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The siege of Leningrad: When Russian scientists starved themselves to death to preserve the future of the world, in a seed bank

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The siege of Leningrad: When Russian scientists starved themselves to death to preserve the future of the world, in a seed bank

January 27, 1944, is the day when the prolonged siege of the Russian city of Leningrad (now St Petersburg) by Nazi Germany finally ended. The city was under siege, blockaded from all sides by the Nazi forces, not for a month or two, but for 872 days, that is nearly 2 and half years.

It is one of the darkest and most violent phases in the history of World War II. While the Nazi forces surrounded the bustling city, its citizens starved to death, languishing in the freezing cold and waiting to be rescued.

Among the countless stories of suffering and bravery during World War II, there is a tale of unmatched valour and dedication, lived not by soldiers or leaders, but by a group of scientists, botanists who worked in a seed repository.

The Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry

The story of the sacrifice by the scientists of the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry had remained unknown and unacknowledged for a long time. In the early 1990s, two scientists of the institute named SM Alexanyan and VI Krivchenko had written about it in the journal Diversity. A report on the story was published in 1992 by the Washington Post.

citizens of Leningrad during the siege, image via Daily Mail

The Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry was located inside the city of Leningrad. A premier institute of crops and plant research, the Institute housed seed samples from 187,000 varieties of plants. It was a priceless repository of plant genetic diversity where scientists worked to preserve food crops, develop new hybrid crops and collect data on planting, climate, pest resistance. Between the walls of the institute was one of the world’s largest collections of plant genetic data in the form of seeds.

As the Nazi forces surrounded Leningrad, the institute’s scientists became concerned about its safety. The seeds needed not just proper storage, but the samples needed to be planted and harvested periodically for the research to continue. About 40,000 of the 187,000 varieties of seeds were food crops.

As the Red Amry and Hitler’s Nazi forces engaged in shelling and confrontations, the city was blocked from all sides, cut off from the world, its citizens slowly running out of food and fuel. The Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry was facing not just destruction from bombing, but because of the sacks of rice, potatoes and wheat it had stored, there was the possibility of loot by the starving citizens and enemy soldiers. The research work, the result of years of hard work had to be preserved for the future too.

As the siege continued, and shelling happened relentlessly, the botanists at the institute had boarded up the windows and shut themselves inside to protect their seeds. The potato collection was the most vulnerable, the Washington Post article says, because of the freezing winter and the starving people all around. The institute was unheated, and there was no firewood or coal to be used.

The Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, image via Wikipedia

The botanists burned furniture, papers, boxes, cardboard and debris from neighbouring buildings to stay alive as the winter set in and the temperature dropped to several degrees below freezing. They divided themselves into groups and guarded the seed storage vaults all 24 hours.

Working non-stop, the botanists also devised plans to preserve their collection. Parts of the collection was smuggled out, over the frozen, desolate landscape to another storage facility place near the Ural mountains. Woking inside the dark, damp place, the scientists had to save the seeds from hungry rats too. They poisoned rat holes and used shattered glass.

While facing starvation, the botanists refused to eat from their seed collection. Rice crops researcher Dimitri S Ivanov had died of starvation while guarding several thousand packs of rice. A peanut specialist Alexander Stchukin had starved to death while the samples under his care remained intact.

A modern-day photo of the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, image via amusingplanet

As the siege continued over the months, the botanists faced another challenge. Some of the food crops needed to be replanted and harvested for their long term preservation. The rural areas outside the city were swarming with Nazi forces, so the botanists managed to find a small place in the outskirts of the city itself. They had no tractors, no fuel or no horses, so they tilled the plot by hand, planted the seeds and managed to harvest fresh samples.

The botanists of the institute worked relentlessly while facing death from all sides, starving themselves while guarding a priceless collection of food crops.

Nine of the Institute’s scientists had perished due to starvation, as per the article in Washinton Post. Apart from Ivanov and Stchukin mentioned above, the others were Liliya M Rodina, M Steheglov, Georgi K Kriyer, G Kovalesky, N Leontjevsky, A Malygina and A Kozrun.

The botanists had starved themselves to death while being surrounded by food crops, to preserve the collection for scientific research.

How the siege ended

The siege of Leningrad had started on September 8, 1942, when the Nazi army had taken over the last road to the city. The Finnish army had joined them. Though the Red Army of Russia had managed to open a small land path in January 1943, they did not manage to lift the siege till 1944.

Nazi soldiers outside a burning Leningrad, image via Wikipedia

Leningrad was the centre of the Russian Revolution, it had numerous arms factories and was the main base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet. Its siege was crucial for Hitler. Hitler had wanted to raze the city to the ground. The city had a population of over 3 lakhs prior to the siege. As Hitler’s forces looted, killed and bombed, the citizens perished in large numbers. Over 1.5 lakh people had died in the 872 days. In the annals of war history, the siege of Leningrad is mentioned as the worst, one of the most lethal and destructive. Some historians even peg the number of direct and indirect deaths to a million people.

After over 2 years of multiple battles and relentless efforts by the Red Army, the siege was finally lifted on January 27, 1944.

Who was Vavilov?

Nikolai Vavilov, who had headed the Institute of Plant Industry, was a prominent Russian scientist who worked to form the world’s largest seed bank. He was a plant genetic researcher. He was asked by Lenin to deal with the 1921 famine and find ways to preserve and develop new food crops. He had travelled to the USA in 1921 to study advanced agriculture methods and had returned with 61 boxes of seeds. Over the next several years, Vavilov had travelled around the world to collect seeds, study plant genetics and had continued crop research, leading to pioneering works in the field. His contributions to the field of plant breeding are considered priceless.

Nikolai Vavilov, image via Beginenglish. ru

A brilliant scientist who wanted scientific research to work for the betterment of people around the world, Vavilov fell out of favour of the communist leaders of Russia. Some communist leaders had accused Vavilov of trying to sabotage ‘Soviet science’ and colluding with enemy countries. Joseph Stalin had ordered his arrest in 1940. In a sad tryst of fate, while the world’s largest seed bank that Vavilov had built in the city of Leningrad lay under siege, the scientist himself was languishing in the Gulag, sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Suffering from lung infections, neglect and starvation in the harsh Russian prison in Saratov, Vavilov died in January 1943. Long after his death, the subsequent governments in Russia ‘pardoned’ his sentence and tried to restore his name and contribution to science. The seed bank in Leningrad is still one of the world’s premier institutes of plant diversity research. Russia had named a crater in the moon after the scientist in later years. Numerous novels and books have mentioned his life and works.

‘Modi bashing turning into India bashing’: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi slams Hamid Ansari for his rants against Indian democracy

OpIndia Staff
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‘Modi bashing turning into India bashing’: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi slams Hamid Ansari for his rants against Indian democracy

On the 26th of January, former Vice President Hamid Ansari made contentious remarks on a virtual program hosted by several American organizations. He said that intolerance in the country is on the rise.

He made the comments in an online event titled ‘Protecting India’s Pluralist Constitution’, which was organised by The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC). The online event which was touted as a ‘Special Congressional Briefing’ also included Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts, Rep. Jim McGovern, Rep. Andy Levin, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Former President of Mauritius and Nadine Maenza who chairs the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) among several others. Swara Bhasker was also one of the speakers.

The organiser of the event, The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), is alleged to be linked to the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI and behind a plot to foment riots in India. From the platform of this institution, Ansari took a shot at the Modi government. In India, he claims, efforts are underway to replace civic nationalism with cultural nationalism. According to Ansari, religious intolerance is encouraged in India by portraying the religious majority as a political monopoly.

“In recent years, we have experienced the emergence of trends and practices that dispute the well-established principle of civic nationalism and interpose a new and imaginary practice of cultural nationalism,” said Ansari.

“It seeks to present an electoral majority in the guise of a religious majority and monopolized political power. It wants to distinguish citizens on the basis of their faith, give vent to intolerance, insinuate otherness, and promote disquiet and insecurity,” he added. “Some of its recent manifestations are chilling and reflect poorly on our claim to be governed by rule of law. It’s a question that has to be answered. These trends need to be contested and contested legally and contested politically,” Ansari further said.

Along with Hamid Ansari, four US lawmakers and the Archbishop of Bangalore also expressed views on India’s current human rights situation.

Senator Ed Markey alleged that as the Indian government continues to target the practices of minority faiths, it creates an atmosphere where discrimination and violence can take root. “In recent years, we have seen an uptick in online hate speeches and acts of hate, including vandalised mosques, torched churches, and communal violence,” he said.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the union minister for Minority Affairs, responded to Ansari’s comments by saying that the frenzy for Modi hate is evolving into a plot for India hatred. Such voices can be expected if one goes into India bashing while criticizing Modi, according to Naqvi.

The event organised by The Indian-American Muslim Council was co-hosted by 17 American groups in Washington, including Amnesty International US, Genocide Watch, Hindus for Human Rights, New York State Council of Churches and others.

In its brief to the Supreme Court, the Tripura government has blamed IAMC for the state’s communal riots. Not only that but this group is suspected of having ties to the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. Aside from that, it has ties to a number of other terrorist organizations. The IAMC, on the other hand, has refuted these charges though.

IAMC has often taken stands against the governing Indian government in order to battle ‘civil rights and liberty concerns in India’ and to reassert the ‘rights of religious minorities.’ However, contrary to its assertion, the organization was seen lobbying against India in 2013 as well — a year before the current BJP government came to office in 2014.

Elle India distances itself from Rana Ayyub’s brother Arif Ayyub after his tweets attacking the Saudi regime go viral

OpIndia Staff
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Elle India distances itself from Rana Ayyub’s brother Arif Ayyub after his tweets attacking the Saudi regime go viral

On January 25, Elle India distanced itself from Rana Ayyub’s brother Arif Ayyub after his tweets attacking the Saudi government went viral on social media. In its statement, Elle said, “Ogaan Media would like to inform that Mr Arif Ayyub is not an employee of Elle India. He had resigned from his services as the Publisher w.e.f. August 2019 itself and has not been associated with the company in any possible manner.”

Further, Elle India said the tweets published by Ayyub were in his personal capacity expressing his individual opinion and perception, and those tweets had no link to Elle.

Arif Ayyub’s anti-Saudi tweets went viral

On Tuesday, it was reported that Ayyub, former Elle India Publisher and brother of controversial journalist Rana Ayyub, had gone on an unhinged rant against the Saudi and UAE royal families. He had spewed a lot of hate after the Saudi-led coalition retaliated against the Islamist Houthi movement in Yemen for carrying out a deadly drone attack in United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In a tweet, he alleged that dissenters in Saudi Arabia, Israel and India were being put behind bars. “Dissidents in SAUDI ARABIA are languishing in jails, political activists like Sharjeel, Umar, Khalid and countless others are languishing in INDIAN jails, thousands of Palestinians are languishing in ISRAELI jails. The USA is the biggest ally of them all. It supports tyrants,” Arif Ayyub wrote. Ayyub has a history of posting anti-Saudi tweets.

After his tweets went viral, many netizens, including prominent people from the UAE asked if Elle India stood by the tweets of Ayyub. Many netizens at that time had pointed that Ayyub was employed by Elle India. However, it now seems that he had resigned from the organisation two years back.

Ayyub’s Facebook profile says he is publisher of Elle India

Though Elle India said Ayyub resigned from the post in 2019, Ayyub’s Facebook profile still mentions him as publisher of Elle and Elle Décor.

Screenshot of Arif Ayyub’s Facebook Profile. Source: Facebook.

His LinkedIn profile, however, mentions he left the Elle in 2019.

Screenshot of Arif Ayyub’s LinkedIn profile. Source: LinkedIn

Arif Ayyub’s sister Rana Ayyub also went on a rant against Saudis and blamed PM Modi for the hate he was receiving for indirectly supporting Houthi Movement. 

Chinese military hands over missing 19-year-old Arunachal boy Miram Taron to Indian Army

OpIndia Staff
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Chinese military hands over missing 19-year-old Arunachal boy Miram Taron to Indian Army

On Thursday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) handed over 19-year-old boy Miram Taron to the Indian Army, who had gone missing after crossing the LAC at Arunachal Pradesh. Confirming the return of the young boy, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the procedures and Miram’s medical examination were being taken care of.

Kiren Rijiju informed that Miram Taron was handed over to the Indian Army by PLA soldiers at the WACHA-DAMAI interaction point in Arunachal Pradesh today.

This is exactly a day after the Indian Army had exchanged hotline discussions with the Chinese PLA on the matter on Republic Day. The PLA had responded positively and indicated that they would repatriate Toran to India at the suggested place of release after completing necessary formalities.

On January 18, Miram Taron of Siang had gone missing from the state of Arunachal Pradesh after he was allegedly kidnapped by the Chinese military. Taron’s friend Johny Yaiying, who managed to escape, had informed the authorities about the kidnapping by the PLA, state MP Tapir Gao had said.

While there were reports of alleged abduction by China, the Chinese PLA denied the allegations and later confirmed that a missing boy was found on their side of the border.

After the course of action initiated by the Indian Army, the Chinese side on January 20 sought details of Miram Taron to confirm the identity and later agreed to evacuate him back to India. The Indian and Chinese armies yesterday had finalized the time and place for Taron’s repatriation.

It is worth noting that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had cornered the government over Taron’s disappearance. Tweeting in Hindi he had said, “Just days ahead of Republic day the Chinese have abducted an Indian citizen, we are with the family of Miram Taron, and we will not lose hope and will not accept defeat. But Prime Minister’s silence is his statement that it does not bother him”.

Media continues to whitewash Lavanya suicide case ignoring dying declaration, The News Minute says ‘but there are other videos too’

OpIndia Staff
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Media continues to whitewash Lavanya suicide case ignoring dying declaration, The News Minute says ‘but there are other videos too’

The allegation of forced conversion in the case of a girl who died of suicide in Tamil Nadu has shaken the nation. But at the same time, the media is trying to whitewash the case by finding non-existing loopholes in the dying declaration of the victim. Recently, The News Minute has published a report in which they said there are four videos of Lavanya, and only one of them mentions conversion. The report tried to whitewash the entire case of forcing the girl to convert to Christianity just because she talked about conversion in only one video.

TNM claimed Lavanya took her life as hostel warden gave her extra work

In the report, TNM alleged that Lavanya ended her life because the hostel warden gave her extra work that resulted in her falling behind in her studies. Lavanya, who lived in a boarding house of Sacred Hearts Higher Secondary School in Michaelpatti in Thanjavur, died of suicide at the hospital. Before dying, she had recorded a statement where she alleged the school administration forced her to convert, and had forced her to do chores for refusing to convert.

Only of the videos recorded by VHP’s secretary talked about conversion

TNM specifically mentioned in the report that the videos were recorded by Muthuvel, who is Ariyalur district secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. It further pointed out that there were four videos on Muthuvel’s phone that he recorded on January 17. Out of these videos, TNM said the Police believed one of the videos was deleted but later recovered.

TNM’s report read, “However, the investigating agencies have managed to retrieve the video from his phone as he had received it as a forward from another person. The Police are investigating if Muthuvel forwarded the video to someone else before deleting it, and it eventually came back to his phone as a forward.”

It further asserted that as only one of the videos mentioned conversion, there was a possibility she was tutored to talk about the conversion angle. It said, “Since, in the newly leaked video, she even denies that she was forced not to wear a bindi. The Police are investigating this angle too.” It is noteworthy just because the conversion angle was talked about only in one video and not the others, it does not mean that she was not forced to convert.

The media has downplayed incidents earlier in a similar way

This is not the first time media tried to downplay the incident by using videos of the deceased. In June 2021, a man identified as Mukesh was burnt alive at the Tikri border, one of the sites of farmers protest. Initially, it was reported that he had set himself ablaze in protest of the three now-repealed agriculture laws.

However, later, more videos of the incident came out in which Mukesh gave a statement before succumbing to injuries. In his statement, Mukesh said that the farmers at the Tikri border, specifically a man in a white kurta, had set him on fire. When the police official asked him specifically if he set himself on fire or it was the farmers who set himself on fire, to this, he clearly said that it was the farmer and he did not set fire to himself. However, the media used the vague videos posted by the Kisan unions stating it was Mukesh who had burnt himself.

Pakistan: Upset over a new Hindu temple, Islamists raze under construction temple of Hinglaj Mata, 11th attack in 22 months

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Upset over a new Hindu temple, Islamists raze under construction temple of Hinglaj Mata, 11th attack in 22 months

In yet another attack on the minority, the Pakistan Islamist radical on Sunday razed to ground the construction of Hinglaj Mata Mandir in Tharparker district of Sindh province. According to the reports, the temple construction has been attacked 10 times before in past 22 months as Islamists in Pakistan are upset over a new Hindu temple.

The Pakistan Hindu Mandir managment condemned the attack and said that the Islamist radicals were not even afraid of the Pakistan Supreme Court and the Pakistani Government. The local residents also protested against the episode and portrayed their fear of losing Hindu culture.

It is important to note that in 2021, the Pakistan Supreme Court had slammed the authorities for failing to stop the demolition of a Hindu temple in a remote town of Pakistan. “A Hindu temple was demolished, and just think what they must have felt. Imagine what would have been the reaction of Muslims, had a mosque been demolished,” the Chief Justice had said when hundreds of people with sticks had attacked a Hindu temple in Bhung of Rahimyar Khan district and the authorities had backed it by saying ‘it was to protect the Hindu families staying around the temple’.

The International community has also repeatedly slammed Pakistan for not taking stringent measures to protect its minority communities, despite the country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan vowing to protect them on numerous occasions. Khan had called the act of attacking Hindu temples as ‘unIslamic’ and had said that he would allow religious freedom to minorities and protect their places of worship. However, continuing attacks on minorities narrate a different story.

According to the reports, the minorities’ rights commission in Pakistan has revealed the dark side of the country. The paper published by the commission has held the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) responsible for the ailing condition of Hindu temples and asked them to maintain the ancient sites of the minority community.

The report submitted to the country’s Supreme Court last month presents a general picture of decay and obliteration of two of the four most revered evacuee sites in Pakistan. According to it out of 365 temples, the statutory body was managing only 13, left 65 with the Hindu community and abandoned the rest of temples.

Hinglaj Mata is worshiped by Hindus and is the Kuldevi of Kshatriyas. The main old temple of the goddess is located in Pakistan where its survival is a challenge since for years now. In 2012, the Islamists had abducted the chairman of the temple committee two days before the annual Hinglaj Yatra. He was kept in captivity for 73 days and later released. The Pakistan Hindu Council had then strongly criticised that his kidnapping was to warn the Hindus residing in Pakistan.

Also, in year 2020, during Navratri, the unidentified miscreants had damaged the head of the idol of Hinglaj Mata, besides smashing the face of Her Vaahan.

Wokes ‘cancel’ celebrated author Ruskin Bond for praising PM Modi in his latest book where he pays homage to his beloved country India

OpIndia Staff
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Wokes ‘cancel’ celebrated author Ruskin Bond for praising PM Modi in his latest book where he pays homage to his beloved country India

Ruskin Bond, the celebrated author, has released his latest book- A Little Book of India: Celebrating 75 Years of Independence, focusing on India, his home country for the past 84 years. The prominent modern Indian writer of British descent, who is regarded as an icon among Indian writers, is reported to have based his current work on his personal memories and impressions of India.

Despite being one of the most beloved Indian authors of all time and having multiple bestselling works to his credit, the Padma Shri awardee, who has managed to pique a few left-leaning ‘wokes’ on previous occasions, has this time too, irked a few of them on social media. The reason being that his latest book, which he describes as an amalgamation of the “physical and spiritual” attributes of India, has a few words in favour of their bête noire- Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sharing an excerpt for Ruskin Bond’s latest book “A Little Book of India: Celebrating 75 Years of Independence”, a Twitter user drew attention to how some ‘liberals’ are busy cancelling the ‘Sanghi’ for praising PM Modi in his book.

These so-called ‘liberals’ term all those Indians as ‘Sanghis’ who have exercised their democratic right to vote and voted for the BJP. When they say ‘Sanghi’, they mean any Hindu who is politically assertive about Hindu rights and voted for Narendra Modi.

Many other Twitter users pointed out how these left-leaning ‘wokes’ suffered a meltdown after reading the excerpt for Ruskin Bond’s latest book praising PM Modi.

The excerpt from Ruskin Bond’s latest book which has piqued the Modi-haters on the microblogging site is shared below:

Interestingly Ruskin Bond has also included names of many “outstanding” former Prime Ministers of India like Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, but the inclusion of Narendra Modi’s name is something that has annoyed the chronic Modi haters.

Reacting to these simple words of admiration, some liberals called out Ruskin Bond a ‘Sanghi’.

It’s worth noting that Ruskin Bond had also gotten on the wrong side of these Modi critics on Twitter for endorsing PM Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan in 2018.

Meanwhile, in the introduction of his latest book, the 87-year-old author has written: “This little book does not claim to be a political or historical analysis of events, although I have dwelt on the highlights of the last 75 years of India’s progress to maturity as a nation. It is a record of some of my memories and impressions of this unique land — of its rivers and forests, literature and culture, sights, sounds and colours — an amalgamation of the physical and spiritual.”

“We celebrate our freedom in different ways. I celebrate it with the written word,” he added.

Ruskin Bond has paid respect to the country that has been his home for 84 years in his latest book, “A Little Book of India: Celebrating 75 Years of Independence,” which is drawn on his own experiences and impressions of India.

The book, which combines India’s “physical and spiritual” characteristics, promises to send readers on a nostalgic and devotional journey.

Penguin Random House India is the publisher (PRHI) of Ruskin Bond’s latest book which is priced at around Rs 250 and is presently available for sale in online and offline stores.

Gorakhpur court murder case: Dilshad became Hindu to only marry minor Hindu girl, had offered Namaz on Eid and was buried as per Islamic rituals

राहुल पाण्डेय
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Gorakhpur court murder case: Dilshad became Hindu to only marry minor Hindu girl, had offered Namaz on Eid and was buried as per Islamic rituals

Dilshad Hussain, who was out on bail in a rape case, was shot dead at the gate of the civil court in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, on the afternoon of Friday (January 21, 2022) by the father of a minor girl he had allegedly raped. After this, it is being peddled by the left-wing media that Dilshad had converted to Hinduism for that girl and married her, and it is a matter of consent between two ‘adults’. However, the truth of the deceased Dilshad Hussain, a resident of Vidhipur under Sakra police station area of ​​Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, is different.

OpIndia contacted Arya Samaj Mandir in Hyderabad, where Dilshad married the girl, to inquire about it. The said Arya Samaj temple is located in the ‘Chengicherla’ area of ​​Hyderabad. Sharing pictures of this wedding on social media, some people claimed that Dilshad had adopted the Hindu religion and had done everything according to Hindu customs. Media organizations like ‘Lallantop’ and ‘Janjwar’ propagated this narrative. So did Dilshad leave Islam and convert to Hinduism? Yes and No.

Dilshad had indeed got ‘converted’ to Hinduism and was also given a Hindu name at the Arya Samaj Mandir. But all this was only for marrying the Hindu girl. Actually, he had not converted, and he remained a practising Muslim even after his ‘conversion’ to Hinduism. The conversion was only for show, and he didn’t follow it through.

Arya Samaj Mandir of Hyderabad told the details related to Dilshad’s marriage and his so-called conversion

People at Arya Samaj Temple while talking to OpIndia said that they were given the girl’s secondary school certificate of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Secondary Education. Her first year (BA) certificate of graduation from Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University located in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh was also submitted. They also informed that in the Aadhar card given by the girl as identity proof, her date of birth is mentioned as December 5, 1998. Accordingly, they were told that the girl was an adult and was 21 years old.

Dilshad had submitted copies of his Aadhar card and PAN card as his identity for marriage. It was told on behalf of the Arya Samaj Mandir Hyderabad that the policemen had come to Telangana, from where they had taken the boy and the girl. They told that, in the temple, the girl was asked questions about love and marriage, for example, do your parents agree with you, how did you fall in love, where did you meet, etc. The video of this conversation is still available with the temple.

Panditji told that marriage is done in the Arya Samaj temple only after giving complete confirmation. However, he said that as Dilshad has been murdered, and as the matter is going on in the court, he may also have to face legal issues if this video goes viral. He also said that he is ready to cooperate if he is summoned and questioned. He told that a few days ago, Dilshad had also come to him.

Panditji had then told Dilshad, “If you have been married according to Hindu customs and the boy and girl are adults as well as agree, then these certificates should have been given to the court.” Dilshad’s conversion certificate was also made. Panditji also informed that the girl’s father Bhagwat Nishad had submitted the birth certificate of his daughter and he had told the police/court that she is a minor.

Dilshad Hussain got married in February 2019 at Arya Samaj Mandir in Hyderabad.

The priest of the temple, Pandit Ganesh Kumar Shastri says that the marriage was allowed only after Dilshad converted to Hinduism. He said that according to the documents handed over to him, the girl is an adult. He also came to know only from the newspaper that Dilshad was shot by Bhagwat Nishad, the girl’s father. Dilshad had come to the temple about two months ago to take pictures. The date of February 13, 2020, is written in the certificate of conversion. After his conversion, his name was changed to ‘Dilraj’.

Dilshad’s father’s name is Tahir Hussain. His date of birth was given as January 1, 1991. Accordingly, his age became 31 years. It is clear from these things that Dilshad had changed his name to ‘Dilraj’ after converting to Hinduism, but all this was done only for the marriage, and he had not become a practising Hindu. In fact, he continued to be a Muslim in his real life even after his ‘conversion’ to Hinduism. On social media, he had kept his name ‘Dilshad Hussain Dilraj’, he had retained his Muslim identity.

Dilshad remained a Muslim despite converting to Hindu for marriage

After the death of Dilshad, his last rites were performed according to Islamic customs in village Vidhipur. The people of the village have confirmed this. The question is if he had become a Hindu, he would have been cremated, whereas this did not happen. He was buried as per Islamic traditions.

Moreover, Dilshad had offered Eid Namaz after he was released on bail. Mohammad Rauf, a villager from Dilshad’s villages, said that after coming back from jail on bail, he had offered Namaz on Eid. It is clear from this that he did not become a Hindu and was a Muslim.

Gorakhpur court Bar Association president Bhanu Pratap Pandey and local journalist Dharmendra Mishra say that Dilshad Hussain only pretended to be a Hindu. That is, they believe that in reality he did not convert and he remained a Muslim. Dilshad Hussain was being prosecuted under the ‘Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012 (POCSO)’. Despite this, he managed to get bail from the court.

Appealing for bail, advocate Arvind Mishra (who presented the case on his behalf) argued that his client is innocent and he has been wrongly implicated with some other motive. Also, the girl’s statement was mentioned that she had physical relations with Dilshad Hussain with her consent and that she is an adult. The girl was quoted as saying that she wants to live with the accused and he has not done any action against her forcingly.

The lawyer had also argued that there was no criminal history against Dilshad Hussain. Whereas the president of Gorakhpur Bar says that he used to run his puncture shop at the door of a Nishad family and he took away the minor girl. He told that Dilshad Hussain used to make negative comments from his Facebook handle, due to which the girl’s father murdered him in a fit of rage. Dharmendra Mishra, a local journalist of Dainik Jagran’s legal affairs beat, said that for the sake of marriage, he used conversion as a medium and changed his name to Hindu, but he was a Muslim and did not accept Hinduism.

He says that his activities were overall Muslim. Bhagwat Nishad’s son Deepak also said that Dilshad Hussain was still a Muslim. Deepak informed that Dilshad Hussain was also troubling Deepak’s family members a lot. He used to make phone calls and make threats and talk nonsense and abuse. Dilshad Hussain’s lawyer Shankar Sharan Shukla said that the family members of the youth have said that the ongoing case between them is also the reason for this enmity.

He said that the evidence that Dilshad Hussain had converted to Hinduism and then married, should be prima facie held to be correct and it was also presented while filing an appeal in the High Court. However, he did not comment when asked about Dilshad Hussain being buried in an Islamic manner after his death. On the question of the girl is a minor, he said that these things are told by all the parties in their own way, and in such cases, the prosecution claims the girl to be the minor and the defence claims her to be the adult.

Now the question arises did Dilshad Hussain cheat the Arya Samaj Mandir by providing them with the girl’s fake Aadhar card. Because in the Aadhar card that has come to OpIndia, it is clearly visible that her date of birth is December 21, 2002.

According to this, she is now 19 years old, while her age at the time of marriage (13 February 2020) would have been only 17 years. She still had 10 months to become an adult. The Inspector of Gorakhpur cant Police Station is also the ‘Investigation Officer (IO)’ in this case. He said that when Dilshad Hussain ran away with the girl, she was a minor. In this murder case, the girl’s father Bhagwat Nishad has been arrested by the police. At that time the police had no information regarding the boy’s conversion to Hinduism.

Funeral was done by Islamic customs: Villagers and family also confirmed

Hrithik Patel, a childhood friend of Dilshad Hussain, who lives in Vidhipur, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, said that Dilshad Hussain was buried in the village graveyard. There is also a separate graveyard for Muslims in the village itself. He told that being Hindu, he did not go to the funeral. While the father of the deceased says that his son had married an adult girl but he was murdered in that enmity. This is what he has written in the FIR of the murder.

Mohd Rauf, the husband of the deputy head of Dilshad’s village, also confirmed that he had been buried in an Islamic manner and had stayed with her family members throughout the process. This process was completed by reciting Fatiha etc. in the ancestral graveyard. He had left the bike at 7 in the morning on the day of his death. After some time his lawyer called and he also left with the family. He alleged that the Gorakhpur police were pressurizing him to return soon after taking the dead body.

Mohammad Rauf says that the houses of both the families were face to face and the boy and girl were friends since childhood and that they had studied together. While Dilshad Hussain’s father Tahir Hussain says that Bhagwat Nishad was his childhood friend and he also talked to Nishad after he was locked up after the murder. He told that he had opened a puncture shop 30 years ago, which was now run by his son Dilshad. He told that the Imam of the village, Mohammad Zahoor Alam, completed the last process of his son by the Islamic process and recited the Fatiha.

The picture of Mecca-Medina is seen at Dilshad Hussain’s house in Vidhipur.

Now some more questions arise here. A boy who used to run a puncture shop travels with a girl to Hyderabad and back, posts pictures of living a luxury life on social media, and also get bail from Allahabad High Court in a serious case – what is the source of the funding for all this? Because his father says that he is unemployed and the family does not even have agricultural land. There is still a picture of Mecca-Medina and Kaaba in his village house. After bail, he was living in the village itself.

Dilshad Hussain’s brother lived in Hyderabad and he used to send money to Dilshad Hussain from there. His other brother has done hotel management, but due to loss of memory after an accident, he used to stay at home. Dilshad Hussain’s family says that he never brought the girl to the village.

Rahul Gandhi makes Modi govt appear like comic book super villain-ish in his shadowboxing with Twitter

Nirwa Mehta
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Rahul Gandhi makes Modi govt appear like comic book super villain-ish in his shadowboxing with Twitter

Rahul Gandhi is upset because his follower count is stuck. And hence, like a whiney social media influencer he has written to the social networking giant claiming that at one point, before he violated POCSO Act by publishing image of a minor rape victim and revealing her identity against the law of the land, he used to get 8-10 thousand followers a day. But now, hardly any.

Now, months after that, while PM Modi was busy thanking prominent personalities across the world telling them how great India is and thanking them for being good friends of our great nation, Rahul Gandhi was busy whining to Twitter how he was losing his bot followers. Apparently, on 27th December 2021, when Rahul Gandhi was vacationing in undisclosed location, he also wrote a letter to the new Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal. In the letter he identified himself as leader of India’s largest opposition party.

Rahul Gandhi claimed an assault on India’s institutional framework and ‘complete capture of traditional mainstream media’. Essentially, Rahul Gandhi was upset that mainstream media no longer toes the Congress line and there are people outside of these places who are questioning them. And The Family does not like it.

Anyway, after speaking about importance of Twitter as social media platform and its responsibility of keeping ‘authoritarian powers’ away, Rahul Gandhi cries that his follower count is stuck ever since he broke Indian laws. When there are important elections coming up in states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, Rahul Gandhi was busy keeping tab of his follower count and making complex calculations on how he got over 6 lakh followers in May 2021 and since August 2021, his new monthly followers are almost down to zero.

Our boy hasn’t been able to win elections in longest time, his loyalists are leaving Congress and joining the BJP, the party he has vowed to destroy, but his concern right now is his stuck Twitter follower count.

Aag lage basti mein, Rahul Gandhi apni masti mein (The village could be on fire, but Rahul Gandhi is busy enjoying himself).

Twitter, however, has now said that it regularly takes actions against manipulation and spam accounts and hence, it may be reflecting on the follower count. Essentially, Twitter told Rahul Gandhi that the bots he mistook as popularity was not their fault.

This was the third time Rahul Gandhi was shadowboxing with Twitter. In August 2021, Rahul Gandhi had compromised the identity of a 9-year-old rape victim.

Gandhi’s actions violated the Juvenile Justice Act, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act that bars everyone from revealing the identity of a minor victim in any format, including print, television and online platforms. Acting on the notice issued by NCPCR, Twitter removed Gandhi’s tweet and locked his account for violation of its rules. Subsequently, the same was removed by Twitter as it violated its user policy.

Twitter had ‘locked’ his account temporarily till he removed the contentious post. However, Congress and its minions had whined that Rahul Gandhi’s account was ‘suspended’. Even back then Twitter had clarified that his account was not suspended but post was ‘removed’ because it compromised identity of a minor rape victim.

Twitter had also put up a notice that said that a tweet on Rahul Gandhi’s account has been removed.

Notice on Rahul Gandhi’s tweet in August 2021

The notice displayed after Twitter pulled the tweet down by Rahul Gandhi said “this tweet is no longer available”. This notice essentially meant that Twitter, on its own, had pulled the tweet down and made it unavailable to the public.

However, just days later, after Congress cried foul and accused social media giant of bias, Congress bowed and removed the notice, thereby making the tweet compromising identity of a minor rape victim public again if accessed from browser outside of India. In India it continued to stand withheld.

Twitter notice on Rahul Gandhi’s tweet

Law of the land is equal for all. Just because you are a political party in the opposition does not mean any action against you is on behest of the Central government.

Days later, Rahul Gandhi released a short video on his YouTube channel where he again alleged that Twitter was  interfering in India’s politics by shutting down his account. “A company is making its business to define our politics. And as a politician, I don’t like it,” Gandhi said.

Sources in Congress IT cell had then told OpIndia that this move by Twitter had embarrassed Congress and Rahul Gandhi as they never thought the social media giant would take any step against the leader. Congress leaders never thought that Twitter would take any step against Rahul Gandhi. After all, Twitter has made it very clear that its employees have left-leaning bias. Top Twitter employees in India have quite often tweeted against PM Modi and in favour of Rahul Gandhi. In fact, Jack Dorsey, Twitter chief, on his visit to India had even met Rahul Gandhi and spoke about ‘tackling fake news menace‘.

In August 2021 he did not want Twitter to interfere in Indian politics, but in April 2021 he wanted the US to save India‘s democracy and not to stay silent, thereby asking for America’s intervention in India’s internal matters. And now, suddenly he says it is Twitter’s responsibility to ‘hold government accountable’. And for that, the bots shall be allowed to follow Rahul Gandhi on Twitter.

In his letter to Agrawal, Rahul Gandhi mentions how before August 2021 he had not received any correspondence from Twitter about anyone reporting his handle. “This is curious since political opponents must have complained on numerous occasions – it is part of their job,” he claimed. This is interesting: Either Rahul Gandhi thinks way too highly of himself that political opponents (read: Modi government) will focus all their energies on an MP who lost his family seat after decades and had to go for a ‘safe seat’ in Wayanad or it is an admission that Rahul Gandhi and his party spend all their spare hours complaining about accounts of opposition politicians.

Rahul Gandhi then compared the average engagement of his posts and his follower count with that of other politicians. This is way too much free time, one must say. He then claimed his lack of bot followers was selective censorship on Twitter. It even appended a graph comparing his follower count with that of PM Modi, HM Amit Shah and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor.

In mindboggling stats, he also shared weekly analysis of follower count and compared them with the other leaders. If he would have spent this much time analysing his party’s shortcomings, the grand old party would not have reduced itself to a joke.

Rahul Gandhi wants the world to believe that Narendra Modi is some sort of comic book villain out to control the world and Rahul Gandhi is some superhero who can save the world but if Modi government were even 1% of the fascist they are made to appear, all the dissidents would have been jailed the way his grandmother did it in the past.

Perhaps if Rahul Gandhi starts posting videos of himself cooking or his Pidi dancing, maybe things will improve and he could gain followers as social media influencer at least.

‘Have gone to jail 16 times, will do dacoity at BJP MLA’s house’: Watch SP candidate Mukhiya Gurjar issuing threats

OpIndia Staff
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‘Have gone to jail 16 times, will do dacoity at BJP MLA’s house’: Watch SP candidate Mukhiya Gurjar issuing threats

On January 27, a video of Mukhiya Gurjar, Samajwadi Party candidate from Hasanpur, district Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, went viral on social media in which he allegedly threatened that he would do dacoity at the BJP MLA’s house. Gurjar had visited Hasanpur on January 25. A smaller version of the video was published on his Facebook page as well.

‘I have opened a workshop to ‘repair’ MLAs’

In his statement, Gurjar said he has been in politics for years and has opened a workshop to ‘repair’ MLAs like the sitting one. At present, Mahendra Singh Khadakvanshi of Bharatiya Janata Party is MLA from Hasanpur. Gurjar said, “I have been in politics for many years. I have opened a workshop where I ‘repair’ such people from Hasanpur. I am a follower of Mulayam Singh Yadav. I did not remove Mulayam Singh Yadav’s photograph while I was in BJP. To hell with them.” Gurjar has recently resigned from BJP and joined SP.

‘I will do dacoity at MLA’s house’

Gurjar said once he gets elected as MLA, he would do dacoity at the current MLA’s house and would loot the wealth he has amassed during his tenure. He said, “There was a program organized by them. They clicked a photograph there and told everyone that I was a Hindu. Hindu Muslims are brothers. This MLA is corrupt. I will ensure he pays for his deeds. I will do dacoity at his house and will distribute the loot among you.”

‘I have been to jail 16 times’

He further added, “To hell with the administration. I have been to jail 16 times. Just remember one thing. I don’t know how to be corrupt. I follow the leaders and freedom fighters of this country. I am very innocent.”

Resignation from BJP

Mukhiya Gurjar, who is the chief of Pathik Sena, had resigned from BJP a week ago and joined the SP. He has been given a ticket by Samajwadi Party to contest the upcoming elections from Hasanpur, Amroha. It is notable he was earlier with the Samajwadi party. He has joined back SP after a gap of 14 years.

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