25-year-old divyang chess player Malika Handa lashed out at the Punjab government for its inability to fulfil the promise of a job and cash reward on Sunday. Malika posted on Twitter that during a meeting with the state Sports Minister Pargat Singh on December 31, she was informed that the government could not help her as there was no policy for deaf players.
She wrote she was feeling hurt. She met the sports minister of Punjab on December 31. He said the Punjab govt could not give job or cash awards because they do not have a policy for deaf sports.
She wrote, “I am only asking why was the reward announced. I wasted 5 years on the Congress government. They fooled me. They do not care about deaf sports. The district Congress leaders had promised to support me during these 5 years but nothing has happened till now. Why is the Punjab government doing this?”
Malika, who has won gold and two silver medals at the international level, was promised a job and cash reward by the former sports minister of Punjab. She added she was only asking for what was promised to her by the former sports minister. She alleged that the state govt had fooled her and accused them of not caring about the deaf sportsperson. She said the district Congress members also told showed their support, but nothing had happened in five years. “Why, why Punjab govt doing this ?” she added.
Suresh Handa, her father, was quoted by Tribune. He said, “Malika is very upset today. My son Atul Handa and I had accompanied her to the office of Director Sports, but she almost got a refusal. My daughter has been playing the game for the past 8-10 years and has been bringing medals for the country and the state just with a hope that these would fetch her job offer just like other Olympians and para-athletes.”
He further added for the past 2-3 years, she was told to complete her graduation to get a good government job. She approached the Director of Sports as she had completed her graduation. “She got the reply that there was no policy yet in the state to offer jobs to hearing-impaired athletes. This is the fag end of the tenure of the present government. If they have not made a policy till now, they will be able to make it even in the next three months. My daughter has lost all hopes, and it is really difficult to convince her at this stage,” he added.
DPS Kharbanda, Director Sports, Punjab, said, “Malika came to me with her father and brother. They discussed her case with me for good 30-40 minutes. I told them that the government has a policy for able-bodied players and para-athletes (arms and legs handicap) but none of the other 21 types of disabilities, which includes blindness, hearing disorders or mental retardness.”
He further added that the Punjab government would soon come up with the policy, but “I told the parents to make her apply for other government jobs like that of a constable. She has a state certificate in the able-bodied general category, where the department can help her get a job under the 3 per cent quota. We can also help her with Central Government jobs where there already is a policy for deaf players. She must not lose her heart. The government and the department will back her wherever it can on a merit basis.”
Tribune further reported that the Sports Minister had extended her Rs 11 cash reward ‘over and above the policy. Notably, Malika has been asking for the financial support and job that the Punjab govt promised. In November last year, she posted on Twitter that she had been waiting for the Punjab govt’s invite for the job and cash rewards for two months as she was a graduate now, but the state government was not paying any attention to her requests.
On Sunday, January 2, 2020, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal announced the latest Covid-19 curbs in the state. The long list of restrictions includes:
All schools, colleges, universities, spas, salons, beauty parlours, swimming pools, zoos, and entertainment parks will remain closed in West Bengal from Monday, January 3, 2022.
All government and private offices will operate at 50 per cent capacity; all administrative meetings will henceforth ve conducted via virtual mode.
Local trains in West Bengal will run with 50 per cent capacity till 7 in the evening. No local trains will be allowed on tracks post- 7 pm. All long-distance trains, however, will continue running as they are.
All tourist places in West Bengal shall remain closed from January 3, Monday.
Flights to Kolkata from Delhi and Mumbai will only be allowed on two days of the week – Monday and Friday.
All religious, cultural, and social gatherings in the state will have to ensure that they only allow 50 people at the most.
Shopping malls and market complexes may function with a restricted entry of people by not exceeding 50 per cent of the capacity at a time and up to 10 pm.
Restaurants and bars may operate with 50 per cent of the capacity at a time and up to 10 pm. The same restrictions and timings hold true for cinema halls and theatres.
Meetings and conferences shall be allowed with a maximum of 200 people at a time or 50 per cent seating capacity of the hall, whichever is lower.
No more than 50 persons shall be allowed for marriage-related ceremonies.
No more than 20 persons shall be allowed for funeral/burial services and last rites
Kolkata Metro services shall operate with 50 per cent seating capacity as per usual operational time.
The movement of people and vehicles and public gatherings of any kind shall be prohibited between 10 pm to 5 am. Only essential and emergency services shall be permitted.
Moreover, following in the footsteps of states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, Mamata Banerjee has also imposed a 10 pm to 5 am night curfew, bringing the state into a semi-lockdown situation owing to the sudden spike in the Covid cases in the state in the last festive week.
The West Bengal CM has suddenly risen to the worrisome scenario that the state has found itself in, post the Christmas and news year celebration week. Though we’d like to assume the Chief Minister of West Bengal sincerely wishes to assist her people in overcoming this looming threat, she may have closed the stable door after the horse bolted.
Kolkata’s Christmas frenzy amid Covid scare
West Bengal’s capital city, Kolkata appears to be reverting to the condition where practically everyone had a family member, friend, or acquaintance infected with COVID-19 once again – and pretty suddenly. And, many see the Christmas celebrations on Park Street as having contributed to the sudden spurt of Covid infections in the city.
While many other states had imposed additional restrictions for Christmas and New Year celebrations in India amid the Omicron scare, West Bengal CM had relaxed the night curfew (11 pm – 5 am) from December 24, 2021, to January 1, 2022, in view of Christmas and New Year celebrations. Thousands of people in Kolkata were seen crowding public places to celebrate Christmas on December 25, Saturday with few wearing masks and even fewer showing any caution.
Social media had been rife with videos and images from Kolkata’s iconic Park Street where large crowds were seen surging past the street.
Is international media blaming Kolkata’s Park Street Christmas celebration for 6,153 new Covid cases reported in West Bengal? pic.twitter.com/b3Gn35IZ6R
Thousands of people travelled to several tourist spots in the city and elsewhere on Christmas Day, in addition to Park Street. Since the morning, large groups have been seen without masks at the city’s favourite locations such as Alipore Zoo, Eco Park, Victoria Memorial, Millennium Park, and Indian Museum.
Remarking on the troublesome condition the state has pushed itself in, Dr Punyabrata Gun of WBDF opined that the “people not maintaining COVID-appropriate behaviour and the government not implementing restrictions have resulted in the spike.”
Covid cases in West Bengal see a 10 times spike during Christmas week
According to the data available, the city reported 204 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, December 27 but the number of such cases shot up to 1954 on Friday, December 31, almost 10 times in five days.
Meanwhile, in the last 24-hours, as many as 6,153 more people tested positive for Covid-19 across West Bengal and of the total Kolkata alone accounted for 3,194 cases.
Mismanagement of the Covid pandemic in West Bengal
The situation in which West Bengal is in at the moment is a genuine cause of concern but the people here are not completely oblivious to it. When the second wave of Covid-19 surged in India, several states had imposed a strict lockdown, or put restrictions against gatherings to curb the growing number of cases. However, as the festival of Eid had approached, covid appropriate norms went for a toss in several cities as people thronged markets for festival shopping, and West Bengal was also one of the top contenders.
Besides, one should not forget, how, during the first wave of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, the Mamata Banerjee government had been heavily criticised for grossly mismanaging the crisis. In fact, in May 2020, one Kabir Shankar Bose had filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court expressing grievances regarding the alleged mismanagement of the Wuhan Coronavirus crisis by the West Bengal government.
From under-reporting of the actual number of Wuhan Coronavirus cases in the state to discreetly disposing of bodies of coronavirus victims across Bengal to not sending enough samples for COVID19 testing, the Mamata Banerjee-led government had been accused of covering up the extent of the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus in the state by various quarters.
In this instance, almost every state, including Delhi, had imposed strict restrictions on Christmas and New Year celebrations. Mamata Banerjee, however, refused to impose restrictions and let crowds gather unhindered. Now, when the crowding has already been done and the risk of Omicron infection is on the rise, Banerjee has imposed restrictions to convince people that she is taking the COVID threat seriously and is attempting to give the people of Bengal a hint of governance. It would certainly appear as though Mamata Banerjee is trying to close the door of the stable while the horse has already bolted given that the large gatherings would have already put several thousand people at risk for Omicron infection.
Fundraising platforms and people seeking funds from the public are both aplenty nowadays. There are several fundraising portals that provide an option to collect funds for social work, such as Ketto, Donatekart and others. While a lot of good comes out of fundraisers, there have been instances where the funding seekers got into soup for allegedly misusing the funds. Here is a list of top controversial fundraisers that raised funds and eyebrows at the same time.
Saket Gokhale and his fundraiser that he said was his ‘salary’
Saket Gokhale emerged on the social media platforms claiming to be a ‘crusader’ against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS and BJP. He projected himself as an RTI activist and expressed his desire to ‘bring change’ in society by ‘exposing government’. In 2019, Gokhale launched a fundraiser and claimed he wanted to do RTI activism full time, and for that, he asked for support from his fellow liberals. He managed to raise lakhs of rupees for the alleged activism.
Gokhale tweeted a link to his crowdfunding platform asking people to cough up money because he chose to give up his ‘cushy job’ to ‘fight the BJP/RSS’, which he usually did with filing frivolous RTIs which cost Rs 10. He urged other Modi haters to assemble and pay him so he could pay his bills and not have to take up a regular job. At that time, he promised that he would give an account of every paisa he raised via fundraisers.
Gokhale submitted several RTIs and projected he was doing what he was paid for. However, as time passed by, his RTIs allegedly did not have any impact that the donors had anticipated. He raised several accusations against leaders and their family members that turned out to be ballooned up out of proportion.
Source: Twitter
One of the fine examples was the allegations raised against IFS officer Lakshmi Puri, wife of union minister Hardeep Singh Puri. He alleged she bought a house worth $2.5 million in Switzerland, for which the couple did not have enough legitimate sources of income. During the hearing of the defamation case filed against him by Lakshmi Puri, the court slammed Gokhale for his defamatory tweets against a former diplomat without any due diligence.
Then came the time when visibly Congress supporter, who donned his profile image with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on social media platforms, joined politics. From all the parties, he chose Trinamool Congress. More eyebrows were raised, and finally, on January 1, he announced that he was not obliged to give “audited accounts” for his monthly living expenses. He has since claimed that the money he had raised from crowdfunding is his ‘salary’.
Rana Ayyub and the curious case of returning foreign funds
Rana Ayyub, another habitual fake news peddler who writes Islamist propaganda, had projected herself as the messiah of the poor and marginalized during the pandemic.
In the now-closed fundraisers on Ketto, Rana Ayyub had asked people to donate money for her cause. Interestingly, she was not associated with any NGO. Also, being a journalist, as per the FCRA guidelines, she cannot raise foreign funds. However, in her fundraising campaigns, foreign donations were accepted.
Her first fundraiser was successful, so she launched another one during the second wave of Covid-19, which was again successful. She managed to collect more than one crore rupees in donations and often published photographs of herself donating food and other necessary items to the needy.
But there was a catch. As per the fundraising platform guidelines, the campaign organizer is responsible for paying taxes and getting all required documentation. However, she appeared to get paid by the fundraising platform without submitting the FCRA documents in the first case.
After the second fundraiser, objections were raised on a social media platform, and she had to return the foreign funding. She alleged that she tried to associate with an NGO to route the foreign funds but could not. She also alleged that the government was using her “charity work” to target her. At one point, Ketto had to come forward and issue a statement that her fundraiser was under probe.
Jignesh Mevani
In May 2021, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani backed a fundraiser launched by ‘We The People Charitable Trust’. After raising some funds under the name, complaints were raised against him as another NGO by the name ‘We The People Charitable Society’ had already existed.
The charity commissioner has pointed out that an NGO already existed under the name ‘We The People Charitable Society’ and demanded to know why action should not be taken against the Trust for registering itself under a name very similar to the one that already existed.
Eventually, the accounts linked to the NGO were frozen by the authorities. Mevani, on the other hand, alleged there was something wrong with the intentions of the authorities, and there was nothing wrong with the NGO. Notably, politicians cannot raise foreign funds under FCRA regulations.
The Shehla Rashid and Deepika Singh Rajawat fiasco
Former JNU student, politician and alleged activist Shehla Rashid in association with controversial lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat ran a fundraiser campaign in 2018, claiming they were collecting money for the Kathua Rape victim. Lakhs were raised during the fundraiser but soon, allegations emerged where the family of the victim claimed that they had not received the money.
Notably, one of the main activists of the campaign, Talib Hussain, was later arrested on rape charges and was sent to jail. Shehla gave multiple reasons to prove her innocence such as opening a joint account was difficult due to lack of Aadhaar card, how there was no way to directly transfer funds to the victim’s family’s account etc. The reporter who broke the story first, about the family claiming they had not received the money, stood by his statement and claimed he had recordings of the family members alleging that they had not received the money.
Interestingly, Deepika Singh Rajawat has joined Congress and currently serving as Spokesperson of the Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee. It is noteworthy that Rajawat was fired by the victim’s family alleging she did not appear for the court hearings. Reports suggested she only attended two out of 110 hearings.
Source: Twitter
Shehla Rashid was also a part of the Jammu & Kashmir People’s movement, a political party that was floated by IAS officer Shah Faesal.
It is pertinent to mention here that a report in NewsClick claimed that the parents had later confirmed the receipt of about Rs 18 L from the fundraiser supported by Shehla Rashid.
Teesta Setalvad and accusations of embezzling money meant for Godhra riot victims
Another noteworthy mention in this list is of Teesta Setalvad, a full-time aandolanjeevi. She has been accused of financial fraud and embezzling money meant for Godhra riot victims. In 2015, accusations were levelled against her for misusing funds that tuned to approx 1.51 crores collected for the Godhra riot victims.
Reports suggested that one of her trusts violated FCRA laws. Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt Limited (SCPPL), with which Teesta is associated, received $ 2.9 lakh from Ford Foundation as a grant to “address communalism, caste-based discrimination in India, including media strategies”. Notably, unlike the Sabrang Trust, the SCPPL was not registered under FCRA, hence not eligible to receive foreign funds.
CBI conducted searches at her residence and offices in connection to the case. The Gujarat Police said that Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand had spent money collected for constructing a memorial for riot victims and their aid on personal expenses that included wine and liquor, expensive mobile phones, movie CDs, romantic novels, hair-styling, dining, among other avenues. According to the police, the two committed “colossal fraud”.
Further investigation revealed that out of the funds Sabrang Trust received between 2009-13, 45% were transferred to Setalvad and her husband’s account either directly or through SCPPL. It also said that she drew a salary of Rs. 8.75 lakhs and flew 113 times in a year.
Among her many FCRA related issues, it was discovered that Rs 1 lakh was allegedly transferred to a domestic account, which is considered as misutilisation of funds. Furthermore, 65% of the foreign funds were spent on administrative expenses, something that is not allowed as per law.
Setalvad and others were booked under Sections 13 (1)(D) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act as well as under Sections 120 B, 153 A, 153 B, 406, 409 and 420 of the IPC in 2018.
So-called child-environment activist Licypriya Kangujam, who was often called ‘Greta of India’, had started a fundraiser during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. She got herself associated with Delhi-based NGO Noble Citizen Foundation and raised over 75 lakhs for oxygen cylinders and concentrators. However, there were several problems with the campaign. First of all, FCRA regulations were not followed which collecting donations. The NGO that was supposed to collect funds did not have an FCRA license.
The company that the ‘activist’, or rather her father who used her name and identity for his activities, used to allegedly purchase oxygen concentrators had no links to purchasing medical equipment. Moreover, the founders of the NGO were old associates of Licypriya’s father that raised more questions. After her father was arrested for duping hundreds of students, her fundraiser also came under the radar, and a probe was initiated against it.
Foreign funding and irregularities
From Khalistani sympathizers of Hemkunt Foundation and Khalsa Aid to funds raised by people for travel and studies abroad, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Notably, the government of India recently cancelled FCRA licenses of over 6,000 NGOs. Thousands of licences were cancelled over the past seven years, including that of Amnesty India, OXFAM and Jamia Milia Islamia.
The Indian Express has started off the new year with its anti-Hindutva propaganda in its latest report where it coined the term “anti-namaz brigade” and linked it to peaceful protests underway against the controversial arrest of Hindu seer Kalicharan Maharaj in Gurgram.
The report highlights that the protest march was led by Kulbhushan Bharwa, who is the legal adviser of the Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti that has been opposing namaz being held in public places. The Hindus of Gurgram have only been demonstrating against usurping of public places for namaz – viewed more as an assertion of political Islam, not piety.
Bharwa, a former president of the Gurgram bar association who had defended the teenager who had fired a gun at anti-CAA protesters near Jamia Millia Islamia in 2019 — backed Kalicharan Maharaj’s outburst against Gandhi and condemned the manner in which the Chhattisgarh police arrested him from Madhya Pradhesh, violating inter-state protocol.
“We vigorously support the remarks made by Sant Kalicharan against Gandhi and condemn how the Chhattisgarh government has arrested him,” said Bharwa. “When the country was partitioned on the basis of religion, why did Gandhi not oppose it? This country will never forgive Gandhi for his role in accepting the division of the country.”
Narender Singh Pahari, a former BJP leader who had lost the 2019 assembly elections as an independent candidate, alleged that Kalicharan Maharaj’s arrest was a case of selective targeting. “When someone talks of a Hindu nation and Hindu interests, immediately there is an FIR and arrest, while others go scot-free,” he said.
Kalicharan Maharaj
Parveen Yadav, who was reportedly part of a group that “disrupted namaz” in Gurugram echoed similar views. “The authorities have not taken any action against Owaisi, who has been threatening and inciting Hindus in his speeches,” he said.
The case in point was AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s open threat to the police. “Remember this. Yogi will not be the chief minister forever. Modi will not remain the prime minister forever,” he had said in a recent speech that went viral.
“We Muslims are silent because of the times but remember we will not forget the injustice. We will remember your injustice. Allah, by his powers, will destroy you, Inshallah. We will remember. Times will change. Then who will come to save you? When Yogi will go back to his mutt, when Modi will go to the mountains, then who will come to save you. Remember, we will not forget.”
Forget arrest, the speech was not even condemned by the pseudo-secularists who were quick to slam Kalicharan Maharaj, now in judicial custody till January 13 by the Raipur magistrate court.
During his speech at the recent Dharma Sansad in Uttarakhand, Kalicharan Maharaj had said, “India was cut into two parts in front of our eyes. Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan were already separated. Bangladesh and Pakistan got separated in front of our eyes by them. They used politics to separate these parts from India. That Har*mi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi destroyed India. I bow down to Nathuram Godse Ji, who assassinated the Har*mi.”
He also went on to lambast Gandhi for paving the way for the Nehru dynasty’s misrule in India.
While the law takes its own course over whether Kalicharan Maharaj should be punished or not, the case throws up the question of how much veneration does Gandhi deserve. And, how do we set the yardsticks for freedom of expression?
In 2015, the Supreme Court had wondered whether was it not the “collective responsibility of society to protect” historical figures such as Gandhi. Since there is no official declaration or title as “Father of the Nation”, technically he remains, yes, a historical figure who was part of the Indian freedom struggle. So, shouldn’t other historical figures such as, say, the much-abused Veer Savarkar, too, get such swift ‘protection’?
It is also pertinent to note that the media, especially Indian Express, have been on a tirade against Hindutva using every opportunity they get. While Hindus of Gurgaon were opposing the observance of Namaz in public places, causing severe nuisance, media is painting it as an “anti Namaz” protest, insinuating that Hindus who were protesting were against Namaz itself. However, that is untrue.
In a crackdown on the criminals, the SIT in Uttar Pradesh has arrested two ‘farmers’ for the brutal lynching of two BJP workers in Lakhimpur Kheri of Uttar Pradesh. The lynching incidence had taken place on 3rd October 2021. SIT has informed that two farmers namely Kamaljeet Singh (age 29) and Kanwaljeet Singh Sonu (age 35) are arrested from Lakhimpur Kheri. The crime was recorded in response to the complaint filed by Sumit Jayswal who is co-accused with Ashish Mishra – son of Minister Ajay Mishra – in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.
As per the latest reports, another ‘farmer’ named Gurpreet Singh (22) has also been arrested by the SIT in the lynching case.
On 3rd October 2021, a vehicle from a BJP convoy had run over some protesting farmers as they blocked and pelted stones on it. Following the incident, the occupants of the vehicle were dragged and beaten to death by the farmers. The SIT has taken this action about the cases registered about the same incidence.
The SIT had earlier published some pictures of the suspects including the persons arrested today. It is reported that they were hiding from the police for nearly 3 months. They will be produced before a magistrate where the investigation officer will seek their remand custody for further interrogation.
This raises the total number of arrests for the lynching of BJP workers to seven. Those arrested earlier by SIT include Vichitra Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Avtaar Singh, and Ranjeet Singh. All of them were first identified as suspects and then subsequently arrested.
The vehicle that was a part of the BJP convoy and had allegedly run over the protesting farmers was stopped by the protesting farmers and the occupants were brutally beaten up. The occupants of the vehicles were brutally lynched to death and the vehicles were torched by the farmers during the violence. Videos of the incident had gone viral on social media. The deceased BJP workers were Shubham Mishra, Hariom Mishra and Shyam Sunder Nishad.
BJP worker Sumit Jaiswal, who is a co-accused along with Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra, in connection with the deaths of four farmers and a journalist during the violence, had filed an FIR after which charges of murder and rioting was initially pressed against ‘unidentified farmers’. In November 2021, the apex court had reconstituted the SIT and added new members, IPS officers S.B. Shiradkar, Preetinder Singh, and Padmaja Chauhan, along with retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court, Rakesh Kumar Jain, to probe the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
On December 2, Telangana Police used excessive force against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and arrested BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar while they were protesting against a controversial government order (GO 317) to transfer teachers and government employees.
Visuals have surfaced on social media platforms that are being widely shared where the state Police could be seen arresting Sanjay Kumar while he has fallen down.
Earlier, Kumar had submitted a memorandum to Tamilisai Soundararajan, Governor, Telangana, requesting her to advise the state government to take back the order. He added that if the government did not repeal the order, he would go on ‘Jagaran Deeksha’ or an overnight protest against the state govt.
Notably, the protest was being held at the MP office of Kumar. Even before Kumar arrived at the office, the Police reportedly reached and removed the party workers. As per the Police, the party workers were not permitted to hold protests amidst rising cases of Covid-19. They removed tents and chairs, disconnected the power supply to the sound system and switched off the lights while trying to disrupt the protest.
When the Police were trying to remove the party workers, they opposed the action and questioned why they did not take any action against KTR’s public meeting at Nalgonda that took place two days ago. In the videos shared by Kumar, Police could be seen trying to enter the party office while party workers blocked the doors with mattresses and furniture.
BJP leaders, including union ministers, have condemned the arrest of the state president and criticized Police and Telangana government for using excessive force. Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy strongly condemned the arrest. In a tweet, he said, “The suppression of protests & opposition voice continues under the autocratic rule of KCR. Strongly condemn the arrest of BJP Telangana President Sh Bandi Sanjay Kumar at his MP camp office.”
2/2 Protests & dissent in support of people’s issues are an integral part of Democracy, as peoples representatives we strive for them.
He further added, “Protests & dissent in support of people’s issues are an integral part of Democracy, as people’s representatives, we strive for them.”
Amit Malviya, in-charge BJP IT department, said, “Telangana police manhandles BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar because he was leading a protest in solidarity and support of government teachers and employees, who are demanding revocation of GO 317. Several BJP workers, including women, have been arrested. TRS is losing it.”
Telangana police manhandles BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar because he was leading a protest in solidarity and support of government teachers and employees, who are demanding revocation of GO 317. Several BJP workers, including women, have been arrested.
Sambit Patra, National Spokesperson, BJP, condemned the arrest and said, “This police terror of Telangana government is a reflection of the misgovernance prevailing in Telangana.”
तेलंगाना सरकार का यह पुलिसिया आतंक तेलंगाना में व्याप्त कुशासन का परिचायक है।
BJP has been protesting against the controversial order of GO 317 that laid down the guidelines on employee transfer. MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar has called for a protest against the order on Sunday. The Police, in its statement, alleged there was no permission for the protests. Including Kumar, 150 party workers were detained by the Police.
Once a blue-eyed boy of the Left-wing ecosystem, RTI activist Saket Gokhale seems to have fallen from grace. The Congress loyalist-turned-TMC member has come under public scrutiny for misappropriation of funds that he collected in the name of Modi hatred.
On Thursday (December 30, 2021), poet and writer Hussain Haidry raised the issue, demanding accountability from Saket Gokhale on the utilisation of funds collected through fundraising campaigns. But despite several donors and social media users demanding the details of the utilisation of the funds, he had refused to provide the same.
Hussain Haidry has demanded that Saket Gokhale give the details of how he spent the money he raised through fundraising campaigns. He said that hundreds and thousands of people, especially Muslims, have donated to Gokhale in the last 2-3 years in small amounts, but no stupendous work has been done by him. Haidry received widespread support on Twitter demanding answers from Saket Gokhale.
When I first raised funds, the page clearly stated that it was for my sustenance to do my work full-time without a job (not for Rs. 10 RTI expenses).
The kind people who supported me are aware of it. You don’t promise “audited accounts” for your monthly life expenses.
It is interesting to note that Saket Gokhale himself had said that he is a full-time activist, and therefore the amount collected helps pay his expenses. He had also claimed that he ropes in more people, and their expenses are also paid from the donation money.
In February 2020 itself, social media users had calculated that Saket Gokhale had collected ₹22.8 lakhs through his OurDemocracy fundraiser, and he had agreed with the amount. The fundraiser was open and for months, the donations kept coming.
In June this year, a Twitter user by the handle @thehawkeye had shared that Gokhale has collected over 76 lakhs over 17 months, making approximately 4.4 lakhs per month.
Q. How much it cost to file one RTI? A. Rs. 10.
INC handler & hyper RTI activist Saket Gokhale who admits to just 'survive' on crowdfunding, made Rs 76 Lac in a span of 17 months (avg just Rs 4.4Lac/pm)
Saket Gokhale’s wild conspiracy theories and fake claims were fanned by the Leftist media and ecosystem
Amidst the anti-CAA protests in January 2020, Gokhale had claimed that the Delhi Police granted him permission to hold a rally and chant “Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko.” The RTI activist did not exhibit any proof or approval letter by the Delhi police that could substantiate his claims.
He later made amends to his insidious claims and alleged that the police requested him to re-schedule his protest after February 8 that year in light of the Model Code of Conduct.
Without verifying the details of the case, left-wing propaganda site The Wire, and Congress mouthpiece National Herald published his claims to suggest that Delhi police found nothing objectionable with the slogans. Forced by circumstances, the Delhi police took to Twitter to expose the lie being peddled by Gokhale.
Screengrab of the tweet
While dubbing the claims as baseless and false, the DCP New Delhi said, “It is hereby clarified that no permission to hold a protest on 02.02.2020 has been given to Sh. Saket Gokhale. A copy of his request letter is being circulated in the social media as permission, which is not the case.”
In June 2020, Saket Gokhale had peddled wild conspiracy theories about a ‘ventilator scam’ after the first batch of ventilators procured using the PM CARES fund was made available to hospitals. In a seven-part thread, Gokhale alleged that ₹750+ crore had gone ‘missing’ from the funds allotted for procuring ventilators under the PM CARES fund.
Stunning details of embezzlement of 750+ crores by PM CARES:
Y’all must’ve seen this ventilator with PM CARES sticker that has been promoted by the BJP.
Read on to know how a whopping 750+ crores have been stolen by PM Modi & BJP with these ventilators.
Soon, other Congress minions spread the same as gospel truth and claimed how there’s a ‘ventilator scam’ underway. All the fake claims were then debunked by the CMD of BEL (Bharat Electronic Limited), a professional Defence electronics company in India. In February 2021, BEL filed a ₹1 crore defamation suit against the RTI activist for spreading lies.
On August 14, 2020, the Wall Street Journal had published a report alleging that a senior executive of the social media giant Facebook was allegedly favoring the ruling BJP government. Soon after, Ankhi Das, the public policy director of Facebook, came under attack by the Congress party and its trolls.
Saket Gokhale was one of those who had insinuated that Ankhi Das had links with RSS-affiliated groups. He claimed that Ankhi Das had “attended sessions” of the World Organization of Students & Youth (WOSY), a youth group, which is led by her sister, Rashmi Das. The Congress troll also said that WOSY’s office was located in the same building as an RSS outfit in Delhi.
Screengrab of the press release by WOSY
In a hurry to target Ankhi Das, Gokhale went on to post an image of the WOSY event to claim that the public policy Director of Facebook was attending the event. However, the image was that of Ankhi Das’ twin sister Dr. Rashmi Das. In a statement, WOSY had threatened legal action against Gokhale for peddling misinformation.
It added that Dr. Rashmi Das’ association with WOSY was purely voluntary in nature and aimed to spread the concept of ‘Vasudeva Kuttambakam’ among international students living in India.
In April 2021, he was caught peddling lies to defend the Maharashtra govt’s harassment of Bruck Pharma director over Remdesivir supply. He later complained with Maharashtra Home Minister about how Leader of the Opposition Devendra Fadnavis or the BJP, as private players, could obtain a crucial drug when its sale is allowed only to the state government.
The Hinduphobic nature of Saket Gokhale
Ahead of the historic Bhumi Pujan of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya on August 5, 2020, Saket Gokhale had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Allahabad High Court seeking a stay on the event for alleged violation of Covid-19 protocols.
He had claimed that the Uttar Pradesh government could not allow the event as per the Centre’s guidelines. While Taking to Twitter, Gokhale had said that the ‘Unlock 2.0’ guidelines, issued by the MHA, clearly prohibited religious gatherings of any kind. To his dismay, the Allahabad High Court quashed the plea while observing that the entire petition was filed on the basis of assumptions.
Screengrab of the Allahabad High Court verdict
In July 2020, Gokhale tried to paint the Hindu rights organisation, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), in a bad light by concocting a fake story that its members were protesting outside his residence. He had tweeted a video, claiming that RSS workers were chanting Jai Sri Ram outside his house and threatening his mother. He had tagged Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh and Thane Police and requested ‘urgent assistance’.
Although around 7-8 people were heard chanting Jai Sri Ram in the video taken from several floors above the building, they were neither in familiar RSS uniform, nor were they holding any banners/flags of the said organisation. Moreover, the men were on the ground floor, while Saket Gokhale seemed to be living several floors above the ground. It was not clear the men managed to threaten his mother.
Screengrab of the tweet by Saket Gokhale
OpIndia had then talked to Jeetendra Jore, an RSS official in Thane district, about the issue. While dismissing the allegations made by Saket Gokhale, he said that RSS has nothing to do with the incident. He said that SS workers were busy volunteering for Coronavirus, and they had no time to get involved with someone like Gokhale.
In January last year, the RTI activist attempted to cast aspersions on the integrity of the RSS and BJP by claiming that they might be involved in a blast that took place outside the Israeli embassy. Gokhale had claimed that the possibility that the blast was orchestrated by the RSS “couldnot be ignored” and proceeded to say it “most definitely” would be covered up. He appeared to have channeled the hatred-fueled conspiracy-mongering that led the Congress party to invent the ‘Saffron Terror’ bogey.
Screengrab of the tweet by Saket Gokhale
RTI activist had an insatiable urge to stay under the spotlight
Besides peddling fake news and displaying his brazen Hinduphobia on social media, Gokhale never misses the opportunity to stay in limelight by filing frivolous petitions and writing unwarranted letters. In December 2020, he had sought the permission of the Attorney General to file a contempt petition against writer Shefali Vaidya under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
He had alleged that Vaidya made objectionable comments against the country’s judiciary in her tweets, dating back to 2017,2018, and 2019. While posting screenshots of the said tweets, Gokhale had claimed that he was ‘working on an interesting contempt of court petition.’ In her tweets, Shefali Vaidya had criticised the decision of the Supreme Court on banning firecrackers during Diwali.
Gokhale’s cheap stunt at publicity was short-lived as the Attorney General KK Venugopal turned down his request, informing that one cannot initiate any contempt action either suo motu or otherwise after the expiry of one year from the date of the allegedly contumacious conduct under Section 20 of the Act.
Activist @SaketGokhale seeks sanction for #contempt of court proceedings from AG KK Venugopal against former CJI Ranjan Gogoi for statements made at the @IndiaToday event. Letter says statements by Gogoi “if you go to court you only wash dirty linen in public” is contemptuous pic.twitter.com/PReCDkBAkc
In February 2021, the RTI activist wrote to AG seeking sanction for contempt of court proceedings against ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi for comments made during an interview with India Today. Gokhale had cherry-picked comments made by former CJI to insinuate that he had spoken against the credibility of the Indian judicial system. As such, KK Venugopal refused to give his consent for the initiation of contempt proceedings.
Saket Gokhale spearheaded targeted harassment of Opindia, IPS officer
In April 2021, OpIndia columnist Abhishek Banerjee was targeted by journalists and Congress trolls such as Saket Gokhale after they confused him for Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee. Congress stooge Nikhil J Alwa was the frontrunner in attacking Opindia based on an incorrect Whatsapp forward. “OpIndia is now down to writing fake bylines of Nobel Laureates claiming it as “satire”,” Gokhale was quick to follow the footsteps of his Congress master.
Screengrab of the tweet by Saket Gokhale
In a series of tweets in June 2021, Saket Gokhale had alleged that former IFS officer Lakshmi Puri bought a house worth $2.5 million in Switzerland, for which she did not have enough legitimate sources of income. The house was purchased in 2006. Gokhale had claimed that it was declared first by Hardeep Singh Puri in 2017 as a member of the Union cabinet. Lakshmi Puri took a loan of CHF 1.6 million for the house.
As 20% of the loan amount has to be covered by the borrower, Lakshmi Puri had to show an income of CHF 3,00,000, which, according to Gokhale, was not possible as she was drawing Rs 8.4 lakh with Rs 1.4 lakh grade pay as an IFS officer. Coming up with lousy calculations, Gokhale had calculated that the annual income of Lakshmi M Puri would be Rs 10-12 lakh per year. He had also claimed that a down payment of CHF 5,40,000 (Rs. 4.3 crores) must have been made, which according to him, is not possible with the known incomes of the Puris.
Get your facts right @SaketGokhale & there is no ‘mystery’. I was an International Civil Servant from 2002 to Feb ‘18. Drew a tax free UN salary of over US $200,000 annually when I bought the apartment in Geneva. All facts declared to concerned authorities. Prepare to be sued.
In response, Lakshmi M Puri took to Twitter to reply to Gokhale’s allegations and asked him to get his facts right. She informed that while posted at UN, she was getting a tax-free salary as per UN scale, not as per IFS scale. Therefore, she was getting over the US $200,000 per year, which translates to around Rs 1.5 crore at the current exchange rate.
She had said, “Get your facts right, Saket Gokhale & there is no ‘mystery’. I was an International Civil Servant from 2002 to Feb ‘18. Drew a tax free UN salary of over US $200,000 annually when I bought the apartment in Geneva.” She further added, “All facts declared to concerned authorities. Prepare to be sued.”
Gokhale was eventually sued in court, and reprimanded by the Delhi High Court for making defamatory tweets without any due diligence. The court had directed him to delete the tweets against Lakhsmi Puri. The Court has asked, “So any Tom, Dick and Harry can write anything vilification against anyone on the internet”. The RTI activist was then forced to voluntarily delete the contentious tweets.
Accusations of fund embezzlement, misuse of public money in procurement of drugs
In February 2021, allegations of fraud were made against Gokhale by several people, including left liberals. An AAP supporter named Amit Behere had accused Gokhale of wasting money by filing RTIs, which have had absolutely “zero return on investment”. He had alleged that the donations to the Congress loyalist had obtained no results for the common public, except for personal benefit. In 2020, Gokhale had claimed to have collected over ₹ 22 lakhs to take on the ‘BJP hate machine’ and launched a ‘campaign to take down hate-speech mongers’ on social media.
Met Narcotics Control Bureau NCB @narcoticsbureau officials regarding our complaint related to suspected dr*g money earned thru crowdfunding by @SaketGokhale s/o once suspended Police Officer in dr*g trafficking case. Shared few more inputs n sought donor inquiry @AmitShahpic.twitter.com/5dfUiLXgUH
— Legal Rights Observatory- LRO (@LegalLro) March 18, 2021
In March 2021, a complaint was lodged with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) against Saket Gokhale by the Legal activist group Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), accusing him of earning drug money through the means of crowdfunding. According to LRO, Saket Gokhale is the son of a former police officer, who was once accused in a drug trafficking case. It is pertinent to note that Saket Gokhale’s father was arrested in 2015 on the charge of protecting drug smugglers. Later, the court had acquitted him as Mumbai Police had no evidence against him.
In a recent development regarding the ‘Bulli Bai’ app case, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has confirmed that the hosting platform GitHub has confirmed blocking of the user who ran the ‘Bulli Bai’ app. He has confirmed that the blocking was done in the morning itself and CERT and Police authorities are coordinating for further action.
CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) is the nodal agency under the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry to he nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. The minister today informed that Govt. of India is working with police organisations in Delhi and Mumbai on this matter.
On the other hand, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to the Delhi Police to expedite its action in the case. After NCW chief Rekha Sharma had ‘noted’ a tweet by Journalist Ismat Araa who had flagged the app after she became a target by it, NCW informed that it has taken cognizance of this incident, and the Chairperson has written to Delhi police to immediately register FIR in the matter.
@NCWIndia has taken cognizance of this incident. Chairperson @sharmarekha has written to @CPDelhi to immediately register FIR in the matter. The process must be expedited so that such crime is not repeated. https://t.co/ph83jpIHKi
NCW also had said that the process must be expedited so that such crime is not repeated. NCW also told the police that the action taken in both the cases, including the similar app Sulli Deals that had appeared earlier, must be apprised to the Commission at the earliest.
Earlier in the day, an FIR was registered in South East Delhi by the Cyber Police. Ismat Ara, whose photos surfaced on the app wrote on Twitter that the complaint was registered under IPC sections 153A (Promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc), 153B (Imputations prejudicial to national integration), 354A & 509 for sexual harassment.
UPDATE: An FIR has been registered by Cyber Police (South East Delhi) on the basis of my complaint with IPC sections 153A (Promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc), 153B (Imputations prejudicial to national-integration), 354A & 509 for sexual harassment. #BulliDealspic.twitter.com/dJ1mspyiGI
In an Opindia report released on January 1, we had revealed that the bio of the now-suspended ‘Bulli Bai’ account on Twitter had said that the app was a community-driven open source app for Khalsa Sikh Force (KSF). The account also had #FreeJaggiNow in its name which is a hashtag used by Khalistanis to support the release of Jagtar Singh Joha, a British resident involved in several attempts to murder cases.
The App made available on GitHub had displayed images of Muslim picked from Twitter, under the tag ‘Your Bulli Bai of the day is’, and tagged the Twitter handle of the target woman.
Chairman of the selection committee of the Indian cricket team Chetan Sharma has refuted Virat Kohli’s allegations that he was not asked to take back his resignation from T20 captain. While addressing a press conference held in the evening on Friday 31st December 2022, Sharma said that Virat Kohli was asked to continue as T20 captain for the sake of Indian cricket. Sharma also reconfirmed that he had personally called Virat Kohli and told that the selection committee was of the opinion to keep the same captain for white-ball cricket.
This explanation by Sharma has destroyed Kohli’s allegation that he made days after being dropped as the ODI captain in which he had said that he was informed about the decision just one and half hours before the decision was taken officially. BCCI has been saying that as it does not want two limited over cricket captains, Kohli was dropped as one day captain after he resigned from the post of T20 captain.
In the last few days, there has been a lot of discussion about Kohli being dropped as the captain of the Indian white-ball cricket team. But as the chairman of the selection committee, Chetan Sharma himself has explained the incidences in a press conference, Kohli’s allegations are once again refuted; Sourav Ganguly’s response to those allegations being the first instance. Chetan Sharma’s assertion has cleared many aspects of the controversy. Here is what he has said.
Proving Kohli’s claim false
Virat Kohli had claimed that it was only while stepping down from the captaincy of the T20 team that he had conveyed BCCI that he wanted to continue as the captain for the ODI and the test formats; but the board did not discuss with him before pulling him down from the captaincy of the ODI team. Refuting this claim of Kohli, Sharma said, “We (BCCI) had requested Virat not to step down as T20 captain. There was no plan to change captaincy. But he stepped down as T20 captain and the selectors decided not to split limited-overs captaincy, opting for a complete separation.”
Kohli had said that everyone in BCCI had accepted his decision to step down from T20 captaincy, and had said that the decision was taken as a progressive step, there was no hesitation in accepting the resignation, and there was no request to him to withdraw the resignation. But Chetan Sharma refuted this, and today said that everyone in the meeting had asked him to reconsider the decision. “Everybody who was part of that meeting told Virat to reconsider his decision. We felt at the time that it would affect the (team at the) World Cup and it was told to Virat for the sake of Indian cricket, ‘please continue as captain’. It was told to him by everybody. The convener was there. The Board officials were there. But he took the decision and we respected it,” Sharma said.
Earlier, Sourav Ganguly had also made similar comments, when he said that BCCI had requested Virat Kohli not to step down as T20 captain, as there was no plan to change captaincy. “But he stepped down as T20I captain and the selectors decided not to split limited-overs captaincy, opting for a complete separation,” BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said.
What exactly was the committee’s decision?
Chetan Sharma further said that selecting a new captain for the ODI team was the decision taken by the selection committee. “As soon as the selection committee took the decision, immediately I called up Virat. It was a Test selection meeting. Immediately after that, at 5 o’clock we informed him that there would be one white-ball captain. In terms of planning, the selectors decided that we must have one white-ball captain and one red-ball captain. There were a couple of questions and we had a good conversation. We didn’t want to inform him at the selection meeting,” he added.
Virat Kohli has been saying that he wanted to be retained as one day captain. But BCCI has been making it clear that for that he will also have to remain as T20 captain, as the selectors do not want two different captains for T20 and one day cricket.
About the so called misunderstanding between Kohli and BCCI
Chetan Sharma also cleared that there is no misunderstanding between Kohli and BCCI. He said, “There is no misunderstanding between BCCI, selection committee and the players. Whenever committee makes any decision, it is only the captain whom we can directly convey it. I don’t take any decision independently. We conveyed Virat Kohli once we had decided. When the meeting started, Virat Kohli told us that he has decided to step down from the captaincy of the T20I team. All of us were shocked to listen to this decision of him. We never wanted any controversy.”
“That was not the right time (selection meeting for the T20 World Cup) to tell Virat that we wanted to have one captain in white-ball formats. We were going to a World Cup. It wasn’t the appropriate time to tell him that if he stepped down as T20I captain, he couldn’t be the ODI captain as well. Everybody (selectors and BCCI officials) requested him to think about this decision after the World Cup,” Sharma said.
Tough decisions can’t be avoided
Chetan Sharma also said a few words of praise for Kohli. He said that Virat Kohli is an important player around whom the team is being built. Adding to this he said, “We wish that he should play more for India and make many more runs. We wanted the same captain for T20I and ODI formats and it was a tough decision for the selection committee. But then, the committee has to take such tough decisions.”
The Central Government has submitted an affidavit in Supreme Court regarding the EWS reservation criteria. It has decided to accept the recommendations made by an expert committee to retain the limit of Rs 8 lakhs gross annual income for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and also omit the residential asset criteria.
This move comes after the Supreme Court expressed doubts regarding the rationality of Rs 8 lakhs income criteria for EWS, following which the Centre agreed to revisit the same by formulating an expert committee. A writ petition was filed challenging the Centre’s decision to introduce EWS/OBC reservation in the All-India Quota for NEET. The SC had observed that applying the income limit criteria (Rs 8 lakhs p.a.) of OBC Creamy lawyer to EWS was inordinate, as the latter had no concept of social and economic backwardness. The Centre also put on hold the NEET-PG counselling process in view of the case pending before the Supreme Court.
EWS Reservation Quota
The EWS Quota was introduced by the Modi Government in 2019 following which, a 10 per cent reservation quota for members of the general category Economically Weaker Sections is to be provided in public sector educational institutions and jobs. It was enacted to promote the welfare of the poor not covered by the 50% reservation policy for SCs, STs, and OBCs.
Expert Committee for Revisiting the Criteria of the EWS REservation
The Central Government formed a committee for revisiting the criteria of the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) reservation on November 30, 2021, comprising Shri Ajay Bhusan Pandey – Former Finance Secretary, GOI, Prof VK Malhotra – Member Secretary, ICSSR, Shri Sanjeev Sanyal- Principal Economic Advisor to GOI. The committee was to examine various approaches so far followed in the country for identifying EWS and recommend criteria that may be adopted for identifying EWS category.
Committee recommendations
The committee summarized the recommendations in 3 points:
(i) The current gross annual family income limit for EWS of Rs. 8.00 lakh or less may be retained. The definition of ‘family’ and income would remain same as those in the Office Memorandum dated 17th January 2019. (ii) EWS may, however exclude, irrespective of income, a person whose family has 5 acres of agricultural land and above. (iii) The residential asset criteria may altogether be removed.
“The Committee found that though the specific number of Rs 8 lakhs appears to be the same as the OBC creamy layer cut-off, the application of the cut-off is very different in EWS and OBC as the two have different contexts. The income criterion for the EWS is much more stringent than the one for the OBC creamy layer”, the report said. Regarding the residential asset criteria, it opined that the use of residential plot size and house floor area as an asset criterion for identification of EWS, was complex and recognized that it was not easy to specify a general residential area threshold for the entire country. The Committee has recommended introducing the new criteria from the next academic year.
NEET-PG counselling and doctors protests
It may be noted that resident doctors countrywide had launched protests across the country recently against the delay in NEET-PG counselling as the Centre had put on hold the NEET-PG counselling process in view of the case pending before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case on January 6.
