On Thursday (December 9), the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) dubbed the wedding of the Kerala Chief Minister’s daughter Veena with State Public Works Minister P A Mohammed Riyas as ‘adultery’. The remarks came at the backdrop of the government’s decision to appoint members of the Kerala Waqf Board through the government agency Public Service Commission (PSC).
While addressing a rally in Kozhikode, IUML State Secretary Abdurahiman Kallai said, “DYFI’s (Democratic Youth Federation of India) former all India president (Riyas) is a puthiyapla (bridegroom) from my region. Who is his wife? Was it a marriage? (It was) adultery. We should have the courage to say that. We should have courage like C H Muhammed Koya (ex Kerala CM).”It must be mentioned that IUML is an ally of the Congress party in Kerala.
As per a report in The News Minute (TNM), Abdurahiman Kallai had described the marriage between Veena Pinarayan and Riyas as ‘illegitimate’ and ‘prostitution.’ He urged the Indian Union Muslim League workers to show courage to protest against the marriage of the duo. During his address, Kallai also highlighted the importance of Islam in the lives of Muslims. The IUML workers also hurled casteist abuses at the incumbent CM Pinarayi Vijayan. Following the controversy, Kallai was forced to tender an apology.
He claimed that his contentious speech referred only to the Islamic way of life and was not meant to hurt the sentiments of anyone. Meanwhile, the Democratic Youth Federation of India hit back at IUML State Secretary and urged the Islamist party to examine Kallai’s mental state. In a Facebook post, DYFI State Secretary VK Sanoj termed the remarks against Riyas and Veena as ‘uncivilised.’ Meanwhile, the Kerala CM had assured the Sunni Muslim clerics that a decision regarding appointments to Waqf Board through PSC will only be taken after detailed discussions.
Marriage between Veena and Riyas
Amidst the pandemic, a total of 50 guests were reportedly allowed at the wedding that was held at Cliff House in Thiruvananthapuram in June last year. Mohammed Riyas, 2017 DYFI President and Communist leader, had earlier married Dr Sameeha Saithalavi. His marriage ended in divorce in 2015. Reportedly, his wife had accused him of domestic violence. Riyas had earlier led ‘beef cooking’ protests after the Centre sought to regulate the purchase and sale of cattle. He had also unsuccessfully contested for the Kozhikode Lok Sabha seat in 2019.
Similarly, Veena was earlier married to advocate Suneesh but their marriage too ended in 2015. She had worked in the IT sector for close to 10 years and had founded a mobility and cloud solutions company named Exalogic. Congress leader PT Thomas pointed out that the website of the company had disappeared and reportedly traced to another company named Sprinklr which is responsible for maintaining Coronavirus data in the State.
On December 8, a military chopper carrying Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and other senior army officials crashed near Ooty in Tamil Nadu. The moment the news of the crash had surfaced, Islamists had started rejoicing the crash and several Leftists too celebrated the death of CDS General Bipin Rawat. To whitewash their shameful behaviour, the Liberal Jamaat has now come up with new propaganda – that the daughter of Brigadier Lidder, Aashna Lidder, was “abused” and “threatened with rape” by the right-wing, and therefore, she had to deactivate her Twitter account.
Aashna Lidder, the daughter of Brigadier Lidder, who lost his life during the helicopter crash celebrated by liberals, recently deactivated her Twitter account. As soon as she did, sans proof, the liberals started alleging that it was because the “right-wing” (essentially, Hindus, Modi supporters, anyone who is not a rabid Leftists and/or Islamist) issued threats (even rape threats) to her.
NDTV journalist, sharing a screenshot of her deactivated account said that this is what “these right wing / hate groups achieved today. Aashna Lidder has deactivated her account”. He then asked her to stay strong and return soon.
This is what these right wing / hate groups achieved today. Aashna Lidder has deactivated her account.
He was quoting another Liberal who said, “A 16 year old child who just cremated her father, a hero who once took a bullet for the country and just died in the chopper crash is under scrutiny and attack for her tweets. Can you believe it?”.
Retired IAS officer Surya Pratap Singh went as far as to say that “andhbhakts” had given her rape threats, due to which she deactivated her account.
Tweet by ex IAS officer
AltNews co-founder Zubai, who spreads fake news and is accused under POCSO for doxxing a minor girl on social media, also chimed in and said that Aashna had to deactivate her account due to “attacks”. He claims to be a fact-checker.
Were rape threats given to Aashna Lidder as claimed by retired IAS officer?
As mentioned, Retired IAS officer Surya Pratap Singh said that “andhbhakts” had given her rape threats, due to which she deactivated her account.
However, when questioned, Singh did a prompt u-turn and deleted his tweet.
This claim originated from an account called “Sandeep Choudhury” who, after claiming that she got rape threats, did a u-turn and claimed that she did not get rape threats. It seems that it is this account that started the rumour of Lidder getting threats and being attacked by the right-wing.
Without crosschecking you just mention that RSS & Modi bhakts gave rape threats to Aashna Lidder & then comfortably delete tweet when got exposed. Period pic.twitter.com/pTdrOM7pFz
Was she threatened, attacked by “right wing goons”?
The narrative that was spun by the liberals was that Aashna Lidder deactivated her account because she was attacked and threatened by “right-wing goons”, however, there is very little evidence to prove that there was any threat or attack against her.
One Twitter user said that before the NDTV journalist tweeted about her deactivating her account, there were only 17 tweets to her and none of them was threats or attacks.
Another user took a video of the mentions and questioned the NDTV journalist to point to any threats or attacks that Aashna had received before she deactivated.
Another Twitter user had questioned the NDTV journalist for amplifying the tweet where claims of “rape threats” were made. It is pertinent to note that it was the same handle that had later done a u-turn to claim that no rape threat was given to Lidder.
Mofo is actually collecting RTs in the name of a grieving child. Thoo hai teri zindagi pe.
Let cops of whichever city he’s from contact him to provide some proof for the claims that he’s making and which @arvindgunasekar is amplifying. https://t.co/oBnRXlzKhd
The Altnews “fact-checker” also shared screenshots where he attached an innocuous conversation about Lidder potentially being “woke” and how this generation could be far from salvage from the toxic woke culture. There was, again, no threats, abuse or attack in the attached screenshots.
Interestingly, one of the tweets shared by the NDTV journalist Arvind Gunaseker and Zubair was cropped. After speculating that Aashna Lidder might a “woke”, the user had specifically said that Lidder was 17 and we had to keep that in mind. Arvind and Zubair seem to have cropped that portion to ensure that they can peddle speculations about Lidder being hounded.
Tweet thread that was cropped
It is therefore evident that other than an innocuous conversation about her being “woke” and a tweet or two about the same subject, no threats were given to Aashna Lidder and nobody from the “right-wing” attacked her.
So why was this propaganda launched?
The very people who are now trying to concoct the story of imagined threats to the daughter of Brigadier Lidder are those who either directly celebrated the death of General Rawat, laughed at the helicopter crash, defended those who celebrated the death or, at followers of those who did.
AltNews co-founder Zubair, for example. While today he is shedding crocodile tears and blaming the “right-wing” for imaginary threats received by Aashna Lidder, Mona Abegaokar, someone who follows the same ideology as Zubair had refused to mourn the death of General Rawat by saying that he was a “Nazi”.
You should have checked the time in tweet of ‘Radical Left’, she had deactivated before it. And before respecting daughter of martyrs, learn to respect martyrs. Here is one example of millions of such tweets. Can show 1000s such from your followers and financers. https://t.co/dBtk7sVOiGpic.twitter.com/g60fhhZifq
It would appear that the propaganda was launched exclusive to whitewash those celebrating the death of General Bipin Rawat and celebrating the chopper crash. The liberal Jamaat seems to have realised that the hate that was being showered upon a decorated officer like General Rawat while the nation mourned his death was not going in their favour. It is purely to whitewash that they seem to have resorted to a time tested tactic of showing the “others” being more hateful than then.
If they create an enemy that is attacking a 17-year-old girl who is a martyrs daughter, their hate from General Bipin Rawat gets whitewashed, even if the threats they talk about are imaginary and concocted.
One recalls how the Leftists and Liberals had used this tactic even after the Indian cricket team’s humiliating loss to Pakistan and them taking the knee that had infuriated the nation. Just as people were expressing their anger at the Indian team and especially Virat Kohli for their bad performance and for “taking the knee” at the T20 World Cup, Liberals had started to claim that “right-wing goons” were targeted cricket Mohammad Shami for being a Muslim.
As it turned out, the accounts that were attacking Shami were Pakistani troll accounts and not “right-wing goons” as alleged by Liberals and their media. However, the truth hardly mattered. What they had achieved is skirted the real criticism by the “right-wing” against the Left propaganda of “taking the knee”, the criticism for their bad performance and turned it into a narrative where the ultimate villains were those the Left disagree with politically.
The Left’s hate for the Armed Forces is no secret. We saw that when they alleged that Pulwama was an ‘inside job’ and we have seen it innumerable times in the past 7 years when they attacked, abused and insulted the Army. The sudden love for General Lidder’s daughter certainly does not come from a place where they wish to protect and respect a martyr’s daughter. They are essentially using her to spread their own propaganda and lie through their teeth to paint the “right-wing” as anti-army, so their Islamist and Left brethren who abused General Rawat can be spared scrutiny.
In reality, the political affiliations of the family of martyrs have never mattered. They wanted people to believe that Aashna Lidder was being “attacked” because she had once spoken against Yogi Adityanath, however, the reality was that before the liberal jamaat started their propaganda, nobody knew or cared about her political affiliations and the nation mourned the loss with her, hailed her for her bravery.
From Hindustan Times that covered this propaganda without proof to Congress politicians, Liberal coolies, Islamists and fact-checkers – all of them seem to have used Brigadier Lidder’s daughter to peddle concocted stories and their agenda – with no care about the fact that the 17-year-old may have deactivated her account simply to mourn her father in peace – away from the vultures using her for cheap propaganda.
Renowned Malayalam director Ali Akbar has announced that he is leaving Islam protesting against those who had celebrated the tragic death of CDS General Bipin Rawat. Ali Akbar revealed this on Facebook, where he also stated that he and his family will have no religion henceforth.
Ali Akbar had earlier posted a video on Facebook criticizing the Islamists who mocked the death of CDS Bipin Rawat. Akbar’s account was suspended for a month after the video received hateful comments on the platform. The director then opened another account and declared that he was leaving Islam. Akbar said, “Within five minutes of speaking out against those who put up emojis, the account was blocked. I can not accept it, I can not agree with it, so I’m leaving my religion. I or my family no longer have a religion. That is the decision.”
Ali Akbar further said that from now on he will be known as Ram Singh. “Ramasimhan is a person who was killed while sticking to the culture of Kerala. Tomorrow Ali Akbar will be called Ram Singh. That’s the best name,” he said. Ramasimhan and his family were butchered by Islamists for converting to Hinduism from Islam in 1947. Ramasimhan, his brother Dayasimhan, Dayasimhan’s wife Kamala, their cook Raju Iyer and other members of the family were brutally butchered by Islamist Jihadists in Malaparamba, Malappuram district on 2nd August 1947, just two weeks before the independence.
Ali Akbar informed that he took the decision to quit Islam after discussing the matter with his wife. ‘I am throwing away the dress I was born with’, he said.
Akbar also posted a picture containing names of those people who had mocked the demise of the CDS Bipin Rawat on his Facebook page.
Source: Ali Akbar/Facebook
Ali Akbar has spoken to Janam TV and explained his protest against the anti-national elements and his decision to quit Islam.
Notably, Ali Akbar had raised his objections through a Facebook video after he witnessed the celebration of the Islamists online. The national award-winning actor then came out declaring his departure from the religion of Islam.
On Thursday (December 9), the US House of Representatives announced that it will vote on a bill to combat Islamophobia in the country. The voting will take place on Tuesday (December 14) on the bill laid down by Representative Ilhan Omar. The said bill seeks to create an office within the State Department to fight Islamophobia.
The development came at the backdrop of alleged anti-Muslim comments made by House Representative Lauren Boebert. The Democratic party wanted to seize the opportunity to put out a united fight against ‘Islamophobia’ and oust Lauren Boebert from her committees. “We have a responsibility to show this country that bigotry is unacceptable,” claimed Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
It must be mentioned that Islamist Ilhan Omar had first introduced the bill in October this year to monitor and combat the supposed rise of anti-Muslim incidents.
Pressure tactics by Muslim staff in Congress
On Wednesday (December 8), about 62 Muslim Congress staffers wrote an open letter, raising concerns about the recent comments of Lauren Boebert against Ilhan Omar. They claimed that the remarks had induced a ‘feeling of anxiety and fear’ at Capitol Hill. The letter was also signed by 378 other staff members of the Congress, who were allied with the cause.
“Witnessing unchecked harassment of one of only three Muslim Members of Congress – and the only visible Muslim Member – we feel that our workplace is neither safe nor welcome. We must now come to work every day knowing that the same Members and staff who perpetuate Islamophobic tropes and insinuate that we are terrorists, also walk by us in the halls of Congress,” read the letter.
It also called upon House representatives to reject ‘hateful’ rhetoric that endangered the well-being of the Muslim staffers. “We know first-hand that without consequences, this type of harmful behavior normalizes hate against an entire religious community that has already faced decades of derogatory rhetoric, hate crime, surveillance, distrust, discrimination, demonization, and violence,” the letter said.
The Background of the ‘Islamophobia’ controversy and aftermath
Ilhan Omar, who is accused of marrying her brother in immigration fraud, is a known antisemite. During the Israel-Palestine crisis of 2021, Ilhan Omar sided with anti-Israeli forces. While criticising the stance of fellow Representative, Lauren Boebert had tweeted in May, “Ilhan Omar should decide whether she wants to be a Congresswoman or a full-time propagandist for Hamas. Why are her fellow Democrats so silent about her disgraceful comments?”
Screengrab of the tweet by Lauren Boebert
“Ilhan Omar, honorary member of Hamas, just compared the US military with the Taliban. Sadly, it’s not even surprising anymore. We have terrorist sympathizers in Congress and it is being normalized by the MSM,” she wrote in another tweet in June.
Screengrab of the tweet by Lauren Boebert
During a Staten Island Conservative Party dinner held on September 2, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) was heard referring to Ilhan Omar as a ‘blackhearted’ and ‘evil’ woman. She went on to claim that Omar was part of the Jihadi ‘squad’ of Democrats. Boebert added that she only felt safe in the elevator with Ilhan Omar because she was not carrying a suicide bombing backpack.
“One of my I staffers, on his first day with me, got into an elevator in the Capitol. And in that elevator, we were joined by Ilhan Omar. It was just us three in there and I looked over and I said, well, look there, it’s the Jihad Squad. She doesn’t have a backpack, she wasn’t dropping it and running so we’re good,” Boebert was heard telling the audience at the dinner party.
Her comments drew the ire of the Democratic Party leaders, including Ilhan Omar, who sought action against Representative Lauren Boebert. “Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter. GOP leaders and Speaker Pelosi need to take appropriate action, normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress,” wrote Omar.
Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter. @GOPLeader and @SpeakerPelosi need to take appropriate action, normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress. https://t.co/A0VxI3uTmHpic.twitter.com/QTmqaGaZrM
Following the controversy over her remarks, Lauren Noebert tendered an apology. She tweeted, “I apologise to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep Omar. I reached out to her office to speak with her directly. There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Lauren Boebert
On November 30, she took to Instagram and said, “I have reflected on my previous remarks, now as a strong Christian woman who values faith deeply I never want anything I say to offend someone’s religion. ” She accused Omar of hanging up on her following a verbal confrontation on the issue of public apology.
“I will fearlessly continue to put America first, never sympathizing with terrorists. Unfortunately, Ilhan can’t say the same thing and our country is worse off for it,” she concluded. The bill on Islamophobia is a manifestation of the long-standing duel between Republican Representative Boebert and Democratic Representative Omar.
When the emotionally chocked nation was crying and paying heartfelt condolence to the chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat during his funeral, the general secretary of the Congress Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was dancing and enjoying tribal dance in Goa.
There is nothing unusual in the video of her celebration when the nation is mourning since the Gandhi-Nehru family she belongs has often shown disrespect towards martyrs.
Vadra is in Goa to kick off the campaign for the assembly election in Goa scheduled next year.
And this is how her mother and UPA chairperson Sonia had treated the military legend and the first Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw at his funeral held at Wellington in Ooty.
When Manekshaw, the architect of the victory of India in the 1971 war, took his last breath at Military Hospital Wellington in June 2008, political leaders stayed away from his funeral.
Right from President Pratibha Patil (also commander-in-chief of the armed forces), Vice-president Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, none had time to pay the last homage to him.
These politicians may have their reasons for showing disrespect towards men in uniform for their petty political ends, but the ‘civil India’ has always shown the armed forces its place. The chant of Veer Vanakkam and constant showering of flowers on the convoy carrying mortals of Rawat and others at Mettupalayam in Tamil Nadu is evidence of how people respect armed forces.
Defence minister AK Antony and three Service chiefs, none had time to attend the state funeral of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. Antony had prior political engagements which were more important than attending a state funeral. He sent his junior, minister of state for defence Pallam Raju.
Army chief General Deepak Kapoor had valid reasons since he was on tour to Russia. He was represented by vice-chief Lt-Gen M. L Naidu.
The then Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal FH Major were very much available in New Delhi. But they sent a rear admiral and an air marshal at the state funeral.
Congress brazenly defended insult to Sam Manekshaw
It was said that Antony visiting a ‘small town’ would have led to ‘protocol requirements. They gave a lame excuse that they had too little time to make arrangements to travel to Wellington since the WVIP jet was deployed in the service of the President in Maharashtra, and the other was kept on stand-by for the PM.
These geniuses of the Congress and the defence were aware that Sam Maneksha had passed at Wellington in Ooty and not Wellington in New Zealand. The nearest civil airport is Coimbatore, just 80 km away and it was not difficult to reach here.
Celebrate when the nation mourns
In fact, Gandhis have been caught celebrating at the wrong time more than once. 13 years back when Mumbai had witnessed the deadliest attacks orchestrated by the Islamist terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) Rahul Gandhi was reportedly celebrating at a party. A total of 10 Pakistani terrorists carried out 12 shooting and bombing incidents in India’s Financial Capital. The 26/11 attacks claimed the lives of 165 civilians and injured over 300 people.
While the entire nation mourned the dead, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi remained in a party mood. The Congress scion went to the wedding ‘sangeet’ of his childhood friend Samir Sharma at his farmhouse in Rahdhey Mohan Chowk on the outskirts of the National Capital. Samir was the son of Captain Satish Sharma, who happened to be the flying partner of Rajiv Gandhi and a former MP from Rae Bareli.
Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar has categorically stated on Friday that Namaz in open spaces will not be tolerated in his state. The CM was addressing the media on the ongoing impasse over the offering of Namaz at these public places in various sectors in Gurugram, Haryana.
He stated that members of all faiths should offer prayers in their own personal space or areas designated for worship. Namaz should be read in Mosques or Idgahs rather than public spaces. The trespassing on public spaces in the city under the guise of conducting religious prayer would not be allowed by the state administration henceforth.
“If someone offers Namaz at his place we have no problem in that. Such programs should not be held in the open. This practice of offering Namaz which has been done in the open will not be tolerated at all”, said the Haryana CM.
“An amicable solution to the matter should and would be found,” he said. Offering public prayers is leading to clashes, he said and that should not happen. “We’d found a solution but that was found ineffective. There will be new talks to find a solution,” said Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, announcing that his government has withdrawn the previous circular that mentioned some designated sites to offer Friday prayers.
It may be noted that on December 9, Thursday, Muslim groups like Muslim Ekta Manch in the city had reiterated their obstinacy to offer namaz on Friday at all 37 objected public grounds which have been occupied to offer namaz despite people facing problems. On the other hand, the Hindu outfits had also reiterated their resolve to strictly oppose the offering of Namaz at these public places from December 10 onwards.
Hindu Sangharsh Samiti president Mahavir Bharadwaj said that for the last three months Hindu outfits and the local residents of Gurugram’s Sector-47, 12A, Sector-18 and now Sector-37, have been opposing the illegal occupation of public places by Muslims to offer their religious prayers. According to Bharadwaj, from December 10 onwards, the Hindu Sangharsh Samiti will not allow Muslims to offer Namaz in any of the open places which they have been attempting to encroach on in recent months.
He said that the district administration have been given a forewarning that if the Muslims attempt to again encroach public spaces to offer Namaz on December 10, they would face strong resistance from members of the Hindu outfits.
Opposition to the illegal occupation of public places by Muslims to offer their religious prayers is steadily gaining momentum. For weeks now, locals have been pushing back against Muslims who have resorted to communal praying in public locations rather than designated places of worship for weeks.
The Supreme Court on Thursday, December 9 quashed all four FIRs filed by the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal against OpIndia Editor-in-Chief Nupur J Sharma, Ajeet Bharti, the then Hindi editor of OpIndia, CEO Rahul Roushan, and Nupur J Sharma’s husband Vaibhav Sharma. In its order, the details of which were made public by the apex court later in the day, the bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh made it evidently clear that the State cannot use force to browbeat opinions.
While making some scathing observations against the West Bengal government, the SC also raised concerns about how journalists are having to bear the repercussions of publicly available information. “State force should never be used to either browbeat a political opinion or the journalists suffer the consequences of what is already in public domain,” the bench observed.
The two-judge bench while quashing the FIRs said that they did not want to “let go of the opportunity of saying something which is troubling society and the court”.
“It is undoubtedly the debasement in dialogues which is taking place which needs introspection from the political class across the country. In a country which prides itself on its diversity, there are bound to be different perceptions and opinions which include political opinions,” it observed.
‘Petitioners had only reproduced what politicians had said’: Supreme Court observes while quashing the FIR against the editor-in-chief of OpIndia
The court said the petitioners had only reproduced what politicians had said against each other, and this information was already in the public domain.
The apex court made the aforementioned statement in reference to the first case that was filed in relation to a Hindi article published on OpIndia Hindi on 14th May 2020, which had reported an exchange of words between BJP leader and union minister Debasree Chaudhuri and TMC leaders.
The BJP MP from Raiganj had alleged that Mamata Banerjee is planning to convert West Bengal into an Islamic state and merge it with Bangladesh. It was a report on comments by her, and reactions to the same by TMC leaders, which was also reported by several media organisations. But the Bengal government decided to file FIR against OpIndia English editor and her husband, who are residents of Kolkata, and Vaibhav was summoned to the police station on 16th May.
It may be noted that Vaibhav is not related to OpIndia, but one phone number used by Nupur is registered in his name, and only because of that phone number, he was interrogated by police. During the interrogation on May 16, the police had threatened that if the report is not deleted, they will be arrested.
Police had even talked to Nupur Sharma’s 68-year old father and issued the same threat. When a copy of the FIR was requested, the police had refused the same.
The other three FIRs registered against OpIndia Editor-in-chief at the behest of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee were in reference with three other reports published by OpIndia. In one report which was published on October 7, 2020, we wrote on Azan being played at a Durga puja pandal. This was not an OpIndia exclusive but was also reported by several national and local media houses. Moreover, a video of the same had also gone viral on social media. However, the state decided to single out OpIndia and come after us.
Another report which irked the Mamata Banerjee regime was a report on COVID handling in Bengal and one on the Telinipara riots where Hindus were attacked.
After the repeated threats by police to get reports deleted, the four persons targeted by the West Bengal government decided to move Supreme Court relief, and accordingly, a petition was filed on 12th June through advocate Ravi Sharma seeking to quash the FIRs.
The apex court had then stayed three such FIRs in June 2020, and another one in September this year.
Nupur J Sharma forced to leave West Bengal by Mamata regime
In September this year, the OpIndia editor-in-chief wrote how the vindictive Mamata Banerjee government in the state had made it almost impossible for her to follow her instincts and do her job truthfully.
“I have left my home of decades with a heavy heart”, OpIndia editor in chief Nupur J Sharma took to Twitter on Thursday, September 9 to announce that she was forced to leave her home and her loved ones back in Kolkata, West Bengal. She had to flee overnight because of the constant threats she had been receiving from the Mamata Banerjee government in the state.
OpIndia editor-in-chief thanks Supreme Court for upholding the truth
Following the Honourable Supreme Court’s decision to have the West Bengal government withdraw all four FIRs against OpIndia Editor-in-Chief Nupur J Sharma, she issued an emotional statement thanking OpIndia readers, her team, friends, family, Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani and lawyer Ravi Sharma, and, most importantly, the Supreme Court of India for upholding the truth.
“OpIndia took on the malicious, motivated and drunk-on-power state and emerged victorious. This is a victory for every Dharmic voice who fought for us, stood by us and supported us. We will continue to do the work we do and I know you will continue to be our rock”, wrote Nupur J Sharma.
A French mountaineer who had found a box containing gems and jewellery from the wreckage of a crashed Boeing 707 plane that crashed in 1966 at the Alps will get to keep half of the fortune. The unnamed climber had found the box while climbing atop a glacier in 2013 at the Mont Blanc in the French Alps and had handed over the same to the authorities.
The metal box with emeralds, sapphires and rubies worth around Rs 1.28 crore was found in the wreckage of Air India Flight 101, which had crashed into Mont Blanc on January 24, 1966. The box had an Air India logo on it. The crash had killed all 177 people including passengers and crew on board, and had scattered the wreckage across the mountainside.
The other half of the gems will be kept by the Chamonix town in France, where the box is been kept. After the discovery of the box, the officials tried to locate its owners or heirs, but as it was not successful, the decision to divide the find between the finder and the town was taken.
The Town officials announced in a Facebook post that two gemmology experts sorted and divided the gems into two equal parts. One half was given to the mountaineer while the other half was given to the town.
Chamonix officials announced that they will display their part of the treasure at the recently enlarged and renovated Chamonix Crystals Museum. The new collection will be open for public from December 19.
The man who is getting the other half said that he would use some of the money from selling some gems to renovate his apartment. He also said that he does not regret for being honest and handing over the box to the police instead of keeping it.
Chamonix Mayor Eric Fournier said that he was very happy with the development, and praised the man for his “integrity” in turning his find over to police, which is required as per law.
The Boeing 707 had crashed at almost exactly the same spot where another Air India flight had crashed in 1950, the Air India Flight. The crash of that Lockheed Constellation aircraft had also killed all 48 people aboard. The wreckage of both the flights was buried by snow and were hidden and preserved for decades.
However, global warming has caused the melting of the snow, and in recent years, the wreckage of the planes, remains of some victims and bodies of mountain climbers etc have been discovered on Mont Blanc. A year before the box was found, a bag of diplomatic mail, stamped ‘On Indian Government Service, Diplomatic Mail, Ministry of External Affairs’, was recovered in 2012, which was collected by Indian officials.
The melting glacier had also unearthed copies of Indian newspapers from the day, with headlines announcing that Indira Gandhi is the new prime minister of the country. Similarly, wreckage, luggage and other remains of both the flights are regularly discovered.
The plane crashed because the pilot had wrongly assumed that the plane had crossed the peak of the mountain, and had started to descend for landing, and directly crashed into the mountain. The Air India flight 101, named ‘Kanchenjunga’, was flying from Bombay to London, with stops at Delhi, Beirut, and Geneva.
The 1966 crash was also subject to conspiracy theories because one of the passengers killed in the accident was Homi Jehangir Bhabha, father of India’s nuclear industry.
The Jammu and Kashmir Bank in Srinagar has suspended an employee named Afreen Hassan Naqash for making derogatory remarks on a social media platform after the tragic death of Bipin Rawat, according to reports.
The bank has stated in its suspension order that the employee has misused the social media platform in spite of several circulars issued by the bank against such behaviour.
The order dated December 9 2021 said, “Despite repeated circulars issued from time to time against misuse of social media platforms by employees contrary to interests/rules of the Bank. in one such incident, one of our employees has made derogatory comments/remarks on the social media platform on a tragic accident.”
The order pointed out that the contents posted by the employee were ‘purely defamatory and against the service rules of conduct. It said, “The contents are purely defamatory and not in consonance with the conduct rules governing the services of an employee and tantamounts to misconduct”
Further, the order stated that disciplinary proceedings were initiated against her and that she was put under suspension immediately.
Earlier, IIT Delhi had taken cognizance of the display of insensitivity by one Ram Pabaharan after the tragic incident of the helicopter crash that led to the death of CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife and other top armed forces personnel on Wednesday, December 8, 2021. Professor V. Ramagopal Rao, Director of IIT Delhi stated that the institute will investigate the matter and take further action.
In another incident, Prabal Chatterjee, an employee of the South Eastern railways had mocked the death of CDS Bipin Rawat. Prabal Chatterjee had been reportedly detained at Mathura, though the details have not been confirmed yet.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday was greeted with ‘Go Back’ slogans outside the residence of CDS General Bipin Rawat when he was on his way to pay his last respect to the martyred officer.
A massive throng of people who had gathered around the General’s residence chanted ‘Go Back Rakesh Tikait’ as the BKU leader tried to approach the CDS’ home to pay his homage.
Besides ‘Go Back Rakesh Tikait’, people also chanted ‘Rakesh Tikait Murdabad’, ‘Desh Drohi(Traitor) Rakesh Tikait’ as they protested against the BKU leader’s visit to the decedent CDS’ residence. As can be seen in the video embedded in the above tweet, as soon as Rakesh Tikait tried to enter through the barricades placed outside the CDS General’s residence, a legion of people started protesting against his entry and raised slogans against him.
Last rites of CDS Bipin Rawat, his wife and Brigadier Lidder
The mortal remains of General Bipin Rawat, the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), were cremated with full military honours today in the Brar Square crematorium in Delhi. Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttarakhand CM and Delhi CM paid homage to the late Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat at Brar Square in Delhi. The Rawats, along with 11 others, were killed in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor on Wednesday.
CDS Gen Bipin Rawat and 12 others die in a chopper crash
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat died in a helicopter crash on December 8 while he was on his way from Sulur Air Force base in Tamil Nadu to Wellington where he was to deliver a lecture in Defence Staff college. Gen Rawat along with his wife Madhulika Rawat and other senior officials were onboard the aircraft. Gen Rawat was shifted to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to the burn injuries. His wife, too, succumbed to the burns.
The IAF Mi17V5 helicopter had crashed in the Nilgiris near Wellington. Among the 14 passengers, CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife Mrs Madhulika Rawat, Brigadier LS Lidder, Lt Col H Singh, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitender, LN Vivek, LN Sai Teja, Havildar Satpal, WC PS Chouhan, Sqn Ldr K Singh, JWO Das, JWO Pradeep A had succumbed to fatal injuries. Group Captain Varun Singh (Shaurya Chakra) is the sole survivor of the crash who is critical and is currently struggling for life in Bengaluru.
