The Bombay High Court on Saturday, while hearing the petition challenging the controversial Lavasa project, observed that there were irregularities and use of ‘political influence and clout’ by NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his family members in extending largesse to Maharashtra’s only private hill station project in 2002. The bench also observed that Ajit Pawar, who is the nephew of NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar, breached ‘Solemn Duty’ by not disclosing his personal interest in the Lavasa Project at that time.
The judges agreed with amicus curiae, senior advocate Shiraz Rustomjee, that there was a failure to follow a fair and transparent tender procedure. Jadhav said Ajit Pawar took active part in the decision-making process for setting up the Lavasa project without disclosing his blood relations with Pawar and Sule.
“As the minister for irrigation and ex-officio chairman of Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation (MKVDC), it was Ajit Pawar’s duty to disclose his direct and indirect interest in the matter, but there was nothing on record to suggest he did disclose his interest… Limited to that extent he is found to be remiss in his duty,” the judges said.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish S Kulkarni made the observations while hearing the PIL filed by lawyer Nanasaheb Vasantrao Jadhav in August 2018. The plea sought to declare permissions as void, arbitrary, unreasonable, bad in law and obtained with undue political interference and breach of trust. Sharad Pawar, his daughter Supriya Sule, and his nephew Ajit Pawar, were made parties to the PIL.
Apart from other decisions, the plea also challenged MKVDC’s Governing Council’s “ex-post facto” sanction on June 20, 2002, and subsequent execution of agreements, which Sharad Pawar followed up on by meeting with the then Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar, among others, in regard to problems encountered in implementing his “dream project.”
“It cannot be said that exertion of influence and clout by Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule is an unreasonable inference that cannot be drawn from the facts…Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule being personally interested in the project, it is proved by a preponderance of probability that the allegations are true,” the bench noted.
It added, “… It was the solemn duty of Ajit Pawar to disclose his direct or indirect interest in the matter; but there is nothing on record to suggest that he did disclose his interest… Limited to that extent, Ajit Pawar is found to be remiss in his duty.”
Though the court refused to interfere with the same due to “gross delay” in the filing of the plea and considering that “third-party rights have been created”, it said, “With a deep sense of pain and remorse, we feel compelled to take judicial notice of the malaise of looting of India and its natural resources by its own people in the recent past. The roots of such malaise have, without doubt, set in deep. The country is faced with a situation where uprooting of this malaise seems to be difficult, if not impossible.
“… the mindset of the people needs to change…Above all, concern for the welfare of the people and zero tolerance for corruption must override all other considerations. If the greed and dishonesty for power and money continue unabated, the future does not augur too well for the country,” the court added.
Sharad Pawar and his family at heart of Lavasa scam
Notably, Lavasa was NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s “dream project.” Ajit Pawar was the irrigation minister and the MKVDC’s ex-officio chairman. He presided over a conference at which an ex-post facto approval was granted to build weirs on the backwaters of the Varasgaon-Morse dam, which would supply water to Lavasa. Sule was a shareholder in Lavasa and represents the Baramati constituency, which encompassed 18 villages in Lavasa City in 2009.
In 2001, the Maharashtra government-sanctioned 10,000 acres of land for the construction of this modern city, which would be spread over 20 villages and hamlets. The first phase of construction, Dasve, on 1,700 acres, began in 2005 and has been completed. Work on the second phase, Mugaon, is stalled because of regulatory issues.
In 2012, YP Singh, a former IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre, alleged a scam involving the Pawar family in the construction of Lavasa spread over 3,000 acres and reportedly involving an investment of Rs 3,000 crore.
YP Singh had alleged that Ajit Pawar, irrigation minister and nephew of Sharad Pawar, allotted 141 hectares (348 acres) of land belonging to Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation on a renewable lease of 30 years to the Lake City Corporation in 2002, violating a Supreme Court Judgement.
The company which later came to be known as Lavasa Corporation, a subsidiary of Hindustan Construction Company, was allotted the land at a monthly rent of Rs 23,000, Singh said.
According to data disclosed by Singh, Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, now an NCP MP from Baramati, and her husband Sadanand Sule owned 20.81 per cent of the company.
Sharad Pawar, despite being a Union Minister with no involvement in the Lavasa project, allegedly used his clout to arrange a meeting with Ajit Pawar, bureaucrats, and top corporate officials at a private guest home in the lake city of ‘Ekaant,’ according to the former IPS officer.
The liberal world’s proclivity for anti-Hindu sentiments is certainly not disguised. Subscribers to this notion continue to promote their goal of Hindu hatred in whichever domain they deem appropriate. Cricket, being India’s most popular and frenzied sport, has become the latest target of liberals. It is the unfortunate new arena into which they have decided to inject Hinduphobia.
The way incidents in cricket have been reported in the media and in the sports world in recent years reveals the rise of anti-Hindu viewpoints throughout the community. Several international cricket pundits and journalists have openly endorsed this stance of corrupting one of India’s most popular and cherished sports.
“India has eroding image of tolerance” reported CNBC citing a cricket match
Although many news organizations have been doing it for a long time, recent developments in cricket commentary writing and reporting suggest concerning patterns. Back in November 2021, a piece published on CNBC wrote that the image of India in the west is poor with respect to tolerance. The soul basis of such conclusion by Ananta Agarwal, the author of the article, was the T20 match between India and Pakistan held in October 2021, in which Pakistan won.
Citing the match, he wrote that “ethnoreligious tensions boiled over” in the country. Also, he went on to add that some Kashmiri Students who cheered the victory of Pakistan on social media were suspended, detained, and charged with sedition.
The CNBC article.
To begin with, in response to Ananta, there were no religious conflicts following India’s defeat in the match. The performance of the team as a whole, rather than any individual player, disappointed Indians. The claims made in public about the mocking of Indian pacer Mohammad Shami proved to be unfounded and without substance. The entire story of Shami’s abuse in India was cultivated by Pakistani social media bots and magnified by the Indian leftist ecosystem.
Secondly, the suspension of Kashmiri Students and charging them with sedition was never because they celebrated the victory of Pakistan in the match. It was because they hurled anti-national slogans and chants that were supportive of the Pak-sponsored terrorism in India.
Ananta also made it a point to raise Hindu nationalism by labelling the Prime Minister as a Hindu Nationalist leader. He vehemently quoted Nikhil Mandalaparthy saying that Hindutva is an “exclusionary political ideology that relies on a vision of Hindu identity as being North Indian, upper caste and patriarchal.”
Well, citing anyone and drawing inferences about Indian culture under the guise of a sport like Cricket is a remarkable attempt to further the liberal cause of defaming India and Hinduism but, views of Nikhil don’t hold any legitimacy and are incongruent with the present conditions of India. Also, labelling Prime Minister Modi as a Hindu Nationalist leader would not work to their advantage. It is widely known and accepted that PM Modi is a Hindu and he is a Nationalist out and out. His nationalistic policies have led India to the path of development and global recognition.
The fading image of tolerance in India is a figment of the western imagination and has no substance in reality. Efforts to depict Hindus as bigoted and minorities, particularly Muslims, as downtrodden is a myth that no one would buy except a few devoted liberals.
“Chauvinism and patriotism not the same” headlined ESPN portraying Indians as melodramatic
A report by ESPN back in 2014 stated that the sedition act is against the security of the country. Surprisingly, such fervent opinions have begun to find traction on sports platforms as well! Similar to CNBC, they resorted to the same strategy of portraying India in a bad light just because some Muslims, who celebrated the victory of Pakistan in a cricket match and raised anti-India slogans were charged with sedition. The report quoted Shiv Visvanathan, who wrote in The Hindu that such action “reflects idiot officialdom in the country and its people as paranoid and melodramatic.”
The report by ESPN.
This erroneous stance eulogizes those who celebrate Pakistan’s cricket victory over India and raised anti-India seditious slogans by thumping their chests. What the author overlooks is that Pakistan is the same country that has gone to great lengths to incite unrest and bloodshed in India. Anyone who defends values that aren’t intrinsically national and justifies the acts of a country like Pakistan should indeed be prosecuted with sedition.
This might be simple for groups of people to cheer for Pakistan and then defend it in the name of cricket spirit, but it is not easy for the “idiot officialdom” to make judgments when proof abounds that such people have openly backed Pakistan’s separatist and jihadist agenda in the past.
Wisden India: A platform full of anti-Hindu Journalists
Wisden India, a well-known platform among cricket fans, has numerous journalists who are not afraid to wear their anti-Hindu attitude on their sleeves. Many reporters and news writers have openly abused Hindus on Social Media portals and elsewhere. One of them is Sarah Waris.
Sarah’s work has appeared in a number of well-known left-liberal publications, including The Quint and NDTV. Sarah publicly referred to Hindus as rapists in a 2013 tweet, which has now been deleted.
Tweets by Sarah Waris
Her hatred for Hindus is evident from her tweet. Not only do they demonize Hindus, but they also laud foreign sportsmen while dismissing Indians. Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian cricketer, had criticized the portal last year for favouring white English cricketers.
Wisden has a history of making nasty remarks towards Indians. Before the 1983 World Cup, David Frith, a veteran Wisden editor, penned an op-ed objecting to India’s participation owing to their dismal performance.
The cricket section of ‘The Australian’ spread anti-India propaganda
Gideon Haigh, a journalist, authored a column for The Australian’s Cricket section on February 19, 2021, in an attempt to mislead its primarily Australian audience. Haigh touched on a variety of themes in his 1000-word post headlined ‘Ugly trend that can poison Indian cricket,’ and presented his biased and constricted view of complicated situations as ‘oversimplified facts.’ He discussed the farm protests, partisan appointments to the BCCI, India’s allegedly shrinking scope for dissent, Rihanna, and other topics.
In the article, he alleged, “Unfortunately, India is a democracy in worsening decay, thanks to seven years of the BJP’s Hindu majoritarianism, at odds with the country’s traditions of pluralism and tolerance. And that’s got implications for cricket, even Australian cricket, of which we should be aware. The ruling BJP’s modus operandi is demonising minorities, subverting institutions, intimidating media, criminalising dissent and, not least, tyrannising the internet.”
Using the religious identity of Wasim Jaffer, who was in the spotlight for allegedly favouring Muslim players in the team during his stint as the coach of the Uttarakhand team, as the foundation of the argument, He alleged, “Jaffer, though, is a Muslim. So Verma trumped-up counterclaims of “communalism”: Jaffer’s preference for coreligionists. This is a classic trope of Hindu chauvinism, obsessed with the existence of a Muslim fifth column.”
He further claimed that the BJP engages in vicious online trolling of liberal celebrities, independent journalists, and academics who don’t toe their line. He then suggested that India’s cricket board has somehow been ‘pervaded by Modi’s myrmidons.’ This is despite the fact that India always had a political appointee in the form of Rajiv Shukla and Sharad Pawar as the BCCI President, unlike now, when the coveted post is occupied by an actual cricketer aka Saurav Ganguly. He claimed that India’s cricketing elites such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rahane, and Rohit Sharma echoed ‘BJP’s talking points’ when they came out in support of the hashtag #IndiaAgainstPropaganda.
Jacobin, a left leaning American Magazine headlined, “Cricket in the Service of Hindu Nationalism”
Jacobin is a communist magazine that publishes articles on politics, economics, and culture. In 2019, an article titled “Cricket in the Service of Hindu Nationalism” was published on 4 August.
The piece in Jacobin.
According to the report, the Indian cricket team’s 2019 tour of the United States was an attempt by Narendra Modi’s ostensibly Hindu Nationalist government to expand its influence in the US. The article stated that “the Modi government sees the Indian cricket team as their best PR weapon, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the governing body for cricket in India, as just another tool to be controlled.”
Alleging bias of the players, it stated “The players, too, have lined up behind the prime minister.” It further added, “When Modi was re-elected in May, a slew of Indian cricket legends tweeted their support — inconspicuously similar language, with nationalistic tropes like “new India” and “greater heights” appearing across several players’ tweets.”
It would seem like the sole motive behind the article was to prove that the tournament is being held under the influence of the Modi Government and it is to endorse the government and its policies. It adamantly mentioned that cricket has been influenced by the prevailing “Hindu Nationalism,” which is publicly endorsed by everyone, including cricketers.
The article clearly mentions that “Modi, elected in 2014 and re-elected by a startlingly large margin earlier this year, has represented the sharp end of ‘Hindu nationalist’ politics.”
Interestingly, Nakul M. Pande, a cricket writer, presenter, and cricket pundit living in London, is one of the co-authors of the article. One can see Nakul’s animosity towards Hindus in India and the Modi government just by looking at his Twitter profile. For a long time, he has been tweeting anti-Hindu slurs.
In a tweet made on 17 June 2019, he wrote, “The BCCI has become the reputation laundering arm of the Modi government. The BCCI is to Modi as Manchester City is to Abu Dhabi, or PSG is to Qatar.”
The Tweet.
In another Tweet, he mocked the belief of Hindus by saying, “In Hindu mythology, Hanuman the monkey god was once so hungry he mistook the sun for a mango and tried to eat it.”
The Tweet.
In a tweet made in 2016, he wrote, “I am a big fan of Hindu”? Fuck you, Donald, your smarmy pandering isn’t going to save your campaign.”
The Tweet.
Another tweet reads, “I don’t speak Hindi, Punjabi or Marathi (my parents’ first languages). I’m not religious. I eat beef. I speak in a very English-coded accent. I’ve been criticized by my Hindu relatives for ‘looking like a Muslim’ when I’ve had a longer beard.”
The Tweet.
Pushing anti-Hindu propaganda in Cricket
The firm resolve of writers and commentators such as Nakul Pande and Sarah Waris to show the Indians, and particularly Hindus in a bad light can be measured by their writings and their expressions on social media platforms.
Liberals have finally chosen the game of cricket to play their anti-Hindu card and mock them. Being a game followed extensively by Indians across the globe, these people find it easy to disseminate hate openly.
Even though such malevolent propaganda will not alter the international image of India, it is becoming clear that the anti-India liberal gang is meticulously engaged in peddling their anti-Hindu hatred and would stop at nothing in their sinister quest.
Ad-din Sakina Medical College in Bangladesh has now made the hijab (headscarves worn by Muslim women) compulsory even for non-Muslims. This even after Bangladesh Supreme Court order from 4th October 2010 said that no one can be forced to wear religious clothes against their will.
Hindu organisation Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mahajote said that another founder of Ad-din Sakina Medical College, Sheikh Afil Uddin, was also involved in torturing religious minorities. Newstrack had earlier reported that the college’s administrative officer Subrata Basak had claimed that the rule had been in force since 2011 (when the college was founded). He declined to answer when asked about how the diktat of the medical college was against the decision of a Bangladeshi court on wearing religious attire in schools.
On Friday (February 25), the Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mahajote raised strong objections against the decision of a medical college to make hijab mandatory even for non-Muslim students, reportedSangbad Pratidin.
In a press conference, the Hindu rights organisation emphasised that non-Muslim students must not be forced into wearing Islamic attire at any educational institute in the country. Citing media reports, it pointed out that the Ad-din Sakina Medical College (ASMC) in Jessore district of Bangladesh has introduced such a rule in the college.
The spokesperson for Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance, Palash Kanti Dey, said that the decision of the college is in contravention to the 2010 verdict of a Bangladeshi court. It was held by the court that people cannot be forced to wear veils, skull caps and other religious clothing against their will in schools/colleges and workplaces.
The Hindu organisation said that by making hijab compulsory for all, the medical college had violated the order of the court. It informed that the college has been soliciting ‘written consent’ from students at the time of admission. Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance said that those students who refuse to give consent for wearing hijab are barred from taking admission.
Sangbad Pratidin reported that the hijab has been made compulsory for all students (including non-Muslims) at all educational institutes, operated by Akij Group Ltd. The Hindu outfit has demanded the immediate intervention of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina regarding the matter.
Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance had claimed that Dr Sheikh Akij Uddin, the father of ASMC’s founder Dr Sheikh Mohiuddin, was against the Independence of the country in 1971. It added that Akij Uddin was a member of Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing, Chhatra Shibir, while he was a student of Barisal Medical College. His family was accused of looting the properties of Hindu refugees.
Hindu rights organisation condemn threats to Bangladeshi Hindus over Karnataka hijab row
On February 18, Islamists had threatened Hindus living in Bangladesh with dire consequences if Muslim students were not allowed entry into Indian classrooms with Hijab. They gathered in large numbers in Dhaka to protest against the ‘Hijab ban’ in Indian schools, reported Ruptly.
In a video shared by a Bangladeshi Twitter user, a large group of Muslims were seen marching on the streets with placards while raising anti-India slogans. “The conspiracy about stopping education of Muslim girls in India should be stopped,” read one placard.
The mob, associated with the radical Islamist party Islami Andolan Bangladesh, also raised slogans of ‘Allahu Akbar’ while they rallied in support of the hijab on the streets of Dhaka. While threatening Hindus living in Bangladesh, an Islamist warned that life would become miserable for Hindu women in the country.
“Not a single Bangladeshi Hindu woman come outside homes and walk on the street with a religious symbol like Shaka, Sindoor…,” he threatened. The Islamist received overwhelming support from the Muslim mob standing in his vicinity. The Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance had strongly condemned the anti-Hindu rhetorics during the press conference on February 25.
Vision IAS, a training institute for Civil Services aspirants, has issued a statement after videos of its teacher went viral where she was teaching Islamic propaganda to the students while demonising the Bhakti Movement. Calling the propagandist teacher an ‘esteemed faculty’, Vision IAS alleged that the video only presented ‘a small part of a discussion’. It said, “The said discussion, which is currently not available on any official Vision IAS platform, has led to divergent opinions and reactions.”
It further added that the intention was not to ‘hurt anyone’s sentiments’. Calling the Bhakti Movement a cult in its statement as well, Vision IAS said, “The discussion in point is only focused on one possible reason for the rise of the Bhakti Cult and that too in a particular time period. What the speaker underscores is the dynamic response of followers of Sanatana dharma and its inherent strength which took the form of Bhakti cult meaning “loving faith in God” and “love for fellow human beings” to meet the egalitarian appeal of Islam, that is the appeal of its caste less theology and social order.”
Notably, in its statement, Vision IAS propagated that Islam has “casteless theology and social order” while conveniently ignoring the fact that Islam not only has different subsections such as Shia, Sunni, Ahmadiyya and more, but they practice high order of discrimination amongst themselves. For example, Ahmadiyyas are often not considered Muslims in countries like Pakistan.
It further added, “It was never the intent of the Vision IAS family to hurt anyone’s sentiments. The discussion in point is only focused on one possible reason for the rise of the Bhakti Cult and that too in a particular time period. What the speaker underscores are the dynamic response of followers of Sanatana dharma and its inherent strength which took the form of Bhakti cult meaning “loving faith in God” and “love for fellow human beings” to meet the egalitarian appeal of Islam, that is the appeal of its caste less theology and social order.”
While talking about the reference of a replica of the first mosque presented by PM Modi to Saudi King in 2016, the statement said, “Her reference to PM Modi’s presentation of the replica of the first mosque outside the Arabian Peninsula that was built in Kerala to the Saudi King further serves to highlight the syncretic character of the Indian civilisation and its strength.”
The institute stood by the misleading statement made by the teacher by calling the Bhakti Movement a ‘cult’ but said, “Having clarified our stance, we also sincerely apologise if anything said or done by us has served to hurt the sentiments of any community or member thereof. Vision IAS firmly believes in the ethos and values enshrined in the Indian Constitution, and any sentiments hurt, is unintentional and deeply regretted.”
‘Bhakti Movement was a cult’ – Netizens criticised Vision IAS faculty for misleading students
On Sunday, a video of a faculty of Vision IAS went viral on social media in which she was teaching the students about the rise of the Bhakti Movement. She propagated that Bhakti Movement was started due to the spread of ‘liberal ideas’ of Islam where they talked about ‘equality’ and ‘caste-less’ society. The video was initially shared by a user @sillypuneer on Twitter.
In the video, the female teacher, identified as Smriti Shah, asked the students about the purpose of the Bhakti movement. When the students said it was “equality”, she said, “Islam arrived in India in the seventh century. It was very liberal and talked about equality. There was no caste system either. PM Modi gifted a miniature of Cheraman Juma Masjid to the Saudi King, which was the first mosque built in India. Islam had not arrived in India yet, but it had started showing its influence. It was free from any rigidity and casteism. There was a speciality of Islam that talked about complete devotion to one God (Allah). They were talking about the concept of one God.”
She further added, “As Islam said, there was only one God, and he created all, it means everyone was same. Islam talked about the universal brotherhood that attracted people. Those who belonged to the lower class started to convert to Islam to raise their status. That was the time when Hindu civilisation felt threatened. As a result, the Bhakti cult was started. They wanted to tell Hinduism is the same religion as Islam, and there was no difference.”
After her video surfaced on social media, the netizens objected to the type of propaganda-filled content being shared by the coaching centres against Hinduism.
Film-maker Vivek Agnihotri said, “Wonderful Vision IAS! You have opened a shop for brainwashing [students].” Tagging Minister of Education, Dr Dharmendra Pradhan, he added, “Dr Pradhan Ji, please note. Is this kind of radical propaganda of religion at the cost of another allowed by your ministry? Every Indian must help stop this brainwashing of students.”
Wah bhai wah @Vision_IAS Brainwashing ki badi badhiya dukan kholi hai. @dpradhanbjp ji, please note. Is this kind of radical propaganda of a religion at the cost of another allowed by your ministry? Every Indian must help stop this brainwashing of students. https://t.co/ZyA6epGdPl
Twitter user NagpurKaRajini sarcastically said, “Ghazanavi, Babar were not only the most secular but also liberals. They taught Indians what is secularism, liberalism and got rid of Bhakti Movement in India. You Vision IAS are right.”
Ghazanavi, Babar were not only the most secular but also liberals. They taught Indians what is secularism, liberalism and got rid of Bhakti Movement in India. You @Vision_IAS are right ?pic.twitter.com/u2fFeut6x4
In another video, the same faculty talked about Hindu traditions and mocked Hindus for their centuries-old traditions. She said while Hindus have accepted the new amenities like a car, they are still stuck to the old traditions like hanging lemon and chillies or breaking a coconut before using a vehicle, thinking the vehicle would remain safe from damages. “They break the coconut. Thank God they do not break it on the car! The idea is, you accepted the peripheral value by owning a car, but the core value that is tradition is still there.” She also mocked ‘bhakts’, a term used for BJP followers, and said, “Everyone has Bhakts, I am talking about God’s followers”, which was followed by giggles in the classroom.
‘Joint families satisfy sexual gratification’ – the deep-rooted hate for Hindu community
In yet another bizarre statement made by Shah during another class, she claimed the joint family system in Hindus “satisfy sexual gratification”. She said, “Your sexual desires are also satisfied a family. You need to understand. In a family, you get into a relationship if you are not a blood relative then through marriage. And marriage is the institution that serves the purpose of sexual gratification. Once your sexual needs are gratified, it results in to reproduction.”
Joint Family satisfies our sexual gratification. Marriage serves the purpose. And finally Reproduction.
Notably, this was not the first time someone has raised a voice against the anti-Hindu propaganda being spread by the same teacher. Back in 2021, a Twitter user Naina had shared a video of her where the Vision IAS faculty said, “Beliefs generates emotions. Believes are not related to emotions. The emotions are generated based on your beliefs. ‘I believe India is a Hindu Rashtra’which generates an emotion of antagonism and hostility toward other religious minorities. And then it might generate the action tendency of being violent or attacking them. So it all starts with belief.”
‘It is not an apology’ Netizens pointed out lack of ‘apology’ in Vision IAS’s statement
The ‘apology’ statement by Vision IAS did not go well with the netizens. Pointing out the lack of the so-called apology in the statement, Supreme Court Lawyer, Shashank Shekhar Jha said, “This is a statement and not an apology! Posted at 2:30 with Comments Closed, Vision IAS missed apologising for ‘esteemed’ where 1. She referred to Bhakti Cult as Pejorative. 2. Another video where she used Hindu Rashtra jibe and labelled Hindus as violènt & attackers.”
This is a statement and not an apology!
Posted at 2:30 with Comments Closed, @Vision_IAS missed apologising for ‘esteemed’ where- 1. She referred to Bhakti Cult as Pejorative. 2. Another video where she used Hindu Rashtra jibe and labelled Hindus as violènt & attackèrs. https://t.co/CE6XMl4ZtD
Twitter user GauriB said, “A clarification that is worse than the video. Blatantly distorting a narrative is not hurting sentiments, it is endangering lives. To call Islam egalitarian is to further the lies. Islam is blatantly misogynistic, irrational and contemptuous of human creativity and depth.”
A clarification that is worse than the video. Blatantly distorting a narrative is not hurting sentiments, it is endangering lives. To call Islam egalitarian is to further the lies. Islam is blatantly misogynistic, irrational and contemptuous of human creativity and depth. https://t.co/oolTrIFrRj
Misleading and wrong lessons of History in Indian education system
There have been voices against the misleading and factually wrong lessons of History in the Indian education system on several occasions. Netizens have raised the issue and demanded overhauling of the education system to ensure the future generation has the right information. A 2020 RTI had revealed that NCERT has no evidence to prove that Mughal emperors had rebuilt temples destroyed in wars, even when it claims the same in its history textbook. In July 2021, the research produced by Public Policy Research Center (PPRC) director Sumeet Bhasin, researchers Chandni Sengupta, Deepa Kaushik and Sanket Kate, titled “Distortions and Misrepresentations of India’s Past: History Textbooks and Why they need to change“, had highlighted that NCERT textbooks have deliberately overstated the contributions of Mughal rulers to India.
On February 28, the Government of India announced that three Union Ministers, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen (Retd) VK Singh would travel to the neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation of the Indians from the war-hit region.
Notably, Gen (Retd) VK Singh had coordinated the evacuation program Mission Raahat in 2015 to bring back Indians from war-hit Yemen when he was the MoS External Affairs. In Operation Sankat Mochan in 2016, Gen VK Singh had personally accompanied 156 Indians evacuated by Indian Air Force in a C-17 aircraft from war-hit South Sudan.
Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and Gen (Retd) VK Singh to travel to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation mission and help students: Govt sources#RussiaUkraineCrisispic.twitter.com/DbaQ6U47KQ
Reportedly, the Ukrainian security agencies are allegedly making it difficult for Indian nationals, including students, to leave Ukraine. There have been reports that the Ukrainian agencies are not only using Indian nationals as leverage against India by putting them in a hostage-like situation but also assaulting and misbehaving with them.
A high-level meeting was called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Ukraine crisis. During the meeting, it was decided that four union ministers would travel to the war-hit region and coordinate the evacuation mission and help students to reach back home safely.
India raised concerns about safety of Indians at UNSC
PR/Ambassador of India to United Nations TS Tirumurti in a statement expressed concerns about the safety of Indian nationals in Ukraine as reports had emerged of them being assaulted and harassed by the Ukrainian agencies. He said, “We continue to be deeply concerned about the safety and security of Indian nationals, including a large number of Indian students, who are still stranded in Ukraine.”
He further added, “Our evacuation efforts have been adversely impacted by the complex and uncertain situation at the border crossings. It is important to maintain an uninterrupted and predictable movement of people. It is an urgent humanitarian necessity that must be immediately addressed.”
In UN Security Council meeting on #Ukraine today 27 February, India abstained on the vote on the resolution to refer the matter to an emergency session of @UN General Assembly.
Mission Ganga: The Evacuation Program to bring back Indian students from Ukraine
Since Russia’s declaration of military action against Ukraine on February 24, the Indians stuck in the war-hit zone are being evacuated by the government of India under the Mission Ganga program. The number of Indians stranded in Ukraine is reported to be anywhere between 16,000 to 20,000, with most media houses reporting them at 18,000. However, as of now, the official government figure is 16,000. So far, 907 Indians have been evacuated. Notably, the Indian government had issued multiple advisories urging Indians to leave Ukraine before the war was declared.
China and Pakistan are close allies, is a fact well known. Their leaders often use metaphors like “higher than the mountains” and “deeper than the oceans” to describe the relationship between the two countries. China considers Pakistan its rental state to advance its geopolitical machinations and regional ambitions. For Pakistan, China is their eternal go-to state, a country they trust to support their foundering economy and address their perennial misgivings regarding India.
While they share a relationship in an array of fields, a recent report published on Logically throws light on the close online association between the two countries. An investigation conducted by OSINT experts of Logically found that several social media influencers pretending to be Chinese, in reality, were Pakistanis. They are, by definition, sockpuppets—a false online identity created by a person or group to promote their own opinions or views.
A large number of seemingly Chinese influencer accounts on social media platforms, most notably on Twitter, are operated by Pakistanis, with a majority of their followers being fake or bot accounts. These accounts then deploy disinformation campaigns that align with China and Pakistan and is always against India, stemming from their shared animus against New Delhi.
Interestingly, these sockpuppets have enjoyed state support from both Chinese and Pakistan state officials, who enthusiastically share and promote content uploaded by them.
Be it fake claims regarding the Galwan Valley clashes between Indian and Chinese troopers or the conspiracy theories surrounding the helicopter crash of late CDS General Bipin Rawat, or any other internal matter concerning India, these sockpuppets fuel disinformation online in their bid to create a rift within the Indian society along religious and ideological lines.
Nian Zhen, who operates under Twitter handle @Xinhua_88, is one such Pakistani impersonator who pretends to be a Chinese national. Zhen claims to be a member of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations(CICIR) and is often found spreading Chinese propaganda under the pretext of sharing intellectual insight from a think tank based in Beijing.
Source: Twitter
According to data analysed on TruthNest, the initial posts made by @Xinhua_88 were in Urdu, indicating that it is a sockpuppet likely operated by someone in Pakistan. Logically cites audience intelligence tool SparkToro to claim that 22.3 per cent of @Xinhua_88’s followers are fake or bots.
Furthermore, @Xinhua_88 was also found to have received significantly higher engagements as compared to other accounts with a similar following. It was also discovered that most of the accounts with which @Xinhua_88 interacted were primarily associated with Chinese government officials or accounts notorious for pushing pro-Chinese propaganda online.
Zhao Lijian (@zlj517), the deputy director of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information Department, was one of the officials who interacted with @Xinhua_88. Zhen also interacted with Shen Shiwei (@shen_shiwei), a production editor at China Global Television Network (CGTN), who shared a picture of Indian soldiers allegedly surrendering near Galwan Valley. Other key associations include Zhang Heqing (@zhang_heqing), China’s Cultural Counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, and Hu Xijin (@HuXijin_GT), the former editor-in-chief and party secretary of the Global Times.
Liza Wang, who goes by Twitter handle @ChinaPakWW, is another such account with a massive following. The account usually shares propaganda about CPEC and the China-Pakistan friendship. The profile picture of the account is that of a female military officer, whose reverse image search shows that the photo originated from a Turkish blog whose title translates as “Don’t think it’s a movie frame! China’s secret weapon: female warriors.”
Source: Twitter
As per SparkToro, 21.4 per cent of the approximately 11,000 followers are populated with fake accounts. Like in the case with @Xinhua_88, this account too receives higher engagement than other accounts that have a similar following. The Logically investigation found that the account interacts largely with Pakistani government officials or accounts that are known for harbouring sympathy with Pakistan or are involved in pushing pro-Pakistani propaganda. It interacts with Pakistan PM Imran Khan, Fawad Chaudhry, the Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting Government of Pakistan, and the official account of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan.
Interestingly, @ChinaPakWW operated an account that was suspended by Twitter. According to a tweet posted by it, the account was suspended at the behest of “Indian propaganda”. The suspended account reportedly had close to 21,000 followers. OSINT tool Followerwonk showed that the most frequently used words by the account included “Imran Khan”, “Pakistan Army”, “Proud Pakistani” etc. This obviously suggests that the account operator must be someone who harbours loyalty for Pakistan and not a Chinese as the profile picture and the name implies to be.
Another Pakistani social media user masquerading as a Chinese influencer runs a Twitter account called @tangtianru. This account also shares content advocating strong bilateral relations between Pakistan and China. Besides, the account also holds strong anti-Taiwan views, giving an impression that it might be a sockpuppet based out of China.
Source: Twitter
Intriguingly, this account too has a profile picture of a Chinese woman in a military uniform, a pattern that is becoming increasingly common with Pakistani imposters pretending to be Chinese influencers. The SparkToro analysis says 38.8 per cent of over 10,000 followers of @tangtianru are populated with fake followers.
According to the results of the Twitter analytics tool TruthNest, the initial posts by the account corroborate its link with Pakistan. One of the initial posts made by the account was that of four women at a function called “Pakistani Food Extravaganza”, an event that was hosted by the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing.
The account has interactions mostly with Chinese government officials and accounts that share CCP propaganda. It has significant engagements with the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, but most of them are negative in sentiments and spew anti-Taiwan narrative. Besides, the Twitter account has also spread conspiracy theories and fake claims about the Galwan Valley clashes and the Indo-China standoff along the line of control in eastern Ladakh.
Spreading disinformation online has traditionally been a Chinese forte. The Chinese Communist Party(CCP) excels in covering up its inadequacies and fomenting unrest in other countries by fire-hosing social media platforms with disinformation and fake news while using censorship to control the flow of information inside its borders. Pakistan, on the other hand, until now has been a relatively lesser-known entity in terms of inundating social media platforms with its propaganda and misinformation.
However, the curious case of Pakistani imposters pretending to be Chinese social media influencers and disseminating anti-India propaganda demonstrates that the CCP has roped in its most-trusted ally in its information warfare as it seeks to assert its hegemony in increasingly volatile world order.
The National Guard of Ukraine’s Twitter account published a video tweet claiming that Azov fighters of the National Guard coated their bullets with pig fat to be used against Chechen forces fighting from the Russian side. The actual tweet reads “Azov fighters of the National Guard greased the bullets with lard against the Kadyrov orcs?”
The tweet by the National Guard of Ukraine.
The tweet was made on 06:50 PM on Sunday (27 February).
Azov fighters of the National Guard greased the bullets with lard against the Kadyrov orcs?
Бійці Азова Нацгвардії змастили кулі салом проти кадировських орків?
Amidst the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, many news outlets have reported that the Chechen fighters have been deployed too.
Who are the Chechen fighters?
Chechnya is a Russian republic located north of Georgia. Chechen forces are the military force in charge of Chechenya’s defence. The republic is not an independent entity and is subject to Russian laws and regulations. The majority of them are Muslims.
Chechen Forces (Source: Twitter)
Ramzan Kadyrov is the head of the Chechen Republic. Kadyrov refers to himself as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foot soldier, and he is said to have sent fighters into the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Putin with Kadyrov. (image: The Moscow Times)
Chechen forces are regarded as one of the most violent and battle-hardened troops in the world with several stories claiming that many of them were once members of ISIS. Several sources have also indicated that they have been marching towards Kyiv following their deployment in Ukraine.
According to several reports, they were met with fierce opposition from Ukrainian forces, and many of them were slain, including their general Magomed Tushayev. However, amid conflicting reports from both sides, this is yet to be confirmed.
The Ukrainian National Guards uploaded a video of pig fat being applied to bullets since Chechen soldiers are Muslims and the pig is deemed Haram in Islam.
Twitter flagging video but still not removing it
Twitter has tagged the video as violating the standards and promoting hateful behaviour, but it has allowed it to stay accessible in the “public’s interest.” This has sowed confusion in the social media community as to how a tweet may still be accessed even if it violates standards.
The Twitter flag above the tweet.
Digging into the Twitter rules, it can be found what defines public interest on Twitter and what are the exceptions. The rules state. “We consider content to be in the public interest if it directly contributes to understanding or discussion of a matter of public concern.”
“At present, we limit exceptions to one critical type of public-interest content—Tweets from elected and government officials—given the significant public interest in knowing and being able to discuss their actions and statements,” it added.
About public-interest exceptions on Twitter
As a result, Twitter may, in rare cases, opt to keep up a tweet from an elected or state figure that would normally be removed. Instead, they hide it behind a notification that provides detail about the rule infringement and informs readers about the tweet.
Twitter’s conflicting stand on the issue has been flagged by many.
Why does the National Guard of Ukraine think it acceptable to GLORIFY the NAZI Azov brigade while they grease bullets with LARD to target Kadyrov’s Chechen forces?
I’m sorry your country was attacked, but armed Nazi units are NOT an answer, especially when pulling off this CRAP. https://t.co/06P2yBjgLa
It is notable here that the Azov battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard is a neo-Nazi unit and they often flaunt their Nazi inclinations openly. It is a far-right volunteers group and their leaders have called Putin ‘a Jew’ in the past. Over the years, there have been several media reports and concerns from experts regarding how the Ukrainian regime arming and supporting the neo-Nazi white supremacists may be a bad idea.
Remember, kids, if one asshole (or agent provocateur) shows up at a protest in Ottawa with a Nazi flag, it's a "far-right extremist" movement … oh, and, here are a few pictures of the "Azov Battalion," a NATO-backed Ukrainian National Guard unit. pic.twitter.com/XD3KBVpory
On February 27, 2002, a group of Hindus travelling from Ayodhya in Sabarmati Express were burnt alive inside the train by a riotous Muslim mob. The meticulously planned attacks by the Islamists of Godhra led to the killing of 59 people, including innocent women and children.
The raging mob had killed the innocent Hindus for the simple reason that they had visited the Ayodhya to perform karseva for the Ram Mandir. What followed the Godhra killings were intense communal riots in Gujarat that left more than 1,000 people dead.
For the last two decades, the portrayal of Gujarat riots has been skewed and one-sided, with left-liberal and Islamist harping on the narrative of Muslims being the victims of the carnage while carefully ignoring the Godhra massacre simply because it was the Hindus who had lost their lives. The left-liberal media establishment, joining hands with the “secular” political parties, successfully tried to whitewash the burning alive of 59 Hindus at Godhra, the incident that acted as the spark for the subsequent communal riots in the state.
The media, which should ideally have been reporting the truth on how a Muslim mob burnt Hindus to death, was far more bothered about being politically correct than standing with the unvarnished truth of how Hindus had been massacred.
Twenty years down the line, the left-liberals continue to push the same propaganda to either ignore the deaths of innocent Hindus at Godhra or sometimes even go to the extent of showing the Hindus as aggressors while whitewashing the crimes of Muslim mobs that burnt down the S6 coach of Sabarmati express that led to the death of nearly 59 innocent Hindus.
On Sunday, February 27, 2022, exactly two decades after the horrific incident, the left-liberals are still attempting to brush off the Godhra carnage as an ‘accident’. As the nation mourns the victims on the twentieth anniversary of the Godhra killings, the usual ‘secular-liberal’ establishment took to Twitter to claim that the Godhra incident was just an ‘accident’, unknowingly committed by the Muslim mob.
Teesta Setalvad, who built her career over the dead bodies of Hindus of Gujarat, took to Twitter to claim the killing of 59 Hindus travelling in the S5 and S6 coaches of the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, was nothing but an “arson”.
Nowhere in the tweet did she condemn the Muslim mob for killing the 59 Hindus returning from Ayodhya. Instead, she subtly blames Hindu society for their reaction and the tragedy that unfolded following the Godhra killings.
Rajdeep Sardesai, another left-liberal intellectual who used Gujarat riots for his career progression in the media ecosystem, tweeted, saying this day changed the lives of so many people.
In his tweet, Rajdeep wrote, “Godhra train burning and terrible communal riots that followed. Tragic loss of so many innocent lives. Closure may come only when all guilty are punished. Thoughts with grieving families.”
Well, he failed to explain to his followers how exactly the Godhra train burnt. The seasoned ‘journalist’, who over the years has learnt to absolve crimes committed by the Muslims, shied away yet again to mention who orchestrated the killings at Godhra on February 27, 2002.
Instead, he put out a carefully worded tweet to depict Hindus as the initial aggressor during the Gujarat riots. Although almost twenty years have passed since the disdainful act took place, still, the left-liberals have not shown any signs of remorse; instead, they continue to peddle the same propaganda against Hindus.
It is not just the Congress ecosystem that insists that Godhra killings were ‘unfortunate killings’. The neo-secular entrants such as Derek O’Brien of the TMC also joined the bandwagon on Sunday to put out his view on the twentieth anniversary of the Godhra killings.
Though no one expects Derek to put out tweets based on objectivity and facts, one still thought he would pay respects to the victims of Godhra carnage, who were mercilessly burnt exactly twenty years ago.
However, unsurprisingly, he neither showed any sympathy to the dead nor issued any condemnation against the perpetrators of the vile crime. Instead, he took the opportunity to indirectly blame the government for indulging in ‘PR’ exercise.
Similarly, Mohan Guruswamy, another celebrated left-liberal-secular intellectual, wrote a piece in Deccan Chronicle ranting against the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. In his write-up, Guruswamy wrote that the Godhra killings were no less than the Reichstag fire that propelled Hitler to absolute power in Germany. Guruswamy insinuated that the Godhra Hindu killings were orchestrated by the BJP regime just as Hitler, who was responsible for the Reichstag incident.
He does not stop there. According to Guruswamy, the Godhra incident, ahead of the 2002 Gujarat polls, became the springboard to a meteoric political rise of the BJP and Narendra Modi. He also cited a report submitted by Ahmedabad’s Forensic Science Laboratory that claimed that the coach was set on fire by someone insider and not the outsiders.
Guruswamy gave a clean chit to the Muslim mobs that burnt the travellers on board of Sabarmati express and shockingly went on to blame the insiders for the incident.
It is no surprise to see the left-liberals whitewashing the Godhra carnage. It suits their political narrative, and they continue to do it as long as they exist. For them, it is incredibly convenient to blame Hindus for their own brutal murders as there is no accountability for displaying such intellectual dishonesty.
However, secular India has moved on. Today, it is difficult for the left-liberals to sell their propaganda and portray Hindus as the perpetual aggressors. The liberal-secular agenda of whitewashing the crimes of particular sections of the society and trying to bury the reality of persecution of Hindus by the secular state has no takers anymore.
Even if the likes of Rajdeep Sardesai, Teesta Setalvad can alter the facts pertaining to Godhra killing to please their political bosses, the truth that a Muslim mob mercilessly burned down people at Godhra on February 27, 2002, for the simple reason that they were Hindus and visited Ayodhya to perform karseva will never be forgotten by the Hindus of the country.
On Thursday (February 24), Russia launched a full-scale invasion in Ukraine, months after deploying over 1 lakh security forces at the border. Despite multiple advisories by the government to Indians to leave Ukraine in the lead-up to the invasion by Russia, about 16000 Indian nationals are still believed to be stranded in the Eastern European country. The number of Indians stranded in Ukraine are reported to be anywhere between 16,000 to 20,000 with most media houses reporting them at 18,000. However, as of now, official government figure is 16,000.
Keeping the situation in mind, the Modi government decided to intervene and evacuate the Indian nationals, who did not ‘voluntarily’ leave the war-torn country in spite of repeated advisories. Air India’s Boeing 787 plane (also called the Dreamliner) was thus chartered to carry out the evacuation. The Indian government, under ‘Operation Ganga’, has vowed to repatriate every stranded Indian from Ukraine and bear the expense of the travel.
It must be mentioned that the Ukrainian airspace was closed for civilian aircraft from Thursday (February 24) morning onwards. As such, the Indian embassy in Ukraine had to coordinate with the embassies of neighbouring countries in Poland, Romania and Hungary for the creation of safe evacuation channels.
Under ‘Operation Ganga’, Indians were first taken in batches from Ukraine to bordering countries (currently Hungary and Romania) via buses/commute arranged by the embassy. They were then airlifted to Delhi or Mumbai through chartered Air India flights.
907 Indians evacuated under ‘Operation Ganga’ till February 27
On Saturday (February 26) evening, the first Air India flight carrying 219 Indian nationals reached the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai from Bucharest in Romania. The flight departed from Bucharest at 1:55 pm (Indian Standard Time) and reached Mumbai airport at 7:50 pm IST. Union Minister Piyush Goyal himself welcomed the evacuees onboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane.
“Third flight of #OperationGanga with 240 Indian nationals has taken off from Budapest (Hungary) for Delhi,” External Affairs Minister (EAM) had tweeted on Sunday (February 27).
Third flight of #OperationGanga with 240 Indian nationals has taken off from Budapest for Delhi.
As of Sunday (February 27), a total of 907 Indians were evacuated under Operation Ganga by the Modi government. It must be mentioned that prior to the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, Air India had evacuated 240 people from Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv on Tuesday (February 22). This puts the total number of Indian evacuees at 1147.
On Sunday, the Indian embassy in Ukraine issued a fresh advisory for the stranded Indian nationals and students. The Embassy has advised Indians to use nearby railway stations for movement out of the regions of active conflict and move towards the Western regions.
Chartered Air India flights to cost over ₹1 crore per trip: Reports
The operational cost of Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane, chartered by the Indian government for Operation Ganga, is around ₹7,00,000-₹8,00,000 per hour, reportedThe Press Trust of India (PTI).
Citing sources, PTI reported that the total cost borne by the airline will include expenses on fuel, navigation, crew, landing and parking charges. Given that flights to Hungary and Romania from India take long hours, two sets of the crew will operate onboard the flight. PTI estimated that a round trip on the Air India flight can cost upwards of ₹1,10,00,000.
The cost might escalate if flight duration is prolonged. It must be mentioned that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane burns 5 tonnes of fuel per hour. Although the flight has a seating capacity of more than 250 seats, an average of 226 Indians were evacuated in the first 4 flights under Operation Ganga.
Given that around 1000 people have been repatriated from Ukraine to India so far, the number of stranded Indian nationals now stands at 15,000. If 226 Indians are evacuated on an average per flight, it will take 67 round trips of Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane. As such, the cost borne by the Modi government on flights for Operation Ganga will be around ₹73 crores (assuming that each trip costs ₹1.1 crores).
States extend support to ‘Operation Ganga’
Amidst the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict, the State governments have extended support to the ‘Operation Ganga’, carried out by the Modi government. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been facilitating the accommodation and free air travel for students from Assam, who were repatriated from Ukraine.
In a tweet on Saturday night, he informed, “We welcome our students- Tanmayee & Siya, successfully evacuated from Ukraine and who have reached Mumbai just now. Received by our Assam Bhawan official, we are making all arrangements for their stay & free travel to Guwahati. Our teams will ensure all assistances to such students.”
We welcome our students- Tanmayee & Siya, successfully evacuated from Ukraine and who have reached Mumbai just now. Received by our Assam Bhawan official,We are making all arrangements for their stay & free travel to Guwahati.Our teams will ensure all assistances to such students pic.twitter.com/LBxXp8hJob
On Saturday (February 26), Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced that Rajasthani students, who returned to India from Ukraine at their own expense, will be compensated by the State government. He also informed that the government will facilitate the travel of such evacuees to their home state, from cities such as Delhi and Mumbai.
दिल्ली, मुंबई तथा अन्य एयरपोर्ट्स पर आने वाले राजस्थानियों को घर तक पहुंचाने की सुविधा राजस्थान सरकार द्वारा करने के निर्देश दिए हैं। इसके लिए राजस्थान फाउंडेशन को-ओर्डिनेट करेगा।
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Tarkishore Prasad, announced on Sunday, “We have a list of about 273 students from Bihar (stranded in Ukraine), the number can go up. Bihar govt will bring them home on its expenses… Teams of Bihar Foundation (in Mumbai) and Bihar Bhawan (in Delhi) working on students’ evacuation.”
We have a list of about 273 students from Bihar (stranded in Ukraine), the number can go up. Bihar govt will bring them home on its expenses… Teams of Bihar Foundation (in Mumbai) and Bihar Bhawan (in Delhi) working on students’ evacuation: Bihar Deputy CM Tarkishore Prasad pic.twitter.com/gAva7gDYts
Indian missions are working round the clock and are very very proactive on social media to help stranded Indians.
Evacuations executed by the Modi government since 2014
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian government executed tough evacuations from conflict zones. In June 2014, around 46 Indian nurses were rescued from ISIS captivity in strife-torn Iraq. More than 4,500 Indians and 960 foreigners were rescued by the Indian government in 2015 under ‘Operation Rahat’ after a fight broke out between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels.
India exfiltrated an entire CRPF contingent amidst escalating tensions in Libya in 2019. In August last year, the Indian government evacuated over 550 people (including 260 Indians) via 6 separate flights from Taliban-captured Afghanistan.
PM Modi said in a public meeting at Varanasi that when he was inaugurating the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, a few people from the opposition were wishing for his death. After offering pooja rituals at Kashi Vishwanath temple, he was addressing Booth Vijay Sammelan organized by the BJP workers in Varanasi Sunday 27th February 2022.
In this meeting, Modi said, “A few people have lowered their standard so much that they went on to wish for my death when I was here for inaugurating the Kashi Vishwanath corridor. But I enjoyed that too. Because Kashi will not leave me till I breathe my last and nor the people of Kashi will leave me. What can be better than dying while serving the devotees of Mahadev?”
It is notable that before PM Modi had inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party had said that it is better for a person to spend his last days in Kashi. PM Modi has today given a befitting reply to this jibe by Akhilesh Yadav. “That place is meant to live during the last days, the last days are spent in Varanasi only”, he had said after learning that the PM was arriving at Varanasi.
Modi further said that he has liked the title of the program Booth Vijay Sammelan as it is the common party worker on a booth that turns out to be the key mobilizer on the ground level. Modi said, “Party had sent me as a worker here and the people of Varanasi gave me an opportunity to not only serve the city but also the nation. Party workers are like an open university for me. I learn so many things from our party workers. We treat our party and workers as a family. The parties run by a single family, therefore, can’t defeat us.”
It is always special to be in Varanasi. Addressing Booth Vijay Sammelan. Watch. https://t.co/KxIUkkeUIv
He added, “We don’t even win the elections, but our whole focus is centred towards winning the hearts of the people, and services offered by the party workers in the COVID-19 pandemic is a testimony of that. For a BJP worker, Seva is the ultimate value. Hence, ‘the party is greater than individual and nation greater than the party’ has always been our motto.”
Modi also appealed to all the party workers to serve the pilgrims arriving at Kashi for Mahashivaratri on 1st March 2022. PM Modi recalled every achievement by the state government and the changes that occurred in the state and especially in Varanasi.
