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Maharashtra: Muslim mobs resort to violence to protest violence in Tripura, pelt stones at cops and shops in three cities

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: Muslim mobs resort to violence to protest violence in Tripura, pelt stones at cops and shops in three cities

Three cities in Maharashtra namely Malegaon, Amravati and Nanded were marred with communal violence with incidents of stone-pelting being reported on Friday. According to reports, Muslim groups had taken out rallies in Nanded, Malegaon, Amaravati and some other places which turned violent with the mob resorting to stone-pelting. According to reports, the mob was protesting the communal disturbance that was reported in Tripura last month.

Following the incidents, State Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil appealed to the people to maintain peace.

“Muslims across the state had taken out a protest march today against the violence in Tripura. During this, stone pelting was done in Nanded, Malegaon, Amaravati and some other places. I appeal to all Hindus and Muslims to maintain peace,” Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil was quoted by ANI as saying.

Muslim mob of 8000 pelt-stones outside the district collector’s office in Amravati, Maharashtra

According to a police official, more than eight thousand people gathered outside the district collector’s office in Amravati to present a memorandum “seeking an end to atrocities against the minority community”. According to the officer, stone-pelting occurred at three locations between Chitra Chowk and Cotton Market while people were leaving after submitting the memorandum.

The police further added that in Nanded, the irate mob pelted stones at police vans, injuring 7-8 police officers in the ensuing violence.

The situation has been brought under control at all these places and FIRs were being registered, he added.

Vikram Sali, DCP Amaravati informed that no police permission was taken for the protest march. He added that on the basis of complaints, strict action will be taken against those involved.

Raza Academy members pelt-stones at police vans, injure 7-8 police officers

The Nanded wing of the radical Islamist organisation, Raza Academy had organised a sit-in protest. Some youth were walking towards mixed-residential areas when they were halted by the police, following which the youths pelted stones at the police. The Islamists also pelted stones when they saw some shops open. The police used force to disperse the mob. The incident happened at 3-4 locations in the city, said Pramod Kumar Shewale, Superintendent of Police, Nanded.

According to a report by TOI, the riot control police reached the spot to quell the mob, which in turn started targeting the police officers by throwing stones at them. In retaliation, the police resorted to a mild lathi charge.

“We are registering offences that took place, currently, the situation is peaceful in Nanded. I request people to not believe in rumours. 7-8 police officials have been injured,” Shewale added.

BJP MLA Nitesh Rane slammed Raza academy calling it a ‘terrorist organisation’ for disrupting law and order in Maharashtra.

Rane said, “This terrorist organisation Raza academy is behind all the violence and riots in different parts of Maharashtra!” “Every time they disrupt and break all the rules and the government sits and watches. Either the government bans them or we have to finish them in the interest of Maharashtra!,” he further tweeted.

Meanwhile, Nashik Collector Suraj Mandhare said that the situation in Malegaon is completely under control now. Senior government and police officials are camping there, he said, further appealing to people not to fall for any rumours.

The Nanded police have so far arrested five people and booked 25 people in connection with the stone-pelting incident in Maharashtra on Friday. The search for the other suspects is still ongoing. The cases have been registered under Nanded’s Shivaji Nagar police station limits.

According to reports, the Islamist Raza Academy had also called for a bandh in several Muslim pockets and suburbs of Mumbai including Bhendi Bazar, Mohammad Ali Road, Kurla as well as Mumbra and Bhiwandi in Thane.

Some Muslim elements in Maharashtra trying to capitalize on Tripura violence: BJP

Responding to the incident, BJP leader and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the State government should act immediately to bring the situation under control, claiming that some people were trying to “capitalize on the purported violence in Tripura”.

State BJP president Chandrakant Patil also said: “It was unnecessary for the Muslim community here to react to an incident in Tripura and purported violence.” “There are some elements among them which defame the entire community. The Muslim community should teach a lesson to such elements,” he said.

OpIndia tried to get in touch with the police of the three cities where incidents of stone-pelting were reported. While calls to Nanded and Amravati police went unanswered, Malegaon police refused to talk saying they have no information yet.

Protests in Tripura against targetting of Hindus in Bangladesh

Tripura witnessed communal disturbances following clashes in Dharmanagar of North Tripura. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had organized a march demanding the protection of minority Hindus in Bangladesh. The march was led by VHP leader Purna Chandra Mandal. According to some media reports, violence took place when the procession reached Rowa village of Dharmanagar. The situation turned worse following stone-pelting.

Some of the media reports claimed that protesters targeted a mosque and vandalized the properties of the minority community, however, the police had clarified that there was no attack on any mosque.

After the October 26 incident, the Tripura government claimed on October 29 that an outside group with vested interests plotted against the administration to cause unrest in the state and tarnish its image by posting fake photos of a burning mosque on social media.

Earlier, OpIndia had reported that although some shops belonging to Muslims were vandalised during the protests against attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, there was no attack on any mosque in Tripura.

King Kong vs Godzilla at Samajwadi party meet ahead of elections, workers throw blows at each other on stage

OpIndia Staff
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King Kong vs Godzilla at Samajwadi party meet ahead of elections, workers throw blows at each other on stage

On Friday (November 12), a ruckus broke out between the workers of the Akhilesh Yadav-led-Samajwadi party during a meeting held in Mirzapur Chauhari in Raniganj tehsil of Uttar Pradesh. The development comes ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha elections.

As per reports, a former Samajwadi party MLA named Syed Ali was conducting a meeting with his supporters at around 3 pm on Friday. While speaking from the stage, Ali had accused former Samajwadi party Minister Shivakant Ojha of not letting him work. This was opposed by the supporters of Ojha, who were also present in the meeting. It led to a heated argument between the supporters on both sides.

Soon, the two factions climbed the stage and began throwing blows at each other. Ticket contender Brijesh Yadav was dragged to the stage and thrashed. Syed Ali managed to escape and reached the Raniganj police station to complain about the assault. He was followed by his supporters, who demanded the arrest of the supporters of Ojha. Several SP leaders also reached the police station to pacify the situation and convince Ali from registering his complaint with the police.

Former Cabinet Minister RK Choudhary, who was invited as a Chief Guest in the meeting, tried to pacify the situation but to no avail. Amar Ujala reported that a case was registered against Shivakant Ojha, son Purnanshu Ojha, and 53 supporters. Following the ruckus, the police reached the spot to gather information about the incident. The cops had confiscated a licensed revolver from the nephew of ex-MLA Syed Ali. The police have initiated action against Ali for giving his licensed gun to his nephew. A report has also been sent to the District Magistrate to cancel his license.

Agra: Hindu woman who married a Muslim man dies a suspicious death, family of deceased attacked, FIR registered

Vijay Deo Jha
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Agra: Hindu woman who married a Muslim man dies a suspicious death, family of deceased attacked, FIR registered

Tensions erupted in Agra, Uttar Pradesh on Friday following the suspicious death of a 26 year old Hindu woman Varsha Raghuvanshi who had married a Muslim man named Mohammad Arman alias Faim, a car mechanic. The couple had married about one and half years back.

Reportedly, a clash took place including stone-pelting and firing. Some shops were also targeted during the violence. Police brought the situation under control and heavy deployment of police was made. Zonal IG Nachiketa Jha, Agra SSP Sudhir Kumar Singh, SP Vikas Kumar and other officials reached the spot. Police have lodged an FIR against Arman and his family members under section of 304 B of IPC. But there is no report of any arrests so far.

Her body was found hanging from the ceiling of the house at her in-law’s place at Chillipara under the Shahganj police station area. Brother of the deceased, Dushyant, said his sister had a court marriage with Arman one and half years back. He said that Arman called him on Friday evening and said that she has committed suicide by hanging herself from a fan.

The brother alleged that Arman murdered her, adding that when he and other family members reached they were attacked by her in-laws. To this, a large number of people including some local BJP leaders and workers including Gaurav Rajawat, Shailu Pandit and others came and demanded justice for the deceased. According to reports, Arman and his people started pelting stones at police and BJP workers from the rooftops leaving many injured including Rajawat. Dainik Bhaskar journalist Sachin Gupta too confirmed the same.

Sachin Gupta said that the dispute started as her family members wanted to perform her last rites according to Hindu tradition, which Arman and his family objected to.

Agra SSP Sudhir Kumar Singh and other officials at Chillipara to maintain law and order control following death of a Hindu woman

On being contacted Agra SP told OpIndia that the situation is under control and actions are being taken. “The deceased was a Hindu woman and her family has lodged an FIR under section 304 B (dowry death) of IPC and the matter is being investigated. Whosoever created violence, action will be taken,” he said.

Narendra Modi was like all of us when it comes to the internet, watch old clip where he revealed it kept him awake late at nights

OpIndia Staff
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Narendra Modi was like all of us when it comes to the internet, watch old clip where he revealed it kept him awake late at nights

A video clip from an interview of Narendra Modi with Rajeev Shukla was shared on Twitter by a user. In the video, Narendra Modi could be heard saying that he had become so fond of the internet that it kept him awake late at nights.

The interview was taken before Prime Minister Modi became the Chief Minister of Gujarat. He says in the clip, “I realised its potential… Computer, internet, information technology. Aur phir toh usme mann itna lag gaya ki kabhi raat ko der der tak main internet par khoya rehta hoon, bahut hi saari duniya ki cheezon par.. (I became so interested with it that sometimes, I used to be lost in the internet till late into the night, in things around the world.)”

Now that is a sentiment ‘millennials’ and ‘zoomers’ can relate to. On that note, Prime Minister’s awareness about the internet and social media came in handy during the campaign for the 2014 General Elections. He helped the Bharatiya Janata Party dominate social media, an advantage that the party holds to this day.

Despite the Congress party’s efforts to hire paid social media trolls to boost their efforts, in addition to having a sympathetic mainstream media, it has not quite been able to overcome Prime Minister Modi and the BJP’s social media dominance.

Salman Khurshid confirms Sonia Gandhi was ‘shaken’ by the death of Batla encounter terrorists, had earlier said she had cried bitterly

Dibakar Dutta
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Salman Khurshid confirms Sonia Gandhi was ‘shaken’ by the death of Batla encounter terrorists, had earlier said she had cried bitterly

On Friday (November 12), veteran Congress leader Salman Khurshid courted controversy after reiterating that party supremo Sonia Gandhi was shaken by the visuals of dead terrorists in the Batla House encounter.

While speaking to Rahul Shivshankar of Times Now, Khurshid emphasised that Gandhi was taken aback by the manner in which the Indian Mujahideen terrorists were neutralised. He justified, “I can tell you what I said and what had happened. The gruesome pictures that were produced and shown, shook her. She said, ‘Do not show them to me.’ She was not shaken by the ideology of the man who was killed but the manner in which a human being was killed.”

Khurshid further added, “For the worst people of the country, we do not allow executions on the streets. That’s the law in the country.” At that point, Rahul Shivshankar pointed out that the men were not ordinary but terrorists, who had killed a police officer and were neutralised in the encounter. “She did not shed tears for the police officer,” the Times Now journalist stated.

The Congress leader then tried to give a clean chit to the Batla House terrorists by claiming that the matter was controversial. Rahul Shivshankar then pointed out to Salman Khurshid that a court had held the accused in the Batla House encounter guilty. On hearing that, the Congress leader said, “Of course, if the judgment has come, let it rest there. Let’s not question that.”

The Batla House encounter dates back to September 19, 2008, during which two Indian Mujahideen terrorists namely Atif Amin and Mohammad Sajid were neutralised. The terrorists had been hiding in a locality in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar, after killing about 30 people in Delhi serial blasts. When the Delhi police received intelligence reports about their hideout, they ambushed the locality leading to the encounter of the two terrorists. Three others, including Ariz Khan, managed to escape the law enforcement before being nabbed in 2018.

In March this year, terrorist Ariz Khan, convicted of murdering Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma during the Batla House encounter, was awarded the death penalty by a Delhi Court. While political opportunism is not new to Indian politics, the Batla House encounter was a glaring example of politicians putting vote bank politics over the country’s interests. The Congress party not only insinuated that the probe was not independent, and stirred sympathy for the terrorists but also mocked the martyrdom of MC Sharma and cast aspersions about the authenticity of the encounter.

Salman Khurshid and his earlier statements with respect to Batla House encounter

Salman Khurshid, in one of his rallies during the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, had said that Sonia Gandhi, the then Congress President, cried bitterly after seeing the images of the slain terrorists.

Khurshid had said, “When we showed Sonia Gandhi the images of the ‘incident’, she started crying bitterly and with folded hands, she said please do not show me these pictures. Immediately go and speak to the Wazir-e-Azam (Dr Manmohan Singh) and discuss the matter. I talked to the PM and it was decided that the matter will be further investigated.”

However, in 2019, Salman Khurshid retracted his statement and claimed that he was quoted out of context. He said, “I never said that. In fact, I was misquoted. There was a difference between what I had said and what the media projected. I had said that the then Congress President didn’t wish to see visuals of an encounter (as the images are painful in nature).” Except, it does not appear so.

Madhya Pradesh: State urges Central Govt to rename Habibganj railway station in Bhopal after tribal queen Rani Kamlapati

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: State urges Central Govt to rename Habibganj railway station in Bhopal after tribal queen Rani Kamlapati

The state administration of Madhya Pradesh, led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has requested the central government that the renovated Habibganj railway station in Bhopal be renamed after the 18th-century tribal queen Rani Kamlapati. The Madhya Pradesh government made the appeal in a letter addressed to the Union Home Minister. The request came ahead of the launch of India’s first world-class railway station.

The station, which was revamped at a cost of 100 crores, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 15, the day the government opens the ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas,’ a week-long celebration of the Scheduled Tribes’ pride in India.

Habibganj railway station will honour the legacy and bravery of Rani Kamlapati: MP Govt

The letter explains the state government’s rationale behind the proposal to rename the Habibganj railway station. It said that the renaming of the railway station will honour Rani Kamlapati’s legacy and bravery.

Rani Kamlapati was the widowed Gond ruler of Ginnorgarh’s lord, Nizam Shah. She was a protector of the state when her husband died. With a population of over 1.2 crores, the Gond community is India’s largest tribal group. The Gonds are members of the Gondi–Manda subgroup of the Dravidian language family’s South Central branch.

Therefore, renaming the station will also be in accordance with the Indian government’s decision to celebrate the legacy of Scheduled Tribes in India, read the letter from the state’s transportation department.

This renaming is also in keeping with the Indian government’s decision to celebrate November 15 as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ in remembrance of Birsa Munda, added the letter.

The central government has decided to commemorate revered tribal leader and independence fighter Birsa Munda on November 15 as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas.’ November 15 marks the birth anniversary date of Birsa Munda who is considered a God by tribal communities across India.

Meanwhile, Pragya Singh Thakur, a BJP MP from Bhopal, has demanded that Habibganj railway station be renamed after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Bhopal station redeveloped at a cost of Rs 100 crore

Habibganj Railway Station has been redeveloped under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model at a cost of Rs 100 crore. The station will showcase Madhya Pradesh’s tourism and culture at its main entrance, waiting rooms, VIP lounge and air concourse. It will feature glimpses of heritage sites such as Sanchi Stupa, Bhojpur Temples, Bhim Baithika, Birla Mandir, Tawa Dam, Tribal Museum among others.

Last month the Indian Railways had shared pictures of the swanky interiors of the station building.

According to the Ministry of Railways, the rebuilt station would include extensive seating on platforms, concourses, lounges, dormitories, and retiring rooms, as well as adequate parking and Divyang-friendly amenities such as lifts, escalators, and travelators.

‘Lord Shiva had swallowed the entire universe’: Janeu-Dhari Rahul Gandhi misquotes Hindu scriptures after saying he has read the Upanishads

OpIndia Staff
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‘Lord Shiva had swallowed the entire universe’: Janeu-Dhari Rahul Gandhi misquotes Hindu scriptures after saying he has read the Upanishads

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed the party workers through video conferencing today on the occasion of launch of Congress party’s digital campaign Jan Jagran Abhiyan. In his address, he advised the party workers to attack BJP saying the party follows Hindutva ideology, which is different from Hinduism. However, as always, the Kerala MP made a goof-up in his address, as he distorted a well-known story from Puranas regarding Lord Shiva.

Giving an analogy from Hindu mythology, Rahul Gandhi said that Lord Shiva had swallowed the entire universe. While concluding his address, Rahul Gandhi said, ‘Like Shiv Ji had swallowed the entire universe, the ideology of Congress will swallow the ideology of BJP. You will not even know, you will not know and it will disappear (the BJP ideology). And that hatred that is being spread today will disappear. And the future that can’t be seen today will become visible’.

However, Rahul Gandhi massively misquoted Hindu scriptures when he claimed that Shiva had swallowed the universe. Because Lord Shiva had swallowed poison with the potential to destroy the entire universe, he didn’t swallow the entire universe. Shiva drinking poison is one of the most well-known stories from Hindu texts, and it is ironic that janeu-dhari Rahul Gandhi misquoted such a well-known story.

The incident is from the story of Samudra Manthan, the churning of the ocean of milk to obtain amrita (nectar), which has been narrated in Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana. According to the story, when the Devas and Asuras had come together to jointly churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality, lots of other things had appeared before the nectar. One of them was a lethal poison named Halahala, which was so powerful that it could destroy the entire creation. To protect the three worlds, Lord Shiva had consumed the poison. It had turned his neck, which is the reason that he is also known as Neelakantha, where Neela means blue and Kantha means throat in Sanskrit.

This story is also part of Vishnu’s ten avatars, as he had taken the form of a turtle to keep the mount Mandara in place on the ocean bed, which was used to churn the ocean.

Gandhi said this while asking his party workers to ‘crystalise the ideology of Congress’. He said that BJP has discovered their ideology, and has crystalised their ideology, and Congress also has to the same. He said that after Congress crystalises its ideology, it will envelop their ideology, like Shiv had swallowed the entire universe. He further said that he has been studying the ideology of Congress for last 10-12 years, and it is like beautiful jewel with unending power inside, and it is important that Congress workers discover it.

Rahul Gandhi misquoting the Samudra Manthan story is even more ironic, because just minutes ago, he had claimed that he has read Hindu texts. While claiming that Hindutva allows to harm innocents but Hinduism does not, he had said that he had read the Upanishads and other texts, and nowhere it is mentioned that people from other religions can be harmed.

‘I have read the Upanishads, where it is written that you should kill an innocent? Have not seen it’, Rahul Gandhi said in his address. He was saying this while claiming that BJP and RSS follow Hindutva, not Hinduism. It is interesting to note that Rahul Gandhi claims the Upanishads, as there are 108 known Upanishads. Moreover, the story of Shiva consuming poison is narrated in Puranas, not Upanishads.

His full speech can be watched below.

“Calculated attack”: Delhi court frames charges against four rioters for killing Hindu youth Deepak during Delhi riots

OpIndia Staff
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“Calculated attack”: Delhi court frames charges against four rioters for killing Hindu youth Deepak during Delhi riots

A Delhi court has framed charges of murder, rioting and criminal conspiracy against four persons for killing a Hindu man during the Delhi riots in February last year, calling it a calculated attack. The four accused Anwar Hussain, Kasim, Shahrukh, and Khalid Ansari are accused of killing a man named Deepak near Ambedkar College on February 25, 2020.

Deepak was attacked by a mob on the service road of Gokul Road flyover in the afternoon on February 25, 2020, and he was found in an unconscious and injured state. He was taken to GTB Hospital, but doctors had declared him dead. The post mortem report said that the cause of death was “hemorrhagic shock due to ante­mortem injury to the brain and abdominal organ and blood vessel”. 

Addl. Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat at the Karkardooma Courts framed the charges after going through the details of the case and hearing witnesses. However, the four have pleaded not guilty, which means now they will face a trial in the case.

The court said that it has been established that Deepak was murdered by armed unlawful assembly on 25.02.2020 at around 1.30 PM. “By the manner of their mobilization and intent as construed from their conduct, the said unlawful assembly can be said to have conducted itself for riots and other offences like murder of deceased Deepak, in prosecution of their common object. The conspiracy is also writ large by the calculated attack on the victim by the unlawful assembly,” the verdict framing the charges said.

The judge also mentioned there are witnesses in the case who have given similar statements implicating accused persons in the offence of riots and murder of Deepak. One witness Kirti Raj Tiwari said that that when they were working at EDMC Parking behind Ambedkar College, they saw that a crowd of 100­200 people near Kardam Puri Ganda Naala in front of Dispensary was rioting. The Muslim crowd picked one boy while chanting Allah Hu Akbar and mercilessly beaten the boy with danda and pathar. When the crowd from the other community started to arrive at the place, the Muslim crowd left the boy and started destroying public property. Tiwari gave names of some of the people in the mob that he knew.

The judge said that the most important witness in the case is Sunil Kumar, who is an eye­witness to the entire incident. He has given the complete picture as to how the deceased Deepak was killed by the armed Muslim mob, consisting of accused persons. Sunil Kumar said that on 25 February 2020, Muslim unlawful assembly coming from Kardampuri Pulia and shouting Allah Ho Akbar, was trying to cross the Pulia Gokulpur. The mob caught hold of Deepak and he was mercilessly beaten by them.

Sunil Kumar said that that he was hiding behind a wall behind the Naala, and saw the entire murder through a gap in the wall. He also identified all four accused by name. Sunil added that he can identify the accused persons, and he could not save Deepak due to fear and the number of attackers.

“Thus, for the purpose of charge, the prosecution has been able to satisfy the Court that an unlawful assembly including accused persons in prosecution of their common object had committed riots and hit the deceased Deepak with deadly weapon causing his death. Since the unlawful assembly fully armed and in that pursuit, they had chased, apprehended and killed the deceased and from their conduct, it can be said that it was a case of criminal conspiracy,” the court said.

The court added that Anwar Hussain, Kasim, Shahrukh @ Rinku and Khalid Ansari were part of the unlawful assembly which committed violence in prosecution of the common object of rioting and murdered the deceased Deepak, and committed criminal conspiracy. Therefore, charges under Section 147 IPC, 148 IPC, 302 IPC, read with Section 149 IPC and under Section 302 IPC read with Section 120­B IPC are made out.

Punjab: Congress CM Channi announces ‘compensation’ of Rs 2 lakhs to 83 rioters arrested for Republic Day violence

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab: Congress CM Channi announces ‘compensation’ of Rs 2 lakhs to 83 rioters arrested for Republic Day violence

Punjab CM Chiranjit Singh Channi on Friday has announced a compensation of 2 lakhs to the perpetrators of the Republic Day who were arrested by the Delhi Police. Punjab government’s decision of rewarding the rioters arrested after the Republic Day violence was meant to demonstrate support to the ongoing protests against the three farm laws.

The tweet posted by the Chief Minister said, “Reiterating My Govt’s stand to support the ongoing #FarmersProtest against three black farm laws, We have decided to give Rs 2 lakh compensation to 83 people arrested by Delhi Police for carrying out a tractor rally in the national capital on 26th January, 2021.”

Earlier this year, unprecedented scenes were observed in Delhi on Republic Day. Thousands of protesters had stormed the national capital and breached the premises of the Red Fort where a Sikh Flag was unfurled. Over 100 people were arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with the violence that took place at ITO and Red Fort during the ‘Tractor Parade’. The ‘Tractor Parade’ was part of the farmers protest organized at the national capital which turned violent after the protesters violated the norms set by the Delhi police and went on to breach the premises of Red Fort and raised a Sikh flag on the dome.

Rahul Gandhi accuses BJP and RSS of spreading hatred using Hindutva, says Hindutva is not Hinduism

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi accuses BJP and RSS of spreading hatred using Hindutva, says Hindutva is not Hinduism

Rahul Gandhi claimed on Friday that there is a difference between Hinduism and Hindutva, and accused BJP and RSS of spreading hate. In his video address on the launch of the Congress party’s digital campaign Jan Jagran Abhiyan, the Congress leader further denigrated Hindutva as violent and blamed the BJP and the RSS for using Hindutva to spread hatred among people.

Rahul Gandhi said in the video, “Is Hinduism about beating a Sikh or a Muslim? Hindutva of course is. But is Hinduism about killing Akhlaq? In which book is this written? I have not seen it. I have read the Upanishads, I have not seen it. Where is it written that you should kill an innocent man? I am unable to find this, in Hindu scriptures, in Islamic scriptures, in Sikh scriptures. I can see it in Hindutva,”

The former Congress president said that while the scriptures of Hinduism clearly did not suggest the killing of an innocent, the ideology of Hindutva supports such violence.

Rahul Gandhi further said that the ideology of the Congress party was overshadowed by the ‘hateful ideology’ of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said, “Today, whether we like it or not the hateful ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has overshadowed the loving, affectionate and nationalistic ideology of Congress Party, we have to accept this. Our ideology is alive, vibrant but it has been overshadowed,”

Rahul Gandhi then further explained the need of Congress workers to understand what their ideology is. He said, “This is the foundational mission of Congress karyakartas. This is going to be central. And in my view, (K C) Venugopal ji and others might have a different opinion, but in my view it should be compulsory. It should be mandatory. Every single person should go through it. It should be a rigorous course and it should develop people who have real understanding of what it means to be a Congressperson,”

Notably, Rahul Gandhi’s statements differentiating between Hinduism and Hindutva comes in the backdrop of  Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s comparison of Hindutva to Islamic terror organisations like ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and Boko Haram. Salman Khurshid compared ISIS, one of the most dreaded Islamic terror group has been responsible for terror attacks across the world in recent years to Hindutva through a comment made in the chapter called ‘The Saffron Sky’ in his book ‘Sunrise over Ayodhya’.

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