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How Congress supporter lied, used wrong RTI response to allege Amit Shah was lying about bomb factories in Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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How Congress supporter lied, used wrong RTI response to allege Amit Shah was lying about bomb factories in Bengal

The ministry of home affairs has said that Congress supporter and so-called RTI activist Saket Gokhale misquoted replies to his RTI queries with an ulterior motive and malicious intent. The ministry said that Gokhale uses reply to a different RTI query to claim that the ministry has no information on bomb factories in West Bengal. MHA issued the statement after several media houses published reports based on Gokhale’s claims.

Gokhale had filed an RTI query to find whether the claims made by Home Minister Amit Shah was true or not. In a TV interview in October 2020, Amit Shah had said that there re “bomb-making factories in every district” in West Bengal. Gokhale had filed a RTI query in October 2020 seeking details of these illegal bomb-making factories from the home ministry. He furnished four questions in the query, where he wanted a district wise list of the factories, whether official briefing on such factories were given to the union home ministry, whether the home minister’s statement was based on official inputs, and whether a list of such bomb making factories has been shared with the West Bengal government.

On 9th March, Saket Gokhale tweeted that he has received the reply for his RTI application, and claimed that the MHA has said that they don’t have the information he had sought. He also posted a screenshot of the reply, which said that the ministry does have the information on the point numbers 1 to 3 in the RTI query. The MHA reply also states that ‘police’ and ‘police order’ are state subjects, and the state police is the first responder in any criminal/terrorist activity. Therefore, the ministry had written that Gokhale can seek the information from states/union territories.

Saket Gokhale also claimed that while he had asked four questions, MHA referred to only three. Therefore, he concluded that no bomb factories exist in West Bengal as he had asked whether MHA had shared the list of factories with the WB government. He called the union home minister a liar, claiming that there are no bomb factories in West Bengal and Amit Shah was giving false information.

However, now the Home Ministry has said that it is Saket Gokhale who is lying, as he is using the MHA response to a different RTI query to paint the home minister as liar. They have said that Saket Gokhale had filed an RTI application in January, which had three questions seeking details of involvement of Khalistani organizations in farmer’s protest. The MHA reply that Gokhale posted on 9th March was for this RTI query, and not for the West Bengal bomb factories.

Home ministry said that they had received two online RTI applications from Gokhale on the Khalistani issue, one directly and the other through Department of legal affairs, and they had replied to this query on 3rd March. The home ministry also said that Saket Gokhale deliberately masked the reference numbers of his queries, so that he can link the query to his West Bengal question.

MHA says that its reply clearly states the reference numbers of the RTI applications, MHOME/R/T/21/00110 and MHOME/R/E/21/00149 and their date 12 January 2021, making it clear that they were replying to the query seeking details of Khalistanis involved in farmer protests. However, Gokhale masked the reference number from the RTI reply when he posted the same on Twitter.

The minister further informed that they have not received the query dated 18th October, 2020 regarding the bomb factories, and has not replied to the same.

The Home Ministry has said that Gokhale did this with an ulterior motive and malicious intent. They said that he linked the reply to a different query with malicious intent of misleading public and spreading lies and canard on social media platform.

Even though Saket Gokhale redacted the reference number in the RTI reply, it still shows that MHA had received the RTI query on 17th February. Therefore, is safe to assume that they were responding to a query filed recently. Moreover, the reply cited three queries, whereas Saket’s application on bomb factories had four questions. MHA clarification states that his query on Khalistanis had three specific questions, and thus the reply mentions 3 questions.

Gokhale’s claim that MHA didn’t reply the fourth question because there are no bomb factories in West Bengal does not make sense at all. Because his other questions also refer to bomb factories only.

The full statement issued by the home ministry is given below:

There have been some reports in the media quoting tweets of Shri Saket Gokhale about an RTI reply by MHA. Shri Gokhale has misrepresented the facts while tweeting with a malicious intention. The fact of the matter is that CPIO CTCR Division, MHA received two online RTI applications from Shri Gokhale; vide HOME/R/T/21/00110 and HOME/R/E/21/00149 dated 12th Jan 2021, one in MHA and other one from Department of Legal affairs respectively. Shri Gokhale, vide both the above mentioned applications had asked for information on three specific points related inter-alia to the involvement of Khalistani organizations in farmer’s protest. The CPIO, MHA, replied to him on 3rd March 2021, vide letter no 17011/01/2020/CT-1. Shri Gokhale through his tweets, dated 9th March 2021, misquoted the reply of the CPIO. To buttress his claim, Shri Gokhale linked the copy of reply of CPIO with a different application, purportedly made on 18th October 2020 on another subject altogether which was neither received by this particular CPIO, MHA nor replied by him. In the reply CPIO MHA, had clearly mentioned the reference numbers MHOME/R/T/21/00110 &MHOME/R/E/21/00149 and date of RTI application (12th Jan 2021), so that there remained no doubt and ambiguity regarding the RTI application being replied. With an ulterior motive & malicious intent Sh Gokhale in his tweets, deliberately obliterated reference no. of RTI reply, while linking this reply with his earlier application dt. 18/10/20 with malicious intent of misleading public & spread lies & canard on social media platform

While the Congress supporter is working hard to somehow prove that there in bomb factories in West Bengal ruled by TMC, a party his Congress is contesting in the assembly elections, no RTI question is needed to see what is open in the air. Devastating explosions have taken places in several illegal bomb factories in West Bengal. Crude bombs are recovered from various persons and party workers, and even from political party offices very regularly. Crude bombs have also been used in political violence in the state. Therefore, what Amit Shah said was true, there are bomb factories in West Bengal.

‘Let’s see what the voters will think’: Here is why TMC sees an opportunity where others see a meme

Nupur J Sharma
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‘Let’s see what the voters will think’: Here is why TMC sees an opportunity where others see a meme

On the 10th of March, Mamata Banerjee alleged that she had been attacked. The CM alleged four-five people deliberately pushed her, after which she fell down and suffered an injury on her leg. She said that it was done as part of a conspiracy. Banerjee said that she was in deep pain due to the injury, and also had a fever. After she got injured, Mamata Banerjee, allegedly writhing in pain, travelled almost 300 km to get admitted to the SSKM hospital.

Both the CM and her party workers alleged that it was a conspiracy to keep her out of election campaigns. Although they didn’t name anyone, they tried to blame the BJP for the incident.

Eyewitnesses, however, completely trashed Mamata’s claims of being ‘pushed’ by some people. They claimed that the entire account given by Mamata Banerjee was false and that it was an accident. They also said that she was surrounded by police protection at that moment, denying the claim by the CM that there was no police protection around her at the time of the incident.

Describing how the CM suffered an injury, the eyewitnesses said that Mamata Banerjee was greeting the crowd with folded hands from her car. The car was moving, and she had kept the door of the car open to greet the people waiting by the roadside. At Birulia Bazar in Nandigram, the open door of the moving car hit a pillar, causing the door to shut forcefully. The door hit the leg of Mamata Banerjee, causing the injury, said the locals who claimed to have witnessed the entire incident. They said the allegation that 4-5 people pushed the CM is completely false.

The eyewitness statements and the obvious discrepancy in Mamata Banerjee’s version of events did not deter the usual suspects from wondering ‘what would the voters think about this’, since it was unfathomable to them that BJP would not believe the events as claimed by Mamata Banerjee.

They called such assertions by BJP downright heartless and cruel, saying, that it would be interesting how voters would now react to it.

Tweet by Prashant Bhushan
Tweet by Swati Chaturvedi

One has to admit – the picture of a woman leader, lying in bed with that expression on her face and a bandaged leg is extremely powerful. India, as a country, loves the triumphant story of a distressed woman beating the odds in a man’s world and rising, much like a phoenix, to fight for the downtrodden. It makes for a perfect movie.

As we also know, elections are often won on sentiments. We might deny it because we want to think of ourselves as logical individuals who like to weigh the track record of every leader and then make an informed decision – but it is not true. People vote based on which leader can tug on their heartstrings. Politics is not an easy job, one might argue. You need to really figure out what people want. What they REALLY want. And then, promise to give it to them. Not just promise, in fact, but appear to be convincing, motivated and most of all – empathetic. The mark of a really good politician is to ensure that the people themselves begin to believe that you, and only you, are the answer to all their woes. You, and you alone, will fight for them.

The mark of a good leader is, of course, to actually be sincere, promise what you can deliver and once the people believe you and vote for you, deliver on those promises.

That is, however, not really TMC’s style.

In 2011 when Mamata Banerjee came to power, she came to power on the plank of Maa, Maati, Maanush. She said that she was a daughter of the soil and that she would toil till her last breath for the interest of those who belong to this soil.

Mamata made the arduous journey from that statement to keeping quiet while Bengali Hindus burnt in riots, protesting against NRC, a proposal to send Bangladeshis back and then, proclaiming that all Bangladeshis in Bengal were citizens.

Essentially, TMC has always played on the people’s sentiments to either come to power or retain power. But when the country elected PM Modi, it got over the emotional blackmailing of the Congress and learnt to look beyond the rhetoric. Why does TMC then think that this rhetoric will work in Bengal in 2021? Why does it believe that if an accident is called an orchestrated attack on Maatir Maye (Daughter of the soil), it will still resonate with the people?

For starters, it is good politics. Don’t believe me? Here is what Prashant Kishore said in one of his interviews about the Bengal elections.

Kishor was asked categorically about what could change his estimate that BJP won’t win more than 100 seats in Bengal in 2021. His answer? If there is an attack on Paramilitary Forces, then BJP could win more seats.

The underlying sentiment in this segment and this response by Prashant Kishor is rather simple – In Bengal, emotions run high and for the elections to sway massively, an emotional trigger is needed.

Could the Nandigram fiasco of Mamata Banerjee be one of those orchestrated fiascos? We can’t say. Let’s not forget that today, almost 24 hours after Mamata Banerjee and TMC claimed that this was an organised attack by the BJP, the police report has categorically stated that it was an accident.

So why do emotions work in West Bengal?

One has to recall how The Left Front ruled the state for seven consecutive terms 1977–2011, five with Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister and two under Buddhadev Bhattacharya. Under Jyoti Basu, the state saw multiple massacres of Hindus, including the Marichjhapi massacre. Under Buddhadev Bhattacharya too, political violence was almost at its zenith.

Bengalis, though, gave the Left more than 35 years to do something substantial for the state. Why? Because the Communists spoke about doing something.. something for the downtrodden. Something for those who were left behind by the industrialisation in the rest of the country. Something that they sought. Just.. something.

When they realised that even after 35 years, the Communists had not done much, they would have still voted for the Communists had Mamata Banerjee not promised to do something for the downtrodden. Something for those who were left behind by the Industrialisation in the rest of the country. Something that they sought. Just.. something.

Bengal trusted Mamata because they saw how she sat hungry for them.

Hunger strike by Mamata

Bengal trusted her because they saw how the Communists beat her up because she was fighting for them.

An attempt to murder Mamata Banerjee when she was a Youth Congress leader

And they knew, that it was a fight between Mamata, who wanted to better their lives, and the Communists, who wanted to retain power.

You see, Bengal and its inhabitants are mesmerised by their illustrious past. The dreams of revolution against the British, the fight against the tyrants, and intellectuals who fought against all odds are central to being a Bengali. Politics, as such, is not just dinner table conversation, it is a conversation held with strangers – at bus stations, at cigarette shops, at paan shops, in the bus, in the trams – just about everywhere. And while talking about politics, one often hears tales of how, armed with passion, their ancestors fought the British. How today as people throng to have breakfast at Flury’s, their family fought the British when Indians were not allowed. How when they were in college, they used to partake in unions to ensure that labourers got their rights.. so on and so forth.

That element of ‘revolution’, a sentiment that spurned the freedom struggle and something as vicious as the Naxalbari movement, is engrained in Bengal and in the blood and hearts of Bengalis.

Mamata, with her latest drama, which for the rest of the world is but a meme to laugh at, is trying to recapture the very sentiment that brought her to power.

A daughter of the soil fighting the tyrants to come back to power so she can fight for the people. It is the perfect plan. Prashant Kishor said it because he has studied Bengal and Mamata replicated it because she has lived through it.

Only this time, it is entirely possible that Mamata is not viewed as the revolutionary being silence, but someone who is perceived to be tyrant silencing the revolutionaries.

As the chants of Jai Shree Ram grow louder, one thinks that perhaps this time, her shenanigans won’t work. What Mamata should also remember is that Bengal, while patient with tyrants, refuses to look back once they vote them out of power. They gave the Communists 35 long years and when they finally got fed up, they voted TMC to power and never looked back. This time, Bengal’s sentiments may just lie with those who are being murdered, hanged from trees, beaten up by a party that seems to be losing grip on power and much to her chagrin, swollen ankles may not help to bring back her lost glory.

China sues German anthropologist who had exposed atrocities on Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, demands compensation for losses

OpIndia Staff
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China sues German anthropologist who had exposed atrocities on Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, demands compensation for losses

Dr Adrian Zenz, one of the world’s leading scholars on China, has been become the latest target of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Zenz, who is instrumental in exposing China’s human rights violations against minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang, is now facing legal suits from Chinese companies.

According to the reports, several enterprises and individuals in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have decided to sue German anthropologist Adrian Zenz for his role in bringing to light the Chinese government’s campaign of repression and persecution directed against ethnic Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. The state-backed companies and individuals in Xinjiang have labelled Zenz a ‘rumourmonger’.

The Chinese government mouthpiece Global Times reported that the local people said that Zenz spread “forced labour” and other rumours related to Xinjiang, which damaged their reputation and caused them to suffer economic losses. They have filed a civil lawsuit with a local court in Xinjiang, demanding that Zenz apologize, restore their reputation and compensate them for their losses.

Who is Adrian Zenz?

Adrian Zenz, a German researcher and an expert on China, has done extensive research on the human rights violation carried out by the Communist Party of China on its minorities in several provinces. He has studied the plight of the Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities living in China.

In 2017-2018, Dr Zenz’s analysis played a significant role in exposing the Chinese government’s repression and mass internment campaign against ethnic Uyghur persons in Xinjiang. In 2019, Dr Zenz had also testified before the US Congress about state exploitation of the incarcerated Uyghur persons.

Zenz had carried out a detailed investigation for years to reveal the ugly truth about how the Chinese government treats the Uighurs residing in occupied East Turkistan.

A few months ago, he had released a report titled “Coercive Labour in Xinjiang: Labour Transfer and Mobilization of Ethnic Minorities to Pick Cotton”, which showed how China had forced more than half a million Uighur and other ethnic minority labourers from Xinjiang to pick cotton by hand.

According to Zenz, the Chinese Communist Party, under the excuse of ‘poverty alleviation’, has carried out coercive state-mandated labour transfer programs that forced Uyghurs to pick cotton by hand, despite cotton-picking being mechanised in other parts of China. The report also showed that in 2018, three regions in Xinjiang alone provided 570,000 Uighur and ethnic minority labourers.

In March 2021, Adrian Zenz released another report, titled “Coercive Labour and Forced Displacement in Xinjiang’s Cross-Regional Labor Transfer Program”, that provides new evidence of Chinese human rights violations. The report alleged that the CPC was carrying out forced labour transfers not just for economic purposes, but it was trying to force the Uyghurs and other ethnic labourers to move away from their homeland and traditional occupation. The Chinese government wanted to reduce the population density of Uighurs in Xinjiang, the research paper said.

China carried out crimes against Humanity, says research by Dr Zenz

As per international criminal law experts, the Chinese government’s labour transfer scheme meets the criteria for ‘Crimes Against Humanity of Forcible Transfer and Persecution’ as defined under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The reports published by Dr Zenz has been instrumental in exposing China’s Human rights violation against its own population. The United States, Canada and the Netherlands have taken a strong note of these new studies and classified the CCP’s actions in Xinjiang as genocide against the Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities.

Perhaps, the severe backlash has unnerved the CCP that has in response chosen to act against Dr Zenz and many other such scholars and institutions that are trying to expose the truth.

We had earlier reported in detail regarding how China has been exploiting Uyghur slave labour to supply cotton to the Western markets.

Pervasive surveillance, indoctrination, and state repression: Tools employed by China against Tibet’s Buddhist monasteries

OpIndia Staff
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Pervasive surveillance, indoctrination, and state repression: Tools employed by China against Tibet’s Buddhist monasteries

Ever since China forcibly took hold of Tibet in the early 1950s, it has strived hard to culturally assimilate the region into the Mainland. As a part of this campaign, it has come down hard against Buddhist monks, suppressed dissenting voices and expression of religious beliefs that it regards as incongruous to the idea of China.

It was this campaign of repression against the fellow Tibetans that forced their spiritual leader Dalai Lama to flee China in 1959 and seek asylum in India. Since then, the clampdown in Tibet has only increased.

Repression in Tibet an outcome of CCP’s efforts to “Sinicise” religions and exact loyalty

Though the Communist regime in China has a long history of curtailing religious freedom, especially in the restive province of Tibet, with the authoritarian leader Xi Jinping at the helm of affairs, its efforts have become increasingly hostile towards religion and initiated campaigns to “Sinicise” them.

The Chinese Communist Party has exhibited eager alacrity in ‘Sincising’ all religions, in an attempt to tighten its grip over civil society. Just as it deployed sophisticated surveillance system to keep a tab on Uyghur Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, China is using new tools of surveillance to control the Tibetan Buddhist monks and turn them into a tool of CCP, a new report titled “Party Above Buddhism: China’s Surveillance and Control of Tibetan Monasteries and Nunneries” has revealed.

China’s pervasively intrusive surveillance of Buddhist monks and monasteries

The report that was released on 10 March 2021 documents measures and policies undertaken that force Buddhist monks and nuns to serve the interests of the Communist Party. The changes affected by the new policies empower CCP with direct supervision of Buddhist monasteries and nunneries. Party cadres and police have been placed inside religious institutions, in a bid to pressurize the monks. They are also forced to denounce Dalai Lama for the sake of China’s unity, the report says.

According to the report, the current budget of the United Front Work Department, the agency that now has direct oversight of all religions in Tibet, has risen three times what it used to be in 2016. In a matter of 4 years, the budget shot up from 23.9 million yuans in 2016 to 62 million in 2020 underscores China’s commitment to strengthening the control of the Tibetan region.

Similar to that in Xinjiang, China also runs detention centres in Tibet that are euphemistically called “reeducation” camps by the communist leaders. In these reeducation camps, monks and nuns are hustled into extending their loyalty to the CCP, often at the expense of their religious beliefs. China has also enforced a “Four Standards” policy that basically requires monks and nuns to serve as propagandists for the government.

The report outlines how the Sinicisation of Tibetan monasteries requires Tibetan monks, nuns to shun their moral visions and conform to the CCP’s ideology. As a part of “policing monasteries”, police officers are deployed in Tibetan monasteries to keep an eye on their activities.

Besides the obvious purpose of surveillance, the decision to have police officers inside the monasteries in Tibet was taken with the aim of stopping incidents of self immolation. Monks, in an attempt to awaken the public conscience over the atrocities committed by the Communist authorities set themselves on fire. The morbid incidents garnered global attention, giving voice to the oppression underway in Tibet.

In addition to this, local government authorities and Communist Party officials also interfere in the working of the monasteries through the way of “management committees” the report highlights. The communist cadres have a direct role in the management of monasteries through “management committees”. Monasteries are also mandated to fly Chinese flags and have portraits of the CCP leaders in their precincts.

When unrest flares up in the Tibetan region, the spotlight inevitably falls on religious institutions for being responsible for stoking the disruption. Buddhist monks and nuns are made scapegoats by the local authorities hard-pressed by the senior leaders to identify the cause of the upheaval and bring to “justice” those responsible for it. During the political upheaval in 2013-2014, monks and nuns were arrested for participating in a peaceful protest and for supposedly planning future protests.

Buddhist monks and nuns subjected to indoctrination

Not only are monks and nuns are subjected to extensive surveillance, but they are also heavily indoctrinated to generate loyalty and obedience. A report published in 2018 chronicled how the monks in Tibet were subjected to political indoctrination. Tibetan religious leaders were asked to take mandatory “training” that aims to reduce the influence of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama while at the same time attempts to build loyalty to the communist party.

Though the Chinese constitution grants religious freedom to its citizens, it is a fact that the Chinese Communist Party has placed many constraints on it, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet. Repressive measures are used to discourage people from manifesting their religious inclinations, and dissent against restrictions on religious activities is treated as an insult to the CCP, often resulting in arbitrary imprisonment at “reeducation” camps.

Devotion to exiled Dalai Lama is one of the core tenets of Tibetan Buddhism and China is determined to end this religious observance. Intrusive official presence in monasteries, widespread surveillance, regular reeducation campaigns, curbs on travel and communications, discouraging religiosity are some of the tools used by China to bring an end to this devotion to Dalai Lama and align the residents to the CCP ideology.

Prime Minister Modi’s mother Heeraben receives the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

OpIndia Staff
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Prime Minister Modi’s mother Heeraben receives the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced that his mother Heeraben has received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said that he was happy to share that his mother has taken the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Thursday. The Prime Minister also urged people to help and motivate eligible people to take the vaccine.

PM Modi’s mother, who is 90-year-old, is eligible for vaccination under the ongoing Phase 2 of the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive, which intends to immunise all people above the age of 60 and people above the age of 45 with co-morbidities.

Earlier this month, PM Modi had kickstarted the next phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the country by taking the first dose of indigenously-developed Covaxin vaccine, developed by Hyderabad-based firm Bharat Biotech. The second phase of vaccination started on March 1.

The countrywide vaccination drive was launched on January 16, with healthcare workers receiving the vaccination. On February 2, the immunisation of frontline workers was also started.

As per the latest figures, until Thursday, nearly 2.52 crore jabs have been inoculated in the country. Out of the 2,52,89,693 vaccine doses administered, 71,70,519 healthcare and 70,31,147 frontline workers were given the first dose, while 39,77,407 healthcare and 5,82,118 frontline workers have been given the second dose.

In addition to that, 9,29,359 people aged 45 years and above with comorbidities and 55,99,143 senior citizens have also been inoculated with the first dose of vaccine.

India downgraded by around 25 unknown ‘experts’ working for an organisation advised by JNU leftist and Pakistani politician: Details

OpIndia Staff
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India downgraded by around 25 unknown ‘experts’ working for an organisation advised by JNU leftist and Pakistani politician: Details

Anytime some foreign organisation releases some report or study saying how ‘democracy in danger’ in India under Modi government, the Indian left-liberals laps it up. The latest such report that has become favourite of India left-liberals is by a little known Swedish organisation, named V-Dem, which ‘downgraded’ India’s status as a democracy. V-Dem stands for Varieties of Democracy, and the institute claims that it is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. They publish various reports ranking the countries on various subjects.

The latest report published by V-Dem is its Democracy Report 2021, where it has declared that India is no longer a democracy. The organisation claims that India has turned into “an electoral autocracy”, as the country’s democratic process is ‘on a path of steep decline’. According to V-Dem, India ‘lost’ its status of electoral democracy, and became an electoral autocracy.

While liberals want the people to believe that V-Dem is a ‘prestigious’ organisation and the Indian government should take its verdict seriously, the facts present a different picture.

First, a glance at the members of International Advisory Board organisation shows its anti-India bias. The board has two Indians, and both are known haters of the Modi government. They are Centre for Policy Research Chairman Pratap Bhanu Mehta and JNU professor Nirja Gopal Jayal. Both of them are known critic of Modi government’s policies, including the CAA. It may be noted that V-Dem has used the CAA as one of the main examples as proof of India turning autocratic.

It may be noted that for some unknown reason, Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s name was been removed from the list on the V-Dem website today. He was listed as an advisor on the website, as can be seen in an archive of the webpage.

Another member of the advisory board is a Pakistani national, lawyer-politician Aitzaz Ahsan.

Apart from the advisory board, another major concern is the so-called country experts, the people who provide the insight, based on which V-Dem ranks the countries. Shockingly, the Sweden based organisation judges whether a country is democracy or not based on the opinion of around two dozen people. The methodology adopted by V-Dem makes it clear that their report is not based a large-scale survey, but based on ‘data’ provided by 5 person per country for each indicator.

Screenshot from V-Dem website

As the report is based on five indices, this means around 25 persons per country. The V-Dem website confirms this in their website by saying, “We endeavor to have a minimum of five experts for each indicator per country. This typically means we have twenty-five or more experts per country, since each expert only codes indicators in his/her areas of expertise.”

Another matter of concern is that the 25 experts who give data on a country may not be from that country. V-Dem says that “two-thirds of Country Experts providing data on a country should be nationals or permanent residents of that country”. This means, 8 or 9 ‘experts’ out of 25 giving opinion on a country are foreigners.

With people like Pratap Bhany Mehta and Nirja Gopal Jayal on the advisory board, it is not difficult to estimate the ideological leaning of the experts selected by V-Dem for providing their opinion on the status of democracy in India.

These facts make it clear that the ranking of India in the V-Dem report is nothing but a propaganda by the left-liberals in India, who want to downgrade India’s image in front of the world for their severe hatred for the Modi government.

Administrator Praful Khoda Patel booked in Dadra and Nagar Haveli MP Mohan Delkar’s suicide case

OpIndia Staff
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Administrator Praful Khoda Patel booked in Dadra and Nagar Haveli MP Mohan Delkar’s suicide case

Abhinav Delkar, son of late Dadra and Nagar Haveli MP Mohan Delkar who was found dead in a hotel last month, has made some serious allegations against Dadra and Nagar Haveli administrator Praful Khoda Patel. Abhinav Delkar has reportedly alleged in his police complaint that Praful Patel had demanded Rs 25 crore from his father. He further alleged that Patel wanted to take over Delkar’s educational trust.

Praful Patel wanted to usurp the land of SSR College for Pharmacy and Management: Delkar’s son

“Patel had demanded Rs 25 crore as extortion from my father and threatened to jail him under PASA (Puducherry Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act) if he doesn’t do so”, Abhinav alleged. He added, “Patel wanted to take control of SSR College for Pharmacy and Management, which is a renowned educational institute in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and belongs to a trust established by Delkar. Patel wanted to usurp the college’s land which is worth Rs 100 crore in today’s market and was intimidating Delkar through administrative actions”.

Abhinav Delkar had come to meet Maharashtra CM and Home Minister on March 9.

Patel conspired with key bureaucrats to harass Mohan Delkar: Delkar’s son

It has been further alleged by Abhinav Delkar that Patel conspired with some bureaucrats of Dadra and Nagar Haveli including District Magistrate (DM) and Superintendent of Police (SP). He said that Patel had been harassing his father through various means for over a year and therefore his father took the extreme step. Abhinav’s statement was recorded on Tuesday by Marine Drive police. An FIR was registered on the basis of his statement. Abhinav has reportedly named nine people in his complaint including Praful Patel, DM Sandeep Singh, then SP Sharad Darade, deputy DM Apurva Sharma, sub-divisional officer Manasvi Jain, police inspector Manoj Patel and Rohit Yadav, Fatehsingh Chauhan and Dilip Patel (Talathi).

“If a 7-term MP has to take such a step, then you can realise the extent of harassment and humiliation. Maharashtra government and Mumbai police should take action at the earliest”, said Abhinav.

Mohan Delkar had said that he would be left with no option but to commit suicide if the harassment did not stop

Abhinav has reportedly mentioned several incidents in the FIR highlighting how his father was being harassed by the local administration. He pointed how his father’s name was removed from the official ceremony of Dadra and Nagar Haveli Liberation Day breaking a 66-year-old tradition just to humiliate him. He cited a letter of deputy DM Apurva Sharma dated September 2, 2020 in which his father was insulted. Delkar was not invited to another government function in which a Union Minister had reportedly participated. Abhinav alleged that an old case (CR 137/2003) was reopened against his father by police inspector Manoj Patel on the directions of then SP Sharad Darade. He alleged that Dilip Patel had made a false complaint against his father last month.

It was mentioned in the FIR that Mohan Delkar had made complaints on December 18, 2020 and January 19, 2021 to Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Lok Sabha Standing Committee President Bhupendra Yadav against the accused people. “If harassment to me is not stopped, then I would be left with no option but committing suicide”, Delkar had said during the hearing of his complaint in Lok Sabha Standing Committee.

Patel and eight accused booked under various provisions of law

Police have booked Praful Patel and eight other accused under sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 506 (criminal intimidation), 389 (putting person in fear of accusation of offence, in order to commit extortion), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 3(1)(n), 3(1)(p), 3(2)(ii), 3(2)(va) of the Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989.

Dadra and Nagar Haveli Member of Parliament Mohan Delkar was found dead under mysterious circumstances Mumbai’s Marine Drive hotel. He has been a seven time MP and been associated with Congress and BJP before joining the JDU in 2020.

From ‘attacked by 5 people’ to ‘it was an accident’: How Mamata Banerjee did a U-turn and police report confirmed eyewitness account

OpIndia Staff
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From ‘attacked by 5 people’ to ‘it was an accident’: How Mamata Banerjee did a U-turn and police report confirmed eyewitness account

Just a day after Mamata Banerjee alleged that she was injured after she was pushed by 4-5 people at Nandigram, she has retracted her allegation, as she gave a different version of the incident today. The West Bengal chief minister released a video message from her bed at the Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital located in the Lady Hardinge Medical College in Kolkata, appealing to her supporters to remain calm.

While yesterday she had alleged that she was pushed by some people when she was trying to get into her car, and they had slammed the door on her hitting her leg, today Mamata Banerjee changed her narrative. In the video message, she said that she was sitting on the bonnet of her car, greeting the people with folded hands. ‘When I was doing namaskar towards the crowd from the top of the bonnet, suddenly I felt a huge pressure/push, and my legs were crushed by the car’, the chief minister said.

From this statement, it is clear that Mamata Banerjee has retracting her allegation of conspiracy, and agreed that she was injured after she suffered an accident, and she was not attacked.

She further said that she was badly hurt, and she is still feeling pain on her hands and legs. The chief minister requested her followers to maintain peace, and urged them to not do anything that will cause inconvenience to the people. Mamata Banerjee added that she hopes to be back in the campaigning within 3-4 days. She added that problems with her legs may remain, but she will manage, and will use a wheelchair if needed.

Although the CM today changed her version from attack to accident, it still does not match with the eyewitness accounts. Several locals, who had witnessed the CM suffering the injury had said that she was greeting the crown from her seat by keeping the car door open, and keeping her legs out of the car. They said that the open door of the moving car had hit a short iron pillar on the side of the road, which had caused the door to close and hit the CM’s legs.

The accident theory also has been confirmed by a preliminary report submitted by the police with the election commission. Although a final report is awaited, based on preliminary enquiry, the police have said that the WB CM suffered injuries due to an accident, not an attack. Based on statements from local police and eyewitnesses, the police report said that Mamata Banerjee’s car had hit a small iron pillar, causing her to suffer injuries.

TMC’s Madan Mitra blames RSS for ‘attack’ on Mamata, compares it to Godhra carnage

OpIndia Staff
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TMC’s Madan Mitra blames RSS for ‘attack’ on Mamata, compares it to Godhra carnage

TMC leader Madan Mitra on Thursday in a veiled attack on the RSS claimed that the alleged ‘attack’ on Mamata Banerjee was carried out by ‘trained men in nikkars (knickers)’. Banerjee on Wednesday injured herself when her car door hit against a pillar. She had accused ‘4-5 men’ of attacking and pushing her. However, the eyewitnesses said otherwise.

Comparing the ‘attack’ to Godhra carnage, Mitra claimed that had the same incident taken place in any other states, like Gujarat, it would have become ‘another Godhra’. In 2002, a Muslim mob set a train on fire in Godhra, Gujarat, killing 59 karsevaks returning from Ayodhya. Subsequently, violent communal riots broke in Gujarat, leaving hundreds dead.

While Mitra did not explicitly compare the incident with Mamata Banerjee to the Godhra carnage, that he believes that the incident would ‘lead to Godhra like riots’ could mean only one thing. He believes that the ‘attack’ on Mamata was like the Godhra carnage.

Kerala: Thrissur administration bans Hindu devotees from performing rituals at Kodungallur Devi temple on Meena Bharani

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Thrissur administration bans Hindu devotees from performing rituals at Kodungallur Devi temple on Meena Bharani

In a controversial decision, the Kerala government has banned Hindu devotees from performing ancient rituals at the Kodungallur Bhadrakali temple in Kerala and has deployed the police force to block the devotees from performing the same.

According to the reports, the Thrissur administration has restricted the ancient rituals at the temple dedicated to Maa Bhadrakali, citing coronavirus restrictions. The decision to ban the ritual has been taken arbitrarily by bureaucrats and devaswom employees without consulting with the Hindu devotees.

Hindu devotees and local Hindu leaders have made repeated requests to authorities to allow them to practice their rituals and celebrate the Meena Bharani festival. The oracles had earlier protested the scaling down of festivities by performing their ritual dance called Thullal. However, the district administration has canceled the celebrations without paying any heed.

According to the Hindu activist group ‘Reclaim Temples’, District Collector Shanavas banned the ancient rituals at the Kodungallur Bhadrakali temple in Kerala. The district administration had deployed a massive force to ensure the devotees and Oracles do not perform any ritual at the temple.

Hindu devotees perform annual ritual at Kodungallur temple on Meena Bharani

Every year in March, the Oracles from all over the state visit the Sree Kurumba Bhagavati Temple at Kodungallur for the auspicious Meena Bharani, which marks the news year celebration. They encircle the temple in their traditional attire, and as they attain divine trance, they hit their foreheads with their sickle-shaped swords. Then, the Oracles nurse the wounds with turmeric powder. They believe that the wound will heal due to divine intervention.

Lately, the traditions of Oracles, including animal sacrifices for Goddess Bhadrakali, have been stopped citing animal rights and religious reforms. The traditions have been replaced with the offering of the blood of birds called “Kozhikallu Moodal”, scheduled to be held this week. However, the Kerala administration has cancelled the rituals citing coronavirus restrictions.

Originally a Shiva Temple, it is believed that Parasuram himself installed the Kali murti near that of Bhagwan Shiva. The Kodungallur temple was also an important temple during the Chera period, with Kodungallur being their capital.

Administration cites Covid restrictions, bans performing rituals

Earlier, in a decision taken by the town council officials and elected representatives, the devotees were allowed to perform the rituals. However, the police rejected the proposals citing Covid-19 and have now closed three out of the temple’s four gates. Only a handful of devotees are being allowed to enter. 

Shockingly, the police have warned the local lodges and hotels not to rent out rooms for the devotees. The police are also stopping vehicles entering the city and are being sent back. No shops have been allowed to open in the vicinity of the temple.

The Kerala police have taken over the whole town and issued a strict warning to locals in the area not to allow guests. The police have promised further action to clamp down on this year’s festival.

Defying these threats, some ardent devotees have started to arrive and some oracles did perform their thullal and other rituals yesterday. 

In the video shared by ‘Reclaim Temples’, police personnel were seen all around the temple while devotees who came to perform rituals in front of the Goddess at Kodungallur Devi temple. However, the devotees performed rituals amidst the police presence.

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