BJP Rajya Sabha member Narayan Rane has jumped into the spiralling controversy over catcalls being allegedly made by his son against Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray. Rane has asked if Thackeray is related to cats and if he sounds like cats after Shiv Sena asked for the suspension of Nitesh Rane from Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha.
“Is Aaditya Thackeray related to cats? Does his voice sound like a cat? When did Shiv Sena’s tiger become a cat?” Rane asked while poking fun at Uddhav Thackeray’s party.
“Who makes a cat’s sound? Why did he(Aaditya Thackeray) get irritated? Is he related to cats? While Aaditya Thackeray was leaving, someone cat-called meow meow. Is that the voice of Aditya Thackeray?” Rane asked.
The BJP leader has also accused Shiv Sena of being vindictive after his son, Nitesh Rane, was summoned by the police in the recent attack against Shiv Sena leader Santosh Parab.
Shiv Sena demands suspension of Nitesh Rane for cat-calling Aaditya Thackeray
On December 27, the Maharashtra Assembly was adjourned for a short span after members of Shiv Sena sought suspension of BJP MLA Nitesh Rane over alleged inappropriate behaviour towards Shiv Sena leader and Maha Minister Aaditya Thackeray. It was alleged that Rane made ‘meow’ sounds while looking at Thackeray while sitting in the Vidhan Sabha Premises. Thackeray was entering the building at that time.
Suhas Kande, Shiv Sena MLA, raised the demand after the Question Hour. He said all the members in the Assembly agree that any indecent behaviour towards a member of Assembly should not be allowed. He added, “Aaditya Thackeray, being a dignified man, walked away ignoring Nitesh Rane. We will not tolerate the insult of our leader.”
Furthermore, he demanded an apology from Rane in the House, adding that he should be suspended otherwise. Sunil Prabhu, Shiv Sena MLA, supported Kande. On the other hand, another Shiv Sena member Bhaskar Jadhav sought permanent suspension of Rane from the House. The Chair had to suspend the House for 10 minutes as Shiv Sena leaders started raising slogans.
Rane justifies his actions
Nitesh Rane justified his behaviour and, while talking to the reporters, said that he would continue to do so. Rane is the son of Union Minister Narayan Rane. Leader of Opposition and the former CM of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis said Rane would be reprimanded for the comments he made. However, he questioned why the member of the House should be suspended for something that had happened outside the House.
He said, “We have clarified our position regarding Rane that the words uttered by him are wrong. No member of any party should do so. But, we sense the government’s game plan to suspend one more legislator. This is not right in a democracy. Suspending a member for an incident that had happened outside the house is not right.”
Rashed Khan, Telangana Congress secretary who had earlier announced a bounty on Wasim Rizvi for converting to Hinduism has stated that India can never become a Hindu Rashtra till he is alive because he will not let it happen.
Rashed Khan said, “I won’t let India become Hindu Rashtra till I am alive. Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, RSS, VHP, and Bajrang Dal will never be able to realise their dreams of making India a Hindu Rashtra.”
Further, in his statement, Rashed Khan stated that Congress was the only party left in the country that treated all religions equally and gave its support to the Muslims.
As per a report in India Today, Rashed was accompanied by another Congress leader Firoz Khan who announced a separate bounty on Wasim Rizvi’e head.
However, BJP leader and MLA from Telangana T Raja Singh criticizing Rashed Khan said, “India is set to become a Hindu Rashtra and people like Rashed Khan motivate us to work hard towards this dream,”
Earlier, the Congress leader Rashed Khan had offered a bounty of Rs.25 lakhs to anyone who beheaded Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi, who was earlier known as Wasim Rizvi for allegedly insulting Islam. Rashed Khan had said, “We don’t care what religion he follows. India is secular, anyone can follow any faith. We respect all religions. But he should not disrespect us. If he does that, we can kill him,”
Notably, the ex Shia Waqf Board chief Wasim Rizvi now Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi had made a Ghar Wapsi to Hinduism and renounced Islam. He was a known target of the Islamists for his statements. Wasim Rizvi had come back to Hinduism under the guidance of Yati Narasinghanand of the Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad.
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students wing of the nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of Gujarat has filed an FIR against National Students Union of India (NSUI), the students wing of Indian National Congress, leader Narayan Bharwad, over allegations of fraud. Bharwad is accused of taking Rs 90,000 from a student promising him admission in GLS IC College.
ગુજરાત માં એડમીશન ના નામે ગરીબ વિદ્યાર્થીઓ પાસે પૈસા લૂંટતા કમિશન ખોર NSUI ના નેતાઓના પાપનો થયો પર્દાફાશ. અમદાવાદમાં વિદ્યાર્થીઓ દ્વારા NSUI ના મહામંત્રી ઉપર છેલ્લા ૭ દિવસમાં ૪૨૦ નો બીજો કેસ દાખલ કરવામાં આવ્યો છે. #ShameOnNSUIpic.twitter.com/vxzfAS50uX
As per the FIR, Bharwad took money for admission in GLS IC College but neither did he go ahead with the admission help nor has he returned the money. The student has alleged that when asked to return the amount, Bharwad threatened to kill him. As per the FIR, Bharwad had made tall claims about being well connected and high in the hierarchy in NSUI. Bharwad met the student on 16th August 2020 and on 20th August 2020 the student paid Bharwad Rs 65,000 cash. Some amount was paid on 24th August 2020 through Google Pay. Remaining Rs 10,000 were paid on 21st October 2020. Thereby, the student paid Bharwad Rs 90,000.
After which, the admission process started but the student did not secure an admission in the college. Hence, he asked Bharwad to return the money he had given him. On 15th December 2020, Bharwad had allegedly promised to return Rs 20,000 on 21st December 2020. However, later on 21st, Bharwad met the student and said that he does not owe any money to him and asked him not to ever contact him again. The NSUI leader also allegedly issued death threats to the student.
An FIR has been registered against Bharwad at Gujarat University Police station in Ahmedabad.
On December 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Kanpur Metro Rail Project, the fastest built metro rail project in the country. The completed 9 KM long section of the Metro Rail Project runs from IIT Kanpur to Moti Jheel. The entire length of the project is 32 KM. A total of 11,000 crores are being spent on this project.
The construction of the project was started by CM Yogi Adityanath on November 15, 2019. On November 10, 2021, the trial run for the 9 KM stretch took place. PM inspected the project and took a metro ride from the IIT metro station to Geeta Nagar.
He also inaugurated the Bina-Panki Multiproduct Pipeline Project. The pipeline extends from the Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh to Panki in Kanpur. It would help in easy access to petroleum products from the Bina refinery.
आज मंगलवार है और पनकी वाले हनुमान जी के आशीर्वाद से, आज यूपी के विकास में एक और सुनहरा अध्याय जुड़ रहा है।
आज कानपुर को मेट्रो कनेक्टिविटी मिली है।
साथ ही बीना रिफाइनरी से भी कानपुर अब कनेक्ट हो गया है: PM @narendramodi
PM Modi highlights Kanpur’s role in the development of India
PM Modi talked about Kanpur’s role in the development of the country. He mentioned stalwarts leaders like Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Sundar Singh Bhandari, who hail from Kanpur.
Mentioning how UP was once known for illegal arms is now the hub of the Defence Corridor. While talking about the work culture and adhering to the deadlines, PM said, “Our government laid the foundation stone of Kanpur Metro, our government is also dedicating it. Our government laid the foundation stone of Purvanchal Expressway, our own government completed its work.”
डबल इंजन की सरकार जिस काम का शिलान्यास करती है उसे पूरा करने के लिए हम दिन रात एक कर देते है।
कानपुर मेट्रो का शिलान्यास हमारी सरकार ने किया, हमारी सरकार इसका लोकार्पण भी कर रही है।
पूर्वांचल एक्सप्रेसवे का शिलान्यास हमारी सरकार ने किया, हमारी ही सरकार ने इसका काम पूरा किया: PM
He also listed the major achievements of the UP govt including the upcoming largest international airport, longest expressway of the country and Dedicated Freight Corridor hub that is being built in the state. He added, before 2014, the total length of the Metro in the state was 9 KM. Between 2014 and 2017, the length was increased to 18 KM. Now adding the Kanpur Metro, the total length of Metro has exceeded 90 KM.
साल 2014 से पहले, यूपी में जितनी मेट्रो चलती थी, उसकी कुल लंबाई थी 9 किलोमीटर।
साल 2014 से लेकर 2017 के बीच मेट्रो की लंबाई बढ़कर हुई कुल 18 किलोमीटर।
आज कानपुर मेट्रो को मिला दें तो यूपी में मेट्रो की लंबाई अब 90 किलोमीटर से ज्यादा हो चुकी है: PM @narendramodi
PM said, for decades on, one part of the state was being developed while the other part was neglected. He said, “At the level of the states, it is equally important to remove this inequality in society. That is why our government is working on the mantra of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.”
PM mentioned the improvement in different sectors, including cleanliness, electricity, houses for the urban poor, support via free ration during pandemic and LPG connections etc., in the state. He also emphasized how the situation of law and order has improved since CM Yogi took charge. He mentioned that the elimination of mafia culture by the Yogi government had opened doors to investment in the state.
यूपी में पहले जो सरकारें रहीं, उन्होंने माफियावाद का पेड़ इतना फैलाया कि उसकी छांव में सारे उद्योग-धंधे चौपट हो गए।
अब योगी जी की सरकार, कानून व्यवस्था का राज वापस लाई है।
इसलिए यूपी में अब निवेश भी बढ़ रहा है और अपराधी अपनी जमानत खुद रद्द करवा कर जेल जा रहे हैं: PM
Earlier, Prime Minister attended the 54th Convocation Ceremony of IIT Kanpur, where he launched blockchain-based digital degrees.
While addressing the students and faculty of IIT Kanpur, PM said that between the admission and passing out from IIT Kanpur, “you must be feeling a huge change in yourself. Before coming here, there must have been a fear of Unknown or query of Unknown. Now there is no fear of the unknown, now you have the courage to explore the whole world. Now query of the unknown is no longer there, Now it quests for the best and dream to dominate the whole world”.
PM mentioned the social and historical legacy of the city and said, “From Satti Chaura Ghat to Madari Pasi, From Nana Saheb to Batukeshwar Dutt, When we visit this city, it seems as if we are travelling to that glorious past and touching the glory of the sacrifices of the freedom struggle.”
While talking about the achievements of the institute, PM mentioned how the technologies developed at IIT Kanpur have scope in sectors including Artificial Intelligence, energy, climate solutions, healthcare, disaster management and more.
PM also talked about the world’s first CNG filling station developed in Varanasi by the incubated company of IIT Kanpur. He said, “IITs in the country have always been the incubation centres of talent and technology. The world’s first floating CNG filling station developed in Varanasi by IIT Kanpur is very good.”
IITs in the country have always been the incubation centers of talent and technology.
He added that initiatives like Atal Innovation Mission, PM Research Fellowships and National Education Policy are helping in creating new temperament and opportunities for the youth. India has emerged as the second-largest startup hub in the world, and many startups are being started by the youth from IITs. He said, “Which Indian would not want Indian companies and Indian products to become global. One who knows IITs knows the talent here, knows the hard work of the professors here, believes this IIT’s youth will definitely do it.”
In a sensational twist in the Malegaon blast case, a witness has told the Special NIA court that he was coerced to falsely implicate Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was then a BJP MP, as an accused in the case.
2008 Malegaon blast case | A witness tells Special NIA court that he was tortured by ATS, the then probe agency of the case. He also told the court that ATS forced him to falsely name Yogi Adityanath and 4 other people from RSS.
The witness told the Special NIA court that he was threatened, tortured and kept in illegal custody by the Mumbai ATS and forced to take the names of five Rashtriya Swayamseval Sangh (RSS) members including Yogi Adityanath, Indresh Kumar, Deodhar and Kakaji.
He told the court that after the blast he was kept confined in the Mumbai ATS office for 7 days and after that, the ATS threatened to torture and implicate his family members if he did not name the then BJP MP Yogi Adityanath.
When an accused also made similar allegations against Mumbai ATS
It may be recalled that in 2017 also, one of the blast accused named Sudhakar Chaturvedi, had also made similar claims that the Mumbai Anti-terror squad (ATS) had falsely implicated innocent people in the name of “Saffron terror” and had also tried to frame then BJP MP Yogi Adityanath and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Chaturvedi who was released on bail after 9 years, alleged that the then Congress-NCP government had tried to frame Hindu activists in order to appease Muslim voters. As alleged by him, the investigators questioned him about Yogi and his organisation Hindu Yuva Vahini’s profile. He further alleged that the way they questioned him, indicated that Yogi was their main target in trying to frame a prominent “saffron-clad” personality in the case.
Apart from such sensational claims, Chaturvedi has alleged that the accused were subjected to brutal torture. He also alleged that false evidence of a pistol and RDX were also planted against him by the ATS.
2008 Malegaon blast
On September 29, 2008 bomb blasts took place in the Malegaon region of Nashik district of Maharashtra which resulted in 4 deaths and left 80 injured.
Soon, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Lt Col Purohit were arrested in connection with the blast and as a result terms like “Hindu terror” or “Saffron terror” were popularised by some politicians and Leftist media after their arrests.
They continued languishing in jails till April and August 2017 respectively when Sadhvi Pragya and Col Purohit were given bail. This long incarceration of Sadhvi Pragya was also called into question by her lawyer who claimed that she should have got bail within half an hour.
A few years out of the job seems to have had a deleterious impact on the mental health of TMC leader and the former head of Prasar Bharati Jawhar Sircar. Since his resignation in October 2016, he appears to be progressively losing his mental faculties at a breakneck speed, preoccupying himself with spreading propaganda with little regard for facts and rationality.
Continuing his diatribes against PM Modi, Sircar recently took to Twitter to rant against the Prime Minister. However, this time around, the source of mental distress for Sircar was something as fundamental as the bulletproof car for the head of state.
In his tweet, Sircar fulminated that PM Modi’s car is worth more than Rs 12 crores and the Maybach sunglasses he wears are to the tunes of lakhs of rupees. He further insinuated that PM Modi would never leave the perks even after he is defeated.
“Rs 12 crore plus for PM’s car! Lakhs for Maybach sunglasses for new clothes every day. God! This fakeer will never leave these perks — even when defeated,” Sircar tweeted along with a report of PM Modi getting a Mercedes-Maybach S650 armoured vehicle as a part of his convoy.
Source: Twitter
The report said PM Modi was recently spotted in the new Maybach 650 armoured first at Hyderabad House while welcoming President Putin of Russia. It further added that the car is the face-lifted version of the Mercedes-Maybach S650 Guard that came out in 2019, and gets VR10 protection level, the highest-ever protection provided in a production car. It can withstand bullets thanks to the upgraded windows and body shell and can take an assault from AK-47 rifles.
In addition to this, the car also has the capability to withstand a blast of 15 kg TNT from a distance of just two metres. The windows get polycarbonate coating on the inside, while the under-body has been heavily armoured to protect the occupants from a direct explosion. It has a 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 engine that generates 516 bhp and about 900 Nm of peak torque. The top speed is restricted to 160 kmph. The new upgrade also features the comforts of the Maybach S-Class which include seat massagers and enhanced legroom.
The price of the car, the report said remains undisclosed, but it surmised it to be upwards of Rs 12 crores, citing the price of the Mercedes-Maybach S600 Guard that was launched in India last year and was priced at Rs 10.5 crores. However, the report also added a disclaimer stating that the final price of the car can be much lower than the Special Protection Group or SPG that takes care of the security of the important people of the country, including the Prime Minister, does not need to pay any import taxes.
Sircar trivialises security of head of state, accuses PM Modi of indulging in vanity
Regardless of the final price of the armoured vehicle, Sircar, through his tweet, tries to insinuate that a state of the art car is not used for fortifying the security of the head of the state but for satisfying the vanity of PM Modi. He conveniently ignores the fact that the armoured vehicle is for the post of India’s Prime Minister and not for the person who is currently occupying the post. The Prime Minister is not going to inherit the car when he retires from public office or when he is replaced by another one.
Contrary to what Sircar would have us believe, a heavily armoured vehicle is an absolutely essential security prerequisite for the head of a nuclear-armed state, especially for a country like India which has two perpetually hostile nuclear neighbours on both its side. The security detail of the leader must include a high-security car that can protect him or her against the eventuality of a conventional, nuclear, biological & chemical attack launched against the leader.
It is astounding to see a former bureaucrat trivialising something as important as security of the country’s Prime Minister. The head of the state represents the country. He or she is not an inconsequential personality whose security can be trifled with. The Prime Minister’s security is paramount, regardless of the political party he or she belongs to, and the country must do everything in its power and means to ensure that the head of the state gets maximum possible protection.
However, for someone like Mr Sircar, for whom hatred for PM Modi has caused him to take leave of his senses, the security of the Prime Minister is a fair game that could be exploited to mount a malicious campaign against his bete noire. Perhaps, Mr Sircar still wants the country to remain backward and be associated with the ‘land of snake charmers’ image, a decades-old construct ossified by the past masters of the former CEO of Prasar Bharati, the Congress party.
Mr Sircar, who switched his loyalty to join the Trinamool Congress party, has not departed from his usual habit of peddling fake news against PM Modi and the Centre. Earlier last week, the TMC leader shared an edited video on Twitter to suggest that PM Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath were greeted with anti-Modi and anti-Yogi slogans during the inauguration ceremony of the Kashi Viswanath Corridor on December 13, 2021.
Twitter adds ‘manipulative media’ tag after Jawhar Sircar tweets edited video
The bureaucrat turned Modi-hater troll Jawahar Sircar, whom Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee appointed as the member to the Rajya Sabha in July this year, was also quick to use the fake, heavily edited video to further his anti-Narendra Modi stance. He shared the fake video coupled with a Tweet that read: “Wow! Protests during Modi’s midnight Kashi Parikrama. Some guts. The Godi Media will not show this.”
After OpIndia reported that the TMC leaders posted a doctored video, Twitter added the ‘manipulated media’ tag to the tweet posted by Jawahar Sircar.
Past antics of TMC leader Jawhar Sircar
This sort of deplorable behaviour from trolls like Jawhar Sircar, however, no longer comes as a surprise for anyone. The TMC leader has many times in the past, indulged in such petty acts to berate the Modi government. On June 7 this year, Jawhar Sircar shared a heavily edited image of Prime Minister Modi bending forward to greet Reliance Foundation chairperson Neeta Ambani, to insinuate that he goes out of his way to be polite to ‘his friends’.
This was not all, when Twitter users fact-checked Jawhar Sircar’s fake claims and revealed that the original picture was that of PM Modi acknowledging social activist Deepika Mondal, Sircar went on to hide the replies to his tweet. However, after being heavily slammed, Sircar deleted his Tweet.
Continuing his shenanigans, Jawhar Sircar, a chronic Modi-hater, who was then the CEO of Prasar Bharti had removed inconvenient parts of PM candidate Modi’s interview during the 2014 elections to appease the Congress party. Following a public backlash, the then Prasar Bharti CEO Jawhar Sircar had acknowledged that chunks of the interview were edited out.
On Monday (December 27), a large group of protesting resident doctors were reportedly manhandled and detained by the Delhi police during a protest march from the Maulana Azad Medical College to the Supreme Court of India. The demonstration was conducted to protest against the delay in the counselling session for PG NEET admissions for the year 2021.
In a tweet shared by Mirror Now journalist Ayushman Kumar, he said, “Protesting resident Doctors removed forcefully by Delhi Police. Female resident doctors allege manhandling by male policemen. #neetpg2021counselling”
Several videos have now surfaced on social media wherein police officials are seen forcibly removing demonstrators from the protest site. A video shared by Hindustan Times journalist Hemant Rajaura shows cops shoving doctors into a police van.
Resident Doctors of Prestigious Hospitals in Delhi forcefully removed by Delhi Police.
Now Doctors have asked all the resident Doctors of the Different Hospitals to reach Safdarjung.
As per reports, the resident doctors were stopped near ITO and 12 of them were then briefly detained at the Rajinder Nagar police station. They were released soon after.
While speaking about the matter, a police officer told The Hindu, “We had been trying to pacify them since 9:30 a.m. but to no avail. They wanted to go to Supreme Court and that’s when we had to detain them. During detention, they got violent and also broke the windows of our bus.” He had also claimed that no doctors were thrashed.
The reason behind the protests
A second-year post-graduate resident doctor explained, “Our juniors were supposed to come 6 months ago but this could not happen. As such, the third-year students will complete their PG programme in February and exit. We are the only batch overseeing all the work including emergencies, wards and OPDs. We do not have a junior batch. There have already been two Covid-19 waves. And one more is incoming. There is already a shortage of doctors in the country.”
A Police Inspector posted at protest site just asked me Why Doctors are protesting!
Lot of People Don’t know what Is NEET PG counselling issue !
“Under normal circumstances, there is one doctor per 1000 people. At this point, the batch of 45000 doctors (the 1st year students ) is not there. Imagine what would have happened to the doctor-patient ratio? The entire responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of the 2nd year students. Our duties have doubled. Doctors are overworked, overstressed, sometimes they have to work repeated shifts of 48 hours without sleep. Would you want to consult doctors who have been so sleep-deprived, hungry and exhausted? she asked.
Popular Twitter user and surgeon Amit Thandhani added that if a new batch of postgraduate resident doctors does not join in a couple of months’ time, then, the PG programme will only be left with only second-year students. He added, “If there are no fresh PG residents joining and one batch is leaving after completion of the course, we will be down by one-third of the entire strength of doctors at major hospitals within the next couple of months.”
If there are no fresh PG residents joining and one batch is leaving after completion of course, we will be down by one third of the entire strength of doctors at major hospitals within the next couple of months. Hope @mansukhmandviya understands the gravity of the situation.
The resident doctors’ protest initially began earlier in December but was withdrawn on December 9, following an assurance that the schedule for NEET PG counselling will be released in a weeks’ time. When their demand was not met, they resumed their agitation from December 17 onwards. At the heart of the controversy are the delayed timings of the NEET-PG exam due to the Coronavirus outbreak, petitions over the new reservations for the OBC and EWS category, and the pendency of litigation in the Supreme Court.
The registration for NEET-PG 2021 commenced on February 23, 2021, but the exam could not be held for 8 months. It was delayed several times, citing the surge in Coronavirus cases, and was finally held on September 11 this year. The results were declared on September 28 and were the counselling was set to begin from October 25 onwards. However, it could not take place owing to several petitions filed in the Supreme Court challenging the new quota system introduced by the Modi government in undergraduate and postgraduate seats.
Under the new system, 27% of seats were to be reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The reservation was to apply to the seats that were ‘surrendered’ to the Central govt by State medical colleges in the 50% All India Quota. After the reservation policy was questioned in Court, the Central government conceded that the students would be in a serious problem if the counselling began before the matter was resolved. “The counselling process will not begin till the court decides the pending batch of petitions,” the ASG KM Nataraj had submitted in Court.
The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), accordingly, postponed the NEET PG 2021 counselling. On October 21, a Supreme Court bench comprising of Justices DY Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna had asked the Centre to reconsider the cap of ₹8 lac for determining a student’s eligibility under the EWS quota in NEET PG Counseling. 5 days later on October 26, the Centre justified the annual income bar of ₹8 lacs and added that it was based on the ‘National Cost of Living Index’.
Reportedly, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment also stated that the decision was in line with Article 14, Article 15, and Article 16 of the Indian Constitution. As such, until the hearing of the petitions in the reservation quota is over and the Supreme Court gives a green signal, the Central government cannot go ahead with the NEET PG 2021 Counselling. This has become the bone of contention between the Centre, apex Court, and the resident doctors.
Demands made by Resident doctors
On Tuesday (December 28), the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has called for the withdrawal of medical services across India from December 29, 2021 onwards to protest the clampdown on resident doctors by the Delhi police. They have demanded an immediate announcement of the counselling schedule for NEET PG 2021.
“FAIMA strongly condemns the abuse of power by the Delhi Police and demands immediate suspension of all police personnel at whose directions force was used on our doctors. The videos which have surfaced and the stories which have been shared are horrific and make us question whether we have gone back to the barbaric times, or whether the administration feels like they can do whatever they want to suppress dissent?” it said in a statement.
FAIMA further warned, “If the authorities think they can get away with using whatever oppressive means they have at their disposal, they are wrong and it is time for all doctors to show unity and solidarity with our colleagues who have been mercilessly handled, gheraoed, dragged and detained…In solidarity with FORDA and other RDAs already protesting in Delhi, we hereby call for Complete Withdrawal! from All Healthcare Services across the Country from 8 AM on 29/12/2021.”
Screengrab of the press release by FAIMA, image via ANI
Similarly, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) in a press release stated, “A Black Day in the history of Medical fraternity of the nation. Resident Doctors, the so-called ‘Corona Warriors”, protesting peacefully to Expedite NEET-PG Counselling in Delhi were brutally thrashed, dragged and detained by the cops. There will be a complete shutdown of all Healthcare Institutions today onwards. We strongly condemn this brutality & demand immediate release or FORDA Representatives & Resident Doctors.”
It emphasised, “The Medical fraternity of the nation must condemn this act in strongest words & come forward in support. We urge all State RDAs or the nation in agitation. We all stand united in this fight against Injustice!”
Screengrab of the press release by FORDA, image via AN
Coronavirus pandemic, Omicron variant and doctor protests
India is witnessing a surge in Omicron cases, with a total of 653 infected patients as of Tuesday (December 28). Maharashtra has reported 167 such cases while Delhi has reported about 165 Omicron cases. Meanwhile, the country has around 75,456 active cases of Wuhan Coronavirus. In the last 24 hours, there have been 6358 new cases of Covid-19 and 293 deaths. Although the daily positivity rate has been around 0.61%, fear persists about the resurgence of a 3rd wave.
At such a crucial juncture, India is witnessing the dearth of 45000 doctors who were supposed to take admissions in the PG programme this year. In their absence, the doctor-patient ratio has been skewed to an extent that continuing healthcare means underwhelming stress and inhuman working hours for resident doctors. If a third wave hits, the healthcare services will risk collapse. The government cannot overlook their demands for long or risk shutting down healthcare services temporarily. A peaceful resolution is the need of the hour with the Supreme Court intervening for quick grievance redressal.
A country with a population as large as India cannot ignore the necessity for new doctors, especially when we are facing a pandemic.
‘Health journalist’ Vidya Krishnan, who has been known for her political biases and anti-Hindu bigotry, has taken to Twitter to term Indian-Americans, especially the ones in Bay area ‘termites’. Krishnan, who regularly pens articles, mostly critical about the Modi government, for ultra-leftist media houses like The Caravan Magazine and The Atlantic, Tweeted: “My time in the US has only made me detest diaspora even more than I already did. Most (atleast my Bay Area lot) don’t read, don’t vote or volunteer or donate. Termites.”
Vidya Krishnan’s tweet
Vidya Krishnan was responding to a tweet by one Suchitra Vijayan, who identifies herself as an ‘author’, where the latter chastised Hindus living in America, claiming that they “co-opt the language of representation and poc (person of colour) visibility” in the US while simultaneously demanding a Hindu homeland and justifying mistreatment of other communities in India. Basically, Suchitra Vijayan called Hindus in the United States hypocrites, and accused them of wanting recognition and acceptance in the United States while on the other demanding India to become a Hindu majoritarian nation.
Latching on to this lucrative opportunity to build on her propaganda of vilifying Hindus and reinforcing minority victimhood, Vidya Krishnan went on to instantly respond by calling all the Hindus living in the US, ‘termites’.
It may be noted that after the ‘journalist’ started receiving backlash on the microblogging site for her flagrant display of hate towards India and the Hindus in particular, she tweeted tagging Parag Agarwal, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Twitter, “Yikes. Unprotected my a/c for a few hrs & got attacked by NRI/Bay Area trolls who think I mean “Hindus” when I say “Indian-Americans” & went on from there about how I’m commie presstitute etc etc.”
Krishnan added that the US’s diversity rhetoric has aided the rise of NRIs, despite the fact that the Indian diaspora’s expansion has been homogeneous and limited to upper caste immigration. So many of them are self-centered, conservative, and bigoted, and they need to be called out on a regular basis.
She briefly locked her Twitter profile thereafter.
Only to come back and go hysterical again.
Anonymous accounts tagging Caravan & Atlantic flagging this tweet as "hate speech" had no issues when Mananiya Home Minister used this word for immigrants to India!
Also, I don't work at either places so.. I'm not sure what they want to Atlantic or Caravan editors. So dumb. pic.twitter.com/hRdJSeGvbL
Krishnan ranted how Indian diaspora had no problem with Home Minister Amit Shah referring to illegal immigrants as ‘termites’. Shocking to see that Nieman fellow does not know the difference between those who have legally migrated to another country, like the Indian diaspora in US and the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants who have crossed the border illegally and living off Indian resources and could pose a threat to national security.
Lastly, anonymous handles… your organized sublime idiocy is only making me write more about the pervasive bigotry funded & sponsored by r/w orgs in the US. pic.twitter.com/HsLEPTGIZ3
She wrote another two hysterical tweets without understanding difference between legal Indians in America (whom she called termites) and illegal Bangladeshis in India. Further, Amit Shah never called illegal immigrants ‘termites’. He had said that illegal infiltrators are like termites and had vowed to throw them out. Termites are pests which feed on dry wood, like furniture, and make them hollow and ruin them.
When Shah used ‘termites’ it was simile for illegal immigrants who are living off our resources in India, while Krishan used metaphor and referred to the entire Indian diaspora in Bay area as ‘termites’. For example, calling someone adamant, like Krishnan being adamant about proving India failed to manage coronavirus would be ‘kutte ki dum’, which is simile. But should someone call her ‘kutti’, it would be metaphor.
Vidya Krishnan spreads mala fide lies about the Modi govt and its response to the Covid pandemic
So-called ‘health journalist’ Vidya Krishnan has spent better part of the coronavirus pandemic losing her mind while trying to peddle anti-Modi agenda through her hysterical tweets and articles. She has also not hidden her strong dislike (to put it mildly) for Hindus in general. She had gone out of her way to propagate misinformation regarding the Indian government’s response to the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak when it first emerged.
Her bias against India, especially under Modi regime, is so strong that in a report penned by Vidya Krishnan and published by The Atlantic, a distorted image of the Indian Flag was used. In the report, India’s efforts to contain the spread of the virus was again denigrated and the hallowed Ashoka Chakra was replaced with an artistic representation of the Wuhan Coronavirus.
She had further mocked Prime Minister Modi’s initiative to raise awareness by wearing homemade masks during his interactions. She claimed that the Prime Minister wearing a mask during a video conference somehow suggested ‘tokenism’ and a lack of ‘common sense’ in India’s response to the Chinese virus.
Furthermore, the ‘health journalist’ had also tried her best to cover for the Tablighi Jamaat and its horrendous conduct that had severely jeopardized India’s efforts to contain the pandemic in the initial days. She compared the contribution of the Tablighi Jamaat to the Coronavirus cases in India to that of the ISKCON in the United Kingdom, even though the two are not even in the same plane.
Vidya Krishnan was also invested in slandering journalists who had written on how significant sections of the Muslim community had disobeyed government instructions aimed at combating the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic.
She had also gone around claiming that the Indian Government obstructed journalist from reporting facts on the issue of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. Since there was no such restriction, most of her claims are very likely product of fertile imagination or voices in her head.
On December 27 at around 9 AM, a 22-year-old youth identified as Arshdeep Singh allegedly tried to run away with Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji at a newly established Gurudwara Baba Bidhi Chand at Eena Kheda village in Malout division. As per reports, the youth, who is allegedly mentally challenged, allegedly picked up Shri Guru Granth Sahib and ran with it. His father and other volunteers stopped him in the courtyard.
Granthi Gursewak Singh said in a statement that he went to his room at around 9 AM. During that time, Arshdeep Singh, son of Sevadar Santokh Singh, reached the Gurudwara. He first allegedly disrespected the weapons placed in front of the Guru Granth Sahib and then picked up Guru Granth Sahib. He ran towards the courtyard but was overpowered by Granthi and his father. After taking Guru Granth Sahib from him, they placed the holy book at its place.
The accused served at the Gurudwara with his father. The Gurudwara comes under Baba Bidhi Chand Nihang Singh Dal. The accused was taken to the Baba Avtar Singh, chief of Baba Bidhi Chand Nihang Singh Dal. The matter was not reported by the Gurudwara administration. It was only after the villagers came to know about the incident at night, the Police were informed.
When the Police reached the Gurudwara to take stock of the matter, the villagers had already gathered outside. It is noteworthy that the Gurudwara where the incident took place was established recently. Shri Guru Granth Sahib was illuminated at the Gurudwara around 15 days ago. There were no CCTV cameras installed on the premises.
While the father of the accused said that the accused was mentally ill and he tried to kill himself twice, the villagers were not ready to believe him.
Speaking to OpIndia, DSP Jaspal Singh said, “The incident took place at around 9 AM, but the Police were informed at around 8:30 PM. We have detained the accused, but as he is mentally challenged, the Granthi has not recorded any statement yet.”
Sacrilege cases that lead to mob lynching in Punjab
Recently, two back-to-back incidents of alleged sacrilege were reported in Amritsar and Kapurthala, Punjab. In both cases, the accused was beaten to death by the angry mob. On December 18, a young man jumped the railing at Akal Takht in Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara, Amritsar and attempted sacrilege. He was apprehended by the volunteers and devotees. Later, the dead body of the accused was placed outside Gurudwara.
Another case was reported on December 19, where a man was beaten to death for allegedly disrespecting Nishan Sahib at a Gurudwara in Kapurthala. However, the initial investigation revealed that there was no evidence of sacrilege. The man was mentally challeged, and possible went to Gurudwara for free food which is served at langars.
“Farmers” are starting their own political party. I am of course, using the word farmers here casually, because it should be obvious that not all farmers are in this group. Modi could not be PM without support from farmers who we are told make up to 50-60% of our population. So a better way of saying that is some persons that claim to represent the interest of farmers are starting a political outfit.
Be that as it may, it is good news.
Why?
Interest groups
Farmers, at the end of the day, are an interest group. If you cut away all the tearjerker melodrama about “annadata” and such, conveniently forgotten by corrupt media frauds when the same farmers are agitating against dynasty ruled states, what remains is that they are an interest group. 100% legitimate interest group, but still an interest group.
Of course, farmers are of many types. There are landless farmers, or sharecroppers and farm labour, far more in number, whose interests are very different from the landed. They don’t get to see much of state bonanza such as free electricity, subsidised fertilisers, loans that don’t have to be repaid and ever increasing MSPs. Many toil in farms for fixed wages. They are not the ones that can gridlock the streets of Delhi with airconditioned SUVs and tractors and have pizza for lunch.
Even if you are a landed farmer, obviously where that land is and whether it has irrigation make a difference. How much is another big issue – most hold land that’s only about 1-2 acres. Then comes which crop you grow. Not all get MSP protection. So even within the tiny fraction of landed farmers, interests may not always align.
It is of course, 100% legitimate to espouse the cause of farmers, even if you assume the ones claiming the mantle of leadership only represent the landed, already well taken care of minority of farmers that too from one or two states.
But then there are so many interest groups!
You can slice and dice Indian society like a Rubik cube in many ways. Language, region, caste, religion are well known. Then there are youth, students, old age pensioners, urban poor, factory workers, unemployed, middle class, daily wage earners like construction workers or cobblers, small traders, SMEs, weavers and artisans – there’s hundreds if not thousands of such interest groups and classes, most of whom have grievances, most of which are legitimate. Indeed, when a bridge gets inaugurated by Modi, (not SoniaG of course) even boatmen that used to ferry passengers become an interest group for leftist “journalists” to shed tears for!
That’s where the beauty of democracy comes in!
Beauty of democracy
The saying is, death is a great leveler. But so is democracy. Particularly when you are forced to move away from espousing one interest group, however large it is, and find that it is only one of the hundreds or thousands out there.
Getting into electoral politics, with aim to capture power in meaningful quantity (not just a few seats to turn into minister post for the chief or his son) means, accommodating interest groups other than your own, including those that have diametrically opposite interests.
That’s why Mayawaitji changed her “tilak tarazu joota maar” slogans to “baichara” and holds Brahmins sammelan.
That’s why DMK has largely given up its old plank.
That’s why TMC which ran a campaign on vilifying “outsiders” is now becoming exactly that in Goa and other states.
That’s why Congress lurches from anti-Hindu remarks to janeu claims.
That’s also why, I am pretty confident, one day BJP will find a way to accommodate more Muslims in its ranks, at least those that are not fooled by left’s anti-Hindu pogrom and hence locked in perpetual hostility.
In fact, BJP already seems to be getting pally-pally with Christians, where they matter electorally, despite well publicised run-ins with evangelical fringe.
In the unlikely event of these “farmers” capturing Punjab assembly majority, they still have to accommodate non-farmers and their interests. They still have to tax (somewhat) responsibly and use that money at least partially for other purposes. If not they can never get re-elected.
And in the more likely event of them getting a few seats to bargain with, or play king maker, they can still hope to score small wins for their cause along with wins for other causes by other such king makers.
But they will wake up to the reality of how complex India is, especially when you have power. And that can be sobering.
They will know that blocking trains and roads for months or years will mean they have less tax money to play with and more unemployed hitting the streets against them. At least the ones that cannot get Canadian visa.
And the fact that only a few can become leaders or ministers means at least some of these “farmers” will seek their fortunes in other parties, bringing their agendas with them. They cannot be suddenly de-legitimised, although corrupt media will still try if they choose to align with BJP.
So let us say three cheers and welcome farmers to the arena of democracy!
Originally published by the author on substack, republished with permission. You could read the original article here.
