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Court directs former PM Deve Gowda to pay Rs 2 crores for defaming construction firm: Here are the details of the case

OpIndia Staff
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Court directs former PM Deve Gowda to pay Rs 2 crores for defaming construction firm: Here are the details of the case

Former Prime Minister and JDS patriarch HD Deve Gowda has been directed to pay a sum of ₹2 crores to an infrastructure services firm named Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) Limited for causing ‘loss of reputation’. The order was issued by an Additional City Civil and Sessions Court on Thursday (June 17).

During an interview to a Kannada news channel in 2011, Deve Gowda had claimed that the firm was ‘looting’ more land than required for the implementation of a project. Following his comments, NICE Limited had filed a lawsuit against the JDS supremo. The company claimed to have suffered a huge loss to its reputation and demanded ₹10 crores in damages.

The Counsel for NICE Limited pointed out that the firm had no role in determining the quantity of land allocated for the said project. He argued that the allegation was baseless and not backed by any documentary evidence. The Counsel for the company also highlighted that the project was approved by the Karnataka Government. He added that directions for the implementation of the project were given by the Karnataka High Court as well as the Supreme Court of India.

The Counsel argued that since the project received clearance both from the Judiciary and the Government, it was a testimony of ‘no irregularities/ illegality’ in the project. When the matter came up before Judge Mallanagouda of the Additional City Civil and Sessions Court, he noted that the former PM failed to prove his claims made during the interview. The Court directed Deve Gowda to pay a fine of ₹2 crores and permanently refrain from making any statements against NICE Limited in media or other mass communication channels.

The Court ruled, “Therefore, there is nothing on record to show that the allegations made by the defendant (Deve Gowda) against the plaintiff Company (NICE) in the questioned interview are supported with any cogent documentary proof…Hence, if defamatory statements like the present one are allowed to be made in the future, definitely implementation of such a massive project like the present one which is undertaken in the larger public interest of the State of Karnataka is going to be delayed.”

In the 1996 general elections, HD Deve Gowda became the Prime Minister with the external support of the Congress party. The popular mandate produced a hung assembly, despite BJP being the single largest party. Congress played the role of the kingmaker and made him the PM.

Years later in 2018, Congress helped his son Kumarswamy to snatch power from BS Yeddyurappa and form the government. But, just like the 1996 JDS-Congress coalition, the government collapsed and the BJP came to the power yet again. Neither Deve Gowda nor Kumaraswamy was ever meant to hold the posts they assumed, even they themselves never thought about assuming such positions.


They tortured me physically, mentally, abused my religion and my God: Read how women in Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal are being victimised

OpIndia Staff
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They tortured me physically, mentally, abused my religion and my God: Read how women in Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal are being victimised

While Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal turns a blind eye towards the post-poll violence and abuse, several victimised women have come up to narrate horrific details of grievous bodily harm and sexual violence meted out at them allegedly by TMC cadres.

A report by Organiser pens down the horrifying story of a few of such women, who had to pay the price of supporting BJP in Mamata’s West Bengal.

BJP polling agent from West Bengal Pinky Baj recounts the atrocities inflicted on her family by TMC cadres

In her complaint to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, New Delhi, one Pinky Baj (34), resident of Jaygram, village, North Parganas, West Bengal, revealed the horror that unfolded on May 2, when Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress returned to power in the state.

Pinky alleged that around 7:30 pm on May 2, around 50 TMC goons led by Mujaffar Baidya, Mahabur Baidya, Akhar Bhagi, Aja Mullah, Labawali Gazi and others barged into her house. “They started abusing me in the filthiest language. They started beating us with bamboo sticks, iron rods, their bare hands, and destroyed each and everything in the house and looted items worth 3 lakhs.”

“Jaisi tumhari Hindu devi maa Kaali n*ngi hai.. waise hi tumko n*nga karenge (the way your Hindu devi Kaali is naked, we will make you naked as well)”, they attacked my religious belief by abusing my God, lamented the BJP worker. She alleged that they hurled filthy abuses at her and threatened to rape her and also hurled sexually explicit abuses towards Goddess Kaali and Lord Ram.

“They have tortured me physically, mentally and attacked my religious belief by abusing my God. It is such a humiliation that I cannot forget it ever in my life,” rued the BJP polling agent while narrating her horrific tale.

However, according to Organiser, the TMC goons had started harassing the BJP supporter much prior to May 2. In fact, on April 17, Pinky, who belongs to the schedule caste community, was present at the polling booth, when the TMC cadres approached her and started hurling casteist abuses at her. Using extremely derogatory language against her, the TMC goons threatened to rape and thereafter shoot her when their party comes back to power.

Pinky Baj further wrote in her complaint that on that very day, she and her son were accosted by Mujaffar Baidya, Mahabur Baidya, Akhar Bhagi, Aja Mullah, Labawali Gazi, while she was on her way back home after polling got over. The TMC goons brutally thrashed her 17-year-old son, recalled Pinky.

The mother and the son duo were continuously harassed by the TMC goons until they managed to run away from the village. However, this was not the end of Pinky Baj’s miseries. After they fled, her husband, Sadhan Baj, who works outside the village, called up Mujaffar Baidya, to sort things with him, so that he could get his wife and son back home.

Mujaffar Baidya, reportedly told Sadhan Baj that he would first have to send his wife to him. Then only will he allow them to come back into the village.

Speaking to Organiser, the BJP polling agent said that all she wants is that those TMC goons get punished for their sins.

BJP worker Aparna Das raped, poisoned by TMC goons in West Bengal

Likewise, BJP worker Aparna Das, resident of Barotola in Khejuri Vidhan Sabha also left her village due to the constant harassment she was subjected to by the TMC goons. She said she would return to her village after 5 years if the BJP forms the government in Bengal.

Recollecting the horror, Das said that on June 2, few boys belonging to the Muslim community visited her and threatened her to leave her house. “Later during the night, they came back and dropped a bomb in front of my house. The next day, they dropped another bomb,” she said.

“The day after that, once again Usman (Ara), Gautam Das, Shushant Das, Subroto Das, all of them TMC goons, came to my place at around 10 o’clock at night. They asked my daughter-in-law to open the door. Since she is from Assam, my daughter-in-law did not know any of these people. She called me to check. I immediately locked her up in another room and opened the door. They barged into my house and demanded I get my daughter-in-law out. They demanded to rape her. I fell on their feet to leave her alone. I told them that I was like a mother to them and she’s like their sister. I pleaded with them to please let her go. They kept on insisting for around an hour and I kept begging them. Finally, they left and warned me that they would come back the next day”, Aparna Das, recounted.

Petrified by what ensued the previous night, Das consulted her neighbours, who advised Das to send her daughter-in-law to some other safe place where these goons could not reach. Das hid her daughter-in-law away in one of her neighbour’s house. On the night of June 5, Aparna Das recalled, that those TMC goons came back to her house and started banging the door. Knowing that it would be dangerous to open the door and let those goons in, Aparna did not respond. However, this was not the end of the horror, said the BJP worker.

She said that “they kicked open the door of my house and barged in. They started asking for my daughter-in-law. When they could not find her, they forced themselves on me. Usman then raped me. I kept pleading with him. Pleaded with him saying I am like your mother. Don’t do this to me. All my pleading fell on deaf ears as he continued forcing himself on me. That day I, a Hindu woman, lost my honour to a Muslim goon. They did not stop at this. Gautam Das advised Usman to kill me lest I would lodge a complaint against them. All the four together forced me to open my mouth and forced poison inside. I totally lost consciousness and I don’t even know how and when I was rescued”.

“I plead with you all to ensure I get justice. I, a Hindu woman, got dishonoured by this Muslim TMC goon, and do not wish to remain a mere victim. Please come forward to ensure I get justice”, pleaded the terrorized BJP worker.

Pinky Baj and Aparna Das are two of the umpteen women who have been victimized by TMC cadres in the post-poll violence in the state.

BJP worker daughter gang-raped on gun point in front of the father

Likewise, Diya Guha (21) from Birbhum, alleged that on May 2, local TMC leader Mamul Sheikh, and 10 to 12 other TMC goons belonging to the Muslim community barged into her house where she lives with her father, a BJP worker, and started thrashing everyone.

“They tore my clothes and when my father tried to save me, they beat him up brutally and said, “Nahi hum logon ko tu nahi chahiye.. teri beti chahiye .. hum logon ko Hindu ladki chahiye. (We don’t want you we want your daughter. We want a Hindu girl)”.

The report by Organiser further says that these TMC goons then took turns to rape the 21-year-old woman in front of her father, who was held on gun point. 7 men violated the girl one after the other, while her helpless father looked on.

The TMC goons then attempted to kill Diya and her father saying: “Ladki aur baap ko maar do nahi to humare liye zehar ho jayega.” (kill the father-daughter duo otherwise they will prove fatal for us).

Diya adds that somehow her father was able to wrap her body naked with his turban and pulled her out of the house from the back door and escaped. They could not return home since then, rued Diya.

TMC goons sexually assault BJP supporter from Haldipara village, Purba Bardhaman

“I am a BJP supporter, and due to this fact alone TMC goons stormed into my house to punish me and beat me up with dandas and their bare fists. They tore my saree, my blouse, and assaulted my breasts with a knife multiple times. They kept touching my private parts,” lamented one Pratima Das, from Haldipara village, Purba Bardhaman. She said that she has been kept in confinement in her own house for days now, as the TMC goons have cordoned off the whole area not allowing anyone to go out or enter the village.

NHRC constitutes a 7-member team to probe post-poll violence in West Bengal

While the National Commission of women has taken suo-moto cognizance and set up an inquiry committee that visited the victims and submitted its report, the National Human Rights Commission, on June 21, also formed a 7 member committee to probe the post-poll violence in West Bengal.

The NHRC has complied with the Calcutta High Court’s June 18th order which directed the statutory public body to enquire into the complaints.

The committee was formed hours after Calcutta High Court rejected the Mamata Banerjee government’s plea to recall the June 18 order directing the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate post-poll violence in the state of West Bengal. 

Union Minister Smriti Irani slams Mamata Banerjee for her silence over the violence

Lauding Calcutta High Court’s dismissal of Mamata Banerjee’s plea to stay the order over the post-poll violence in West Bengal, Union Minister Smriti Irani on Monday tore into the West Bengal Chief Minister for ‘keeping mum and witnessing’ the ongoing crimes in the state. 

“Women are taken away from their homes and raped openly. A 60-year-old lady approached the Supreme Court, claiming she was raped just because she was a BJP worker and supporter. How many more rapes will Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee watch silently?” Irani questioned.

“Probably for the first time in our democracy, I’m seeing a CM witnessing people being murdered because they didn’t vote for her party…Pahle to unke (Mamata Banerjee) haath khoon se sane hue the, ab daaman par bhi mahila ke atyachar ke daag hain” Union Minister Smiriti Irani was quoted by ANI as saying.

NCW takes cognisance of OpIndia’s report on Loyola College ex lecturer’s struggle against sexual predators, asks Chairman Provincial to take action

OpIndia Staff
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NCW takes cognisance of OpIndia’s report on Loyola College ex lecturer’s struggle against sexual predators, asks Chairman Provincial to take action

On May 19, OpIndia reported about the 13-year long battle of an ex-lecturer of Loyola College, Chennai, against her sexual predators who are being protected by the College administration. Taking cognisance of the report, the National Commission for Women (NCW), India has written to the Chairman Provincial, Loyola College to look into the matter and to ensure due compliance with the orders of the Madras High Court.

NCW has asked the college to inform them about the action taken in the matter at the earliest.

NCW chairman Rekha Sharma writes to Rev. Dr Jabemalai Irudayaraja, SJ, the Chairman Provincial, Loyola College

Highlighting the case, the statutory body, NCW wrote to Loyola College, Chennai that it is flustered at the ignorance and the violation of rights of a woman to live her life with dignity and it is also a contempt of court to not comply with the orders passed in favour of Josephine. Saying so it urged Rev. Dr Jabemalai Irudayaraja, SJ, the Chairman Provincial, Loyola College to ensure that the long-stalled justice to Ms Josephine is meted out at the earliest.

NCW chairman Rekha Sharma writes to Loyola College, Chennai

On May 19, OpIndia reported the case of Josephine Jeyashanthi, a former lecturer in the college’s Tamil Department who was unjustly relieved of her duties, that too without being given the dues she was entitled to receive, only because she stood up against the sexual harassment she was subjected to by her superiors and fought against a powerful system hell-bent on shielding a group of sexual predators on campus.

Its been 13 years since Josephine has been fighting with the mighty administration of the ‘prestigious’ Loyola College, Chennai. Despite the Madras High Court passing a judgement in her favour in 2019, the college did nothing to punish her sexual predators nor has it bothered to pay Josephine her back wages running in lakhs or follow the HC order to get her mandamus for compensation of Rs 59 lakhs.

The list of offences committed by Loyola College in Josephine Jeyashanthi’s case

  • Rajarajan began harassing Josephine Jeyashanthi in 2008 when he joined as HOD in the college’s Tamil Department and continued until Josephine was arbitrarily fired.
  • The internal complaints body only took cognisance of Josephine’s accusation in December 2012. (The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redress) Act 2013 states that an investigation into the complaint must be completed within 90 days).
  • The Vishaka Guideline mandates that the grievance be addressed in a time-bound manner. However, it took 8 months to ‘censure’ the accused. Also, it took the college 6 years to submit the report to the court.
  • The then Secretary Rev Fr M. Albert Williams SJ and the then Principal Rev Fr G Joseph Antonysamy SJ lied to the police.
  • Most importantly, the prime accused Antony Rajarajan was not only protected by the Loyola College management but was also given privileges like superannuation with salary, while the victim was further victimised and terminated from the job without any sort of explanation and without even settling payments. 

I want to see these criminals behind bars”: Josephine Jeyashanthi

“The College Management claims that they followed ‘due process’. What is due process? Is keeping the victim of sexual harassment in dark about the whole proceedings due process? Is keeping the victim unaware of the punishment given to the offender due process? Is not giving any assurance of protection to the victim from such an offender due process?, said Josephine, adding that the accused, Rajarajan, who committed the heinous crime was not only protected by the management but also projected as flawless in the society, while she, who was victimised all throughout, was projected as the bigger offender.

“This resulted in the loss of career opportunities for me over these years. Even after terminating me, the management made deliberate attempts to malign my name among staff and the student community”, lamented Josephine, adding: “I want to see these criminals behind bars, I will drag them to court. They’ve been exploiting ladies like me for years. Many victims before me, and even after me, lacked the confidence to stand up to the big fishes. So many such cases are lying pending in the Madras High Court. Someone has to show these criminals their place”

First Bengal violence and then Narada: Second Supreme Court judge from Bengal recuses from hearing the case against Bengal govt

OpIndia Staff
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First Bengal violence and then Narada: Second Supreme Court judge from Bengal recuses from hearing the case against Bengal govt

Days after Justice Indira Banerjee recused herself from hearing petitions on West Bengal post-poll violence, another Supreme Court Justice has now requested to transfer the petition by Mamata Banerjee in the Narada sting case to another Bench.

On Thursday, Justice Aniruddha Bose recused himself from hearing the appeal by the West Bengal government. The case was slated to be heard by a 2-Judge Bench of Justices Bose and Hemant Gupta. During the hearing, Justice Gupta informed that Justice Bose has some reservations about the case. He said, “It will be listed before some other Bench. Brother Bose has some reservations.”

Reportedly, CM Mamata Banerjee had moved the apex court, challenging the June 9 order of the Calcutta High Court. The High Court had refused to take her and Law Minister Moloy Ghatak’s reply affidavits on record in the transfer petition by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Narada sting case. In its June 9 order, the High Court said, “They (CM, law minister, and state) have waited for the arguments in the case to be substantially completed before seeking to place on record their pleadings in response.”

It added, “It is nothing else but filling the lacunae or supporting the accused. That is why, even the learned Counsels appearing for the accused are also supporting the prayer made by the State for taking these belated affidavits on record.” In her appeal before the apex Court, Mamata Banerjee had argued that the CBI has been allowed to filed additional affidavits while the rights of the State government and the Law Minister was ‘closed.’

Justice Indira Banerjee earlier recused herself from hearing the case on post-poll violence in West Bengal

On Friday (June 11), Justice Indira Banerjee had recused herself from hearing a petition, which sought for an independent SIT/CBI probe in the killing of two BJP workers in West Bengal. The petition was filed by Biswajit Sarkar, the brother of deceased Avijit Sarkar who was killed by Trinamool Congress goons. The plea came up before a 2-Judge Bench of Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice MR Shah.

“I have some difficulty in hearing the matter,” Justice Indira Banerjee said while recusing herself from the case. The matter was adjourned and the Registry was directed to list the matter before a Bench without Justice Banerjee in it. On May 2, a BJP worker named Avijit Sarkar took to Facebook to narrate the harrowing tale of violence that he was subjected to by the TMC goons.

The video was uploaded just hours before he was lynched to death by the miscreants. Opindia has learnt that Avijit Sarkar was beaten to death after uploading the two testimonials on Facebook. Following the victory of the Trinamool Congress, several BJP workers and supporters had expressed fear that Mamata Banerjee’s return to power might jeopardise their livelihood and existence.

Notably, both Supreme Court judges, Aniruddha Bose and Indira Banerjee, hail from West Bengal.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath invokes NSA against Noida mass conversion accused, links to those who entered Dasna temple with poison emerge

OpIndia Staff
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UP CM Yogi Adityanath invokes NSA against Noida mass conversion accused, links to those who entered Dasna temple with poison emerge

After the mass conversion racket was busted in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed the agencies to invoke National Security Act (NSA) against the accused.

He has also instructed to book the accused under Gangster Act. The state government has directed the authorities to start the process of confiscating the properties of those who are accused of the conversion racket.

Links emerged to the Dasna temple incident

During the investigation, it was revealed that Kashif and Ramzan, who conspired to attack the priest of Dasna temple, are linked to Salimmuddin, resident of Sector 12, Vijay Nagar. He is Guru of Vipul Vijayvargiya, who had entered the temple premises with his brother-in-law Kashif.

In 2015, Salimmudin converted Vipul and gave him the name Ramzan. In 2019, Ramzan got married to Kashif’s sister. Police have arrested Salimuddin after his name came up during the interrogation of Kashipur Ramzan. Salimuddin is also linked to Umar Gautam.

It is pertinent to note that on May 2, sevadaars of Dasna Mandir, Ghaziabad, caught two men identified as Vipul Vijayvargi and Kashif on suspicion of carrying out the assassination attempt on Mahant Yati Narsinghanand. 

Kashif had told the Police that he came in contact with Vipul on Facebook three years ago. When Police asked the reason for staying in touch on Facebook, he said it was just a normal friendship. Vipul claimed that he wanted to meet the famous priest of Dasna Mandir.

As per reports, the duo entered the temple at around 8:30 PM. They had a bag that was allegedly not checked by the Police at the gate. The sevadaars of the temple raised concerns over their activities in the temple premises. When they stopped and checked their belongings, they found three surgical blades and some powder. The reports suggest that that powder was a poison. Dasna Priest had also claimed that the powder was cyanide.

The case of mass conversion

On June 21, UP ATS arrested two men identified as Umar Gautam and Mufti Qazi Jehangir involved in illegal religious conversions. According to police, women and physically challenged children were their targets. The duo was arrested from the Jamia Nagar area in Delhi.

As per reports, Umar Gautam, who himself is a covert, revealed that they converted around 300 people every year. During interrogation, he also revealed that their main target was the economically weaker section of the society, including women, children and the disabled.

They were also getting the women married so that they do not return to their original faith. He confessed to having converted over 1,500 children at school for the deaf and mute in Noida on the pretext of employment and money. A case was registered by ATS under Sections 419, 420, 295A, 505 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code. During the investigation, police found that they were using Islamic Dawah Centre located in Delhi whose main function is to convert people to Islam.

Gupkar Gang will attend PM Modi’s all party meet, Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah to be present

OpIndia Staff
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Gupkar Gang will attend PM Modi’s all party meet, Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah to be present

The Gupkar Alliance in Jammu & Kashmir has announced that it will participate in the all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Modi on the 24th of June. The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), also known as Gupkar Alliance or Gupkar Gang, is an alliance of 5 regional parties.

The constituent members of the PAGD are the National Conference (NC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M), the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement (JKPM) and the Jammu and Kashmir Awami National Conference (JKANC).

Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti will be among the attendees in the all-party meet.

The alliance, however, said that there will be no compromise on Article 370 and Article 35-A, provisions that are done and dusted as per the Indian Government.

PAGD spokesman Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami had earlier said, “The invitations have been extended to all the leaders of PAGD and everybody is likely to attend this meeting in which the alliance leaders will make a decision about the strategy.”

The Prime Minister is expected to seek cooperation for the delimitation process so that political processes can begin in the region.

Gujarat: Police books one Imran Ansari under anti-conversion law for abduction, forced marriage and rape of a Jain girl

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: Police books one Imran Ansari under anti-conversion law for abduction, forced marriage and rape of a Jain girl

The Gujarat Police have booked a 23-year-old man named Imran Ansari, under the newly enacted anti-conversion law, for kidnapping and raping a 19-year-old Jain girl. The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act 2021 provides for stringent penal action against any individual or institution for forced religious conversion through marriage.

Reportedly, the accused lured the victim by establishing a ‘romantic relationship’ with her. Ansari, who hails from West Bengal, allegedly abducted the girl on June 10. The case came to light after the victim went missing from her house. The girl’s family then lodged a missing complaint and named Ansari as a suspect behind her disappearance. The accused first took the victim to Ajmer in Rajasthan.

Thereafter, Ansari took the girl to a Dargah and made her wear a Taveez (amulet). The victim was then taken to Indore in Madhya Pradesh. She was kept in a chawl and repeatedly subjected to sexual intercourse. The accused coerced her into having a physical relationship and attempted to convert her to Islam for nikkah (marriage). Reportedly, Ansari got married in January this year and would often threaten to kill the victim’s brother if she broke the relationship.

On the night of his wedding, the accused had informed his wife that he had a physical relationship with a Jain girl. According to the police, this appears like Ansari’s wife’s silent approval to the whole incident. A case was registered against him by the Valsad police under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act 2021. While speaking about the matter, Inspector BJ Sarwaiya (Valsad police) said, “Medical examination was done on both of them. The accused got married in January…”

He further added, “The woman said in her complaint that he used to threaten to kill her brother if she did not keep a relationship with him. On June 10, he forced her to go to Indore. They first reached Ajmer in Rajasthan and stayed there for a couple of days. From there he took her to Indore. The accused also took her to a religious priest and tied a Taveez around her neck. We are trying to find out whether they got married.”

The accused has been booked under the relevant sections of anti-conversion law, rape, abduction and criminal intimidation.

It is pertinent to note that this is the second case registered under the anti-conversion law in the State.

Muslim man pretends to be Christian, blackmails, hurls caste abuse

Earlier, Gujarat police had registered the first FIR in the state in a case of grooming jihad, under the newly-notified anti-conversion law and detained six people in connection with the case. Based on the FIR, the Gotri police station in Vadodara arrested a man from the Tarsali area named Samir Qureshi. The police had taken action based on a complaint filed by a 24-year-old Dalit woman for blackmailing, forced conversion, and rape.

According to the police, Qureshi had also hurled casteist abuses at the woman. The woman alleged that she met the individual in February 2019 on a social media platform where he used a fake identity and lured her into a relationship. Police confirmed that Samir Qureshi had made his social media accounts under a fake name, Sam Martin. Qureshi persuaded the victim into marriage by promising a ‘modern life’ post marriage.

Later, he raped her on four occasions at a hotel as well as in the flat of a co-accused, police said. The accused allegedly clicked her intimate pictures without her knowledge and then used those photos to blackmail her to marry him in a “nikah ceremony” and convert to Islam. The woman, who was under the impression that Qureshi is a Christian, got to know about his faith a year back when a nikah ceremony was organised instead of a Christian wedding, the official said.

The police added that after the marriage, Qureshi first changed the victim’s name and then started forcing her to convert. He also verbally abused the victim with casteist slurs. Based on her complaint, the police arrested Samir Qureshi and detained six people including his parents, sister, uncle as well as one of his accomplices who facilitated the alleged sexual assaults against the complainant. 

Facebook restricts account of user who shared news report about rape and torture of women in Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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Facebook restricts account of user who shared news report about rape and torture of women in Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal

West Bengal saw the return of Mamata Banerjee as their undisputed leader and she won a thumping majority in the elections that took place in 2021. After TMC and Mamata Banerjee came to power, the violence that has been unleashed on those who supported the BJP in the run-up to the elections has been bone-chilling, to say the least. While the violence in Bengal should be a story everyone knows and talks about, Facebook is now actively suppressing information about the post-poll violence in West Bengal.

Neha, who is a Mumbai based lawyer and has been regularly raising her voice on social media for various causes woke up today to realise that Facebook had restricted her account for 30 days because she shared a news report that detailed the rape and torture of women in West Bengal after Mamata Banerjee came back to power.

Taking to Twitter, Neha informed that Facebook had locked her account for 30 days after she shared the news report and the reason given was rather strange as well. While the Organiser news report shared by Neha detailed the violence that was being unleashed on women who had supported the BJP in Bengal, Facebook decided that Neha’s post sharing that article “promoted sexual exploitation”.

“I shared this article on Facebook and Facebook restricted my account for 30 days. So much for freedom of speech and expression. The reason is mind-boggling though. Apparently I’m promoting sexual exploitation”, Neha wrote.

Neha’s Facebook post censored

It was 10:07 AM today that Neha got a notification from Facebook that her post violated community standards and her account had, therefore, been locked for 30 days.

Speaker to OpIndia, Neha said, “I have appealed against this decision of Facebook. It is preposterous that they are censoring news articles that highlight the plight of women and vulnerable sections in West Bengal”.

“As per the IT Rules, 2021, Facebook is required to acknowledge my appeal within 24 hours and dispose of it off within 15 days. If they employ delaying tactics or if they continue to censor this news article, the issue has to be escalated to the Grievance Officer, as mandated by the Rules. I will pursue this case and apprise the authorities about Facebook’s willingness to comply with Indian laws,” she further said.

This is, however, not the first time that Facebook has censored news about West Bengal and the atrocities being met out to women and the vulnerable BJP workers in the state.

Not too long ago, an OpIndia article that was shared on Facebook was also censored. The article spoke about a BJP worker who was mysteriously found hanging from a tree and suspected to have been murdered by TMC goons.

OpIndia’s Facebook post censored

Once Facebook took the decision that the post went against their “community guidelines”, Facebook restricted the reach of our page itself and removed the post as well.

Why did Facebook remove a post that reported the death of a BJP worker who was found hanging from a tree? Why did Facebook think this post went against their community guidelines? Because they thought that the image of the article “promoted and glorified violence”. It did not. It was as a representational image that was used.. not the image of the actual victim and the actual crime. It had no face. It did not celebrate violence. It reported violence. 

After a constant back and forth, all we got was a link by Facebook that contained the arbitrary guidelines to begin with. 

Facebook displayed exemplary nonchalance and continued to assert that this post went against their guidelines and deserved to be censored and thus, the news of BJP workers being killed in Bengal was suppressed.

With Neha’s post being censored and her account being locked as well, it becomes evident that Facebook is perhaps actively trying to suppress the news of post-poll violence in Bengal, unleashed by TMC goons as a punishment to those who dared to support, work for or contest from the BJP, that emerged as the prime contender to the throne.

Ravish Kumar appears massively frustrated as India administers 85 lakh COVID vaccines in single day, this is why he does not make sense

OpIndia Staff
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Ravish Kumar appears massively frustrated as India administers 85 lakh COVID vaccines in single day, this is why he does not make sense

On June 21, Magsaysay Award-winning journalist and NDTV India Editor Ravish Kumar had yet another meltdown. This time, his target was the Covid vaccination program. To understand why he was so rattled up, it is important to understand the context of his rant. On Monday, India achieved a milestone by administrating over 85 lakh doses in a single day. As per Ministry of Health and Family welfare, India administered a total of 86,16,373 vaccine doses on Monday.

To put it in perspective, it was equal to administering the dose to the entire population of Switzerland in one day. On average, India has been administrating anywhere between 20 lakh to 40 lakh doses in a single day. As India celebrated the milestone, the festivities seem to have hit on Ravish’s wrong nerve, and he went ballistic against the celebrations. Ramon Magsaysay award winning ‘journalist’ compared India of the 1980s to India of 2020s to create a pessimistic and hopeless outlook.

What did Ravish say?

Ravish, in his Facebook post, compared Monday’s achievement with the Pulse Polio vaccination program, in which 17 crore doses were administered in a single day in February 2012. He said, “In February 2012, under Pulse Polio, two drops of polio medicine was administered to more than 17 crore children in a day. Ten years later, the government exerts its full force with the help of Godi Media filled with propaganda and advertisements worth crores of rupees and administer only 85 lakh vaccines a day.”

He further claimed that for six months, the government has been calling it the world’s biggest vaccination campaign, but it failed to even touch one crore doses in a single day. Talking about Uttar Pradesh, he claimed that the government is planning to administer six lakh doses every day, which cannot be termed as ‘record-breaking success’. “Six months have passed, and only two per cent of UP’s population has received two doses,” he said.

Attacking the BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and others, he claimed the performance was not better than average. Whining about the vaccination drive being compared to that of New Zealand, which is yet to vaccinate its 50 lakh population, Ravish claimed that India should not compare its COVID management to the island country as New Zealand’s COVID management has been considered a success.

He also attacked the government for supplying 25% vaccine to private hospitals and said people are paying money for the doses at Rs. 780 and Rs. 1410 in such hospitals. He ended his rant by claiming that the government vaccinated a fraction of the population and propagated it as an achievement, which according to him, is a failure in reality.

Ravish Kumar’s rant is baseless

Ravish started his argument with the most illogical comparison. He compared the achievement with a single-day record made by the Pulse Polio campaign in 2012. Going by his argument, one can assume the pulse polio campaign must have started close to that particular date as it is being compared to the Covid-19 vaccination program. However, the reality is Pulse Polio campaign was launched in India in 1995 after it committed to the resolution passed by World Health Organization to eradicate polio in 1988. It took India 14 years to achieve the said record of vaccinating 17 crore children in a single day.

Another point that needs to be discussed here is the availability of the polio vaccine. The oral polio vaccine was made available for commercial use in 1961. However, Expanded Programme on Immunisation was started in 1978 and it was only in 1995 that mass immunisation campaign started.

On the other hand, in the case of the Covid-19 vaccine, India has developed its own vaccine, i.e. Covaxin. Another vaccine that is being manufactured in India under license, i.e. Covidshield, is not only being manufactured for India but also for other countries. Though the export of the vaccines is on hold for the time being in the near future, India will be one of the largest exporters of the Covid-19 vaccine, especially for the developing nations.

For pulse polio vaccination, no one needs to get registered. The healthcare workers, NGO volunteers, and Government appointed workers to go from door-to-door to administer the vaccine. In the case of the Covid-19 vaccine, one has to get registered either via the CoWin portal or at the vaccination centre that takes time. Also, the Covid-19 vaccine can only be administered by trained healthcare workers. Ravish Kumar, while ranting against June 21 achievement, forgot how things work in different vaccination drives.

India successfully eradicated polio in 2014. The last case of polio was detected in Howrah, West Bengal on 13 January 2011. On 27 March 2014, WHO gave India the ‘polio-free certificate. 63-years after vaccine was invented, India became polio free. But in less than 2 years detection of a completely new disease if India manages to administer over 80 lakh vaccines, including one which is made-in-India, it is not an achievement India needs to celebrate, per Ravish.

Ravish’s hate for PM Modi is so unreal that he has now started peddling propaganda in name of criticism.

Netizens mocked Ravish for his illogical meltdown

Reacting to his meltdown, several netizens called him out for the baseless comparison and allegations he had put up in his post. One user Aarzo Gangwar said those who are under five years of age could be forced by their parents to take the vaccine, but it is not possible to vaccinate people with the Covid-19 vaccine if there is no consent. It has to be noted that the Covid-19 vaccination is not mandatory. The government is not going to force anyone to take the vaccine.

Another user Rahul Joshi wrote that Ravish cried when the number was at 10 lakh, and now he is crying when the numbers have touched 80 lakh.

Source: Facebook

Activist Anshul Saxena wrote that polio vaccination could be administered by NSS, NGOs etc., but the Covid vaccine has to be administered by trained healthcare professionals.

Source: Facebook

One Raj Kumar Sah said he used to be his fan, but after seeing his rant on the Covid vaccine, he thinks Ravish has gone mad.

Source: Facebook

One user went ahead and told him medicine for his ailment. He gave the recipe and said, “take this medicine, and the worms that force you to publish such posts will die in two days.”

Ravish’s record of baseless rants

This is not the first time Ravish has gone on the path of baseless rants. In December 2020, he lied about Adani’s grain silos in Punjab. In July 2020, he had a major meltdown when the first batch of Rafale jets had arrived in India. Interestingly, he has been vocal against the farm laws, but he had weighed in for similar reforms in 2015.

Kerala: Suspected gold smugglers and SDPI members killed in a road accident. Here is what we know

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Suspected gold smugglers and SDPI members killed in a road accident. Here is what we know

On Monday (June 21), a group of five suspected gold smugglers died in a collision with a truck in Ramanattukara in Kozhikode district of Kerala.

As per reports, the accused were identified as Hassainar, Muhammad Saheer, Thahir, Nasser, and Subair. All the 5 accused hailed from Cherpulassery in the Palakkad district of Kerala. The deceased were travelling in a Bolero SUV, which belonged to Thahir’s uncle. They were accompanied by two other cars, which were carrying 15 Cherpulassery residents with connections to the gold smuggling ring. Due to overspeeding, the Bolero SUV spun out of control and hit the truck at around 4:45 am in the morning.

An officer informed that the collision was not direct and that the vehicle spun at least 3 times before the fatal collision. Although the police initially believed that the accident was due to overspeeding, a preliminary probe has revealed that the deceased were part of a gold smuggling racket that operated out of the Calicut International Airport. The suspicion stemmed from the fact that the 5 deceased had no reason to be at Ramanattukara, at the time of the accident, if they were returning to Cherpulassery from the airport.

Suspected gold smugglers had a criminal history

According to the police, the deceased met with the car accident while chasing another gold smuggling gang from the Koduvally town. The body of the deceased individuals will be handed over to their families, following the autopsy at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. Reportedly, Thahir was previously involved in cases of intimidation and carjacking. At the same time, accused Naseer had a case pending against him at the Cherpulassery police station.

Deceased men were members of radical Islamist outfit

According to the police, the gold smuggling gang had hatched its plans over WhatsApp. It has come to light that the 5 men were members of the radical Islamist outfit Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). However, according to the leaders of SDPI Palakkad, they were earlier expelled from the organisation due to ‘illegal activities.’ Using the CCTV footage, the Kerala police were able to trace the two other cars that were accompanying the Bolero SUV.

The cops then nabbed a total of 6 of the 15 people and interrogated them at the police station. The police found contradictions in their statements and are now probing the criminal background of the individuals. Reportedly, one Charal Faisal, escorting the gold mafia was involved in the accident. He has a police complaint registered against him for his involvement in a drug case. Faisal is now being interrogated by the police.

The arrest of a gold smuggler at Calicut International airport

On Monday (June 21), the Customs officers had also recovered a whopping 2.3kg gold from a 23-year-old passenger named Muhammed Shefeek. A native of Malappuram, Shefeek had arrived at the Calicut airport in Karipur from Dubai via an Air India Express flight. The gold confiscated from the accused was hidden in a coffee maker machine and is estimated to be around ₹1.1 crores. Shefeek was immediately arrested and sent to custody for 14 days. According to the police, the five accused who died in the car accident had come to the airport to collect the gold.

The initial investigation has revealed that another gold smuggling gang from Kannur had also reached the airport to rob the Palakkad gang and take away the smuggled gold. However, both groups were unaware that Muhammed Shefeek was apprehended at the airport itself. When the Palakkad gang was returning back, a clash ensued with the Kannur group. This led to a high-speed change, resulting in the Bolero SUV being hit by the truck. A day earlier on Sunday, about ₹3.5 crore worth of gold was recovered at the airport. The heightened alertness and security led to the arrest of Muhammed Shefeek on Monday.

Kerala gold smuggling scam

In July last year, the Customs officials in Kerala had nabbed a former employee of the UAE Consulate in Kerala named Sarith where he had divulged that Swapna Suresh, also a former staffer, had forged documents to misuse diplomatic privileges, to smuggle gold from UAE illegally.

On July 5, Suresh’s baggage, marked with the UAE Consulate address, was held at the airport. Swapna Suresh worked as the marketing liaison officer of Space Park under the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL) that comes directly under the IT department. The call details of the main accused, Swapna Suresh, had revealed that the accused was in regular touch with Kerala’s Higher Education minister KT Jaleel.

Swapna Suresh, the kingpin in the Kerala gold smuggling case, had earlier revealed to the Customs Department that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was very much involved in the gold and dollar smuggling cases. In a sensational disclosure, Swapna Suresh also detailed Kerala CM Vijayan’s close connections with the previous UAE Consul General.

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