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‘Hijab first, books later’: Banners supporting Hijab come up in Beed in Maharashtra

OpIndia Staff
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‘Hijab first, books later’: Banners supporting Hijab come up in Beed in Maharashtra

The burqa row in Karnataka has now spread to other states as well. Banners supporting the burqa were raised in the Beed city of Maharashtra on Tuesday 8th February 2022 in the evening. The banners were removed late in the night after the police intervened in this matter. A local student leader of AIMIM was detained by the police for inquiry in this case. He was released after questioning. The banners were removed late in the night.

The banners supporting Hijab were put up in various places in Beed including Bashir Ganj Chowk, Shivaji Maharaj Chowk, Rajuriwes Complex etc. The banners read “Pahle Hijab, fir Kitab” which means Hijab first, then the book, and “Hijab is our right”, and “Har keemati cheez parade me hoti hai” which means “every precious thing is kept covered”. The banners were erected by Farooq Ilukman, a leader of the MIM student front, in support of the hijab after the Karnataka incident.

Banner supporting Hijab and Burqa at Bashir Ganj Chowk of Beed in Maharashtra
Banners supporting Hijab and Burqa at Bashir Ganj Chowk of Beed in Maharashtra

According to a report by Divya Marathi, at around 7.30 pm on Tuesday 8th February 2022, the police called him for questioning. In answers to the questions, Farooq Ilukman has reportedly said “We follow the sharia. Muslim women have been wearing the burqa for hundreds of years. Sharia law allows Muslim women to do this.”

Divya Marathi report on Beed incidence dated 9th February 2022

He further said “This tradition is being thwarted for no reason. The constitution also gives us this right. This case in Karnataka is discriminatory. The banner was erected to reassure Muslim women who were frightened by the Karnataka incident.”

Posters were removed after police intervention.

The banners raised in the daytime were removed late in the night in presence of the police force. It is notable that Beed is situated right in the middle of the Marathwada region of Maharashtra which once used to be a part of Nizam territory before getting independence on 17th September 1948. All the eight districts of this region are very sensitive in communal angles and have been a safe home for the sleeper cells of various Islamic terrorist organizations. The Mastermind of 26/11 attacks Abu Jundal alias Jabiuddin Ansari, who instructed the terrorists in Taj while he himself sat in Karachi, hails from the same Beed city.

From SIMI to Popular Front of India: Islamic radicalisation in college campuses has been going on for decades

Shashank Bharadwaj
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From SIMI to Popular Front of India: Islamic radicalisation in college campuses has been going on for decades

The Karnataka burqa controversy has taken an unprecedented turn, with radical Islamic elements such as the Popular Front of India and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind having taken direct control over the protests. The radical Islamic outfits are now inciting the Muslim girl students to violate the existing uniform guidelines enforced by the state government.

The Muslim students, backed by the PFI and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, are now accused of vitiating the atmosphere in the educational institutions by disobeying the uniform rules and insisting on wearing the Islamic attire of Burqa inside the classroom.

Earlier, a report revealed how the notorious radical Islamic outfit Campus Front of India (CFI) – the student wing of Popular Front of India and banned radical terror outfit Jamaat-e-Islami Hind counselled Muslim students to orchestrate the Hijab controversy in Karnataka. In the light of events, it was clear that radical Islamic outfits such as CFI and Jamaat were not only attempting to brainwash ordinary Muslim students to display regressive practices in college but also appears that these outfits have been successful in radicalising young Muslims students to stand against the state.

It is pertinent to note that PFI – the parent organisation of the Campus Front of India and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind have often tried their hand in radicalising the Muslim youth, especially in Kerala and Karnataka. The radical Islamic outfit has been less successful in Karnataka comparatively. However, Kerala has become a victim of PFI’s radicalisation drive. It has emerged as the epicentre of radicalisation among Muslim youths, which has resulted in repeated violence against non-Muslims in the state.

PFI, Jamaat being funded for promoting Islam and radicalisation drives in India: Reports

Last year, a Kerala-based journalist had made a sensational disclosure regarding how radical Islamic organisations such as the Popular Front of India and Jamaat-e-Islami are receiving funds to promote Islamism in India. In a Clubhouse discussion, Kerala-based journalist MP Basheer had revealed details about the international funding to advance radical Islam in the country.

In his disclosure, Basheer had said that he had accessed a letter written by Jamaat-e-Islami requesting the King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia to increase the financial grant to the radical Islamic organisation so that they could create awareness and promote Islamic dress code in Kerala and India. He had further stated that Jamaat had objected to certain Muslim women journalists not wearing hijabs and had stated that Basheer should tell them to wear hijabs.

Further, Basheer had revealed that Jamaat-e-Islami had started a project in India to promote the Islamic dress code for women and had access to funds from King Abdul Aziz University, an Islamic university in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 

The incidents in the last few days in Karnataka indicate a clear direction that the global vested interests have joined hands with the radical Islamic organisations to promote not only radical Islamic values but also create communal harmony in the state. It is also evident from the fact that both PFI and Jamaat-e-Islam had become very active in the recent weeks, which suggests that a meticulous plan had been hatched to instigate Muslim students in the coastal districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada to create further chaos, that can be eventually used to radicalise and recruit young Muslims into their organisation.

Popular Front of India and its links to SIMI and Indian Mujhahideen:

The ongoing Hijab controversy and the role of Campus Front of India, Jamaat-e-Islam, makes us recognise the exact modus operandi used by now banned terror outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), the parent organisation of one of the country’s most dreaded terror networks – Indian Mujahideen.

The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was formed in 1977 at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, initially as a student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH). It is believed that SIMI was established to renew Jamaat-e-Islami’s older student wing, the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO). Incidentally, SIO has been advising the Muslim students in the ongoing Hijab controversy, as per the admission of Muslim students, along with the PFI. However, SIMI split off from the main organisation due to ideological differences.

SIMI, run by the most fundamentalist and extremist students, worked on the ideas of establishing Sharia and governing the country based on the Quran, propagation of Islam and carrying out “Jihad” for the cause of Islam. The banned terror outfit was against the “western ideals” and rejects secularism, democracy and nationalism. It seeks the restoration of the “khilafat” or caliphate and establishes Dar-ul-Islam (Islamic land) in India by converting the populace.

In addition, SIMI sought to emphasise “ummah”, or the Muslim brotherhood and the need for a Jihad to establish the supremacy of Islam. As a result, the SIMI, a student body, transformed itself into a terrorist outfit to fulfil its intended objective. SIMI became active in the country for the next few decades and carried out some of the deadliest terrorist attacks on Indian soil, including the 2006 Mumbai blasts that killed over 209 people.

Subsequently, the Indian government banned the group in 2001 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Nevertheless, SIMI was active for nearly four decades in the country.

The dreaded organisation SIMI is also considered the parent organisation of Indian Mujahideen. Some analysts suggest that IM split off from SIMI, attracting extremist elements, thus becoming the terrorist wing of SIMI. According to Indian intelligence, the IM had members from the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and terrorists Harkat ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI).

Bhatkal, the birthplace of Indian Mujahideen, is just 55 kilometres from Kundapura in the Udupi district, which has become the latest hotspot of the Hijab protests. The dreaded terrorists – Riyaz and Yaseen Bhatkal, hailed from Bhatkal of the Uttara Kannada district, a town often referred to as a ‘terror factory’.

Are PFI and Jamaat-e-Islami following the footsteps of SIMI and Indian Mujahideen?

Popular Front of India, which is now leading the fresh wave of radicalisation in the country, is considered a resurrection of the banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). PFI seems to continue the agenda of the terror outfit, perhaps in a new avatar.

The recent events surrounding PFI and Islamic radicalisation in the country, especially in the Southern states, indicates that PFI may have been trying to bring SIMI’s radical Islamic ideas into fruition. By supporting the Hijab protests, the PFI wants to promote the concepts of Sharia instead of following the rules and regulations enforced by a duly elected government that draws legitimacy from the Constitution of India.

Interestingly, the PFI’s former national chairman, Abdul Rehman, was the former national secretary of SIMI, while the organisation’s state secretary, Abdul Hameed, was SIMI’s former state secretary. Most former leaders of SIMI are either identified with PFI and hold various important positions in the radical Islamic organisation. In 2010, the Kerala government had alleged that PFI had direct links with the banned Islamic terrorist organisation Students Islamic Movement of India. 

Ever since it was formed in 2006, the radical Islamic outfit – PFI has been under the radar of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as its members were linked to ISIS modules in Kerala that went on to join the terror outfit in Syria and Iraq. 

According to Indian intelligence officials, the PFI is also suspected of radicalising the masterminds of the 2019 Sri Lankan Easter bombings that killed over 300 people. 

In India, the PFI has been accused of radicalising students and has also been involved in several political killings and religious conversions. According to the NIA, the PFI has a presence in almost 23 states. It is worth mentioning that radical Islamic organisations such as PFI, SDPI and other associated organisations have been under the scanner in UP after the anti-CAA violence triggered in the state last year and this year. In addition, several leaders of the Popular Front of India were also named as accused in the 2020 Bengaluru riots.

PFI members have been frequently found to be indulging in criminal activities, including murder with communal motives. Earlier in January, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had alleged that the PFI raised money through hawala channels for running terror camps in Kerala.

Besides this, it has been accused by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) of being involved in the controversial ‘love jihad’ cases in Kerala. Recently, members of its political arm SDPI were arrested for an ABVP worker’s brutal murder in Kerala’s Kannur.

Recently, PFI members were accused of killing 42-year-old activist Ramalingam. The activist was brutally murdered for opposing forced religious conversions. In the past, the PFI members have been accused of chopping off the hands of a Kerala Professor for allegedly insulting the Islamic Prophet Mohammed. Just a few backs, PFI leader Mohammad Haroon was nabbed by the Kerala Police in connection with the murder of RSS worker Sanjith in Palakkad.

PFI’s aggressive growth in southern states has become a worrying factor, especially in the coastal areas, and the subsequent increase in the radicalisation of Muslim youth is evident in the gradual rise of communal clashes inside the campuses in these areas. The Popular Front of India perhaps assumed that the Hijab controversy would give them more space to radicalise the Muslim youths of this country. However, the counter-protests from civil society and the Hindu students have foiled the plans of PFI.

Going by history, as evident in the Anti-CAA riots in Uttar Pradesh, the PFI may try to stoke more violence on the streets of Karnataka by milking the ongoing Hijab controversy. The state government has to be highly vigilant to prevent any violence in Karnataka and also needs to keep an eye on PFI’s radicalisation drive.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party worker sticks party sticker on burqa-clad woman’s back

OpIndia Staff
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Lucknow: Samajwadi Party worker sticks party sticker on burqa-clad woman’s back

On February 9, a video of a Samajwadi Party worker went viral on social media platforms in which he was seen pasting a party sticker on the back of a burqa-clad woman. The video was initially shared by one Shahnawaz Ansari on Twitter and went viral within an hour.

The video is said to be from Lucknow West Assembly seat from where SP’s Arman Khan is contesting the election. In the video, SP workers could be seen walking around in a market for the door-to-door campaign. A man wearing a sleeveless brown jacket and white shirt walked by a burqa-clad woman and pasted a party sticker on her back.

The woman felt the touch on her back and turned to check what was happening. He saw the man and looked shocked. The man tried to touch her hand, to which she resisted, and he walked away. The woman then turned back and tried to check if something was on her back but could not reach the sticker. She also decided to change direction and started walking towards the direction from where she was coming. Towards the end of the 11-second video, she was seen asking people on the lane to check her back.

UP Assembly Elections

Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections will be completed in seven phases starting from February 10. The last phase of polling will be held on March 7. The results will be announced on March 10. In the 2017 elections, Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA had won 325 seats out of 403 seats in UP.

Karnataka burqa row: The politics of religious identity

A Satya
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Karnataka burqa row: The politics of religious identity

Who would have imagined that a piece of cloth could be used as a cover for pitiful and anti-national politics? So much so that even the ones (the alleged thekedaars of Islam) garnering thousands of likes on pictures in a swimsuit or a short dress instantly drape a so-called ‘pink hijab’ to cover their venomous propaganda. 

Want to oppose a Bill? Don a ‘burqa.’ Want to have a Hindu-free land? Hide a stone under a ‘burqa.’ Want to revive political relevance? Chant religious slogans from within a ‘burqa.’ Such a multi-functional piece of cloth! 

But of course, it is just a piece of cloth. How can anyone have a problem with it? Let’s try and understand this from two perspectives. 

Exposing the politics and not the religious hypocrisy 

Narratives are built not just on emotion, but logic. There is a reason why the left manage to succeed even in their irrational propaganda. Let’s take the Udupi ‘hijab’ row for instance. One day, a handful of girls decide to show up in hijab at their school gate. It takes minutes for the left ecosystem to make it a piece of national and international news with poor Lavanya still awaiting justice. 

The non-left ecosystem instantly gets into the defensive, trying to prove how Hinduism is more progressive than Islam and debating on ‘bindi vs burqa.’ While they kept busy in this narrative, the Campus Front of India swiftly gathers hundreds of burqa glad girls, hosts talks on ‘Systematic Hindutva Manipulation in Education System,’ and the ‘leader of tukde tukde gang as labeled by Modiji’- Congress hires their loyal to quote Quran in court to justify the need for non-uniformity in schools. 

Image Source: Twitter’

Campus Front of India (CFI) is the students wing of the Islamist group Popular Front of India (PFI) which is banned in several states for its radicalised activities.

Image Source: OpIndia

Now, look at how seamlessly their ecosystem works. Malala – a Pakistan-origin girl shot in the head by Islamic terrorists for seeking education tweets, “Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women.”

Image Source: Twitter

Don’t know about Malala, but the heads of anyone reading this piece of irony will surely explode. College was definitely not asking the girls to choose between education and hijab. In fact, the girls have made it clear that education is secondary, hijab is their priority. The girls are choosing hijab over education. But look at how the machinery is working.

Sadly, the right ecosystem is still preaching how Islam should embrace progressiveness. What stops us from tagging Congress repeatedly to the incident and holding them responsible for it? Why can’t we continue to make it a political issue rather than allowing them to pivot this into a religious issue only to hold us responsible for it? Why are we not hosting talks on ‘Religion and Politics’ to ensure nobody can play the victim?

The real oppressors

Now let’s talk about the real oppressors and the sad reality. Looking at the pictures uploaded by the ‘thekedaars’ one might think, ‘aren’t they progressive already?’

Sadly, it is but only for a privileged few. And these privileged ones are those who in reality oppress their own women to continue to use them as ‘victim fodder.’ 

Here’s one article by The Times Of India quoting seven women who say ‘My hijab is none of your business.’ 

Image Source: The Times of India

However, the irony is, where is the choice in the verse quoted by Mr Kamat?

Image Source: Twitter

And here is an article about an Iranian woman who risked her life to start the ‘free hijab movement.’ So if ‘hijab is really a personal choice’, why is it being enforced upon a certain section of women? And why are these ‘hijab is my personal choice’ gangs not moving to countries where ‘hijab is a compulsion’ suiting their liking? 

It is a ‘choice’ for the privileged who will not get killed should they choose not to wear one. For others, it remains a symbol of oppression.

After writing 550 odd words and thinking about the women forced into this piece of cloth either by force or brainwashing, I only feel pity for their ‘guinea pig’ like situation. Yes, religion and religious identity are a matter of choice and privacy, but it is also a matter of politics. 

Politics of violence, division, inequality and hatred. Hope the young Muslim women realize this and break through the shackles of ‘burqa politics.’ 

Karnataka: Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind announces Rs.5 lakh reward for Burqa-clad protestor who shouted provocative “Allahu Akbar” at Hindu students

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind announces Rs.5 lakh reward for Burqa-clad protestor who shouted provocative “Allahu Akbar” at Hindu students

Amidst the ongoing violent protests against the hijab ban in colleges in Karnataka, the radical Islamic outfit Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has stoked a controversy by announcing a reward to a Burqa-wearing protestor who shouted provocative “Allahu Akbar” slogans against a group of Hindu students.

A video of Bibi Muskan Khan had gone viral on Tuesday after she was seen shouting “Allahu Akbar” at a group of students inside PES College in Mandya, Karnataka. The students, who were protesting against the Muslim students in Hijab and Burqa, was seen at the receiving end of Muskan Khan’s theatrics on Tuesday. The Hindu students chanted “Jai Shree Ram” in response to Islamic slogans raised inside the PES college campus.

Bibi Muskan Khan later claimed that “outsiders” troubled her and added that her classmates and authorities at the PES College in Mandya supported her. 

Now a day later, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has stepped in to add more fuel to the fire by announcing a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for Muskan Khan for chanting “Allahu-Akbar” while wearing the burqa during the protests.

In a tweet, the Deoband based Islamic organisation claimed that Bibi Muskan Khan had stood up amid heated protests for her constitutional and religious rights.

Hijab controversy turns violent, Muslims caught pelting stones at Hindu students

The uniform regulations in educational institutions have now taken a dangerous turn in Karnataka after a few Muslim students refused to follow the guidelines and insisted that they would be wearing Hijab inside educational institutions. In response, Hindu students also started wearing the Saffron shawls prompting the authorities to ban both outfits.

However, the Muslim students have brazened it out to protest against the authorities outside, risking the future of several other students studying in the school. On Tuesday, the burqa row took an ugly turn after stone-pelting and violence were reported from various parts of the state. It is notable that while the media is using the term ‘Hijab’, which is a headscarf, most Muslim students are seen in Burqas, a full body veil.

Yashpal Suvarna, the Vice President of the College Development Committee, said that even though 150 Muslim students are studying in the college, none of them has made this demand. According to him, eight girls, allegedly belonging to CFI, wanted to create a controversy.

Meanwhile, Karnataka’s Primary & Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh also said that they suspect that the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the PFI, is instigating the Muslim students in the ongoing Hijab controversy.

According to the videos that have gone viral on social media platforms, stone-pelting was reported in Shivamogga, Bagalkot, Udupi, and other parts of Karnataka. In one video, it was seen that a Muslim mob was allegedly throwing stones at the protesting Hindu students, leaving many injured. Anticipating more violence in the state, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai ordered the closure of all high schools and colleges in the state for the next three days.

Earlier, a report revealed how the notorious radical Islamic outfit Campus Front of India (CFI) – the student wing of Popular Front of India and banned radical terror outfit Jamaat-e-Islam Hind counselled Muslim students to orchestrate the Hijab controversy in Karnataka.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan opens her personal library to people, invites book lovers to read the books for free

OpIndia Staff
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Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan opens her personal library to people, invites book lovers to read the books for free

Former Loksabha Speaker and BJP Parliamentarian Sumitra Mahajan’s love for books is well known. As an avid reader and collector of books, her personal collection includes a wide range of books on many topics concerning her political, historical and spiritual interests in many languages. Sumitra Mahajan has now decided to convert her personal collection of books into a free-for-all public library.

Letter released by Sumitra Mahajan announcing her library in Indore

On February 04, Friday, Sumitra Mahajan inaugurated a newly curated library at her residence built from her collection of books she collected over the years. In a letter she wrote for Indoreans, she has invited book lovers to visit the library built at her residence in Manishpuri, Indore. Those interested can visit the library every day between 4-6 PM and can borrow a book for reading after due registration for free. This initiative of the eight-time MP and Padma Bhushan awardee from the city is sure to help the citizens with resources in literature and would also give a glimpse into the life of Sumitra Mahajan as a reader.

Talking about her flair for reading, Mahajan in her letter said, “Owing to my interest in reading, my friends, relatives started giving me books as gifts. As an orator, my practice of buying and lending books continued. Over the years, my personal collection of books has developed into a library in itself,” In the library, people can access many books from spirituality, fiction novels to political non-fictions in different languages including her native Marathi, Hindi and English.

PM Narendra Modi releasing Sumitra Mahajan’s book in 2017

Sumitra Mahajan has also authored a book on Devi Ahilyabai Holkar titled ‘Matoshree’, based on the life of the eighteenth-century queen of Malwa who also happens to be her role model. As the Loksabha head, she often used to urge the MPs to visit the Assembly library and cultivate a habit of reading books. However, this gesture of her not only talks much about her love for books but also highlights her persona of a humane public leader with a difference.

Read: Shashi Tharoor spreads fake news about death of former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Hindustan Times apologises too: Details

Priyanka Gandhi supports burqa and bikini, she should tell that to her brother and party leaders as charity begins at home

Nirwa Mehta
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Priyanka Gandhi supports burqa and bikini, she should tell that to her brother and party leaders as charity begins at home

It is a matter of choice, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, and rightly so.

Amid the burqa row in Karnataka, a group of girls, in consultation with students wing of Islamist group Popular Front of India PFI), Campus Front of India (CFI) have been protesting for their ‘right to wear a hijab (headscarf)’ to college. They are protesting by wearing full covered burqa (entire body covering veil).

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took to Twitter to extend her support to women to exercise their right to choose to wear whatever they want to – from ghoonghat to jeans to burqa to bikini.

She tweeted that whether it is bikini, a ghoonghat, a pair of jeans or hijab, a woman decides what to wear. She added that this right is GUARANTEED (all caps) by the Indian constitution and added that one should stop harassing women. She ended her tweet with her ‘Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon’ UP election slogan.

Her brother, Rahul Gandhi, former Congress President and currently MP from Wayanad, replied with a ‘thumbs up’ emoji to his sister.

Stop harassing women, indeed

Let us not get into the whole debate of how hijab, burqa is hardly a choice since there are parts of the world where women are killed for refusing to wear one. If the women who wear it claim it is their choice, it comes from a place of privilege because should they choose not to wear it, they will not be killed, unlike their counterpart in countries like Afghanistan. No, I am not comparing secular India with Islamic Afghanistan, but since the judiciary in secular India is now citing Quran and Sharia rules for hijab, burqa and what women could and should wear, it is only fair to compare the fate of women who swear by the holy book.

So, let us not get there as a lot has been said and done about it.

But let us all talk about Congress leaders and their comments on women and the choice of clothes they wear.

Because I’m quite certain some of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s colleagues, including her own brother, could do with some of her gyaan.

Casual sexism thrown in by Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi

Back in 2017, Rahul Gandhi was addressing a rally in poll-bound Gujarat. Rahul Gandhi was, as usual, taking a dig on the RSS. Suddenly he decided to comment whether women go to the Shakha wearing shorts.

So, women can be ‘progressive’ only if they wear shorts? As a woman, this feels extremely demeaning that a leader would say such a thing. How is this any different from the Islamists who compare women with lollipops and say that candies must be kept in wrapper otherwise they’ll get ants on them?

And then there is the ‘tunch maal’ fame Digvijaya Singh. In December last year, he quoted Priyanka Gandhi herself and claimed that she told him that women who keep mobile phones and wear jeans do not support Prime Minister Modi. Digvijaya Singh said that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had told him that only older among aged 40-50 years and above are influenced by PM Modi, and the women who wear jeans and use mobile phones are not influenced by the PM. Therefore, Congress should work on approaching these younger women, she had advised him.

If Priyanka Gandhi Vadra really did say this, then it is obvious that her platitudes on ‘choice’ are nothing but political rhetorics. And if she didn’t say it and Singh made it all up and attributed figment of his imagination to her, it shows the degeneracy of his own mind.

Oh, and if ghoonghat is also a choice, how about her own party leader and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who wants to get rid of ghoonghat?

In November 2019 he had said how the society has no right to encage women in ghoonghat. What made them feel that the women in ghoonghat were not wearing it out of choice? Gehlot just decided that the women in ghoonghat were encaged and that it is up to him to give them freedom. Quite contrary to what Priyanka is saying, right?

And then Priyanka Gandhi talks about harassment of women. Let’s talk about the casual sexist slurs thrown on women, especially BJP leaders by her party leaders.

In 2019, while addressing a rally in Rajasthan ahead of general elections, Rahul Gandhi very casually displayed his toxic masculinity while taking a dig at PM Modi. He said that the prime minister who boasted of a 56-inch chest did not attend the court of the public, that is the Parliament. “We demolished the Defence Minister’s speech. The prime minister, who has 56-inch-chest, asked a woman to defend him,” he said. He was speaking about the so-called Rafale scam.

The Raksha Mantri whom he had reduced to a woman is a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) graduate, holds an MA in Economics and served as an assistant to Economist in the Agricultural Engineers Association in the UK. She also worked Price Waterhouse during her stay in the UK. As Raksha Mantri, she has led from the front, whether it is interacting with the MiG 29k pilots and sailors or greeting the Chinese soldiers at the India-China border at Nathu La. But for Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka’s brother, she was just a woman.

Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam had also raised strife by bad-mouthing BJP MP Smriti Irani in December 2012, when assembly election results of Gujarat was announced saying, “It’s only four days of your entry into politics and you have become a political analyst. Aap toh TV pe thumke lagati thi, Aaj chunavi vishleshak ban gayi.” (You used to dance on TV screen, now you are a political analyst?)

You see, behind the garb of being progressive, feminist men, these leaders are ordinary sexist men one comes across on streets. So while Priyanka Gandhi has taken it upon herself to fight for women’s right to wear bikini, burqa, ghoonghat and jeans, she should first tell her party leaders, especially her brother, not to judge women for their clothes.

Just let us be. And don’t kill us for choosing not to wear burqas or hijabs.

Religious Leaders ask Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg to drop Instagram Kids quoting verses from Bible, Quran and other scriptures

OpIndia Staff
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Religious Leaders ask Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg to drop Instagram Kids quoting verses from Bible, Quran and other scriptures

A group of religious leaders including rabbis, reverends, pastors and others have written to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to scrap the company’s plan to launch an Instagram platform for kids. A letter sent by the advocacy group Fairplay and its Children’s Screen Time Action Network emphasized the adverse effects of social media platforms on young minds.

Signed by over 70 religious leaders, the letter read, “After much meditation and prayer, we assert that social media platforms that target immature brains, practice unethical data mining, and are inspired by profit motives are not a tool for the greater good of children.” According to a report by Reuters, the letter contained references from the Bible, Quran and thoughts of Pope Francis and Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh.

In the past, Zuckerberg had admitted that religion is ‘very important’ to recognize spiritual as well as secular concerns about the project. However, the company has refused to comment on the letter.

What is Instagram Kids?

The image-sharing social media platform Instagram’s parent company Meta had announced plans to roll out a ‘safe and supervised’ Instagram version for kids. The company said that it wanted to provide an Instagram experience for people under the age of 13. “We started this project to address an important problem seen across our industry: kids are getting phones younger and younger, misrepresenting their age, and downloading apps that are meant for those 13 or older,” Instagram had said.

However, after a massive backlash from parents, policymakers, US senate members, Instagram head Adam Mosseri had announced to temporarily pause the launching of the app and devise better parental controls instead.

Instagram’s intent to launch the kids’ version was to provide an alternative for children who are already online with fake identities. The company had also come under intense scrutiny last year after whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal documents about the company’s approach towards young users. The leaked report contained internal research done by the company which documented the potential impact of their services on the mental health, body image and safety of young users.

Adam Mosseri was grilled by a US Senate panel on the security of children in December last year for promoting Instagram Kids despite its potential risks. Now religious leaders have also climbed upon the criticism of Instagrams plans for its young users.

‘Education is secondary, hijab is the first priority’: Muslim girls in Karnataka college

OpIndia Staff
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‘Education is secondary, hijab is the first priority’: Muslim girls in Karnataka college

The hijab-donning Muslim girl students from Karnataka consider the Hijab as their first priority and education as secondary. The revelation came when some of the girl students were talking to a reporter of Times Now on February 8. The reporter was covering the protests from both sides.

When he approached a group of girls wearing a Hijab and asked them their views on the statement made by the Hindu students that they would continue to protest by wearing saffron scarves, one of the Muslim girls said, “They can wear the saffron scarf. We do not have a problem with that. We respect their religion. They should respect us.”

The reporter further questioned if Karnataka High Court ruled against Hijab in educational institutes, one of the girls replied, “This [Hijab] is our first priority. Education is secondary. This is our first priority.” They said the High Court had to allow them to wear Hijab as “High Court cannot go against the constitution.”

The Karnataka Burqa Row

The Burqa row in Karnataka has turned into a major controversy. The ‘left-liberals’, ironically, and the Islamic fundamentalists have been supporting and instigating the Muslim girls that are adamant about attending colleges and schools in burqas in violation of established rules on uniform dress code. The college authorities in Udupi had made clear that students will have to follow the uniform dress codes and hijabs won’t be allowed inside the campus.

Amidst the ongoing controversy in Karnataka, the educational institutes have been shut down for three days. The Karnataka High Court is hearing the petition filed by a Muslim student seeking the right to wear hijab/burqa in college. Meanwhile, the state education ministry has said they would not change their stand against Hijab in schools and colleges. If the High Court give directions in the matter, they will act accordingly.

Nepal govt report says Chinese encroachment along border areas, civil society group approaches UN over the issue

OpIndia Staff
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Nepal govt report says Chinese encroachment along border areas, civil society group approaches UN over the issue

On February 7, a memorandum was handed over by the Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan to the United Nations, informing them about the land encroachment in Humla, Nepal, by China. The Nepali civil society group has urged the international community to intervene in the issue pertaining to land grabbing by China in neighbouring countries.

According to a report in Khabarhub, Binay Yadav, chairperson Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan, approached the UN office in Kathmandu and handed over the memorandum to Richard Howard, Resident Coordinator, United Nations, via Rajendra Man Banepali, Information Officer at UN office.

memorandum submitted by Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan. Source: Khabarhub

The Rashtiya Ekata Abhiyan has been launching campaigns against the Chinese encroachments. In the memorandum submitted to the UN, the group has called for China to withdraw the encroached land. It has urged the Nepali and Chinese governments to initiate border inspection under the supervision of the international community and urged all stakeholders to keep GPS records of all border posts.

Reports suggest China has encroached on land not only in Humla but also in Gorkha, Darchula, Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk. The group has submitted copies of the memorandum to the US Embassy European Union Representative. Russian Embassy, Indian Embassy and Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu.

A panel was formed to study the Nepal-China border dispute

In September 2021, the Nepalese government had formed a panel to study the border dispute between Nepal and China in Humla. Earlier, under Jaya Narayan Acharya, Joint Secretary, Home Ministry, a committee was formed to study the dispute. The study found the area between pillar number 5(2) and the middle of the Kit Khola was marked as the border between the two countries according to the Boundary Protocol of 1963. However, China had erected fences and wired on the Nepali land.

The report is still pending with the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The report added the border encroachment by the Chinese intensified in Humla during the KP Oli government. Notably, Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, then-Foreign Minister, had claimed the structures were built on Chinese soil in reference to a 2016 study.

China had also claimed via the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu that the structures were on Chinese land, and there was no dispute between Nepal and China. However, Nepali Congress, the main opposition party, accused the then-govt of covering up the border dispute though there was evidence China had crossed the line.

In October 2020, NC’s Jeevan Bahadur Shahi issued a statement that eight pillars in Humla’s northeastern border were damaged. He confirmed that the Chinese side had replaced Pillar 12 so that a large chunk of Nepal’s land is now under the control of China. According to Shahi, when the Armed Police Force of Nepal went to inspect Pillars 6(1) and 5(1), the Chinese security personnel pelted stones on them. He further added, “Chinese security forces have a heavy presence on the northern border, but our security forces are nowhere to be seen in those remote areas.”

The encroachments were first reported in September 2020. It is noteworthy NC-led government has not published the report that was submitted by the committee formed during its regime.

The leaked report suggests encroachment by China

According to a report in BBC, the report submitted by the panel that was formed in September 2021 got leaked. The report suggested China has been limiting grazing by Nepalese farmers. The report also noted that the surveillance activities by the Chinese security forces led to restrictions on religious activities in Lalungjong that falls on the Nepalese side of the border. This area is in close proximity to Mount Kailash, which is sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists.

On February 8, The Abhiyan issued a statement and thanked the Nepalese government for its decision to form a government official position on Chinese encroachment of Nepali territory along the northern border.

Statement issued by Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan. Source: Khabarhub

The statement read, “it is the common responsibility of ordinary citizens to raise voice against ongoing encroachment of Nepali land by the Chinese side. The Abhiyan, recalling that it has always been advocating Nepal’s territorial independence and sovereignty, reminded that it appealed to the international community on Monday to side with Nepal in relation to Chinese encroachment of Nepali territory.”

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