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From Jai Shri Ram chants to placing Om flag outside Mamata’s house: How Nandigram battle has played out

OpIndia Staff
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From Jai Shri Ram chants to placing Om flag outside Mamata’s house: How Nandigram battle has played out

As Nandigram goes to vote in the high octane West Bengal State Assembly elections on Thursday, the campaigning for the high profile seat ended on an intense note. As per reports, the cut-outs of Suvendu Adhikari are way more than those of Mamata Banerjee. Adhikari, Mamata Banerjee’s former aide, quit the TMC and joined the BJP few months prior to the assembly elections.

The road leading to the house where Mamata Banerjee stayed in the final days of campaigning in West Bengal was filled with saffron flags with ‘Om’ written on them. The TMC operatives, however, have not yet removed the flags. Ahead of the conclusion of campaigning, the loudspeakers blared ‘Bole Bole Nandigram, Jai Shri Ram! (Nandigram says Jai Shri Ram)’. When Mamata Banerjee’s car passed by, the BJP workers loudly chanted Jai Shri Ram. Banerjee, has made her disdain for ‘Jai Shri Ram’ quite evident.

Earlier in January, when she got on stage to address a gathering on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose birth anniversary, she was greeted with Jai Shri Ram slogans. She refused to address the crowd and accused them of trying to insult her.

Meanwhile, Suvendu Adhikari has minced no words to accuse Banerjee of Muslim appeasement. Addressing an election rally on 29th March, Adhikari had said that if Mamata wins, she will turn Bengal into mini-Pakistan.

TMC leader Sheikh Alam had last week said that Muslims are 30% and others are 70% and if these 30% Muslims in the country come together, Hindus will have nowhere to go in the country. “We form government with 30% votes, they will form govt with the support of 70% votes, they should be ashamed of themselves. If 30% of people in India come together, we can form 4 Pakistans. If all the Muslims in India move to one side of the country, where the rest of the people go, where the 70% people will go?”, the TMC leader said.

In 2016, when Suvendu Adhikari fought from TMC ticket, he had secured 134,623 votes and had won by a margin of 81,230. Left had come second with 53,393 votes and BJP stood third at 10,713. However, in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, TMC’s Tamluk candidate Dibyendu Adhikari, who is also brother to Suvendu Adhikari, won 130,659 votes and BJP came second with 62,268 votes. Left had come third with less than 10,000 votes.

As per official records, Nandigram has just 257,299 registered voters. If the viral images floating on social media are to be believed, Mamata Banerjee is set to lose Nandigram as per the internal survey of IPAC, poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s agency, hired by TMC to make Mamata win. TMC has quickly refuted the viral images and claimed that BJP is ‘losing big’ and hence sharing ‘fake images’.

But as is evident, each votes counts.

USA: Biden administration formally declares China’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide

OpIndia Staff
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USA: Biden administration formally declares China’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide

On March 30 (local time), in the annual human rights report, the Biden administration declared the treatment of Uyghur Muslims by the Chinese government as ‘genocide’. Several reports in the past have shown how China is undertaking mass detention and sterilization of minority groups in the Xinjiang region in the name of ‘re-education’.

It has to be noted that recently during a meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had a tough time with Chinese diplomats Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi. The Chinese diplomats did not pay heed to the Biden’s administration’s willingness to talk about atrocities regardless of the impact on the relations between the two nations. US diplomats were mocked several times by bringing up the issues like Black Lives Matter and were blamed for waging wars in the Middle East for oil.

The report talks about genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang

In the section ‘China (Includes Hong Kong, Macau, and Tibet)’ of the report on Human Rights titled ‘2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices’ unveiled on March 30 by Secretary Antony J. Blinken, there was a mention of atrocities by Chinese Communist Party on minorities in China. It reads, “Genocide and crimes against humanity occurred during the year against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.”

The report further reads, “These crimes were continuing and include: the arbitrary imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty of more than one million civilians; forced sterilization, coerced abortions, and more restrictive application of China’s birth control policies; rape; torture of a large number of those arbitrarily detained; forced labour; and the imposition of draconian restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression, and freedom of movement.”

The report mentioned several examples, including Abdulghafur Hapiz, an Uyghur man detained in a Xinjiang internment camp since 2017. The Chinese government formally confirmed Hapiz’s death to the United Nations in October. The report said that the Chinese government conducted mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim and ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang.

It also talked about the disappearance of four citizen journalists, Chen Qiushi, Li Zehua, Zhang Zhan, and Fang Bin, who had interviewed health-care professionals and citizens and later publicized their accounts on social media in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown in Wuhan.

Remarks of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken

While unveiling the report, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said that the report shows human rights were going in the ‘wrong direction’ in every region of the world. He further said, “We see it in the genocide being committed against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.” He also called out attacks on and the imprisonment of opposition politicians, anti-corruption activists, and independent journalists in places like Russia, Uganda, Venezuela.

Trump administration had officially declared genocide in Xinjiang in January 2021

During the final days of the tenure, the Trump administration had officially declared genocide in Xinjiang. On January 19, 2021, then-Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo had said, “I have determined that the PRC, under the direction and control of the CCP, has committed genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang. I believe this genocide is ongoing and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party-state.”

He further added that if China is allowed to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against its own people, it is hard to imagine what it can do to the rest of the world. “Imagine what it will be emboldened to do to the free world, in the not-so-distant future,” he said.

Experts welcome US’s report on China

Sophie Richardson, a China expert at Human Rights Watch said, “Using the term ‘genocide’ in the report indicates profound concern in the administration about appalling Chinese government human rights violations against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, ­Kyrgyz and other Turkic communities.” She further said that the move might put further pressure on the Biden administration to punish China for the alleged actions against the Uyghurs. “The next step is to map out a strategy to back an independent investigation, gather evidence and pursue accountability,” she added.

‘The US is not trying to contain China’, said Blinken

When Blinken was asked if the US’s stand against China and Russia may blowback as it looks like the US is bullying them, Blinken said that the US is not standing against any of those countries. “We’re not trying to, for example, contain China or keep it down. What we are about is standing up for basic principles, basic rights and a rules-based international order,” he added.

Uttar Pradesh government to grant a day off to government and private employees for getting Covid vaccine

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh government to grant a day off to government and private employees for getting Covid vaccine

In order to pace up the process of vaccination in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has come up with an initiative to grant a day off to government and private employees for vaccination. The state government will be granting a day’s leave to all the government as well as private employees in the state for getting themselves inoculated.

State government organising Covid-19 testing camps for journalists

According to reports, fresh directions were issued by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after a review meeting held at the CM residence. The state government directed government officials to ensure that vaccination monitoring committees are fully active in rural as well as urban areas. The government has also directed dedicated Covid-19 hospitals to be made functional to the best of their capacities. The number of Covid-19 hospitals has been ordered to be increased after the assessment at the local level.

The state government is also organising a Covid-19 test camp for journalists. In a similar testing camp organised in the state on March 28, around 60 journalists were tested. The camp is being facilitated by the Department of Information of the Uttar Pradesh government. The government had directed the officials to focus on old-age homes, orphanages, residential schools and similar places for speeding up the vaccination drive.

Social distancing and wearing a mask at public places made mandatory

The state government has directed the integrated command and control centre to be operated effectively. Besides, the government has ordered that social distancing should be strictly followed at public places and wearing a mask should be made mandatory. The fire fighting arrangements in all the hospitals including medical colleges have been ordered to be audited on priority.

In view of the rising cases of Covid-19, the state government has directed the schools in the state up to 8th standard to remain shut till April 4.

How the cruel practice of raising animals for meat is close to being torn down

Priyank
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How the cruel practice of raising animals for meat is close to being torn down

Martin Luther King Jr, the famous civil rights icon once said, ‘the arc of the moral universe is large but it bends towards justice’. It would be accurate to modify the saying to today’s age to say that the arc of the world is large but bends towards Sanatan Dharma’. Today we will examine one aspect of Sanatan Dharma, the respect for animal life, and how the cruel practice of raising animals for meat is close to being torn down.

Let’s first examine the key research and reasons that will collectively draw the curtain or at least significantly curtail the meat industry in the coming years.

Environmental impact

Meat production is responsible for almost 15% of all global greenhouse emissions and UN bodies now consistently call for reducing or eliminating meat consumption in order to meet global emission targets.

Health

Modern science is coming around to the dharmic point of view that meat-eating is not ideal for most individuals. Processed red meat has been designated as a level 1 carcinogen (definite cause of cancer) by the World Health Organization and red meat has been designated as a level 2 carcinogen (probable cause of cancer). Fish contain numerous micro-plastics that mess with the endocrine system and chickens carry with them hormones and antibiotics that are impossible to get rid of in the final product.

Animal sentience

The latest research has firmly established the emotional, intellectual and psychological intelligence and complexities of animals. The examples are too numerous but just to list a few – crows in Tokyo use car traffic to crack open walnuts by dropping the unopened nuts in front of cars that are stopped at red lights, elephants mourn their dead, honeybees learn new nectar extraction techniques from each other and studies have shown that fruit flies indulge in alcohol from fermented fruit when they do not have great mating prospects.

Shaky legal standing

It makes no sense that killing and eating a cow or sheep is fine but killing a dog or cat is considered an act worthy of legal prosecution in most countries. Even amongst farm animals, there is little consistency. For example, horse meat is legal in certain European countries but illegal in the US.

Availability of alternatives

The past few years have seen rapid growth in plant-based alternatives that look, taste and feel like meat. Many fast-food chains have introduced these offerings and even McDonalds will begin offering the ‘McPlant’ in 2021.

Based on the above, most western countries are witnessing a rapid growth in vegetarianism and veganism and even countries such as Brazil with a culture and history of meat eating have seen explosive growth in meatless diets. And this is before we come to China which has a goal of cutting meat consumption to half within 10 years.

How should India approach this topic? Firstly, the dietary suggestions by the Ministry of Health need to exclude meat and meat products. There are no nutrients in meat that are not available in the traditional Indian diet and even the propaganda around protein doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Per the USDA, the average male requires 56 grams of protein per day – that amount is easily obtained from a lacto-vegetarian diet. 

Secondly, just like the International Day of Yoga, the government should start a UN based movement to urge a no meat month across the world during the month of June (when the World Environment Day usually falls). It is said that any habit followed for 21 days becomes part of one’s daily life and a month of avoiding meat will accelerate the giving up of meat consumption.

Thirdly, a dharmic version of PETA needs to be launched, backed by money power to buy promotional messages by celebrities. Meat-eating in India needs to gradually be seen like smoking – a harmful yet legal habit, but by no means, ‘cool’. The Bollywood and Cricket addicted public needs lectures from its stars and there’s no faster way to get them to speak up than good old-fashioned money.

The abolishment of meat-eating might seem like a fantasy given how engrained it has been in human culture since the very first ape walked upright and scavenged the remains of a prehistoric lion’s kill. However many practices that existed outside Bharat for almost the same amount of time, such as slavery and no rights for women, were also wiped away in a relatively short amount of time. The cruel, senseless, and unnecessary farming of animals for meat is destined to meet a similar end.

Congress worker threatens Haryana BJP leader with ‘Arun Narang’ like fate, hints at mob attack on his rally

OpIndia Staff
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Congress worker threatens Haryana BJP leader with ‘Arun Narang’ like fate, hints at mob attack on his rally

Bhartiya Janta Party’s Haryana State President and Former Cabinet Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Haryana- Om Prakash Dhankar was threatened with ‘Arun Narang’ type fate by Congress’s social media in-charge.

Om Prakash Dhankar had tweeted condemning the attack on Arun Narang, a BJP leader in Punjab who was recently was lynched and stripped naked by alleged protesting farmers. Calling the act inhuman, he blamed the Congress and farmer groups for the shameful attack and demanded strict action against the perpetrators.

To this, a Congress worker named Vikram Dangi Majra, who claims to be the social media zone in charge of the party, threatened the BJP leader with Arun Narang type fate. His reply read, “This will be your condition in Haryana. If you have the guts, conduct a public meeting here..”

Congress worker Vikram Dangi’s reply to Om Prakash Dhankar

The tweet also hints of self admission that it was indeed the Congress who led the attack on Arun Narang.

Vikram’s Twitter profile confirms his affiliation with the Congress Party. He claims to be Rohtak’s zone in charge of the Youth Congress Social Media wing. He was also seen wishing Holi to his followers using Congress’s logo on social media.

Vikram Dangi Majra’s Twitter profile
Vikram’s social media Holi greetings with Congress’s logo

Vikram has been promoting the farmers’ protest through his social media posts and pages. He even justified the sword attack on Delhi police during January 26 riots.

Vikram’s Instagram timeline
Vikram’s social media post justifying the sword attack. The post reads, “A Nihang Sikh brandished his sword after lathi charge by police on farmers”

Congress had recently initiated a drive to hire 5 lakh social media activists to challenge BJP in the digital space. Wanting to create an ‘army of truth’ to fight paid trolls, the warriors hired by INC seem to be acting like trolls and goons themselves.

BJP leader Arun Narang attacked

On March 27, anti-farm law protestors in Punjab had attacked BJP’s Abohar MLA Arun Narang. The BJP leader was thrashed brutally and stripped naked by the violent attackers.

When OpIndia reached out to Arun Narang to know his perspective about the incident, Narang said that Bharatiya Janata Party had organized press conferences to highlight the failures of the Congress-led Punjab Government. He was scheduled to attend the press meet in Malout, District Muktsar. As soon as he got out of his car, he was attacked by the goons present on the scene.

The attack on Arun Narang was condemned by top leaders of BJP like Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.

Narang emphasized on the fact that parties like Congress and people with a vested interest are creating an anti-establishment atmosphere in the country especially in Punjab and Haryana.

Mamata losing Nandigram, says leaked image of Prashant Kishor’s internal survey, TMC cries foul

OpIndia Staff
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Mamata losing Nandigram, says leaked image of Prashant Kishor’s internal survey, TMC cries foul

Hours before West Bengal goes to vote in phase 2 of phase state assembly elections, a purported image of IPAC’s internal survey has gone viral on social media which predicts Mamata Banerjee losing Nandigram seat. IPAC is the agency run by poll strategist Prashant Kishor who is hired by the West Bengal Chief Minister for the ongoing polls.

The leaked image, which shows survey of the 30 seats which go to polls in phase 2 suggests a huge surge for the BJP. The survey predicts 23 out of 30 seats for BJP while TMC will be reduced to just 5 seats. As per the survey, Mamata Banerjee is set to lose Nandigram. Nandigram is a battle for personal prestige for her as she is contesting against Suvendu Adhikari, her former close associate who quit the TMC and joined the BJP ahead of polls.

The authenticity of the survey cannot be independently verified.

The TMC, however, has claimed that the BJP is ‘losing big’ in Nandigram and is circulating ‘fake reports’.

The TMC, through its social media account on 29th March 2021 claimed that some other survey dated 26th March 2021 which suggested BJP’s victory for Nandigram was ‘fake’.

Last week, various opinion polls had suggested that the BJP has fair chance of forming government in West Bengal and Banerjee is set to lose Nandigram. Subsequently, Mamata cancelled all her other programs and decided to camp in Nandigram for five days before polling. Nandigram will go to polls on April 1, 2021 in phase 2.

Update: IPAC, though its official Twitter handle had clarified the above image of the survey is not correct.

IPAC also claimed that no one in their team uses desktop and hence this image is fake.

Khalistan sympathizer Deep Sidhu, accused in Republic Day riots case, applies for bail: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Khalistan sympathizer Deep Sidhu, accused in Republic Day riots case, applies for bail: Details

Deep Sidhu, accused in the Republic Day riots in Delhi, has moved a Delhi Court seeking bail. The matter is likely to be heard tomorrow, ANI reported. Deep Sidhu was arrested by the special cell of the Delhi Police on the 9th of February.

Punjabi actor and Khalistan sympathizer Deep Sidhu was named by the police in an FIR lodged in connection with the violent protests of the Republic Day. He was seen among the mob who attacked the Red Fort and hoisted different flags in place of the Tricolour on the 72nd Republic Day.

A case was registered by Delhi police at Kotwali police station of North district under relevant sections of various laws including the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, and the Arms Act.

After being named in the FIR, Sidhu released a video on Facebook claiming that he tried to reason with the protesting farmers to reach a unanimous decision regarding the route to be taken for the protest on Republic Day.

He claimed that no one led the farmers to the Red Fort and that he reached there only after the gates of the fort had already been broken. In the video, Sidhu justified the hoisting of the Sikh flag atop the Red Fort calling it “diversity”.

Mob barges into Machhindranath temple and chants ‘Allahu Akbar’ to disrupt aarti, reports Shiv Sena mouthpiece: Know the story behind viral video

Jinit Jain
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Mob barges into Machhindranath temple and chants ‘Allahu Akbar’ to disrupt aarti, reports Shiv Sena mouthpiece: Know the story behind viral video

About 50 to 60 Muslim fanatics barged into the ancient temple of Machhindranath perched atop the Malang Gad fort and chanted “Allahu Akbar” slogans to disrupt the ongoing aarti performed by Hindu devotees, a report published in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said.

According to the report, on March 28, Hindu devotees were performing the traditional aarti (Hindu religious ritual of worship) when scores of Muslims entered the Machhindranath temple and tried to disrupt the proceedings. The enraged mob shouted slogans of “Allahu Akbar” and shoved around Hindus in the temple, in an attempt to stop them from performing their annual tradition.

The video of the scuffle has now gone viral on the internet. In the video, scores of Muslims could be seen intimidating the Hindu devotees against performing their rituals while shouting “Allahu Akbar”.

Source: YouTube

Every year, Machindranath’s devotees undertake a religious journey called Magh Pournima Shrimalang Yatra to the Malang Gad fort for paying their obeisance to Machhindranath. However, due to the coronavirus outbreak, this year’s yatra was cancelled.

But on Shiv Sena’s insistence, Hindus were allowed to perform all the religious rituals at Machhindranath’s temple as per Hindu traditions. As per the government rules—annual bath, palanquin, gandhlepan, naivedya, maha aarti—were allowed to be performed in the presence of 50 devotees including government officials and other dignitaries.

However, this did not sit well with the fanatics in the region and they hatched a plan to disrupt the aarti. As soon as the Hindu organizations came to know about this, they informed the police about it. Police allowed only seven Hindu devotees to enter the temple for Aarti, citing coronavirus restrictions. Just five minutes after the aarti commenced, a violent mob of 50-60 Muslim fanatics entered the temple and shouted slogans of “Allahu Akbar”, asking Hindus to stop performing their rituals.

Hindu organisations complained to the Hill Road police station against the rabble-rousers who had burst into the temple and attempted to disrupt the aarti. However, the police assured that they would only investigate without filing a case. The Hindu groups gave an ultimatum of 4 days to the police to investigate the incident and arrest the perpetrators, failing which they would launch a widespread agitation.

The incident took place at 8 pm on 28 March. It is being reported when the police tried to intervene, the members of the Muslim mob grabbed the collar of the policemen and pushed them. Four people have been arrested in the case so far.

The longstanding dispute between Hindus and Muslims over the ownership of the place

Hindu devotees believe the place is the resting place of Baba Machhindranath of the Nath sect and that the Peshwas had entrusted a Brahmin family named Ketkar to perform the puja there. Every year Hindu rituals are worshipped here, especially on Magh Purnima when a grand aarti is organised.

However, the Muslims claim that it is the shrine of Sufi Fakir Haji Abdul Rahman Shah Malang aka Malang Baba. They claim he came to the place from Yemen in the 13th century.

Ajaz Khan, who has now been arrested by NCB, had mocked Arnab Goswami after he spoke about the Bollywood drug nexus case

OpIndia Staff
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Ajaz Khan, who has now been arrested by NCB, had mocked Arnab Goswami after he spoke about the Bollywood drug nexus case

Controversial actor Ajaz Khan was arrested by the NCB earlier today in connection with its investigation into the Bollywood drug nexus case. He is reportedly accused of being a member of the Shadab Batata gang.

Ironically, Ajaz Khan had mocked Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami due to the latter’s coverage of the same case. The actor had mocked the journalist for his ‘Drug Do’ clip which had gone viral on the internet.

Ajaz Khan mocked Arnab Goswami
Ajaz Khan mocked Arnab Goswami

Reportedly, the NCB has also conducted raids at various locations related to the actor. The actor was taken into custody after he returned to Mumbai from Rajasthan. Ajaz Khan has found himself on the wrong side of the law earlier as well. He was arrested by the Mumbai Police in April 2020 for communal remarks he made in a Facebook Live video.

In another shocking video, Ajaz Khan was seen abusing journalists Arnab Goswami, Rajat Sharma and Sudhir Choudhary and wishing that they had their respective families get infected with coronavirus.

On April 15, 2020, the serial abuser went live on his Facebook account, and in his 8.26 long video, he not only blamed BJP and PM Modi for being biased against the Muslims of the country but hit out at senior journalists like Arnab Goswami, Rajat Sharma and Zee News editor Sudhir Choudhary for being BJP stooges. He tried to provoke the Muslims by saying that their community is being targeted and hexed for every transgression happening anywhere in the country.

He was arrested by Anti-Narcotics Cell of Navi Mumbai for possessing drugs. He later got out on bail. He was arrested in 2016 too for sending lewd and vulgar messages to a hair stylist. In the past, Ajaz Khan has indulged in promoting hate speech through his Facebook account which could disturb the communal harmony in the country.

U.K. Tourism Minister asks citizens to ‘resist temptation’ of hugging their loved ones, urges to call out people who do so

OpIndia Staff
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U.K. Tourism Minister asks citizens to ‘resist temptation’ of hugging their loved ones, urges to call out people who do so

United Kingdom’s Tourism and Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston in an interview with BBC Breakfast, called upon people to not “risk the health of your loved ones” through “actually hugging them and risk the spread of the disease (COVID-19)”.

The Minister then went on to make a redundant statement, “Of course when you’re hugging someone, you’re in incredibly close proximity to them.” The U.K. Minister further went on, exhorting people to intervene if they witness “someone behaving in an odd way”.

“We all know the rules…if you see somebody behaving in a slightly odd way, then maybe call them out on it in a respectful way, because sometimes some people just forget,” Nigel Huddleston said in the same segment in which he asks people to resist the temptation of hugging their loved ones.

Huddleston later added that refusing physical contact was “a little bit awkward” but the right thing to do in these circumstances. It has been over a year since the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the world.

The U.K. Minister’s statement has drawn reactions ranging from disbelief to laughter to scorn.

“In other words………. “If you see someone behaving like a human being then call them out on it””, said one Twitter user.

“Does he realize how ridiculous he sounds? So in theory he wants people to pull up others if they are seen to be participating in that most dangerous of activities, hugging their relatives? What a sad world this is becoming”, said another.

Many were defiantly against the Minister’s comments with one particular Twitter user saying, “I’m seeing my kids next weekend for the first time since the end of December! Wild horses wouldn’t stop me hugging them!”

The U.K. Minister made his remarks yesterday on the day when the U.K. moved towards easing their COVID-19 lockdown, with outdoor sports facilities, including tennis courts and golf courses, and weddings/gatherings of up to 6 people allowed outside.

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