The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has issued a lookout notice against Bijay Mishra, brother of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Binay Mishra, in connection with a cattle smuggling case. Earlier, in January this year, the CBI had issued an arrest warrant against Binay Mishra in connection with a cross-border cattle smuggling case. Binay Mishra is said to be a close aide of TMC MP and CM Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
Binay Mishra declared absconding by the CBI in a cattle smuggling case
According to reports, the CBI is also considering approaching Interpol to get a Red Corner Notice issued against Binay Mishra who has not joined the investigation despite several summonses of the CBI. The CBI has summoned two senior officers of the West Bengal police- an inspector general and a superintendent of police on Monday for interrogation in connection with the case. Last month, Binay Mishra was reportedly named as a co-accused in the supplementary charge sheet filed in the cattle-smuggling case.
Binay Mishra has been shown as absconding in the charge sheet filed by the CBI before a special CBI court in Asansol, West Bengal. The central agency filed a charge sheet on February 18 this year in a case against seven persons including Border Security Force (BSF) Commandant Satish Kumar for their alleged involvement in a cattle-smuggling racket operating at the India-Bangladesh border.
Raids on properties related to TMC leader
The CBI has carried out raids at multiple locations including locations related to Binay Mishra as part of the cattle smuggling case probe. Last year, the CBI officials had seized some incriminating documents during a seven-hour raid at Binay Mishra’s Rashbehari Avenue residence. Mishra is linked to the kingpin of the cross-border cattle smuggling racket Enamul Haque. Haque was arrested in November 2020 from Delhi in connection with the cross-border cattle smuggling racket being operated along the India-Bangladesh border.
Hindus on Campus, a group that fights the persecution of Hindus, Hinduphobia and toxic environment for Hindus prevalent in college campuses, today took to Twitter to respond to the statement put out by Rutgers Newark over the concerns raised over the anti-Hindu bias of controversial historian Audrey Truschke.
In a string of tweets, the Hindu group championing the cause of Hindu students in universities abroad, expressed their disapproval of the rationalisation of Audrey Truschke by the Rutgers Newark University.
We are deeply hurt by the response of Rutgers Newark. In response to a petition signed by a large number of Hindu students and our allies. Rutgers – a university that claims to pride itself on diversity and inclusion – continues to signal that Hindu student voices do not matter.
“We are deeply hurt by the response of Rutgers Newark. In response to a petition signed by a large number of Hindu students and our allies. Rutgers – a university that claims to pride itself on diversity and inclusion – continues to signal that Hindu student voices do not matter,” the group tweeted.
The group said academic freedom and pursuit of scholarship can’t be used as a front to peddle anti-Hindu bigotry. It said professors like Truschke, who has a history of insulting Hindu gods, calling them ‘misogynistic pigs’, claiming that Hindu texts endorsed rapes and Hindu organisations supported the assault on US Capitol are not welcomed.
The group also stated that the statement issued by Rutgers demonstrated their lack of commitment to Hindu students while defending Audrey Truschke’s spurious claims under the banner of “freedom of speech”.
Ironically, the Rutgers statement unintentionally demonstrates their lack of commitment to Hindu students. They defend Truschke’s claims under the banner of “free speech”, & take the stance to protect her from Twitter trolls that send “vile messages and threats”.
Though Rutgers University has shown an unmatched zeal in defending Truschke’s right and taken a stance to protect her from trolls, the same treatment is not extended to Hindu students, who are at the receiving end of the vile and threatening messages by people enabled by Truschke, the group argued.
“As Hindu students, we cannot study and live in an environment in which we feel unsafe. How are we supposed to feel safe, when a Professor can block us (a student-run handle) with no prior engagement – yet can continue to tweet at us & energize her followers who call us “dotheads”,” the group tweeted.
As Hindu students, we cannot study and live in an environment in which we feel unsafe. How are we supposed to feel safe, when a Professor can block us (a student-run handle) with no prior engagement – yet can continue to tweet at us & energize her followers who call us “dotheads”
Rutgers Newark comes out in defence of Audrey Truschke after Hindus raise concerns over her anti-Hindu prejudice
The group claims Rutgers refers to “rigorous” scholarship, but turns a blind eye to non-academic OpEd’s and Twitter posts where Audrey Truschke spews venom against Hindus.
“Why won’t Rutgers take a stand against the countless examples of bigoted and dangerous insinuations that Truschke makes online, where she enables danger towards Hindu students?” The Hindu group asked.
The response from the Hindu group came after Rutgers Newark heeded to concerns raised by the Hindu students over its association with Hinduphobic ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke.
Defending Truschke, the statement said, “Rutgers emphatically supports Professor Truschke’s academic freedom in pursuing her scholarship, abhors the vile messages and threats being directed at her, and calls for an immediate end to them.”
“Scholarship is sometimes controversial, perhaps especially when it is at the interface of history and religion, but the freedom to pursue such scholarship, as Professor Truschke does rigorously, is at the heart of the enterprise,” the statement further said in defence of the controversial historian’s pursuit of scholarship at the Rutgers.
‘Hindu on Campus’ Group calls out Truschke’s religious bigotry directed towards Hindus and Hindu scriptures
Earlier on Sunday, the Hindu group who goes by Twitter handle @hinduoncampus had posted another thread on the microblogging platform, enlisting various instances when Audrey Truschke had made problematic statements against Hinduism and indulged in casual racism against Hindus.
At the time of US Capitol riots, Truschke tweeted about the presence of an Indian flag at the scene to imply it to be the handiwork of Hindu Right.
In another instance, Truschke had misinterpreted the sacred Hindu religious text of Bhagwad Gita and accused it of rationalising mass slaughter.
2/ Accused the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most famous and sacred Hindu texts as “Rationalizes mass slaughter”
The Gita was the basis for Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence movement, even inspiring Nelson Mandela and MLK himself.
The Hindu group also shed light on an instance when Truschke had equated a gangrape case in India to an incident in the Hindu epic of Mahabharata, essentially alluding that Hindu culture endorses “rape culture” and misogyny.
Truschke had even called Hindu Gods “misogynistic pigs”. When confronted for her deeply bigoted remark, she passed the buck on the professor whom she claimed had orginally stated so and she had just translated his version. However, the professor later clarified that Truschke’s words had got nothing to do with his translation and commented that her words were “highly inappropriate” and “quite shocking”.
4/ Called Hindu Gods “Misogynistic Pig”(s) on Twitter. Prof Robert Goldman, has himself clarified that Truschke’s words have “nothing to do with our translation,” that her language was “highly inappropriate,” and that the whole saga was “extremely disturbing” & “quite shocking.” pic.twitter.com/tFEtk5WloK
The group also accused Truschke of endorsing controversial burning of sacred Hindu religious texts, portraying Hindu Society as “Sex Obsessed” and “lustful”.
And last but not the least, the group also highlighted how Audrey Truschke continues to remain smitten with the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb and in being so, she has brushed under the carpet the trauma inflicted by the bigoted ruler on the people of India, contending that his persecution of Hindus is often exaggerated.
Her deep-rooted prejudice against the Hindus and continued misinterpretation of sacred Hindu texts and religious figures are becoming increasingly manifest in her statements and the use of her authority to project Hindus as oppressors, violent and bigoted.
“Her deep-rooted prejudice against the Hindus and continued misinterpretation of sacred Hindu texts and religious figures are becoming increasingly manifest in her statements and the use of her authority to project Hindus as oppressors, violent and bigoted,” the group tweeted.
In the last few days, a large section of India’s liberal commentators have revealed themselves to be great fans of the US based think tank Freedom House. Somebody out there has downgraded India from “free” to “partly free.” The andolanjeevis came out in full force for this one.
Who are these people, by the way? As Freedom House notes:
“External analysts assess 210 countries and territories, using a combination of on-the-ground research, consultations with local contacts, and information from news articles, nongovernmental organizations, governments, and a variety of other sources. Expert advisers and regional specialists then vet the analysts’ conclusions. “
That paragraph is written as if it conveys some information. But does it really?
Why did Freedom House use only “external analysts,” “expert advisers” and “regional specialists?” Why not ask “local consultants” and “global thinkers” too?
That’s when you realize none of those job descriptions actually mean anything specific. Freedom House is just using random words to fill up space. They think that if the sentence is long enough, you will assume they know what they are talking about.
Don’t fall for this. Ask why they are using a long sentence to hide the names and credentials. As it is, the idea of an oligarchy of “experts” supposedly upgrading and downgrading democracies leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Of course the problems go much further. Even if we saw the names and (supposed) credentials, why should we assume the best about the intentions of these people? Could they pass the most basic sanity tests?
Now, I really hate to compare India and Pakistan on any metric, except for comic effect. In all other cases, even discussing such matters belittles India. It gives the appearance that our democracy is somehow comparable to whatever mess they have over there in Pakistan. But, I had to ask. If the high minded experts feel that minorities in India are under threat, what do these global humanitarians have to say about atrocities on Hindus in Pakistan?
You would be surprised (or perhaps not).
Pakistan and India maps by Freedom House
Right off the bat, don’t miss the respective maps they created for India and Pakistan.
They conceded all of PoK to Pakistan! For India? They couldn’t even leave us with the portions on our side of the Line of Control. Instead, they went all the way and cut off the whole of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh from India. You would think this is some B-grade movie in Pakistan, looking for cheap applause from its audience. But no, this report is now a bestseller in India. This is what Indian liberals are cheering. Seriously.
Anyway, one good thing about the Freedom House report about Pakistan is that they began with a joke. Here is the first line from their overview on the country.
“Pakistan holds regular elections under a competitive multiparty political system.“
I appreciate this. Humor is always a good ice-breaker. By the way, I wondered what is the first line from their overview on India. Turns out it is fairly similar, with one small difference.
“India maintains a robust electoral democracy with a competitive multiparty system at the federal and state levels, though politics are marred by corruption.“
They wasted no time in showing their prejudice, did they?
You may object here. How can you say that they have a bias against India? After all, they scored India at 67/100 and Pakistan at a paltry 37/100. So, if they are being unkind to India, they are being extremely severe with Pakistan.
Yes, they are being severe with Pakistan. The question is : for what reason? Will they blame Pakistan for how they treat Hindus? Absolutely not. A simple Ctrl+F search through the Freedom House report on Pakistan reveals just 2 instances of the word “Hindu.” In contrast, the word “Muslim” appears 16 times in the report on India. Again, I absolutely hate putting the two numbers side by side, but doing so is necessary to reveal the bias.
The report on India features sentences such as:
“Two developments in 2019 undermined the political rights of certain minorities, and Muslims in particular…“
” In August 2019, a Rajasthan court acquitted six suspects in the 2017 killing of a Muslim man, despite eyewitness accounts and video evidence of their complicity“
Wait till I show you what they said about Hindus in Pakistan, because it is a masterpiece in propaganda writing. As it is, there were only 2 instances of the word Hindu in the report on Pakistan.
“Hindus have complained of vulnerability to kidnapping and forced conversions, and some continue to migrate to India.“
Did you catch that? Read the sentence carefully. They didn’t acknowledge the atrocities committed on Hindus in Pakistan! They only said Hindus have complained of atrocities, thus in no way endorsing the claim!
You must have seen other instances of this trick in operation. We all know the difference between a headline that says “Scam in XYZ procurement” and a headline that says “ABC alleges scam in XYZ procurement.” In the second case, the media takes no responsibility for the allegation. Just what Freedom House did with Hindus of Pakistan.
This will become even more obvious when you notice the startling turn of phrase in the paragraph the sentence is taken from.
“Hindus have complained of vulnerability to kidnapping and forced conversions, and some continue to migrate to India. Members of the Christian and other religious minorities remain at risk of blasphemy accusations that can arise from trivial disputes and escalate to criminal prosecution and mob violence. The blasphemy laws and their exploitation by religious vigilantes have also curtailed freedom of expression by Muslims.“
Three sentences, back to back. Christians are at risk of blasphemy accusations. Muslims face the threat of religious vigilantes too. Two straight assertions, with no qualifiers. But Hindus? They have only complained. Freedom House will not say if they believe there is any truth in these complaints made by Hindus.
This is straight up dehumanization of Hindus. The suffering of Hindus does not matter to them. The reason they think Pakistan sucks is because Muslims and Christians have a hard time there. Not because Hindus face atrocities. In fact, you can read the entire report on Pakistan. Not at a single place do they acknowledge by name that any crime was committed against Hindus.
In fact, such language tricks appear all through their report. Consider the following sentences they wrote about freedom in India:
“Muslim personal status laws and traditional Hindu practices discriminate against women in terms of property rights and inheritance.“
“Muslim personal status laws and traditional Hindu practices feature gender discrimination on matters such as marriage, divorce, and child custody.”
The exact same phrase “Muslim personal status laws and traditional Hindu practices” appears twice in the same report! Looks like someone had a template ready. And more interestingly, was trying hard to make sure you don’t notice the difference between laws in one community and practices in another. A lot of bad things happen in society. But when injustice is officially given legal sanction, it is a whole other level of unfairness.
But if Freedom House admitted that one community is just more open minded than the other, what would happen to their agenda?
In reading the reports from Freedom House, what stood out is how similar it is to the now familiar secular whitewashing style of mainstream media here in India. We all know the template: a Hindu victim becomes “Delhi man” while a Muslim victim is clearly identified as such. If a crime happens in a madrassa, you can’t just say that a crime happened in madrassa. You must say that the incident has put the spotlight on crimes in “madrassas and Vedic pathashalas.” You can’t just say that a Hindu was a victim. You can only say that that they are alleging it.
In other words, be strictly factual and super skeptical when reporting on Hindu victims. When a Muslim alleges victimhood, take all claims at face value, suspend all skeptical questioning and disseminate it widely. And above all, try to avoid mentioning Hindus as much as possible. If you don’t even mention Hindus, it becomes easier for the world to pretend like they don’t exist. Thanks Freedom House for showing us that this writing style has now gone fully international. Whether as a majority in India or as a tiny persecuted minority in Pakistan, global liberals have made it clear that we Hindus deserve no place at all.
One last thing. The cover of the Freedom House report is an apparent tribute to a group of protesters, their fists in the air, carrying signs that say “We want justice.” Who is on that cover?
In an order that could bust the stigma around the menstrual cycle, which continues to lead to exclusion and discrimination of women in society, the Gujarat High Court has offered guidelines to the state government to break the taboo around menstrual health for women and girls that persists in many parts of the country. The court also directed to undertake concrete action to end this discrimination at all places, be it private or public, religious or educational.
The court specified that all religions (excluding Sikhism) refer to a menstruating woman as “ritually unclean” and asked the government in the state to concrete steps to break this taboo and create awareness to bust the myths that surround menstruation in society.
Proposing to prohibit the social exclusion of women on the basis of their menstrual status, the two-judge bench of Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Ilesh J Vora issued a nine-point guideline to the state government in which it asked the latter to spread awareness among various strata of citizens, including health workers, adolescents, parents and other such stakeholders, regarding the social exclusion of women based on their menstrual status.
The HC proposed that this awareness can be created through various mediums like putting up posters at public places, including it in the school curriculum, using audiovisual mediums like radio, entertainment or news channels, short films etc.
Observing that “such taboos about menstruation present in many societies impact on girls’ and women’s emotional state, mentality and lifestyle and most importantly”, the court asked the govt to devise strategies to educate and create awareness among the adolescent girls related to menstrual health and hygiene.
The Gujarat High Court also proposed for sensitization of health workers, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi Workers pertaining to the biological process involved in menstruation biology. The court said that this would help them to “further disseminate this knowledge in the community and mobilize social support against busting menstruation-related myths.”
“The State Government should prohibit all educational institutions, hostels and living spaces for women-studying working and others, private or public, by whatever name called, from following social exclusion of women on the basis of their menstrual status in any manner…The State Government should undertake surprise checks, create an appropriate mechanism and to take such other actions, steps as may be necessary to ensure its compliance including the imposition of an appropriate penalty against the erring institution,” the HC noted.
The bench headed by Justice J B Pardiwala also asked the state government to allocate necessary funds for the implementation of the directions.
The plea before the Gujarat High court
The court made these observations while hearing a PIL filed by Nirjhari Mukul Sinha seeking direction for a law to specifically deal with the exclusionary practice against women on the basis of their menstrual status.
The petition was filed in the aftermath of an incident that occurred in the month of February where 68 girls in a hostel of Shree Sahjanand Girls Institute in Bhuj town of Kutch were paraded through the college into the restroom and forced to remove their undergarments to prove that they were not menstruating.
The bench issued notice to the state and union governments as well as Sahajanand Girls Institute and Nar Narayan Dev Sansthan in Ahmedabad (the Swaminarayan sect of Bhuj that runs the college). The bench has also sought the opinion of the state and central government on the court’s proposed set of guidelines asking both to respond by March 30.
The investigating team probing the alleged murder of Mansukh Hiren believe that his killers were hoping that the dead body would not be found for a couple of days. However, due to low tide, the body surfaced in the creek.
46-year-old Mansukh Hiren’s allegedly stolen vehicle was found outside the house of business tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia on February 26. Hiren was found dead in a Kalwa creek near Reti Bandar in Thane on March 5. A case was registered on March 8 by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad under sections of murder and criminal conspiracy.
When Hiren’s body was found, initially, the police speculated that it was a case of suicide. However, they found that his face mask was intact and several handkerchiefs stuffed in his mouth that raised suspicions. The Indian Express quoted a police officer investigating the case saying that it is unlike that a person would commit suicide with the mask on to save himself from Covid-19.
It is possible Mansukh Hiren was killed first and then thrown in the water
Police believe that there were more than one killers. They stuffed his mouth with pieces of cloth to prevent water from entering his body so that it does not surface quickly. The police said that they are certain that Hiren was killed first, and then his body was thrown in the creek.
The officer said that when water enters a dead body, it becomes bloated and rises up to the surface. “We suspect the mask and handkerchiefs were put in to prevent water from entering the body. This would ensure that the body did not emerge and take a few more days for it to be discovered,” the officer added.
However, the body surfaced as the alleged killers could not factor in the low tide while throwing it in the creek. The officer said that during low tide, the body got stuck and was spotted. “It does not appear that it came floating from somewhere far,” the officer added.
Killers tried to throw police offtrack
Hiren was using two mobile phones. The police believe that the killers used these phones to throw the police off track. When police tracked the movement of these mobile phones, they found that the phones were switched on and off 30 minutes apart on the night Hiren got missing. One of the phones was switched on and off in Vasai-Vihar. The second phone was switched on and off at Tungareshwar.
Vasai-Vihar is around 40 KM away from Naupada in Thane, where Mansukh Hiren lived and had his car décor business. Tungareshwar is located 10 KM further away from the location. On the other hand, Kalwa creek is just 5 KM from Thane. Police believe that the killers switched on and off his phones on far locations to create false location indicators for Hiren. The officer said that it would have given an impression that Hiren had gone to those spots. “In reality we suspect, he was murdered by then, and his body had already been dumped into the creek,” he added.
Hiren had left his shop after receiving a call
During the investigation, the police found that Hiren had left his shop on March 4 after receiving a call from someone who identified himself as Tawde from Crime Branch. When Hiren did not return home late, his family members tried to call him, but his mobile phones were switched off.
His son filed a mission person’s complaint at Naupada Police station in Thane. On March 8, the National Investigation Agency took over the terror scare case outside Ambani residence from ATS. The death of Hiren and Vehicle theft case will be handled by ATS.
The Indian High Commission in London has issued a strong statement against British Parliamentarians over comments made regarding a petition on an India-related issue. The statement by the High Commission comes a day after the British MPs made adverse comments against India over press freedom, freedom of speech and domestic values.
High Commission of India would normally refrain from commenting on an internal discussion involving a small group of Parliamentarians in a limited quorum. However, when aspersions are cast on India by anyone, there's need to set record straight: High Commission of India in London pic.twitter.com/4YNKZmLVBC
The Indian High Commission said in its statement, “We regret that rather than a balanced debate, false assertions – without substantiation of facts – were made, casting aspersions on the largest functioning democracy in the world and its institutions.”
“All issues raised are the remit of well-established independent democratic institutions in India for addressing the same. It is also a matter of concern that, once again, comments were made to mislead the British Indian community, raising doubts about treatment of minorities in India, alleged human rights violations in ‘Kashmir’ etc.,” the statement said.
Befittingly, the statement said, “High Commission of India would normally refrain from commenting on an internal discussion involving a small group of H’ble Parliamentarians in a limited quorum. However, when aspersions are cast on India by anyone, irrespective of their claims of friendship and love for India or domestic political compulsions, there is a need to set the record straight.”
Since the ‘farmers protests’ gained global attention due to a campaign by Khalistanis, certain politicians abroad have chosen to interfere in the internal matters of India motivated by their own political concerns. Far-Left politicians in western countries, especially the United Kingdom, USA and Canada have regularly made misleading comments to secure their own political future.
Days after a group of students initiated a petition asking Rutgers-Newark University to take strong action against controversial ‘historian’ and Professor Audrey Truschke for demonising Hinduism, the institution has instead decided to whitewash her vile and bigoted anti-Hindu remarks as ‘academic freedom’. The petition was shared on Twitter by the ‘Hindu on Campus’ group.
The petition accuses Truschke of portraying all Hindus as “lustful and sex obsessed” and ‘cow piss drinkers’. The petition also says that she has whitewashed the genocide of Hindus by Mughal king Aurangzeb.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the university said, “Rutgers emphatically supports Professor Truschke, academic freedom in pursuing her scholarship, abhors the vile messages end threats that are being directed at her, and calls for an immediate end to them.” To further justify its support for the controversial historian, Rutgers cited the significance of ‘academic freedom’ in scholarship.
“Scholarship is sometimes controversial, perhaps especially when it is at the interface of history and religion, but the freedom to pursue such scholarship, as Professor Truschke does rigorously, is at the heart of the academic enterprise,” the university said. Instead of cracking down on the anti-Hindu Professor, Rutgers chose to give a consolation prize to the Hindu community.
Statement released by Rutgers-Newark
It said, “Just as strongly, Rutgers empathetically affirms its support for all member of the Hindu community to study and live in an environment in which they not only feel safe but also fully supported in their religious identity.” Far from condemning the controversial historian for her Hinduphobic remarks, Rutgers extended its full support to Audrey Truscke through shrewd monkey-balancing.
The university concluded, “Toward these ends, we are initiating dialogues to understand the sentiments of our Hindu community and create a context that honours our complexity, while allowing us to do the difficult work of constructive and healthy engagement among our diverse community.” Following the support from her own Institute, Audrey Truschke thanked the university administration for backing ‘academic freedom’.
Screengrab of Audrey Truschke’s tweet
“The Rutgers administration has released a statement of support. Rutgers backs academic freedom, including of controversial subjects. I also thank my university administration for calling an immediate end to the vile messages and threats directed at me,” the ‘historian’ emphasised.
Audrey Truschke denies Hindu genocide, Rutgers hails it as ‘academic freedom’
In its petition, the group of Hindu students, studying at Rutgers-Newark pointed, out that Audrey Truschke tired to trivialise and downplay the Hindu genocide, committed by the Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb. She had claimed that “such numbers are often exaggerated as there was really no way of knowing how many people existed in India at that time; and that people of that time made up numbers!”
This is despite the fact several trust-worthy sources estimate that a total of 4.6 million Hindus were murdered and enslaved by Aurangzeb alone. The petition emphasised, “Prof. Truschke, who claims to be a responsible historian conveniently decided to whitewash such horrific statistics. In other instances, Prof. Truschke has defended the Mughal King by saying that he protected more Hindu temples than he destroyed and that he increased Hindu participation at the elite levels of the Mughal state.”
Audrey Truschke’s anti-Hindu stance is not new. In 2018, the ’eminent’ historian had falsely claimed that Lord Ram was called a ‘misogynist pig’ by Goddess Sita during ‘Agnipariksha’. By sidelining with Truschke, the Rutgers university not only endorsed the vicious lies peddled by the so-called historian but also cast aspersions about the Hindu genocide committed during the rule of Aurangzeb.
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday confirmed long-held suspicions that he is more concerned with the interests of the middlemen in the state than that of the farmers when he termed the centre’s move on direct payment to farmers for crop procurement as “another provocation” that would aggravate the ongoing crisis over the farm laws.
Singh alleged that the ‘indifferent attitude’ of the government of India would not help in resolving the imbroglio. He asserted that the Centre’s attempts to seek land records for making e-payments to the farmers directly in their bank accounts from the Food Corporation of India(FCI) would only serve to worsen the current situation.
Punjab CM contended that instead of amicably solving the issue, the Centre was needlessly fuelling further angst among the farmers by asking for land records to make e-payments.
Significantly, the FCI has written to the state government seeking land records to make direct payments to farmers for crop procurement.
It is worth noting that Punjab CM’s criticism over the central government’s move to make e-payments to the farmers is rooted in the threat that direct payments pose for the longstanding system that is in place in Punjab since 1967 where farmers get paid through ‘Arhtiyas’ (commission agents). The centre’s move could hamper the “excellent relations” that the farmers share with the Arhtiyas, on whom they depend for financial support in times of adversity, he said.
How can the farmers depend on big corporate houses to bail them out of their financial crisis, the Punjab CM asked.
Essentially, the Punjab chief minister is worried about the interests of the middlemen, instead of the farmers, who would directly get their payment in their bank accounts from the government and will not have to rely on the arhtiyas for their money.
Punjab Arhtiya Association calls for a strike to oppose the centre’s move for direct online payments to farmers
Interestingly, after the FCI sought land records of farmers from the Director of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department in order to make direct online MSP payment to farmers’ bank accounts, the Punjab Arhtiya Association last week announced that they would go on a strike to oppose the move.
The association also held that arhtiyas would stop procurement of wheat from next month as a mark of protest. The association claims that the centre is targeting them for extending their support to the ‘farmers’ protests.
The President of the Punjab Arhtiya Association, Ravinder Cheema, had said last week that they are calling a meeting of arhtiyas to decide on what programmes to undertake as a part of the strike starting this week. He also alleged that the Punjab government has a role in it as it is not giving in writing to the Centre that as per the state APMC act, the farmers have the option to get payment directly in their own accounts or through cheques, which are provided by the arhtiyas.
“We will also carry out a dharna against the state government at Chandigarh if it has not made it clear to the Centre that its own APMC Act gives choice to the farmers for the payment mode,” Cheema said.
India is one of the few countries leading the global battle against the deadly coronavirus that first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019 and has so far affected more than 117 million people across the world and caused over 2.59 million deaths.
No sooner did the coronavirus sweep the world, Indian organisations, in collaboration with foreign institutes, initiated efforts to develop a vaccine that could stop its relentless march. Pune-based Serum Institute of India won the license of manufacturing Oxford’s AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Another Hyderabad-based organisation, Bharat Biotech, indigenously developed another vaccine to tame the rampaging pandemic.
Earlier in January 2021, almost 14 months since COVID-19 emerged, the Indian drug regulatory body approved the emergency use of the two COVID-19 vaccines made in India. Days later, India commenced the first phase of its ambitious vaccination drive which included 3 crore healthcare workers and the front line workers.
On March 1, almost a month and a half after its first phase of vaccination drive, India entered the second phase of the drive when people above the age 60 and select people above the age of 45 who are suffering from underlying illnesses were eligible to get the vaccination at thousands of government and private vaccination centres across the country.
The vaccination drive has been a runaway success, with glowing reviews pouring in from across the country about the way the government has handled the immunisation campaign. Beneficiaries are to register themselves at the CoWIN platform or Aarogya Setu app to schedule their vaccine appointment. Private hospitals were allowed to charge up to Rs 250 per dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while the jabs were free of cost at the government centres.
However, some inveterate detractors, consumed by the anti-government hatred and perturbed by the success of the vaccination drive, tried to undermine the vaccination drive by nitpicking about the nominal price charged for the vaccine. One such individual was ex-CEO and Editor-in-chief of Rajya Sabha TV Gurudeep Singh Sappal.
In a post uploaded on popular microblogging website Twitter, Sappal drew a ludicrous comparison between the vaccination drive for COVID-19 with immunisation programme run for other diseases such as Smallpox, BCG, Polio, DPT, Measles and OPV.
As Covid vaccination progresses, let remember once again that entire India had:
Was done as a duty, without propaganda & without high petrol taxes!
— Gurdeep Singh Sappal (@gurdeepsappal) March 7, 2021
“As Covid vaccination progresses, let remember once again that entire India had: Smallpox vaccine free, BCG free, DPT free, OPV free, Measles vaccine free, Polio vaccine free. This was done even when India was poorer. Was done as a duty, without propaganda & without high petrol taxes!” Sappal tweeted.
Sappal draws an absurd parallel between vaccinations of dwindling diseases with that of a raging global pandemic
Besides accusing the Centre of using the COVID-19 vaccination for propaganda purposes, Sappal insinuates that the immunisation programme for the coronavirus pandemic should have been free of cost just like the government had undertaken vaccination campaigns for Smallpox, Measles, DPT, Polio and others.
For starters, it is profoundly foolish to compare the vaccination programs carried out for diseases that are on the ebb across the world with an immunisation drive launched to curb a raging global pandemic. Moreover, when free vaccination programs for the above-mentioned diseases were launched in India, most parts of the world had already gotten rid of those maladies. They were not rampaging ailments ready to engulf the entire world as is the case with COVID-19. In fact, they were dwindling infections prevalent largely among the developing nations.
In most cases, only after the developed world had administered the vaccines to all of its citizens and had completely eliminated the diseases, the surplus doses of the vaccines were doled out to developing nations under various programmes undertaken by global health organisations such as the World Health Organisation.
In essence, vaccines that came for free or at subsidised rates were distributed by the governments free of cost to end the epidemic that was defeated in most parts of the world. In any case, the Centre is offering the vaccines for free at the government centres. Only private hospitals and centres are charging a token amount of Rs 250 to get the vaccine jab. If the centre is to bankroll the vaccination drive at private centres, it is only going to put a burden on the government treasury, which is under tremendous pressure due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
And if the government had financed the immunisation campaign at private centres, Sappal would have perhaps cribbed about the growing fiscal deficit that the decision would have caused. There is no rhyme or reason to his criticism. The tweet by Sappal was nothing but a prejudiced rant, made by a Congress loyalist who is still finding it hard to come to terms with the fact that a non-Congress regime at the helm at the Centre.
Further, carrying out mass immunisation against a new disease which has been declared a pandemic and carrying out immunisation programmes against diseases for years are two different things. While smallpox, polio were eradicated because of vaccination, the vaccination drives also took years for us to achieve the goal. For fighting COVID, the scalability has to be increased on war-footing. Comparing the vaccination drives of other diseases with Chinese coronavirus is like comparing apples to oranges.
Sappal’s tirade against paid vaccination drives smacks off his socialist bias
Furthermore, the diatribe against paid vaccination drive by Sappal reeks of socialism as he suggests the government to subsidise free vaccines given at private vaccination centres. After the economic implications endured by the central government due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Sappal wants the government to pay for the vaccines as well, even when the price of a single dose is as low as Rs 250 and which are already free of cost at the government centres and government hospitals.
For decades, socialism in the country has been glorified while profit-making, especially in a noble profession like medical is viewed with great disapproval. For India to keep up with the demands of the twenty-first century, the nation should stop romanticising the idea of socialism that has been the undoing of most of the socialist countries in the world. If India wants its doctors and medical institutes to be amongst the foremost in the world, they should be encouraged to strive for excellence and profits.
For more than seventy years, India has dabbled with the idea of socialism, which has only exacerbated its inherent problems instead of solving them. The Narendra Modi government has shed this romanticism with socialism and has conveyed in no uncertain terms that profit-making and capitalism are not evils as vilified by the previous regimes. Instead, they are a sine qua non to India’s transformation into a developed nation.
To compare vaccination for an active global pandemic with a heavily subsidised immunisation programme for dwindling afflictions is akin to comparing apples with oranges. The vaccine for COVID-19 was developed a few months after the virus was detected. It took an incredible amount of financial resources as well as medical prowess to develop an efficacious vaccine to combat a galloping pandemic.
Indian doctors, medical institutes, research organisations and hospitals, both public and private, need to be credited for this spectacular achievement. Unlike in the past, when the country lacked the skills and resources to pioneer vaccines on its own and had to rely on the largesse of the developed world, the Indian doctors and scientists in 2020 demonstrated their superior skills and talent by being amongst the frontrunners to develop the COVID-19 vaccines.
So, if the government has allowed private hospitals and vaccination centres to charge a nominal price for the COVID-19 jabs, there is nothing wrong with it, and whiners can whine as much as they want. Sappal, on the other hand, should find better ways to criticise the vaccination drive that has so far been successful and not let his pathological hatred for the Modi government overpower his good senses.
In a major crackdown against money laundering, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted raids on the properties of former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and incumbent Punjab MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
As per reports, the PMLA case is linked to narcotics trafficking and fake passports. The ED officials are looking at bank transactions and property papers of khaira too.
As per reports, the searches were conducted at five locations in Punjab, two locations in Delhi and one location in Chandigarh. ED officials arrived at Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s house in Sector-5 Chandigarh on Tuesday morning and searched his property. His ancestral house in Kapurthala was also raided. His son, Mahitab Singh who lives in Chandigarh, was at his ancestral village.
On spotting the vehicles of ED officials, Mahitab took out his car and left. Meanwhile, Khaira has pleaded innocence and said that he has no role in the money laundering case. The Enforcement Directorate had also interrogated his cousin brother cum treasurer, Kulbir Singh.
Enforcement Directorate conducts raids on properties linked to Punjab AAP MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira at five locations in Punjab, one in Chandigarh, and two in Delhi, in connection with money laundering and fake passport racket cases.
Khaira was the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly during his stint with the AAP. In 2019, he started his own Punjab Ekta party and won 2 seats in the State Assembly. He has also been a vocal critic of the new farm laws that have been enacted by the Union Government to help farmers get a fair price for their produce. Khaira’s lawyer has now alleged that he is being targeted for being a ‘supporter of farmers’.
