5 security personnel were killed and 12 others were injured after a fierce encounter with Maoists in Bijapur district of Bastar division, Chhattisgarh.
A joint team of security forces was on an Anti-Maoist operation after receiving specific inputs about the presence of a large number of ultras in the region when the encounter between the two sides broke out.
#Chhattisgarh: Additional forces have been rushed to the spot. Two helicopters and nine ambulances have been sent to Bijapur district head quarters. pic.twitter.com/vGjIPqfaFA
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) April 3, 2021
According to reports, additional forces have been rushed to the spot. Besides, two helicopters and nine ambulances have also been scrambled to Bijapur headquarters.
As per sources quoted by India Today, a joint party of the Central Reserve Police Force and the DRG was attacked upon by Maoists, following which an encounter started.
“Five security personnel died in the line of duty,” said Director General of Chhattisgarh Anti-Naxal Operations Ashok Juneja. “Maoists have also been killed; they have suffered substantial loss,” Chhattisgarh Director General of Police DM Awasthi said.
The encounter broke out in the Tarrem area of the district when the security personnel were carrying out anti-Maoist operations. The team of security personnel comprised of officials from the Central Reserve Police Force’s Commando Battalion for Resolute Action unit, the District Reserve Guard and the Special Task Force.
Earlier this week, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police arrested 3 Maoists for planting explosives to target forces in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district. Chhattisgarh is one of the Naxal-prone states in the country and there have been many incidents in the past when Maoists, taking the cover of dense forests in the state, have attacked the security personnel.
In March this year, Maoists had bumped off a Zila Panchayat member in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh. Hours before the incident, Naxals had torched about 11 vehicles in the Dhanora area of Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon district.
After more than three months, separatist group United Liberation Front of Asom -Independent [ULFA(I)] has released one of the two officials of Quippo Oil and Gas Infrastructure Limited. The banned outfit released Pranab Kumar Gogoi, an employee of the Delhi based private petrochemical company.
Gogoi and another Quippo employee Ram Kumar were abducted by ULFA(I) with the assistance of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) on December 21 last year from the company’s Kumchaikha hydrocarbon drilling site in Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district, and had demanded ransom against their release. Pranab Kumar Gogoi is drilling superintendent and he is from Sivasagar district in Assam, while Ram Kumar is a radio operator and is from Bihar.
According to reports, Gogoi was released near Longvi village of Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district at about 12:30 pm on Saturday. Superintendent of Changlang Police Mihin Gambo confirmed that Gogoi has been released and said, “A team of Arunachal police, which had gone deep inside the jungles, has rescued Pranab Kumar Gogoi. We are interrogating him.”
Gogoi had crossed the Indo-Myanmar border on foot, where a border patrol party of Indian Riffles intercepted him. They handed over him to Arunachal Pradesh. “Individual was identified as Pranab Kumar Gogoi, an employee of Quippo Oil and Gas Infra Ltd, who was earlier kidnapped from Inau, Arunachal Pradesh on Dec 21, 20, by ULFA(I). The individual has been handed over to Arunachal Pradesh Police at Longvi, Arunachal Pradesh,” a statement issued by the Assam Rifles said.
The other abductee Ram Kumar is also expected to be released soon, as the outfit had announced that both will be released soon. It is not known if any ransom money was paid to secure the release.
After kidnapping the duo from the drilling site near Arunachal border, ULFA(I) had reportedly demanded a ransom of ₹20 crore. In January this year, a video was released by the outfit where the abducted employees of the company had appealed to their employer and the state governments of Assam and Bihar to secure their release. “Because of the differences with our company, ULFA(I) and NSCN have kept us here for a month. Even after a month, the company has not taken any steps to secure my release. So, I request the company to talk to the two organisations for my release,” they had said in the video.
ULFA(I) Commander in chief Paresh Baruah had said the abducted persons will be harmed if the farm does not pay the outfit its “due share”, as the company is exploiting natural resources in the North Eastern region including Assam. He had also warned that Gogoi and Kumar will be victims if the security forces try any attempt to rescue them, and the company will be responsible for consequences.
The outfit had also ‘banned’ Quippo in the ‘entire south Asia region’, and demanded that the company stop its operations in the region. They had also asked the employs to cease work and pressurise the Oil India Corporation authorities for their alternate employment. ULFA(I) had warned that if the workers of the company continue their operations, they themselves, Quippo, Oil India Limited, Assam and Arunachal government will be responsible for the consequences.
Initially the outfit had taken a very hard stand on the issue, and threatened on February 19 that the two abducted persons will be given ‘ultimate punishment’, indicating they will execute them. This ultimatum had come after no solution was arrived at in the negations by 16th February 16th, the deadline issued by the outfit earlier.
However, the outfit had a change of heart after that, and on 21st February Baruah had told a reporter over phone that he has halted his plan to grant ‘ultimate punishment’ to the hostages. He had also said that a final decision will be taken on the Quippo employees after discussion with NSCN. Later in the first week of March, ULFA(I) had announced that they released the Quippo employees ‘very soon’.
AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan called for the beheading of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati in a tweet on Saturday. Despite the passage of ten hours since the tweet was made and multiple citizens highlighting the matter, Twitter is yet to remove the death threat from its platform.
Amanatullah Khan said, “This insult to our prophet is not tolerable to us at all. The tongue and head of this hateful insect should be cut off as punishment. However, Indian laws do not permit this.” The tweet has received over 4000 retweets and 3500 quoted tweets.
The screenshot was captured at 7.45 pm IST
Twitter has boasted a lot regarding its stern stance against incitement to violence on its platform. But on this occasion, they appear unwilling to remove a death threat by an elected representative in India. It calls into question the platform’s own resolve towards combating incitement to violence online.
The tweet by Amanatullah Khan was pointed out to Twitter by multiple accounts with huge followers on the platform. Therefore, they cannot say that it was not brought to their attention or that it escaped their notice. Twitter has still not removed the death threat.
It’s such a shame that open threat for beheading can be given on @Twitter & @TwitterSafety neither took down d Tweet nor suspended the a/c. But they will lock & suspend a/c for raising atrocities against Hindus.
Multiple people on the platform have uploaded screenshots confirming that they have reported the death threat tweet. However, at the time of writing this report, the tweet was still available on platform.
Twitter has cited its no-tolerance policy towards incitement to violence when it suspended Donald Trump from the platform despite the fact that nowhere did Trump explicitly call for violence. With regards to India, however, Twitter has adopted a hypocritical approach as was evident during the ‘farmer protests’ when it refused to take down tweets that peddled fake news and endangered the law and order situation in India.
The Indian media has provided extremely fawning coverage of Kamala Harris ever since she announced her run for the presidency. The fawning coverage continued when Joe Biden declared her as his Vice Presidential nominee and the coverage scaled new heights after Joe Biden won the elections and Kamala Harris became the Vice President of the United States of America.
Nevertheless, people in India have not really been half as enthusiastic about Harris as the media. While Indian media went all in for her, Indians on the internet have been quite cautious about her. On the other hand, there is one female American politician who does not receive as much coverage in Indian media but is vastly more popular than Harris in the Indian sections of social media. We are referring, of course, to Tulsi Gabbard.
Tulsi Gabbard is a former US Congresswoman from Hawaii. She became the first Hindu to get elected to the US House of Representatives and was the first Hindu to run for the presidency of the United States of America. She practices progressive politics and is a member of the Democrat party. She served in the US Congress until January 2021 after he decided not to contest for reelection.
There is some personal rivalry between the two as it is widely believed that Kamala Harris failed in her presidential bid due to the intervention of Tulsi Gabbard during the Democratic presidential debates. The former Congresswoman from Hawaii slammed Kamala Harris for her duplicity with regards to prison reform and marijuana legalisation.
One of the foremost reasons for her popularity among Indians is her warm regards for India. Unlike other progressive members of her party, Tulsi Gabbard has been positive in her views regarding India and has unequivocally taken India’s side on contentious matters such as Article 370.
After Article 370 was revoked, she was one of the few Democrats who were outspoken in their support for India’s decision. Gabbard has also been extremely critical of Pakistan and has regularly called them out for providing a safe haven to terrorists. At the same time, she has advocated for better ties between the USA and India to confront and combat shared threats and collaborate on mutual interests.
There is another much stronger reason for Gabbard’s popularity. Her Hindu identity does endear her to Indians at large, the overwhelming majority of whom are Hindus. When she says ‘Jai Shri Krishna’ or wishes people on the occasion of Gaura Purnima, it makes her more relatable to Indians, which is natural.
Tulsi Gabbard, unfortunately, has been targeted a lot for her Hindu identity. Her Hindu identity was enough to brand her a ‘Hindutva fascist’ by Hinduphobic bigots. One of the reasons cited was that she shares a warm relationship with Prime Minister Modi and therefore, she was accused of being an ‘RSS plant’.
Such accusations are little disguised efforts at character assassination by vested interests as cordial relationships between political leaders of two countries are completely natural. Former US President Barack Obama shared a good relationship with Narendra Modi, as did Donald Trump. And now, Joe Bide, too, is on good terms with the Indian Prime Minister.
We have evidence now that the propaganda campaign to malign Tulsi Gabbard, a veteran of the Iraq War, was launched by Pakistan-backed Khalistanis. It was part of a larger effort to target Hindus in the United States of America.
It would have been very easy for her to be apologetic about her Hindu identity, and hardly anyone could have blamed her for it, but she decided instead to go on the offensive and call out the pervasive Hinduphobia that is so dominant in public discourse. She condemned politicians and the media for not only refusing to condemn it but fomenting it in the first place.
During her campaign, when an attempt was made to corner her about the Gujarat riots, which had absolutely nothing to do with her, she took the opportunity to educate the person about her misguided efforts. She had said, “Again, back up your claims with evidence. The contributions that I get for my campaign come from American citizens. What you are doing right now is levelling criticism against American citizens who just happen to be Hindus and who are involved in our democratic process.”
Tulsi Gabbard again earned great appreciation from Indians on Friday when she spoke out in favour of the persecuted Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh. She condemned the Pakistsani Army’s genocide of Bengali Hindus in the 1970s, one of the darkest phases of the 20th century that has largely been forgotten, partly due to the secularist conspiracy to cover up the mass murder.
The then Indian Government under the Congress party was itself responsible for it as they feared highlighting the genocide of Bengali Hindus would vitiate communal harmony in India.
“As a member of Congress, I introduced a resolution that called for the protection of Hindus and religious minorities in Bangladesh. People who continue to be targeted and persecuted to this day. The height of this persecution actually began 50 years ago, when the Pakistani army systematically murdered, raped and drove from their homes, millions of Bengali Hindus because of their religion and ethnicity,” Tulsi Gabbard said in a video message published on Friday.
She continued, “March 25th, 1971 was the beginning of a systematic targeting of Hindus in Bangladesh by the Pakistani military. It began in Hindu neighbourhoods and villages, first at Jagannath Hall, which was a Hindu dormitory in Dhaka University, where five to ten thousand people were killed on that first night alone. This genocidal campaign continued for 10 months, resulting in two to three million people killed. Hundreds of thousands of women and girls raped and more than 10 million forced to flee their homes.”
Kamala Harris, on the other hand, despite her Indian heritage has largely been silent on matters related to India. While she has certainly been far better than her progressive counterparts in the Democratic Party since she was elected, prior to that, she did make some rather problematic comments.
She said during one of her interviews, ‘We have to remind Kashmiris that they are not alone in the world. We are keeping track of the situation. There is a need to intervene if the situation demands.’ Furthermore, despite her Indian heritage, she has far lesser of a cultural affinity with Indian than Tulsi Gabbard.
Nevertheless, it does say a lot about Indian media that it has gone gaga over Harris while ignoring an American politician who has been more of a friend to India than Kamala Harris has ever been.
It’s been merely two weeks since it was reported how a clash between Punjab police and Nihang Sikhs, cost a policeman both his hands in Patiala, Punjab. Now, a similar shocking incident has come to the fore from Himachal Pradesh. According to Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, a Nihang Sikh identified as Tej Singh allegedly attacked two locals in Mandayali village in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh over a small argument. While one victim’s four fingers were chopped off, the other received severe injuries on the head.
The incident occurred late on Wednesday evening. Infuriated for being refused a lift on the bike, the accused brutally attacked the bike owner Balveer (40) with his Kirpan (sword), chopping off four fingers of his left hand. The accused also attacked another local named Dhaniram who tried to intervene, leaving his head injured severely.
After the attack, Tej Singh allegedly ran into a nearby forest. The locals who were present at the spot ran behind the accused and caught him. After beating him up they handed him over to the police. Bilaspur police have registered a case against him under section 307 of the IPC and began investigating the case.
Meanwhile, the victims namely Balveer and Dhaniram were rushed to the Civil Hospital, in Naina Devi, Ghawandal, Himachal Pradesh. After giving them first aid, the doctors at Ghawandal Hospital referred the two to Anandpur Sahib, where Balveer’s severed fingers were fixed. Dhaniram’s also received stitches on his head. The two victims were sent back home.
Narrating what transpired that evening, Balveer said that he was on his way home when a Nihang Sikh stopped him. Without saying anything, the Nihang hopped onto Blaveer’s bike and demanded that he be dropped to Shri Anandpur Sahib. “I told him that I have to go only till Mandayali and that Anandpur Sahib is far away from my house, but he insisted that I take him to Anandpur Sahib”, recalled Balveer, adding that when Balveer refused to give in to his demand, the angered accused got off the bike and suddenly attacked him with the sword.
“It happened all so suddenly that I could not understand anything. The Nihang all of a sudden mounted an attack on me with his sword (kirpan). In an attempt to save my life, I lost four fingers of my left hand”, rued the victim.
After attacking Balveer, when the accused was trying to flee, Dhaniram, the other victim who was standing there, tried to grab the accused. The Nihang then hit Dhaniram on his head with the sword. Wounding both, Nihang ran towards the forest. The other locals gathered there, ran behind the accused, held him and handed him over to the police.
On Saturday (April 3), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) cracked down on two TMC leaders in connection to the Saradha chit fund money laundering case. As per reports, the central agency has attached properties amounting to ₹3 crores belonging to former Rajya Sabha MP and current TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, Lok Sabha MP Satabdi Roy and one Debjani Mukherjee.
While Ghosh was the CEO, Roy was the brand ambassador of the Saradha Media Group. On the other hand, Mukherjee was the Director of the Saradha Group of Companies.
ED has attached properties worth Rs. 3Cr pertaining to Kunal Ghosh Ex-Rajya Sabha MP from TMC (CEO Media Group Saradha), Satabdi Roy Lok Sabha MP from TMC (Brand Ambassador Saradha) and also of Debjani Mukhejree who is director Saradha Group of companies in Saradha Chit Fund case
The ED informed that it had a provisional order to attach both movable and immovable properties of the said individuals. The order was issued to the central agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). So far, the Enforcement Directorate has attached ₹600 crores worth of assets in the case. The investigation has been ongoing for over half a decade, starting in April 2013.
Interestingly, Kunal Ghosh headed a TV channel, which was funded by the Saradha group. After the allegations surfaced against him, Ghosh was suspended in 2013 for his ‘anti-party activities.’ He was later inducted in the party and made the spokesperson. He is out on bail and has been interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate on several occasions.
Saradha chit-fund scam case
The Saradha scam broke out into the open in 2013 when a Ponzi scheme run by the Saradha Group, a consortium of over 200 private companies, collapsed after collecting hundreds and thousands of crores from over 15 lakh investors.
When ED questioned Ghosh as a witness in October 2013, it was revealed that Kumar was in contact with ED during the arrests of Sudipta Sen, Debjani Mukherjee, or witnesses Ghosh and others during September to November 2013. CBI said, “It was ensured by the officials that grave facts narrated by these accused persons or witnesses must not be taken on record as part of the investigation with a purpose to shield the influential persons.”
CBI said, “It is submitted that the same establishes that the Chief Minister used to talk to Sudipta Sen using the phone of Kunal Kumar Ghosh,” said the application. During the investigation, when CBI checked the call details of two numbers of Sen for one year, the agency found that he and Ghosh talked 298 times on one number and nine times on the second number, as per a report by Business Standard.
The Supreme Court-appointed panel to probe the role of erring cops for causing “tremendous harassment” and “immeasurable anguish” to ISRO scientist Dr Nambi Narayanan in the 1994 espionage case has reportedly submitted its report to the top court.
The apex court had given a clean chit to Nambi Narayanan in 2018, stating that the former ISRO was arrested unnecessarily, harassed and subjected to mental cruelty in a 1994 espionage case. The court had then ordered a probe into the role of Kerala police officers in the case.
For over two and half years, the panel examined the circumstances leading to the arrest of the distinguished scientist.
On 14 September 2018, the top court appointed a three-member panel headed by its former judge D K Jain while ordering the Kerala government to provide Rs 50 lakhs as compensation for compelling Narayanan to face “immense humiliation”. In addition, the National Human Rights Commission had recommended paying a compensation of Rs 10 lakh. However, the Kerala government had decided to pay a total of Rs 1.30 crore to the scientist to finally settle the case, and the amount was paid in August last year.
Congress governments in Kerala hounded and persecuted Nambi Narayanan in fake espionage case in 1994
The case pertains to espionage charges levelled by Kerala police officials against Nambi Narayanan and his associates in 1994. The police had then alleged that Nambi and his colleagues had transferred confidential documents on India’s space programme to foreign countries, particularly to Pakistan.
It is pertinent to note that scientist Nambi Narayan was a victim of persecution by the Congress party. The political rivalry between the two factions of the Kerala Congress party led to the arrest of Narayanan, along with two other scientists D Sasikumaran and K Chandrasekhar in November 1994. The Kerala police had levelled charges of espionage under sections 3,4 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act against the scientists.
However, the CBI, in its probe, found that the allegations against him were false. In 1998, the Supreme Court upheld the findings by the CBI and had asked the Kerala government to pay Rs 1 lakh in compensation to Narayanan and others. However, Dr Narayanan had approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)seeking justice for the harassment and agony meted out to him. In 2001, the NHRC had awarded a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs to him.
While absolving Narayanan of any wrongdoing, the CBI had said that Siby Mathews had left “the entire investigation to IB surrendering his duties” and ordered the indiscriminate arrest of the scientist and others without adequate evidence”.
SC gives a clean chit to Nambi Narayanan, orders Rs 50 lakh compensation for his wrongful arrest
The Supreme Court gave a clean chit to the former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan and awarded a compensation of Rs 50 lakhs in September 2018, for his wrongful arrest and harassment by the Kerala Police in the 1994 ISRO spy case. The apex court had also ordered a probe into the role of the police officers involved in Narayanan’s arrest and alleged harassment in custody.
The space scientist had moved the apex court after the Kerala High Court ordered that “no action needed to be taken” against former DGP Siby Mathews, who was then heading the SIT probe team, two retired superintendents of police, K K Joshua and S Vijayan, and the then Deputy Director, Intelligence Bureau, R B Shreekumar, who were later held responsible by the CBI for the scientist’s illegal arrest.
Chief Justice of India Dipak Mishra had then observed that “the criminal law was set in motion without any basis. It was initiated, if one is allowed to say, on some kind of fancy or notion”.
The bench stated that the “entire prosecution” initiated by the state police was “malicious and it has caused tremendous harassment and immeasurable anguish” to Narayanan. The court said that the fundamental right of life and personal liberty of Narayanan was “gravely affected”. It called the police action against the ex-scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) a “psycho-pathological treatment”.
The Supreme Court said that his “liberty and dignity”, basic to his human rights, were jeopardised as he was taken into custody and, eventually, despite all the glory of the past, was compelled to face “cynical abhorrence”.
On Saturday (April 3), Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the vicious lobby that has misguided the people of India into believing that working for one group/community amounted to secularism.
While addressing an election rally in Tamulpur in the Baksa district of Assam, PM Modi said, “We formulate policies for everyone. This includes all sections of society. We work hard to ensure that everyone can reap the benefits of government legislation without being subjected to discrimination. Unfortunately, the current narrative surrounding this is problematic.”
PM Modi pointed out the flaws in the notion surrounding secularism and communalism. He emphasised, “If we create divisions in the society and make policies exclusively for one group/community, then, it is unfortunately called secularism in India. But, if we make policies for everyone and ensure that every deserving individual is benefitted, then, they call it communalism.”
सेक्यूलरिज्म-कम्यूनिज्म के खेल ने देश का बहुत नुकसान किया है।
हम परिश्रम करने वाले लोग हैं, समाज की सेवा के लिए दिन-रात एक करने वाले लोग हैं।
असम के लोग आज देख रहे हैं कि सबका साथ, सबका विकास, सबका विश्वास हमारी नीति में भी है और नीयत में भी है।
PM Modi opined that the misleading narrative has inflicted great harm on India. “Our mantra is Sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas. The rhetorics around secularism and communalism has caused serious damage to the country. We are hard-working people. We put in days and nights to serve society. We work with utmost honesty for the cause of the nation’s development. The people of Assam are now witnessing that our mantra of Sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas is not just in our policy but also in our party’s intention,” he concluded.
The campaigning for the 3rd and the last phase of elections in Assam will end on Sunday. The electorates will vote for a total of 40 seats on April 6. The results of the State Legislative polls will be declared on May 2.
A day after the Election Commission had banned BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma from campaigning for 48 hours, today the period has been reduced to 24 hours. The decision to relax the ban came after Dr Sarma tendered an unconditional apology for his comments on BPF chief Hagrama Mohilary that had led to the ban.
A letter issued to Himanta Biswa Sarma by the Election Commission informed him about the decision. The letter said, “In your representation, you have, interalia, requested to “accept my sincere regret and assurance of abiding MCC in future, and. be further pleased to reduce the period of debarment from election campaign from 48 hours to 24 hours”.
In response to the request, the EC said, “The Commission, having considered your aforesaid unconditional apology and assurance/undertaking, in the above mentioned representation, has decided to modify its Order dated 2n April, 2021 and reduce the period of debarment from election campaign from 48 hours to 24 hours to the effect that permission may be granted for holding any public meetings, public processions, public rallies, road shows, etc., by the concerned district administration authorities, where you are expected or likely to participate.”
EC added that Himanta Biswa Sarma had also pleaded for reduction on the ban period on the ground that he himself is a candidate in the constituency which is scheduled for poll on 6th April, 2021. The EC added, “You are directed to ensure compliance of the Commission’s aforesaid directions.”
Earlier in the day, some media reports had claimed that Sarma has approached the Gauhati High Court challenging the EC order. But later he said that it is not correct, and he has not approached any court against the ban on him from campaigning.
I have not challenged the order of the Election Commission of India before any Court of Law.
Immediately after obtaining the relaxation from the EC, Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that he will be resuming campaigning from today evening itself, after the expiry of 24 hours period.
He tweeted that he will be attending a road show today evening Sonaram field to Lal Ganesh in Guwahati, in support of West Guwahati candidate Ramendra Narayan Kalita.
Join us in our Road Show today evening from Sonaram field to Lal Ganesh which will cover 6 km distance in support of Sri Ramendra Narayan Kalita, Our candidate from west Guwahati Constituency
It may be noted that Himanta Biswa Sarma is yet to campaign for himself in the nearber Jalukbari constituency. It is expected that he will attend a rally or road show there tomorrow, the last day of the campaigning for the third and last phase of the Assam assembly elections.
Yesterday the election commission had banned Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma from campaigning in the elections for 48 hours, on a petition by the Congress party. Congress leaders had approached the poll panel seeking an FIR and a ban on Sarma for his comments allegedly threatening to arrest Hagrama Mohilary, the chief of Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF).
During an interaction with media on 30th March, Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that if Hagrama Mohilary is found to be collaborating with extremist M Batha for return of extremism in the Bodoland area, he will be sent to jail. Sarma had also said that a recent case of recovery of arms from a vehicle in the Bodoland region will be handed over to NIA after the elections. Saying that he is “not afraid” of either Batha or Hagrama, Sarma had said that violence will not be encouraged in the Bodoland region again.
After receiving the petition, on 1st April the EC had asked Sarma to submit explanation within 2nd April. Himanta Biswa Sarma submitted his response yesterday accordingly, but EC was not satisfied with it, and imposed the ban.
In late 2019, several social media users were saying that certain student groups at Aligarh Muslim University had raised highly objectionable slogans pledging to dig the graves of Hindus. As with any number of things these days, the “fact-checkers” came in to whitewash the situation. No, they argued, the students at AMU had said nothing of that sort. The fact-checkers sifted through the actual video and discovered that the slogan raised was about digging the grave of “Hindutva.” Apparently, that makes it all better.
This supposed distinction between “Hinduism” and “Hindutva” is now a flagship propaganda item for the Indian and global left. You can use any dehumanizing language you want, as long as you are careful to specify that it is against “Hindutva.” You are free to call them Nazi, Taliban, ISIS, anything and nobody will say that you are bigoted or racist. In fact, saying these things will probably enhance your liberal and progressive image.
Hindutva is the BJP ideology. And PM Modi, as the leader of the BJP, represents this ideology. And as long as you dehumanize PM Modi and the 23 crore people who voted for him, you are a humanitarian.
But this distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva, how real is it? One way to find out is whether this distinction is rigidly enforced by liberals outside India, where Hindus have no power at all. For instance, when PM Modi visited Bangladesh last week, violent riots broke out. The minority Hindu community was attacked and a number of temples were targeted.
In other words, the majority community in Bangladesh made no distinction between Hindutva and Hinduism. Interesting. A number of editors in India as well as some international media outlets have tried to spin these incidents as “anti-Modi protests.”
Article by Al Jazeera
In fact, some editors in India used this occasion to further reprimand PM Modi. Mend your neighbourhood policy and your “Hindutva” ways. Or else, they say, Hindus won’t be safe anywhere in the world.
But why? I thought Hindus and Hinduism, in general, have nothing to do with “Hindutva.” Why would anyone attack a temple in Bangladesh as part of “anti-Modi protests”? We were told that you don’t hate ordinary Hindus. You said you have nothing against temples. Then, how come?
It isn’t just the rioters who failed to make the distinction. First of all, the world was mostly silent on anti-Hindu riots in Bangladesh. And when they spoke, they conspicuously tried to blur the line between protesting against Modi and attacking innocent Hindus and their places of worship. You can see that clearly in this headline from Al Jazeera. So who was trying to make “Hinduism” seem like the same thing as “Hindutva”?
I was told that “Hindutva” is the same as Nazi ideology. What kind of responsible news organization would forget to distinguish between Nazis and common people?
It is obvious what is happening here. The “Hindutva vs Hinduism” thing was invented in order to fool Hindus inside India. Outside India, where Hindus have no power, you can do anything you want to Hindus. Inside India, you have to be savvier. So you direct your punches at this thing called “Hindutva” that you insist is totally different. It is a weak cover story, but with most Hindus in India just wishing to get on with their lives, it somehow works.
Anyone who wears a Hanuman shirt is a terrorist, the liberals tell the world. Also, sarees, Diya, rasam, kids playing Holi, anything that can be associated with Hindus is a scourge on humanity. Slightly alarmed, the Indian Hindu sometimes stops to ask: you guys are not defaming my culture, are you?
No way, the liberals reply. We are just blaming “Hindutva.” Hearing this, the Indian Hindu feels reassured, nods and leaves the scene. Once the Indian Hindu is a safe distance away, the liberals burst out laughing.
How bad have things become for Hindus now? Regarding the anti-Hindu riots in Bangladesh, Ahmed Mobarak, a professor of economics at Yale, tweeted this.
Tweet by Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak
Can you believe this? The picture shows PM Modi offering prayers at an old Kali Temple in Jessore in Bangladesh. But somehow, it is Modi’s visit which is blamed for spreading violence. The innocent rioters apparently had no choice. They were simple souls who walked into a trap set by Modi.
A rioter attacks a Hindu temple in Bangladesh. Who is to blame? Modi! How dare he visit a temple? Now every Hindu in Bangladesh must pay the price. Look who forgot that Hinduism and Hindutva are two different things. Remember that Hindutva is so different and so evil that AMU students are allowed to raise slogans about burying it alive. And yet, Yale professors and global news organizations like Al Jazeera routinely manage to mix up Hinduism and Hindutva.
Why? Because that Yale professor and his friends cater to a global audience. They have no incentive to pretend. Hindus at Yale don’t have the power to take his job away. So he can laugh in their faces and say that Hindus have only themselves to blame for existing in Bangladesh.
Who else knows that Hindutva is just a code word used to bash Hindus? Other than the average Indian Hindu, pretty much everyone else. Let me show you this recent interview given to Christianity Today by Dr Johnrose Austin Jayalal, the President of the Indian Medical Association about all the silver linings that his religion has found due to Covid. As you can probably tell, this individual is not very bright. He ended up saying a number of things, for which he had to make up excuses later. But here is an interesting slip from him that few people noticed:
“Most of the people are soft-minded. There are fewer hardcore people, apart from excluding the people who are in power. Often people are more understanding; people are more tolerant; people are more able to go along with them. One of the things we must always remember is that Hinduism or Hindutva is different from other religions because of polytheism.”
Wait! What do you mean by “Hinduism or Hindutva?” Did he just indicate that the two are roughly the same? Along with attributes like “soft-minded,” “more understanding” and “tolerant”? I thought Hindutva is the same as Nazism. Is he saying that Nazis are soft minded?
Yes, I think even he can see through this trick of pretending that Hindutva and Hinduism are different. And if an absolute clown-like Dr Johnrose Austin Jayalal can figure this out, can’t you?
One final lesson here. Due to elections in West Bengal, there is a lot of talk about Bengali cultural identity, about who worships Ram and who worships Durga or Kali. Those who fall for such politics might want to see what happened across the border in Bangladesh. Same Bengali language. Same Bengali culture. Then, why did cultural identity not save the Hindus of Bangladesh? Are the Hindus of Bangladesh also “outsiders” from Rajasthan and Gujarat?
The reality is that all this talk of cultural sub-nationalism is relevant only as long as we Hindus have ground beneath our feet. The world is not with us. We Indian Hindus only have each other. So why not fight each other over language and caste until what is left of India disintegrates completely? Who wants a bright future like that of the Hindus of Bangladesh?
