawn for all three campaigns:
a) Campaign 1 (to help COVID victims): Rs 82,55,899 raised, Rs 79,63,640 withdrawn. In this campaign, USD 1,00,983 was returned to donors. Interestingly, the money from this campaign was withdrawn in the accounts of Rana Ayyub herself and Mohammad Ayyub Waquif, her father.
b) Campaign 2 (to help slum dwellers and farmers): Rs 71,37,217 collected, Rs 68,84,560 withdrawn. Additionally, 75,600 USD was raised and 73,332 USD was withdrawn. The amounts were withdrawn in the account of Rana Ayyub’s father and one Iffat Shaikh, a family member of Ayyub.
c) Campaign 3 (Relief work for Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra): Rs 42,01,368 raised, Rs 40,53,640 withdrawn. Additionally, 37,203 USD was raised and 36,087 USD was withdrawn. The funds from this campaign were also withdrawn in the account of Rana Ayyub’s father.
5. The money was withdrawn after giving the KYC details of Rana Ayyub and her family members.
6. That Ketto Online Ventures Pvt. Ltd does not manage or handle any foreign funds. Any foreign funds are managed by Ketto Online Ventures Inc. (Ketto USA). A campaigner who raises funds on Ketto website has an option to accept foreign funds by their choice; Ketto gives the campaigner the option to either accept or not foreign funds for their campaign. Ketto also takes declaration from user who is withdrawing funds that they have necessary government approval to accept the foreign funds.
Further, on the 10th of December 2021, Varun Seth wrote another email to ED in response to questions by the department with the following disclosures:
The ED has asked Varun Seth if Mohammad Ayyub Waquif and Iffat Shaikh were eligible to withdraw the money. Seth said that they are only a fundraiser platform and the person raising the funds can add beneficiaries for the withdrawal and Ketto has nothing to do with it.
Regarding the reasons given by Rana Ayyub for withdrawing the funds raised through the bank accounts of Mohammad Ayyub Waquif and Iffat Shaikh, he submitted that who receives the money collected is the decision of the person raising funds and Ketto has no control over it.
Summons issued to Iffat Shaikh by ED and her response:
In an email dated 6th of December, Iffat told the ED that she was in Dubai and due to the ill health of her husband and the travel restrictions imposed due to the Omicron variant, she could not travel to India to attend the summons. She further said that the Power of Attorney had been given to her SISTER Rana Ayyub and that the required documents had been submitted in Mumbai. The documents submitted by Rana Ayyub revealed that Rana Ayyub had spent funds of Rs. 40 Lakh on the relief works, Rs. 74.50 lakh donated to PM Care Funds/CM Care Funds and an amount of Rs. 1.05 crores was paid as an Income Tax.
Summons issued to Mohammad Ayyub Waquif by ED and his response through Rana Ayyub:
Rana Ayyub, on behalf of her father, responded to ED over email saying that he had suffered two brain strokes and was bound to a wheelchair. She said that by September she had spent every penny received by her including amounts being donated to PM Care and that she has submitted all the Information/documents to ED office Mumbai on 29.09.2021 which revealed that Rana Ayyub had spent funds of Rs. 40 Lakh on the relief works, an amount of Rs. 74.50 Lakh donated to PM Care Funds/CM Care Funds and an amount of Rs. 1.05 crores has been paid as an Income Tax.
Summons issued to Rana Ayyub by ED and her statement to the department:
Rana Ayyub claimed that she had received money ONLY in Indian Rupees, however, the details provided by Ketto disputed her version.
She claimed that the entire amount that was transferred to her sister and father’s account was subsequently transferred to her account to be used for the purposes they were raised for.
She has submitted a list of donors to ED.
Neither her father nor her sister nor she received any information on their registered email address as per RBI guidelines on foreign remittance. She further said that they do not have FCRA registration since it was not required to receive money in INR. Interestingly, Rana missed mentioning that she also received foreign donations.
She claimed that she used the money for relief work (purchasing foodgrains, tarpaulin Sheets, Covid essentials. Bills of Rs. 40 lakhs had been submitted for the tarpaulin Sheets and food grains that were distributed as a part of the relief work and the receipts were given to the IT Department.
What did Rana Ayyub say about the Rs 50 lakhs Fixed Deposit made in her father’s name after the first campaign
On the 19th of May 2020, Rana Ayyub made a fixed deposit of Rs 50 lakhs in the name of her father from the funds raised by the public. Rana Ayyub hilariously stated that they had earmarked money for a hospital. She claimed that because the “government was hounding her”, the NGOs and the people she was in touch with backed out and the hospital plan could not take off.
She further claimed to ED that on the advice of her bank manager who knew she was working on a “Noble Cause”, an FD in her father’s name was made. She said that it was the bank manager who suggested she make an FD of Rs. 50 lakh as the FD would earn interest and give additional money to the hospital.
Interestingly, in an agreement between Rana Ayyub and Ketto, the purpose of this campaign was stated as “to help 2000 poor farmers from Nasik and Latur and poor people from Dharavi and Navi Mumbai by way of providing a package of Oil, Rice, Sugar, Dal, Hospital Fees etc”. However, the purpose of building a hospital was not the stated purpose.
To this, Rana Ayyub said that to her “memory”, no agreement of this kind existed.
What Rana Ayyub said about the transfer of Rs 50 lakhs to her new current account after the second campaign
On the 13th July 2020, after the end of the second campaign, Rana Ayyub had transferred Rs 50 lakhs to her new current account. Rana Ayyub claimed to the ED that the bank manager who oversaw her savings account told her that due to limits on the amount of withdrawal and owing to the fact that she was supposed to be doing relief work with this money, she sould open a current account linked to her saving account where she could debit and credit this money without any restrictions.
Assessment Order dated 04.09.2021 passed by Income Tax Department, as submitted by Rana Ayyub to ED
Rana Ayyub received a total of Rs. 2,69,50,695/- as donations through 3 donation campaigns started on the platform Ketto and out of which Rs. 80,49,856/- was received in foreign currency.
Although Rana Ayyub claimed that roughly Rs. 60-70 Lakh were spent for relief work, investigation of her bank statements/credit card shows that the amount spent on relief work is only Rs. 28 Lakh.
A large portion of the money that she collected from the public (Rs.2.4 crores) has not been utilised. In fact, the amounts stay idle in her own account and in her father’s personal account. This, after 1 year of the campaigns.
As a journalist, Rana Ayyub is not allowed to collect donations from foreign sources.
The accounts in which the money was withdrawn was personal accounts. In fact, instead of carrying out further relief work, Rana Ayyub opened a new current account and made an investment of a fixed deposit in her name.
Interestingly, the order states categorically that Ayyub made personal expenditures from the money collected from the public for “relief work”.
She had first claimed to the Income Tax Department that since she is not the beneficiary of the donations (despite using it for personal use), she is not liable to pay tax, however, was “willing to pay tax” if needed.
Rana Ayyub made personal expenditure to the tune of Rs. 19 lacs from the same account.
Total Income Tax payable by totalled Rs. 1,50,77,973/-
Final conclusions and findings by the Enforcement Directorate after investigating the documents and letters by all parties involved
Rana submitted a four-page note to ED on 29.09.2021. In the note, Rana Ayyub said that she had spent Rs. 40 Lakh on the relief work, Rs. 74.50 Lakh donated to PM Care Funds/CM Care Funds and Rs. 1.05 crores was paid as Income Tax.
Rs. 3,52,927.01/- was spent on relief work through her credit card.
The invoices were submitted by Rana Ayyub of Rs. 34,80,142/-.
The ED found that there were payments made to Manisha Traders and Pooja Super Market which did not match the receipts that Rana gave for her ‘relief work’. This could indicate her personal expenses.
the Assessment Order passed by the Income Tax Department against Rana Ayyub shows that the amount spent on relief work was only Rs. 28 lakhs.
As a journalist, Rana Ayyub was not allowed to collect donations from foreign sources, however, she not only received the donations anyway but had not used Rs. 2.4 Crores despite 1 year of the campaign.
The bank account in which the money was withdrawn by Rana Ayyub or her family members were personal savings accounts. Instead of doing further relief work, she opened a new current account and made an investment of a fixed deposit in her name. She also made personal expenditures from the same savings account.
Payment of Rs. 1,50,77,973/- was made towards the Income Tax Department as Income Tax paid. The source of the said amount was the receipt of funds raised. However, this also included payments of Rs. 8955271.38/- from Substacks Inc. which was her professional earning.
The transfer of the funds into PM Care Funds and CM Relief Funds was an afterthought. The direct donations to the PM Care/ CM Relief Funds could also be done by the individual donors instead of donating to the campaigns launched by Rana Ayyub. It is clear that the donors had donated funds for the specific campaigns launched by Rana Ayyub but she did not use those funds for the specific purpose and kept idle in her bank accounts and in the bank account of her father. Thus, she attempted to project the funds (proceeds of crime in this case) as untainted by receiving the raised funds in the bank account wherein her professional earnings were also being received and by keeping the raised funds in her bank accounts idles rather than using the funds when it was required & for the purpose for which it was raised and hence cheated with the general public donor.
The available balance in the bank a/c in the name of Rana Ayyub on 22.11.2021 was Rs. 89,92,004.30/-. This amount included the Rs. 76.00 Lakh transferred from the bank account of her father Mohd. Ayyub Waquif. This was the amount that was raised by Rana Ayyub during the campaigns through Ketto and withdrawn in the bank account of Mohd. Ayyub Waquif (her father). This amount was unused (for the purpose collected) and parked in her father’s account.
That a Fixed Deposit of Rs. 50 Lakh was booked by Rana Ayyub out of the funds raised through the campaigns. Rana Ayyub stated the purpose of FD was to generate interest on the fund. However, the funds were raised for Campaign number 1 for the purpose to help 2000 poor farmers from Nasik and Latur and poor people from Dharavi and Navi Mumbai by way of providing a package of Oil, Rice, Sugar, Dal, Hospital Fees etc. Thus, she was directly involved in acquiring funds (the proceeds of crime in this case) of Rs. 50.00 Lakh and projected it as untainted by booking a Fixed Deposit.
That Rana Ayyub refunded back to donors the amount of USD 100983/- which were raised for the specific purpose of Campaign No. 3 i.e. ‘Help for Covid-19 impacted people in India during May-June 2021.’ Rana Ayyub has stated that the aforesaid Fixed Deposit of Rs. 50.00 Lakh was booked for the purpose of constructing a hospital and booking an FD could generate interest. The refund itself shows that she had no intention to build a hospital. It further shows that the funds were refunded to the donors instead of withdrawal because the investigation was initiated against her by the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate to check the actual utilization of the funds raised by her through these campaigns.
She opened a new current a/c in her name and the payment of Rs. 50.00 Lakh was transferred on 15.07.2020 from her savings bank account. Further a payment of Rs. 21.40 Lakh was transferred from the bank account of Iffat Shaikh, out of the funds raised through the campaigns and the available balance in the bank account was Rs. 57,19,179/-. This amount was parked and not used for the purpose stated in the campaigns.
ED found that it was clear that right from the beginning the intent for raising funds for charity by launching aforesaid campaigns was solely for cheating the general public donors and to earn property by routing through her/her family member’s bank accounts. There was no intention of doing any charity from the money collected.
ED said that from the investigation, it was abundantly clear that the funds were raised in the name of charity in a completely pre-planned and systematic manner and the funds were not utilized completely for the purpose of which the funds were raised.
The investigation discloses that in a pre-planned manner and with criminal intent.
Through the investigation, the ED has now attached the amount lying unutilised. The amount comes to Rs 1,77,27,704. This includes the fixed deposit of Rs 50 lakh in her father’s name, an available balance in the bank account of Rs. 57,19,179 and an amount of Rs. 76.00 Lakh (out of the available balance) which was credited on 29.09.2021 from her father’s bank account out of the funds raised by launching campaigns by Rana Ayyub.
The latest Hijab controversy has opened a can of worms regarding the rationale behind the need for women to wear such repressive Islamic attires. The controversy surrounding Hijab is not a new one. The fundamental Islamic societies have imposed the Sharia law in their respective states and have subjugated Muslim women, thus making the latter the silent observers of the Islamic laws. There is no choice for women in these societies.
In multi-cultural societies, the debate is much broader. The arguments, both for and against the rationale behind wearing such attire, appear to give a more nuanced approach to it. However, with modernity, societies are evolving, and the repressive Islamic rules are facing scrutiny. The same patterns have appeared in India recently, with citizens of the country questioning the arrogance of the Muslim community to discard the secular ethos of the country to insist on wearing hijab or burqa.
In these relevant times, an old speech of Iranian-American journalist and anti-crusader Masih Alinejad gains relevance. Being one of the most vocal critics of Islamic attires, Masih has taken a strong position against Islamic societies forcing Muslim women to wear the oppressive burqa.
In a panel in European Parliament, Masih Alinejad challenged the female politicians who legitimised the Islamic Republic of Iran’s barbaric laws by wearing hijab.
Speaking at the European Parliament, Alinejad said, “I cannot see any women wearing a hijab here, but we are talking on behalf of them and supporting them, which is fantastic. But you never have this conversation in my own country. So supporting those women who do not wear hijab is important; I have to say I am not a western woman. I grew up in a traditional family in a village all the females in my family wear hijab.
In her speech, the Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad noted that all the females she knew at the age of seven, the age when she was forced to wear hijab, wore the Islamic attire. My dream is to be with my mother in France, Belgium, walking shoulder-to-shoulder without any bad judgement those who have Islamophobia and to walk with her in my own country without getting arrested,” she noted in her presentation.
The anti-Hijab crusader also pointed out that she needs to clarify that one should not identify her as a westerner as she talked about the compulsory hijab.
Masih Alinejad, who was forced to go on an exile for speaking against the Islamic fundamentalists in the Islamic Republic of Iran, said her presentation is to expose the hypocrisy of European female politicians who look at two similar issues – Burqini ban in France and the issue of compulsory hijab Iran as different issues.
“Why the burqini ban has been suspended less than a month, but the hijabs remained compulsory for 38 years? It is because our struggles and protests against the compulsory hijab are just our own; women of Iran are alone in fighting against compulsory hijab have met many female politicians around the world. I sent a lot of letters to female politicians around the world who visit Iran,” she noted.
Narrating the personal experience about the lack of interest shown by the western politicians in addressing the hijab issue, Alinejad said she found that the European female politicians come up with four arguments to avoid taking a position against Iran’s diktat to wear compulsory hijab also noted how European female politicians have appropriated the Islamic culture to appease Iran.
“Recently, I saw an image of Segolene Royal, the French Environment Minister, who went to Iran with a smile, wearing the compulsory hijab challenging it, without protesting against compulsory hijab the world was screaming, challenging burqini ban. But, she was there without any challenge, she obeyed the compulsory law”.
The first argument, according to Masih Alinejad, “They say the compulsory hijab required by law inside Iran, the Burqini ban was a law in France. But all of us protested against it, and they say it is a law we have to respect the law. Slavery used to be legal, if no one objected against slavery, Africans and Americans would be slaves. And they say the law should be respected. Women protested against bad laws, to make them respectable laws, to get the right to vote.”
She continued, “Secondly, they say the hijab is a cultural issue, and we wear it because we want to respect the culture of Iranian people. No, here we are talking about compulsion. How could compulsion be a part of our culture? You are forcing a seven-year girl to wear Hijhijabnd you call it a cultural issue. You respected the culture that violated women’s rights.”
The third argument, Masih adds that the European politicians say the compulsory hijab is a domestic issue and internal matter. Alinejad says it was wrong because it is not about Iranian women as the government of Iran forces all the female tourists, female politicians, all the Iranian women who live outside Iran if they want to any embassy outside Iran to wear compulsory hijhijabHow can it be a domestic matter?” she questioned the western politicians.
“The burqini issue was a domestic issue in France. The world was protesting and interfering in the domestic affairs of France and not in Iran. So as far as the government of Iran, force all the women around the world who go to my country and force Iran to wear Hijab. This is a hijab when we have to stand together, all women around the world and have one voice against compulsory hijab,” she noted in her presentation.
According to Masih, the female politicians suggest that the Middle East has got bigger problems than the hijab issue. Exposing the dubiousness of the western-liberal political class, Alinejad said, “I left Iran just because I was fighting against bigger problems and hijab expelled from the Iranian parliament. I was the one to say I could wear compulsory hijab and expose corruption in politics. I was thinking of bigger problems; I was the one who exposed the news of 57 people who got killed after demonstrations in Iran. I was talking to those mothers who lost their beloved ones. They executed their sons, wives, husbands, daughters; I know that we do not have freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of choice, freedom of religion. I never called the west, the land of freedom, never at all.”
Continuing, “I know we can not find freedom everywhere, and we have to fight for it. I don’t know about bigger problems, but who said hijab is a small issue. We are fighting just for a piece of cloth. No, we are fighting about human dignity. We are fighting about our identity because when you want to go out in public, you have to be someone else. Be honest with me, each of you, every morning when you go out, you think about bigger problems in the world. No, you think about your appearance and your think about the dress. You think about what you can wear. This is your identity. Who said this is a small issue in Iran and female politicians has many bigger problems to solve.”
Questioning the silence of the west, Masih Alinejad said, “The government of Iran deports you from the airport of Iran, hijab say you will not wear the compulsory hijab, you want to be allowed to fix bigger problems in Iran just because of a small issue. Whose said that hijab is a small issue? The govt of Iran arrested 3.6 million women within a year because of not having proper hijab, 18,000 women were sent to court, and 40,000 cars were impounded in public just because female drivers were not wearing the correct Islamic Hijab.
“If Hijab is a small issue, why do they spend millions of dollars to keep this wall? To me, Hijab is a wall, and it is not an internal matter. We have to stand altogether and bring the wall down. The rest will get easier, and the first step towards equality,” the award-winning journalist and anti-hijab crusader noted.
“That is why I call all female politicians. I never call them to come and liberate Iranian women or save and rescue me because Iranian women occupy more than 60 per cent places of the universities is strong enough for their own rights. I ask female politicians, all of you around the world, to stand for your own dignity because of our government to visit Europe, and you ask the female politician to remove Hijab, they will protest. They will not say that this is a law, we have to respect the law or this is a culture and respect the culture.”
Concluding her presentation, the Iranian-American journalist attacked the European female politicians by referring to them are hypocrites as they stood up with the French Muslim women and condemned the burqini ban stating compulsion is bad, however, when it happens to Iran, they just cared about money.
Masih Alinejad said Hijab is the most visible symbol of oppression, and we have to stand altogether and bring this wall down.
On Thursday, the Karnataka High Court passed an interim order in the Hijab ban matter asking the students not to wear anything religious in nature till the disposal of the case.
The Bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi said that they would pass an order on Monday. However, until the matter is pending, the students and stakeholders will not wear any religious garment or headdress, the Court noted.
“We will pass an order that let the institutions start, but till the matter is pending, these students and stakeholders will not insist on wearing any religious garment or headdress. We will restrain everyone. We want peace and tranquillity…Till the disposal of the matter, you people should not insist on wearing all these religious things. We will restrain everyone (in the interim) from adopting all these practices,” the Court noted.
BREAKING: CJ Ritu Raj Awasthi tells the lawyers that the court will pass an order asking students not to wear anything religious in nature till the disposal of this case. Peace should be restored he says #HijabRow#HijabBanhttps://t.co/lpSGLAizAc
The Karnataka Court is hearing a batch of petitions filed by Muslim girl students in the state claiming that the colleges have restricted their entry as they wear hijab. The matter was originally being heard by Justice Dixit, but the judge referred it to a larger Bench on Wednesday, stating that the case involves important issues.
Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, who appeared for one of the petitioners, said that they would argue on the Constitutional questions raised in the petition and statutory questions and questions on the rules involved in this case.
He claimed that the petitioners were facing discrimination, marked absent and made to stand outside the class since September 2021. He claimed that there is no specific provision in Karnataka Education Act that deals with uniforms. He contended that there is no prescribed penalty for violating the rules framed under the act.
Advocate General Prabhuling Navadgi said that the stand of the government is that the students should adhere to the dress code prescribed by the concerned college. “We want all students to come to college, and classes have to start. So my submission is the issues will be considered by Court but in meanwhile education should commence,” he noted.
Devadatt Kamat, another lawyer from the students, urged the Court to allow the students to attend classes while wearing hijab in the interim until the Court decides the matter. “This is not a harmful practice. These are innocuous practices. It is not like somebody else is being harmed,” Kamat said. However, the court didn’t agree to this plea.
The bench adjourned the hearing in the case till February 14 and said that in the interim, petitioners would not be allowed to wear hijab or any other religious garment to colleges. The Court also urged the student community and the public at large to maintain peace and tranquillity.
