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Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s son-in-law Mohammed Riyaz, CPM MLA TV Rajesh sent to judicial custody in violence case

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Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s son-in-law Mohammed Riyaz, CPM MLA TV Rajesh sent to judicial custody in violence case

In a major embarrassment to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, a local court in Kerala sent his son-in-law and Democratic Youth Federation of India President Muhammed Riyaz and CPM MLA TV Rajesh to judicial custody for 14 days in connection with a case in 2009.

According to the reports, on Tuesday, the Judicial First Class Magistrate P Vinod sent Riyaz and Rajesh on judicial remand for orchestrating a violent march near the Air India office in Kozhikode to protest against the air tariff hike and reduction in the flight services by the national carrier. A case was registered against four people, including Rajesh, for breaking the law after the DYFI protests had turned violent.

The accused, including Pinarayi Vijayan’s son-in-law Mohammed Riyaz were out on bail and wanted to get it extended. The accused had taken bail in the 2009 case and then failed to appear before the court even after many notices and warrants were served.

Accused granted bail

Later, they had approached the JFCM court as per a direction by the High Court to get the bail extended by the trial court. However, the JFCM sent them to judicial remand.

DYFI leader KK Dinesan was also detained in the case till March 16. Another accused in the case did not attend the proceedings on Tuesday.

However, all the accused who were remanded earlier, including Vijayan’s son-in-law Riyaz were granted bail on Wednesday.

Mohammed Riyaz, the DYFI national president, married Pinarayi’s daughter Veena last year in a private ceremony. Riyas is infamous for leading ‘beef cooking’ protests after the centre sought to regulate cattle purchase and sale. He had also unsuccessfully contested for the Kozhikode Lok Sabha seat in 2019.

Activist sends legal notice to make amends in NCERT books after RTI reveals no evidence of Mughals giving grant for temple repairs

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Activist sends legal notice to make amends in NCERT books after RTI reveals no evidence of Mughals giving grant for temple repairs

An RTI activist has sent a legal notice to the NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) and sought to make amendments in the book after the NCERT said that they had no references to the claims in 12th standard books that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb gave grant for repairs of temples.

As per the reports, RTI activist from Bharatpur Dapinder Singh has sought to make amendments in the books taught to school children as the information mentioned in the book is not based on facts. Singh feels that without any evidence Mughal rulers like Aurangzeb and Shah Jahan are portrayed as great in school history books. History books should be based on facts and if information is put about things there is no evidence for, it distorts history.

In January, an RTI application was made to seek evidence on the claims made on Mughal ruler giving grants for repair work of temples. On page 234 of the history textbook, it says, “All Mughal emperors gave grants to support the building and maintenance of places of worship. Even when temples were destroyed during war, grants were later issued for their repair – as we know from the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.”

NCERT on Aurangzeb

The petitioner had sought two details regarding the claim. First, the source from which NCERT concluded that Mughals had issued grants for rebuilding temples destroyed in war during the regime of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, and second, the number of temples repaired by Aurangzeb and Shah Jahan. The reply to both the queries were “The information is not available on the files of the Department”. The reply was furnished by professor Gouri Srivastava, head of the Department of Education in Social Sciences and also the Public Information Officer.

NBT report says that another RTI activist Sanjiv Vakil said that students are taught history based on imagination. “NCERT books are considered benchmark for educational books. They are also used for preparation of civil service and other competitive examinations. The future generation is being pushed into wrong direction and it could lead to disastrous results,” he was quoted saying.

Israel to vaccinate migrant Palestinian workers living in the country and West Bank

OpIndia Staff
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Israel to vaccinate migrant Palestinian workers living in the country and West Bank

In a major development, the Israeli government has announced on Sunday that it will provide Coronavirus vaccines to Palestinians with work permits, who have been residing within Israel and the West Bank. The development comes days after the Palestinian government informed that it has entered an agreement with the Jewish state to vaccinate 1 lakh migrant workers.

In a statement by the Israeli military for civil affairs in ‘Palestinian territories’, it said, “(Israel will) conduct a vaccination campaign for Palestinian workers with employment licenses in Israel and in the communities across Judea and Samaria (Biblical names for West Bank). The military said that the move has been approved by the incumbent political dispensation.

It must be mentioned that Israel has vaccinated half of its population in just a span of two months. Amidst global calls for vaccinating the Palestinian population in West Bank and Gaza, Israel has decided to go ahead with the plan. Interestingly, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is reportedly planning to supply vaccines to Hamas terrorists, who are in control of the Gaza region and determined to destroy Israel. PA will receive 2 million doses, besides the ones from the United Nations’ Covax programme.

Israel is using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to vaccinate its citizens under the country’s universal national health system. More then 4.6 million people out of total population of 9 million have received the vaccine so far. It is interesting to note that Pfizer has guaranteed a steady supply of vaccine doses for Israel in exchange for access to anonymized data from the digitized medical file that is maintained for almost every Israeli citizen. This data has allowed scientists from universities, the health ministry and Pfizer to track the vaccine’s impact with unprecedented speed, providing even better insight then the clinical trials. This data reveals that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is even more effective than originally estimated in preventing serious disease and death, it is safe for nearly all adults, and the vaccine is almost completely free of serious side effects.

Israeli health officials urge govt to vaccinate all Palestinians

On Monday, Israeli health officials have urged the government to vaccinate the entire Palestinian population against the Coronavirus. Itamar Grotto, the former Deputy Director-General of Israel’s Health Ministry, said, “This is really important, to vaccinate the entire Palestinian Authority population, and I believe it will go this way. This is the recommendation of all the experts, and I believe that politicians will follow our recommendations…We are starting to give them more and more vaccines. It is an important objective, from a public health point of view, and of course also from a humanitarian point of view.”

NDTV Executive Editor Sanket Upadhyay called out by Netizens for mocking Bihari pronunciations

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NDTV Executive Editor Sanket Upadhyay called out by Netizens for mocking Bihari pronunciations

Sanket Upadhyay, the Executive Editor of NDTV, was under immense fire today online for a tweet of his which was widely criticized for ‘mocking’ Biharis. The tweet in question seems to poke fun at people from Bihar for their typically stereotyped accents and phonetics, which has been mainstream by Bollywood. A huge backlash resulted in the wake of the tweet, with many criticizing Mr. Upadhyay for disparaging the language, speech, people and culture of Bihar.

Sanket Upadhyay tweeted that while the rest of the country pronounce the word vaccine correctly, in Bihar it is pronounced as ‘bhaccine’, mocking the way the letter v is pronounced in Bihar, and also some other states in Eastern India.

Twitter User Anupam Srivastava calls out Mr. Upadhyay for his ‘misplaced sense of superiority’ in making fun of other languages and people.

Another twitter user named Neil kept his criticism short and simple, making Mr. Upadhyay know that poking fun at other languages would not make him ‘cool’.

Some Twitter users also attacked Mr. Upadhyay for his Brahmin caste and claimed that an upper-class person was mocking a less privileged state.

The tweet invited several such angry reactions from social media users.

Mr. Sanket Upadhyay is a longtime member of Indian journalism, starting off his career as a writer for Hindustan Times, with stints at NDTV, News X, the India Today group, the Times group and then finally a return to NDTV. He is currently is Executive Editor at NDTV, a position he has held since October 2020.

After a humiliating drubbing in Gujarat local body elections, state Congress chief and Leader of Opposition resign

OpIndia Staff
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After a humiliating drubbing in Gujarat local body elections, state Congress chief and Leader of Opposition resign

Taking responsibility for the embarrassing defeat in the recently concluded local body polls in Gujarat, Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda and Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda and Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani have tendered their resignations. However, both will continue on their post until the party top leadership finds their suitable replacements.

The party has accepted the resignation of the two leaders and requested them to continue till the end of March, as the state assembly session is underway, a report published in DeshGujarat said.

Chavda had expressed shock at the results of the local body polls, claiming that the party was receiving a good response from the people. He even blamed the EVMs for the Congress party’s poll debacle.

“The election results are totally opposite to what our expectations were. We had received good responses from people during our campaigning but the results do not reflect it. People have raised doubts on EVMs and all these things should be probed,” Chavda said.

In December 2019, the Congress party had indicated that there would be an imminent change in the party leadership. However, with the local body polls slated to occur in late February, the decision to bring in new leadership was shelved until after the local elections. Following Congress’ disastrous performance in the local body elections and the subsequent resignation of the Gujarat Congress party chief, a change in the guard is inevitable.

Earlier last week, Gujarat Congress working President Hardik Patel expressed his displeasure over the functioning of the party. He had then alleged that the Congress party was not using him to his potential. The Patidar leader claimed Congress had not organised a single public meeting for him ahead of the local body elections.

Congress wiped out as BJP sweeps local body polls in Gujarat

The crisis facing the Congress party precipitated in the wake of the Gujarat local body polls. The BJP has won all 31 seats, a majority of 81 municipalities, and over 200 of the 230 talukas that had gone to the polls on February 28. The emphatic victory came a week after the saffron party swept all six municipal corporations.

This is in stark contrast to the 2015 local body polls when Congress had made impressive gains on the back of the Patidar agitation that had roiled the state. The BJP had then faced a thorough pasting in 24 of the 31 district panchayats, along with losing 138 of the total 228 taluka panchayats. The party had, however, maintained its semi-urban base intact by winning 45 of the 57 municipalities.

The Congress party, on the other hand, could win only 1,768 seats, three municipalities and a few taluka panchayat bodies. It failed to open its account in any district panchayat.

Congress attacks the Modi government for a reduction in the unemployment rate: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Congress attacks the Modi government for a reduction in the unemployment rate: Read details

So absorbed is Congress in attacking the Modi government that it seems that they have taken leave of their senses. Usually, an increase in the rate of unemployment sparks outrage among the opposition parties. However, the Congress party is outraged because there is a reduction in the unemployment rate in the country.

Earlier today, the official Twitter handle of the Congress party posted a tweet, questioning the BJP whether it thinks through the decisions or weighs the disastrous consequences its decisions might trigger. The question was regarding the lockdown imposed by PM Modi in the last week of March 2020 to stop the inexorable spread of the coronavirus.

“Does the BJP ever think through their decisions; ever think of the disastrous consequences it imposes on the nation?” the official Twitter handle of Congress tweeted.

However, what was intriguing is the infographic that was attached to attack the Modi government’s decision of imposing a lockdown in March 2020. Along with the tweet, the Congress Twitter handle attached an infographic that displayed the unemployment rate in April 2020 and May 2020.

The infographic showed that the unemployment rate in April 2020 was 23.53 per cent, and in the subsequent month, it dropped to 21.73 per cent. The unemployment rates in April and May were displayed with vertical bars, with the bar representing the unemployment rate in May significantly smaller than that of April 2020.

Despite the marked reduction in the unemployment rate in May 2020 as compared to April 2020 and the stark difference between the two bars representing the unemployment rates in the two months, the Congress party went on to question the PM for not thinking about the workforce before imposing an unplanned lockdown. The question was included in the infographic, alongside the vertical bars indicating the fall in the unemployment rate.

The Congress party seems to have a problem that despite the lockdown imposed in the country, the month of May 2020 witnessed a reduction in the unemployment rate as compared to April 2020. India had gone under lockdown from 22 March 2020 until the end of May 2020. It subsequently reopened in a phased manner, with necessary precautions and coronavirus guidelines in place.

Current unemployment figures are exceptionally low: CMIE report

While Congress continues ranting against the supposedly high unemployment rates, reports claim that unemployment in India in January 2021 is among the lowest in years. Ever since India emerged out of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the employment generation has rebounded at a breakneck pace, with nearly 12 million people getting employed last month. The unemployment rate in January 2021 was down to 6.5 per cent from 9.1 per cent in December 2020.

According to the CMIE report, the total unemployed who were willing to work but did not have any employment in January 2021 was 40 million. The report stated that it is lowest in the last two years. Subsequently, after 12 million people were employed last month, the number of unemployed came down to 28 million.

“These are the unemployed who are willing to work and who are actively looking for employment. This is an exceptionally low number. On average, 33 million persons who were willing to work and were looking for work were unemployed in 2019-20. This is now down to less than 28 million,” the report said.

The Wire publishes fake news regarding new guidelines for digital media sites, gets fact-checked

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The Wire publishes fake news regarding new guidelines for digital media sites, gets fact-checked

Left-wing propaganda site The Wire was once against caught peddling fake news, this time on the newly announced guidelines under the IT Act for digital media outlets. However, their lie was fact-checked by Press Information Bureau’s Fact Check arm. PIB refuted The Wire’s claim that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting constituted the panel over sighting the content’s self-regulation.

PIB said, “The body would be constituted by publishers & not MIB or a panel by MIB. It can be headed by a retired SC/HC judge or an eminent person.”

What did The Wire say?

In its report titled “Why the New IT Rules Beg Urgent Judicial Review”, The Wire claimed “Rules 10, 11 and 12 require intermediaries to establish a two-tier “self-regulation” mechanism and be subject to an “oversight” mechanism by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MI&B).”

It further added, “while the body constituted at the second level of the self-regulating mechanism is being touted to be independent, in reality, it does away with all notions of independence as such a body is to be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a high court-appointed from a panel prepared by the MI&B. The intermediary rules are silent on the modalities of the constitution of such a panel. This allows the MI&B to appoint partisan retired judges to head such a body.”

What do Rule 10, 11 and 12 of Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 say?

As per the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 [PDF] Rule 10 talks about the furnishing and processing of the grievance related to the content published by a publisher. It makes it essential that the grievance is disposed of in 15 days. In case the publisher fails to address the resentment of the complainant is not satisfied with the action taken by the publisher, the self-regulating body will come into action. The self-regulating body has to take the decision in 15 days, and if the complainant is still not satisfied, he can further appeal to the oversight mechanism set up by the MI&B.

Rule 10 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

Rule 11 talks about the rules laid down for the appointment of the grievance officer. The grievance officer must be based in India. His name and contact information must be available on the website. He will act as the nodal point of interaction between the complainant, self-regulating body and the Ministry.

Rule 11 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

Rule 12 talks about the formation of the self-regulating body. It clearly states that the publishers will form a self-regulating body. The retired judge of the Supreme Court, a High Court, or an independent eminent person from the field of media, broadcasting, entertainment, child rights, human rights or such other relevant field will head it.

Rule 12 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

The oversight mechanism

As per Rule 13, there will be an oversight mechanism under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The oversight mechanism will only come into action if the complainant is not satisfied with the decision of the self-regulating body. Until that point, the Ministry will not interfere in the grievance redressal mechanism.

The Rule 12 make it clear that the publishers will form a self-regulating body, and they will select the retired judge to head it. Therefore, the claim made by The Wire that MI&B will have the power to choose the members and head of the self-regulatory committee is false.

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin shows 81% efficacy, phase 3 trials with 25,800 subjects completed

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Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin shows 81% efficacy, phase 3 trials with 25,800 subjects completed

Bharat Biotech announced today that the Phase 3 trials of its COVID-19 vaccine known as Covaxin, India’s indigenous vaccine, demonstrated an almost 81% efficacy rate. The Phase 3 trials, made up of 25,800 subjects, were the largest ever clinical trials conducted in India in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research.

This comes after PM Modi kicked off Phase 2 of the COVID-19 vaccination drive by getting vaccinated himself with the Covaxin vaccine.

The data from the Phase 3 trials reveals that vaccines and placebos were given to the subjects in a 1:1 ratio and that the vaccine was well tolerated by the subjects receiving it, the company said. “Trials will continue to the final analysis of 130 confirmed cases in order to gather more data and evaluate the efficacy of the vaccine”, the company further added. 

“Today is an important milestone in vaccine discovery, for science and our fight against coronavirus. With today’s results from our Phase 3 clinical trials, we have now reported data on our COVID-19 vaccine from Phase 1, 2, and 3 trials involving around 27,000 participants,” Bharat Biotech head Krishna Ella said. 

The efficacy rate of the vaccine was determined through a first interim analysis of 43 cases of COVID-19. 36 of these cases belonged to the placebo group of the vaccine trial, meaning that out of the individuals given the vaccine, 7 contracted COVID-19, resulting in the estimate of 80.6% efficacy rate. Covaxin is one of the two vaccines approved by the Indian Government to be included in the Government vaccination drive, of which the first phase commenced on 16th January. However, Covaxin is India’s only indigenous COVID-19 vaccine.

A National Institute of Virology analysis claims that the Covaxin can potentially neutralize more effective and virulent strains of COVID-19 like the U.K. Strain. “Analysis from the National Institute of Virology indicates that vaccine-induced antibodies can neutralise the UK variant strains and other heterologous strains”, the company stated. 

“Bharat Biotech expects to share further details of the trial results as additional data become available. An additional interim analysis is planned for 87 cases, and the final analysis is planned for 130 cases. All data from the second interim and final analyses will be shared via pre-publication servers as well as submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication,” the company statement read.

Bharat Biotech expects to supply its Covaxin to other countries, with at least 40 countries expressing interest in it. Recently, Bharat Biotech confirmed that the company has signed an agreement with Brazil for the supply of 20 million doses of Covaxin.

Feminism is not un-Islamic: Pakistan’s Aurat Azadi March explains ahead of Women’s Day after the rally was attacked last year

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Feminism is not un-Islamic: Pakistan’s Aurat Azadi March explains ahead of Women’s Day after the rally was attacked last year

Ahead of the annual Aurat March (Women’s march) event in Pakistan, the official Twitter handle associated with the movement reiterated that it is not ‘un-Islamic’ for women to hit the streets for their civil liberties.

In a tweet on Friday (February 26), Aurat Azadi March Islamabad wrote, “The mainstream narrative about Aurat March is that it’s un-Islamic. This idea has been hammered into us that our norms & cultural values are at stake at the hands of these movements.” To break the stigma attached to it, they had also shared an animation explaining the concept of women’s freedom.

“Is demanding for social and financial equality and justice, un-Islamic? Is it against Islam to speak about education for women? Is it unIslamic to raise voice against the atrocities committed against women? Is it unislamic to speak against child abuse, acid attacks and killing women in the name of honour? If all of it is against Islam, then what is your Islam? Calling ‘Aurat March’ un-Islamic is akin to insulting the religion.”

“We are not against Islam or any religion. The majority of those connected with our movement practice their Faith in private. Feminism is not against Islam, Christianity or any other religion. We are against all such archaic practices that have been traditionally used to oppress women,” the video concluded. Aurat March was first organised in 2018 on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8th, after which it has become an annual event. On this day, women march in various cities of Pakistan demanding equality and freedom.

Pakistani actress explains the slogans raised at Aurat March

Recently, Pakistani actress Mahira Khan clarified about one of the most ‘misunderstood slogan – Meri Jism Meri Marzi’ that was raised during Aurat March last year. While speaking to host Mira Sethi on her talk show, the ‘Raees’ actress emphasised, “When I say ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’, I don’t mean I want to strip my clothes off and run around naked!”

She added, “I mean to say that I am a human and this is my body, so it is up to me whether I allow you to stare at it or touch it, or not. It means that I can report to you if you don’t comply. It means that I can take an action against you if you harass me because you have no right over MY body.”

Paradox: Women protested against ‘Aurat March’ that fought for equal rights for women

In March last year, radical Islamists pelted stones, shoes and sticks at the Aurat March participants, thereby bringing the march to a sudden halt in Islamabad. In May 2020, a group of Burqa clad women took out a rally at Zila Council Chowk in Faisalabad, Pakistan against the “Aurat March” orchestrated by progressive women seeking equal rights at par with men in the orthodox Pakistani society. The Official Twitter account of Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Women Wing dubbed the rally against the ‘Aurat March’ as ‘Haya March’ (loosely translated as “march of modesty”). It also alleged that Islam protects Women’s dignity.

“#DismissAbhijitSarkar” hashtag trends on Twitter over Oxford faculty’s Hinduphobic rant against Rashmi Samant

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“#DismissAbhijitSarkar” hashtag trends on Twitter over Oxford faculty’s Hinduphobic rant against Rashmi Samant

After 2 weeks days of her resignation, voices are now coming out in support of Rashmi Samant, the Oxford student who was forced to resign from the post of president-elect of Oxford University Student Union on February 17. Within two days of her winning the election, her old posts were circulated on social media platforms defaming her. She was bullied, threatened and ridiculed for being a Hindu.

Amidst all the hate she had to face, there was one post that was a stark example of the kind of hatred and discrimination centred around Samant’s Hindu identity. The post was made by one of the Faculty members at Oxford, identified as Dr Abhijit Sarkar. In his long post against Samant on Instagram, he showcased his bigoted Hinduphobic nature and ranted how someone who follows Sanatan Dharma should not be allowed to become the leader of the student union.

Post made by Abhijit Sarkar against Samant

Sarkar shared Samant’s photograph with her parents with the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ batch and alleged that it was Islamophobic. He also alleged that her campaign was funded by Indians. Towards the end of his post, he wrote, “Very glad to see that she has been forced to resign within 2 days after her election ❤. Tell Zee News that Oxford students are still not ready for “Sanatani” president.”

In the particularly vile post, Sarkar accused Rashmi of being Islamophobic by alleging that she came from coastal Karnataka, which the faculty member termed as “a bastion of Islamophobic far-right forces”.

“…Far-right Desi forces hate White people and Western modernity because they want to reinstate Sanatan Hindu “culture” with its inherent caste-based tortures and the most violent form of patriarchy. Of course, they are always ready to destroy statues of non-Hindutva people, be it Muslims or Christians or liberal Hindus,” the post read.

Reaction from netizens

Netizens have come forward in support of Samant and demanded action against Sarkar. Alpesh B. Patel, former Visiting Fellow at Oxford, said in a tweet, “I find faculty exhibiting views like this overtly against my faith indeed any faith, obscene offensive and probably criminal incitement to hatred. No Vice-Chancellor should permit this.”

English Bahen, a vlogger, urged Oxford University to take action against Sarkar and said, “As a former DPhil student at Oxford, I am appalled to read the views of Faculty member Abhijit Sarkar about my Hindu religion and also his obscene words of hatred against a young Hindu student. Abhijit is instrumenting Hindu Genocide.”

Sanjay Dixit, former IAS and author, called Sarkar a “mentally enslaved Hindu hater Modiphobe who led the campaign to oust the newly elected Oxford Student’s Union President Rashmi Samant.”

The trend #DismissAbhijitSarkar was shared by many on social media, urging the Oxford University to sack the hateful person.

Sarkar has a history of making Hinduphobic comments

This was not the first time Sarkar had made vile Hinduphobic comments on social media.

Another post by Sarkar where he claimed he used to break Goddess Saraswati idols

On February 16, he shared a post in Bengali with Goddess Saraswati photo in it and wrote, “I remember when I was a kid I broke several Saraswati idols by thrashing them on the floor. I have been aggressively anti-religion from childhood you see.”

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