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“Guided and aimed at you”, Navjot Singh Sidhu to Sukhbir Singh Badal after Badal called him a ‘misguided missile’

OpIndia Staff
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“Guided and aimed at you”, Navjot Singh Sidhu to Sukhbir Singh Badal after Badal called him a ‘misguided missile’

Even as the fight between two factions in Punjab Congress continues as an AICC committee failed to break the deadlock, today dissident Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu exchanged barbs with the Akali Dal. While Akali leader Sukhbir Singh Badal called Sidhu a ‘misguided missile’, Sidhu called himself a ‘guided and aimed missile’.

The dissident Congress camp led by Navjot Singh Sidhu has been attacking the CM Captain Amarinder Singh over various issues. Commenting on the ongoing tussle between the two Congress leaders, today Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal said, “Navjot Singh Sidhu is a misguided missile that is not under control, can hit in any direction including himself.”

Badal further added, “Today, Punjab doesn’t need a person who does acting but one who thinks about the development of the state.”

To this, Navjot Singh Sidhu reacted on Twitter saying that he is actually a ‘guided missile’ and is aiming towards destroying Badal’s “corrupt businesses”. Sidhu added, “Until your Sukh Vilas built on Punjab’s ruins is not turned into a Public School & Public Hospital to serve Punjab’s poor, I won’t relent!! “

Sidhu has been targeting both the Badals and the Punjab CM simultaneously. He had claimed it is the Badal family that is running the show in Punjab, not the Congress government. “The bureaucracy and police act as per the wishes of the Badal family, ignoring our MLAs and party workers,” he had alleged.

The Sidhu camp is targeting the CM over various issues like the 2015 sacrilege case and the subsequent police firing cases of Kotkapura, a clampdown on the alleged drug mafia, renegotiating the power purchase agreements etc. The sacrilege cases refer to the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib by miscreants in 2015 and the subsequent police firing on those protesting the desecration.

Navjot Singh Sidhu had said during both the Badal govt after the issue, and later during the Congress government, no justice was done in the sacrilege case. “6 Yrs since sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib Ji.. No Justice in 2 yrs of your rule.. No Justice in the following 4.5 yrs,” he had tweeted on 26th June, responding to a tweet by Sukhbir Singh Badal alleging that a new SIT was formed in the case to implicate Akali leaders in false cases.

Sidhu has alleged the Badals are responsible for the sacrilege incident. He had said that it was the Parkash Singh Badal government that had ordered the firing in Kotkapura. He said that “Badals’ “Political Interference” & Electoral polarisation behind Sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib Ji & Police firing incidents”.

Sidhu had said that the Sikh community is objecting to the Badals, holding them responsible for the incidents.

‘My English is not good enough’: Roger Federer’s answer to the interviewer wins hearts at the Wimbledon. Watch

OpIndia Staff
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‘My English is not good enough’: Roger Federer’s answer to the interviewer wins hearts at the Wimbledon. Watch

On June 29, Tennis star Roger Federer faced a tricky situation where he could not understand an interviewer’s question during the ongoing Wimbledon tournament. However, Federer handled the situation in a very comic mood. During the interview post-match, the interviewer asked Federer’s views on his opponent Adrian Mannarino falling during the match.

He seemed sympathetic and said, “Yeah, it’s awful. It shows that one shot can change the outcome of a match, a season, a career. I wish him all the best, and he recovers quickly, so we see him back on the courts.” He also admitted that his opponent was the better player on the court. The follow-up question, where the interviewer used a popular British idiom, left the Swiss maestro scratching his head.

The interviewer asked him if he felt his absence from the court was the same with him as it is with the idiom, ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’. The veteran Swiss tennis star could not understand and said, “Sorry, I didn’t understand it. I heard something’ absence’ and, I don’t know, my mind went blank. I don’t understand that saying. My English is not good enough.”

He chuckled while answering the question, to which the crowd cheered to his response. The interviewer tried repeating the question, but Roger Federer could not get hold of what he was saying. The interviewer then simplified it and explained it in simpler language that he wanted to know how he felt about coming back to the court after two years.

Federer said, “Good reminder, my English is not very good. I think we’re all very happy, all the players, including all the fans and the organizers and everybody that we get a chance to be back on tour, especially here at Wimbledon. It would’ve been worst to have this tournament with no fans. This would have been an absolute killer, so it’s such a privilege to play here.”

Netizens appreciate his honesty

Netizens were all appreciative of his honesty as English is not his first language.

Federer was on the verge of losing the match

Roger Federer almost suffered a first-round defeat in the ongoing Wimbledon 2021 while playing against Adrian Mannarino. He lost two of the three opening sets. In the first round, 20-time Grand Slam champion won the opening set 6-4, but the next two rounds were won by Mannarino with 7-6 and 6-3 on the board.

However, in the next round, Mannarino started to struggle at the court, giving a chance to Federer to make a comeback to the game. He won the fourth set 6-2. In the next set, Mannarino dell on the ground and was not able to continue, which made Federer the winner of the game. The Swiss player would face Richard Gasquet in the next match.

Zakir Naik links, terror funding and more: How shady organisations collected huge donations in the name of sending Covid help to India

Jinit Jain
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Zakir Naik links, terror funding and more: How shady organisations collected huge donations in the name of sending Covid help to India

Foreign-based organisations having links with Pakistan-based charities and hate-speech preacher Zakir Naik scammed millions of dollars in the name of helping India battle the COVID crisis, a series of two elaborate reports published by Disinfo Lab have recently revealed.

The reports revealed that dubious organisations with their roots linked to Pakistan collected funds all over the world, except for China, but after collecting millions in the name of helping “India Breathe”, they sent peanuts in name of help. The looted money, the report claimed, could be diverted from terror finance into the hands of the Pakistan army, Islamists and Hamas.

It also provided a list of organisations and the murky individuals associated with the scam carried out under the pretext of helping India tide over the ferocious second wave of coronavirus outbreak.

Here are the list of organisations, dubious individuals, and shady fundraiser platforms that were used to dupe people into donating for the Covid outbreak in India, but were possibly diverted for fomenting protests and social disturbances, including terror attacks, in India and elsewhere.

IMANA

One of the sketchy organisations that were at the forefront of seeking donations in the name of helping India was the Islamic Medical Association of North America or “IMANA”. However, when questions were raised on the transparency of funds received, it would cry “Islamophobia”.

Disinfo Lab probed into the details of IMANA and it was struck by how an organisation that had absolutely no presence on the ground and with no help from local partners in India, was planning to help during the COVID crisis.

Initially, it sought financial aid through its website. It’s website reportedly went down on April 29 after the donation drive was launched on April 27 “likely due to heavy traffic”. IMANA raised a whooping Rs 8.77 crores from Instagram through #HelpIndiaBreathe campaign, which was followed by $298,919 being raised by the Just Giving platform.

Disinfo Lab said IMANA started receiving donations at a speed of $100K per hour after reaching $100K on the second day. According to rough estimates, IMANA received approximately Rs30 crores to Rs 158 crores.

IMANA’s trail led Disinfo Lab to chance upon ‘Launch Good’, which led them to several such scams being run in the name of Covid in India. The report revealed that most of these shady entities claimed to be Muslim organisations but they are not what they portrayed to be. Instead, they are fraud organisations feeding on Muslim sentiments and a larger global population in general.

Muslim Aid

Another notorious organisation involved in fleecing money in the name of helping COVID-19 patients in India was Muslim Aid. The organisation has expanded its branches in several countries such as the United States, UK, Australia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bosnia and Sweden. However, not all countries are unaware of their shady activities.

The organisation is already banned in Israel and Bangladesh for having ties with terror outfits while Spain had accused the organisation of financing Mujahideen fighters in Bosnia.

The funds being collected by Muslim Aid for apparently helping India during its COVID crisis was done by three of its front organisation—Muslim Aid(UK), Muslim Aid Australia, and Muslim Aid USA, as per the Disinfo Lab report.

Muslim Aid UK

The Muslim Aid UK is headed by a Bangladeshi war criminal Mueen-Uddin Chowdhury, the former Al-Badr leader. The militia of Al-Badr were known for engaging in systematic execution of Bengali pro-liberation movement activists and intellectuals around the 1970s. The execution continued throughout the movement as Pakistani supporters wreaked havoc and mercilessly killed intellectuals who swayed public opinion towards having an independent country.

Chowdhury was one amongst the Al-Badr militias, who actively participated in suppressing the Bangladeshi liberation movement and killings of the pro-liberation intellectuals. He allegedly also has links with Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Muslim Aid USA

The Muslim Aid USA was one of the front organisations leading the crowdfunding campaign seeking donations for India’s COVID-19 outbreak. Before 2021, the organisation had mentioned India only three occasions—in 2018, 2019, and 2020–all of which was about Qurbani Cow Shares & Kerala Floods (2018). It is pertinent to mention that the Muslim Aid USA sought donation in the name of cow slaughter in India, even though it is banned in several Indian states.

Like IMANA, the Muslim Aid has no ground presence in India but it preys on sympathy of people to collect donations in the name of crisis unfolding in India. And unsuspecting individuals, shattered by the COVID outbreak in India, donated their hard-earned money to these organisations, which never reached the intended beneficiaries.

After raking in millions in donations, the Muslim Aid USA said it donated only 9 oxygen concentrators to India, details of which are murky and there is no clarity if even this help arrived.

The shady fundraiser platform “Launch Good”

Through “Launch Good” platform alone, the Muslim Aid USA was able to mop over $76,000. It is also worth noting that Launch Good is not an independent portal committed to transparency. It is a part of the nexus that is connected to Jamaat-e-Islami and keeps the details of fund collection and relief material delivered under wraps.

Even though the Muslim Aid USA collected funds for helping COVID victims, there are no details of actual help provided. The Launch Good platform also has a fundraiser in the name of Jammu and Kashmir known as “Jammu and Azad Kashmir”. Despite the lack of transparency, the fund has inched towards its initial target of collecting $10,000.

Muslim Aid Australia

After realising that other organisations are receiving generous donations in the name of India’s COVID outbreak, the Muslim Aid Australia also decided to take a dip. Like its sister organisations, the Muslim Aid Australia started a fundraiser on the “Launch Good” platform for helping India during COVID-19 crisis.

However, they went a step further and roped in one Bilal Philips as their star campaigner for the fund-raising. Bilal is known to have links with Taliban and Hamas.

To increase the impact of its fund-raiser, Muslim Aid Australia used a picture of man suffering from Tuberculosis for its campaign for COVID-19 outbreak in India. The picture was from 2018 and available on Getty Images for $499.

As it the case with its sister organisations, Muslim Aid Australia was not transparent on the help it delivered in India. It’s website said it had donated 40 oxygen concentrators but there were no details attached to substantiate those claims.

Bilal Philips who has terror links with Hamas and Taliban

The star campaigner of the fundraiser, Bilal Philips is a Canadian Muslim teacher, who lives in Qatar. He is a former Board Member of the Islamic Education Research Academy (iERA) which is known to have members of the most hardline radical Islamists in the world.

And while Muslim Aid Australia used this Bilal Philips for promoting their fundraiser, he remains banned in several countries, including Australia, for his links with terror organisations.

Bilal also has a history of working in India. In 2009-2010, Bilal founded two education institutions i.e., Preston International College and Al-Fajr International School, both in Chennai, India.

Muslim Aid Pakistan

While different branches of Muslim Aid appear to work independently, the relationship of Muslim Aid Pakistan with other organisations is rather peculiar. Though other organisation claim they carry out work on ground(whatever worth it is), the Pakistani branch of Muslim Aid has a connection with its intelligence wing ISI.

The Muslim Aid Pakistan is currently headed by retired Lt. General Khalid Latif Mughal, who had served in the Pakistan Army for 36 years and was also the General Secretary of the Analysis wing of ISI. The various branches of Muslim Aid work in conjunction with Muslim Aid Pakistan for the “charity” wing of Jamaat-e-Islami(JeI), Al Khidmat.

These Muslim Aid organisations have a symbiotic relationship is evident from the fact that they share common ‘Board Members’ across various branches.

In fact, it is a revolving door mechanism in play, the Disinfo Lab report says. Board Members of the various organisations of Muslim Aid keep moving from one organisation to another. A total of four members of Muslim Aid USA, UK and Pakistan are common across the ‘Boards’ of these organisations. These are Muhammad Manazir Ahsan, Farooq Salman Murad, Syed Mohammed Tanzeem Wasti, and Sir Iqbal Sacranie.

While there is no denying the fact that all the fronts of Muslim Aid are associated with each other, Pakistan is the fulcrum of this entire charade of charity industry. Some members served one stint with US & UK branch were later promoted to Pakistan front. It won’t be an overstatement to say that Muslim Aid Pakistan is the primary organisations and the remaining ones are its offshoots.

Zakir Naik, Zakaat Foundation, Al Fouz, Peace TV and their connection to key members of Muslim Aid organisations

The crucial players running the organised charity scam through Muslim Aid organisations are also key figures in some of the controversial organisations in India—such as Zakaat Foundation India (ZFI), Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), Al Fouz Trust and Peace TV.

Mohammed Jafer Hussain, one of the key members of Muslim Aid UK, is also a trustee of Peace TV, the channel through which Zakir Naik propagated his hate speech. Besides, Hussain was also the director of the Islamic Research Foundation, another organisation owned by Zakir Naik.

Similarly, Bilal Philips, who was roped in by Muslim Aid Australia for the fundraiser in the name of India’s COVID outbreak, is a close associate of Zakir Naik and has regularly appeared as a speaker on Peace TV.

All the members of the Muslim Aid organisations are linked to each other in some or the other way. Mohammad Jaffer Hussain Qureshi is the Chairman of the al-Fouz Trust, whose founding trustees Mustassam Abbasi is also the director of Peace TV. Hussain is also a close associate of Syed Zafar Mehmood, founder of Zakaat Foundation India, and both of them serve as directors of Zakaat Foundation of India(International).

The detailed article by Disinfo Lab, detailing the shady individuals, their crowdfunding campaigns and dubious tactics can be read here.

‘Tricked into religious conversion for marriage and then father in law demanded sex’, J&K woman reveals her ordeal

OpIndia Staff
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‘Tricked into religious conversion for marriage and then father in law demanded sex’, J&K woman reveals her ordeal

After the controversial conversion of two Sikh girls in the Kashmir valley led to a widespread protest, another case of Grooming Jihad has been reported from Jammu.

Nikita Saini, in an exclusive interview to JK Media’s Ashish Kolhi, revealed that she was tricked into religious conversion by her husband. Narrating her incident, Saini, a resident of Jalandhar, informed that she was trapped by her husband Arfin Shah and his family into marrying him when they got to know of her previously failed marriage. Shah and his family hails from Udhampur, Jammu & Kashmir.

Working as an HR in a Jalandhar hospital, Saini said that Arfin Shah was her classmate from school days and used to often converse with her over WhatsApp and social media. Shah approached her for his mother’s operation and that is when he got to know about Saini’s marital status. 

Shah and his family then approached Saini telling her that they look for such women and get them married so they can lead a respectful life in society. Shah’s mother then pressured her into marrying her already married son saying they will take good care of her after marriage.

JK Media interview with victim Nikita Saini

However, no conversation or condition for conversion was placed before Saini. As Saini agreed to marry Shah, she was taken to Uttar Pradesh to perform Nikah where her name was changed to Nafeeza from Nikita. On raising alarm, Saini was told that this is just a formality.

Saini narrated the incident in a letter to governor Manoj Sinha seeking justice. 

Nikita Saini’s Letter to Govenor Manoj Sinha. Image Source: Ashish Kohli

The couple was then taken to Haridwar for a Hindu wedding. Troubles mounted for Saini when the duo returned to Udhampur. Shah’s mother made a ludicrous demand by asking Saini to marry her father-in-law. She allegedly claimed that because she was a cancer patient from 2007, she could not establish a physical relationship with her husband and asked Saini to compensate.

Saini left with her husband and shifted to a rented house. However, Saini alleges that it was just hogwash by her husband and soon after shifting Arfin Shah again started pressurizing her to marry his father as ‘it will stay in the family’.

When Saini opposed, the entire Shah family pressurized her into marrying her father-in-law by saying that the matter would stay within the four walls. They also promised her property and money in exchange.

When Saini refused to budge, the brothers made plans to sell her by deciding who will keep her in a predecided amount. Saini alleged that the family wanted to push her into prostitution.

Saini who is receiving no help from the police for over a month said she is facing death threats from the family. Shah family as informed by the victim owns a gun factory and runs an NGO in Udhampur by the name ‘Jiyo aur Jeene Do.’

When Saini threatened suicide, she was taken back to the family by the police by to resolve the matter amicably. However, Arfin Shah had gone missing by then and had switched off the phone. Shah’s family threatened Saini with dire consequences if anything happened to Afrin and said she would be held responsible. 

However, a few days later Afrin Shah’s first wife sent Saini videos claiming that Afrin was not missing and is rather holidaying with his family.

Saini, after receiving no help from the police has approached media to share her plight.

This comes shortly after two girls of the Sikh community had gone missing from the family. The girls were allegedly abducted and converted to Islam. One of the two missing girls was found and handed over to her family who then got her re-converted to her original faith.

BJP leader requests Muslim religious bodies to recite Azaan in Indian languages instead of Arabic, so everyone understands the message

OpIndia Staff
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BJP leader requests Muslim religious bodies to recite Azaan in Indian languages instead of Arabic, so everyone understands the message

On June 30, Vikash Preetam Sinha, Co Incharge, Publicity Literature Dept, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) urged the government and Muslim clerics to use Indian languages instead of Arabic to recite Azaan in masjids.

He said that as Azaan is recited in Arabic five times a day from lakhs of mosques across the country, even though crores of Indians do not know or understand the Arabic language.

In a Hindi tweet, he said, “Azaan is recited in the Arabic language five times a day from lakhs of mosques in the country. Millions of non-Arabic people of this country do not understand its meaning. Therefore, I request the government and the Muslim clerics to arrange recitation of Azaan in Indian languages so that people are made aware of its meaning and importance.”

Meaning of Azaan

According to several Islamic websites, Azaan, that is the Islamic call for prayer, reads, Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah. Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah. Ashadu anna Muhammadan Rasool Allah. Ashadu anna Muhammadan Rasool Allah. Hayya ‘ala-s-Salah. Hayya ‘ala-s-Salah. Hayya ‘ala-l-Falah. Hayya ‘ala-l-Falah. Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! La ilaha illa Allah.”

Its English translation reads, “Allah is Great! Allah is Great! Allah is Great! Allah is Great! I bear witness that there is no god except Allah. I bear witness that there is no god except Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God. Hurry to the prayer. Hurry to the prayer. Hurry to salvation. Hurry to salvation. Allah is Great! Allah is Great! There is no god except Allah.”

Controversies regarding Azan and loudspeakers

In India, as per the law, a loudspeaker or a public address system shall not be used at night (between 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM) except in closed premises for communication within. Law also states that the noise level cannot exceed the ambient noise standards by 11dB (A).

There have been several court orders saying that authorities should ensure to restrict the usage of loudspeakers at religious places due to noise pollution.

Abduction and conversion of Sikh girls: ‘Not an isolated incident but a regular phenomenon,’ says Ramnik Singh Mann

OpIndia Staff
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Abduction and conversion of Sikh girls: ‘Not an isolated incident but a regular phenomenon,’ says Ramnik Singh Mann

The controversial abduction and conversion of two Sikh girls from the Kashmir valley and re-conversion to Sikhism has laid bare the issues faced by the Sikh community, both at the internal and external levels. With a certain section asserting the existence of Love Jihad, the liberals from the lot have distanced themselves calling it an attack on freedom of choice.

We reported how author Amaan Bali was cancelled for his outright confession where he said in a retaliatory Tweet, “No, Girls will not marry Muslims. Live with it. Deal with it. This is the fine line we have drawn at the community level.” With this, Bali was seen as a borderline Islamaphobe and thereby cancelled by the ‘secular-liberal’ ecosystem. 

Political analyst Ramnik Singh Mann who has been at the forefront of this issue, explained the reason for the divide in a two-part video.

Mann “without mincing any words” revealed that these were not ‘just’ two cases of ‘Love Jihad’ in the valley. Calling it a regular phenomenon, Mann revealed that Sikh girls are being abducted, forcefully converted and married off to Muslims regularly. Cases of women being physically assaulted, being kicked when pregnant have also been reported, said Mann.

He also stated that after the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, the Sikh community in the valley was made the next target. Mann informed that these are not isolated cases and organizations of the Sikh community have been fighting a long battle against forceful conversions and Love Jihad. Sikhs from all age groups in the United Sikh Forum have been trying to fight the menace relentlessly, Mann said.

He mentioned the Chittisinghpura massacre against Sikhs, and stated that the community has been strongly resisting attacks since then, trying to preserve their identity and existence in the Jammu and Kashmir region.

“Middle-aged men marry girls of their daughter’s and granddaughter’s age and forcefully convert them,” remarked Mann. 

Mann also slammed the mainstream Sikh political leaders- one for hijacking the cause and the unfortunate incident and the other for ignoring the entire turn of events.

Lashing out at Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Mann said the politician landed from Delhi, took over the protest to make headlines, hounded Kashmiri leaders and then enjoyed the hospitality offered by them. 

Mann expressed his displeasure over the mainstream Sikh politicians diluting the issues their community is suffering from. Taking a jibe at the relentless conversions in Punjab, Mann said, “How will the politicians who raise their hands and say Hallelujah comment on this event?”

“How will the ones who go to Pakistan and embrace Imran Khan and Pakistan Army Chief comment against this? Not one word from Sidhu, not one word from Sukhbir Badal” Mann continued in an attack on Navjot Singh Sidhu. 

Ending his video, Mann appealed the politicians to not indulge in activities just to maintain optics and make headlines and rather stand strong with the community and protect the religious identity. 

In another Tweet, Mann reaffirmed that they will continue to protect the girls from their community from forced conversions and Love Jihad. “We got her back, we’ll do it again whenever required, wherever required. To all the Woke people imparting Gyan. Take a Hike,” exclaimed Mann.

Akali Dal apologizes to Kashmiri Muslims

At a time when the Sikh community of Kashmir was fighting to get the girls back, Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) leader Paramjit Singh Sarna apologized to the Kashmiri Muslim community over comments made by colleague Manjinder Singh Sirsa. He also showered praises on Muslim leaders, including cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Watering down the entire incident, Paramjit Singh Sarna said that the Sikh girl got married to the man of her choice on Tuesday and that the issue was settled. “We also met people such as the Mirwaiz and Muslim organizations. The way all of them collaborated with us, we would not forget that for the rest of our lives,” Sarna said before adding, “We were provided support.”

Sirsa runs to Kashmir to lead the campaign

Akali Dal leader Manjinder Sirsa who had previously mocked Hinduism as a ‘weak religion’ for wanting in anti-conversion laws was seen giving interviews after interviews calling for similar reforms in Jammu & Kashmir.

Sirsa participated in several protests and demanded laws against forced conversions, like the one recently brought in by the UP government, in Jammu & Kashmir too, to fight the forceful religious conversion in the valley.

Fracture in Muslim-Sikh unity?

The entire incident has led to a crack in the widely peddled narrative of the Muslim-Sikh unity, especially in the backdrop of anti-CAA protests and farmer protests. Manmeet Kaur, one of the two Sikh girls who was allegedly abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to a Muslim man in Jammu and Kashmir, got remarried to one Sukhbir Singh, with the decision of Panj Pyaaras. 

Many Sikh leaders, and community members have asserted vocally that, though they are not against harmony between religions, marriage is where they draw the line and the community will not accept interfaith marriages with Muslims.

Activist Amaan Bali had shared an audio clip of the victim’s father who could be heard sobbing as he narrated his tribulations and begged to save Sikh daughters in Kashmir, who are vulnerable to abduction and forced conversions, thereby, widening the divide.

Befitting reply? “Tapsee Pannu begs to producers to get ‘leftover’ roles” says Kangana Ranaut

OpIndia Staff
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Befitting reply? “Tapsee Pannu begs to producers to get ‘leftover’ roles” says Kangana Ranaut

In a not-so-pleasant morning for Bollywood entertainer Taapsee Pannu, national award winning actress Kangana Ranaut mocked her for using her name to gain publicity. 

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Pannu talked about Kangana Ranaut’s “irrelevance” which made it to the headline. Allegedly asked if she misses Ranaut on Twitter, Pannu remarked that she is indifferent towards her and does not miss her absence on Twitter. Kangana’s sister Rangoli has often referred to Pannu as ‘sasti copy‘ (cheap copy) of Kangana.

In a ‘befitting reply’ to Pannu, Ranaut in her Instagram story advised the actress to try promoting her film without feeding off her name and fame. 

Ranaut revealed that Pannu approaches producers to give her ‘leftover’ roles. She also said that there was a time when Pannu took pride in when someone called her “gareeb producer ki Kangana (Kangana of poor producer).”

Screenshot of Kangana Ranaut’s Instagram story. Image Source: Instagram

In a follow-up post, Ranaut explained that she does not mind ‘B-grade actress’ using her name, style or career strategies to promote themselves but advised them to be respectful. 

“Of course they will use my name growing up in the industry, I was also inspired by those who made it before me but I never disrespected them always showed immense respect for those who inspired me,” her post read.

Screenshot of Kangana Ranaut’s Instagram Story. Image Source: Instagram

Ending her note on Pannu, Ranaut said that it is imperative to show people who climb over other people’s heads for success to show their rightful place. 

Pannu in an exclusive interview to the Hindustan Times made ludicrous remarks against both the Ranaut sisters. The interview revolved around Rangoli Chandel’s recent remarks on Pannu but ended with informing about her new release.

Kangana Ranaut de-platformed

Kangana Ranaut’s Twitter account was permanently suspended in May after she demanded action against ‘monster’ Mamata Banerjee in the aftermath of massive post-poll violence in West Bengal.

Kangana Ranaut was responding to a tweet by BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta where he had said that the situation was alarming in Nanoor, Birbhum district. 

Kangana Ranaut, quoting the tweet, had requested Narendra Modi to show his ‘Virat Roop’ from early 2000s. Her account was suspended for the same. Ranaut since then has been active on Instagram and has refused to come back to Twitter.

Gujarat Model with Modi’s touch of governance: CM Vijay Rupani on COVID crisis and what to look forward to in 2022 elections

Rahul Roushan
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Gujarat Model with Modi’s touch of governance: CM Vijay Rupani on COVID crisis and what to look forward to in 2022 elections

On Mondays and Tuesdays, Vijay Rupani, the Chief Minister of Gujarat spends almost entire afternoons and evenings meeting people and understanding their problems better so that the government can serve them better. These public meetings are an extension of his monthly interaction ‘Mokla Mane (with an open mind)’ he has with various sections of the society. This, along with regular interactions he has through ‘Jan Samvad’ the integrated direct feedback forum, is what gives the confidence to Mr. Rupani that BJP will be chosen again by the people of Gujarat when assembly elections take place next year.

Though elections are more than a year away, some amount of curiosity about it was created recently when Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) inducted some new members in the Gujarat state unit of the party and senior leaders like Arvind Kejriwal himself made claims about the party all set ‘to change politics’ of Gujarat. Earlier in February this year, AAP had done well in Surat local body elections, giving hope to the party of making a mark outside Delhi.

However, Mr. Vijay Rupani believes that the party is not a serious contender as they lack any vision for the state and they don’t have any meaningful alternative to offer to the Gujaratis.

“Gujarat is a politically aware state. The Navnirman Andolan against corruption began from Gujarat. Even India’s Independence movements were started by Gandhiji and Sardar Patel from Gujarat. And Modiji has also started to good governance movement from Gujarat. Till now Gujarat has been a two-party state. People have either chosen between BJP or Congress. Since past 25 years they have chosen the BJP. Congress is more or less finished in entire India,” the Chief Minister of Gujarat told OpIndia in an exclusive interview given on Tuesday before his public meetings began.

Mr. Rupani further added why he thinks AAP can’t be considered as a serious contender in the state politics. He added that the party had neither a neta (leader) nor karyakarta (workers or cadre) in the state. “Those who are joining AAP right now are either disgruntled people from other parties or those who were not welcomed by them. Freebies wont work in Gujarat. Congress also tried to give freebies like loan waivers, but it still could not win,” he said.

He added how during 2017 Gujarat state elections Congress played all tricks in the book to further its caste politics but even then people of Gujarat voted did not vote for them. Mr Rupani added that despite the closely fought 2017 elections, in 2019 general elections, Gujarat gave all 26 Lok Sabha seats to the BJP.

While Mr. Rupani answered the questions of OpIndia related to the politics of the state, he reiterated that his current focus was on governance and next year’s elections were not on his mind. The state has just been able to contain the second wave of Covid, and the administration was focused on how to make sure that the state doesn’t face any challenges in the third wave, if at all it arrives.

“It was a huge challenge. The demand was 5-6 times than the supply we have. But we made a collective effort. We have a very dynamic dashboard through which we get real time data on all sectors and departments across Gujarat. During corona, in Rajkot, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Surat, I spoke to doctors and others in real time to take stock of situation. During second wave, we had highest new cases of 14,600 on April 30. Yesterday we were below 100 new cases. For third wave, if it happens, we are prepared for 25,000 new cases per day. Everyone from CM, to deputy CM and bureaucrats were involved and it was a collective responsibility to overcome this,” he recalled the challenges and how they were tackled.

Chief Minister expressed confidence that the state will be fully prepared if and when the third wave strikes, though the aim is to make sure that such a wave doesn’t happen at all. The state government is focusing on six big cities of the state, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Gandhinagar where significant number of population is vaccinated. If this pace continues and Mr Rupani is confident that by July end, the government would have vaccinated over 70% people of these major districts as well as Junagadh and Bhavnagar.

Taking other lessons from the second wave, the state government is ramping up the capacity for oxygen beds and other medical supplies. “On 15th March we had 41,000 oxygen beds. Within a month, we increased capacity to about 57,000 beds. During first wave, peak oxygen requirement was 300 MT. This time it went up to 1180 MT. For third wave, we are prepared for 1800 MT oxygen. We are setting up 300 oxygen plants across Gujarat of which about 150 are already set up. A centralized information dashboard is also being planned where a citizen will be able to know the availability of hospital beds in various cities of Gujarat,” he said.

The 64-years-old BJP leader, who will complete 5 years in the office as the Chief Minister of Gujarat in August this year, told OpIndia that not only he is focused on making sure that the state doesn’t see a third wave, his government is also focused on making sure that the development work is not derailed due to the first two waves of the pandemic.

“Gujarat was the only state which did not have a complete lockdown during second wave of the pandemic. We kept industries open, offices were working with reduced capacity,” Mr. Rupani said. Elaborating on reviving one of the most affected industries, tourism, he said, “Gujarat has been known for being religious tourism hub with holy sites like Somnath, Ambaji. We are now also trying to develop new tourism circuits like ‘Border tourism’ at Banaskantha border,” he said. Gujarat shares about 506 of the total 3,323 km border with Pakistan.

Speaking on the development of Saurashtra region which covers about 3rd of Gujarat, CM Rupani said hospital like AIIMS, airport and six lane highways are being constructed connecting the region to Ahmedabad via Rajkot. CM Rupani hails from Rajkot and it was Rajkot II constituency where PM Modi registered his first electoral victory in by-elections in February 2002.

Mr. Rupani also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing the much-needed guidance and support to meet his development goals and agenda. He recalled that during the cyclone Tauktae that hit Gujarat in May this year, the Prime Minister and Home Minister were on top of the things. “PM Modi visited Gujarat the very next day. He was in touch through video conference, sent NDRF, Home Minister Amit Shah was also in constant touch with us. Centre also announced relief of Rs 1,000 crore,” he said.

Mr. Rupani also credited the culture of ‘institution building’ that was set up by Narendra Modi as the Chief Minister of the state for having helped him in governance. Use of technology too has been employed effectively by the current Chief Minister, which too matches the style of Prime Minister Modi’s governance.

One such effective use of technology is creation of “CM Dashboard” that helps the office of the Chief Minister to keep a track on the status and qualify of various government schemes and offerings in real-time. The dashboard was used effectively during the Covid crisis too.

When asked why he is not seen as frequently or ‘effectively’ in the national media as some of the other chief ministers, the Gujarat CM said that he believes in focusing on his work and even if he might not be visible in the national media, he is easily approachable person who values feedback – which is why he spends two days in a week meeting people and listening to them.

(The interview was conducted by Rahul Roushan, CEO of OpIndia, and Nirwa Mehta, Editor of the English OpIndia website)

Poland: Catholic Church hit with sexual abuse cases, admits that 368 minors were abused by clergy in last three years

OpIndia Staff
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Poland: Catholic Church hit with sexual abuse cases, admits that 368 minors were abused by clergy in last three years

The Catholic Church in Poland is facing a wave of allegations of sexual abuse committed by clergy and often involving minor children.

According to the reports, the Catholic Church of Poland, the core element of Poland’s national identity, which has been accused of covering up crimes of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy, on Monday acknowledged that it had received complaints of abuse from 368 boys and girls in the last three years.

Admitting the cover-ups, the Polish church’s Archbishop Wojciech Polak, pleaded for forgiveness from “those wronged and all those shocked by the evil in the church”. He said the figures did not express the full depth of the crimes of sexual abuse of minors perpetrated by some clergymen. Almost half of the reported victims of abuse by senior clergymen are under age 15.

“I would like to address all those who have been wronged and scandalised by the evil in the church. I would like to ask for forgiveness once again,” said Wojciech Polak, the Archbishop of Gniezno.

Nearly 75 per cent of the complaints reported on Monday are related to abuse incidents before 2018, with some dating back to 1958.

According to the church, 39 per cent of the complaints have been found to be true so far, while investigations are being carried out to look into the remaining cases.

Vatican has threatened to investigate sexual crimes committed by Polish church authorities

Poland’s Catholic Church admitted to the sexual abuse by its clergymen just days after the Vatican had said it was investigating accusations against a retired Polish cardinal of negligence on sexual abuse. The statement by the Vatican has triggered the Poland Church to launch an investigation on its own to show that it is serious about grappling with sex crimes against its own clergy.

The Vatican had said it would investigate one of the most senior figures in the Polish church, Stanislaw Dziwisz, who served as Archbishop of Krakow from 2005-2016 for covering up paedophilia allegations.

The Catholic Church of Poland has been hit by a series of paedophilia scandals, leading to the erosion of its authority, especially among younger Poles. The Church had released a similar survey in 2019 found in which it had accounted for 382 abuse sexual abuse complaints against minors over the previous 28 years.

Ever since allegations of sexual abuse surfaced, the Polish church has been struggling to convince its worshipers that it has the problem under control. Since then, several senior churchmen have been forced to resign or go into early retirement.

Infighting within Akali over conversion of Sikh women to Islam: Sarna apologises to Kashmiri Muslims for Sirsa’s comments, says issue settled

OpIndia Staff
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Infighting within Akali over conversion of Sikh women to Islam: Sarna apologises to Kashmiri Muslims for Sirsa’s comments, says issue settled

Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) leader Paramjit Singh Sarna has apologised to the Kashmiri Muslim community over comments made by colleague Manjinder Singh Sirsa over the issue of conversion of Sikh women to Islam, Hindustan Times reported. He also showered praises on Muslim leaders, including cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Paramjit Singh Sarna said that the Sikh girl got married to the man of her choice on Tuesday and that the issue was settled. “We also met people such as the Mirwaiz and Muslim organisations. The way all of them collaborated with us, we would not forget that for the rest of our lives,” Sarna said before adding, “We were provided support.”

He stated, “Although I have no association with them, but since a Sikh (Sirsa) came from Delhi and gave a statement, I apologise for that. Any hurt which was caused by his statement to the people here, it is my responsibility as a representative to apologise on his behalf.”

He added, “We are thankful to the lieutenant governor (Manoj Sinha), the administration, and all the Muslim organisations and Imams of many mosques who met us. I also told them that since we are in minority, so you (majority) have to take care of us.”

“I request local leaders of Srinagar and Mullanas & Muftis to come in support of Sikh daughters. Sikhs were at the forefront ensuring Muslim daughters reach home safely during CAA protests but no Muslim leader has come to raise voice against forced conversions of Sikh girls,” Manjinder Singh Sirsa had said.

Sirsa had also stated “I am at Srinagar joining the protest with local Sikh community against forced Nikah and conversions of Sikh daughters who are forced to marry elderly of different religion. I urge Govt of India to take stern action against such kind of Nikah happening in the valley.” He had said that the Sikh community will not tolerate forced conversions.

Sikh-Muslim unity project suffers a huge dent

A Sikh activist said that Sikh women will not be allowed to marry Muslims. It was after online squabbles had begun between the Sikh and the Muslim community. The activist was slammed by people from the Muslim community as well.

Sikhs and Muslims have pledged that they would no longer support each other’s cause. One of the Sikh supporters tweeted that Muslims had used them to rally support against NRC, CAA and Article 370. He also added that Sikhs in Punjab are fairly accommodative of Gujjar and Kashmiri Muslim settlers.

To this, a Muslim Twitter user questioned if this is how Sikhs would pay back to the Muslims who had stood by them in the farmers’ protest against the Modi government. He also expressed his disappointment with Sikhs for taking a ‘Muslim girl’ back who had left Sikhism for Allah and Prophet Muhammad.

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