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Meet Chen Weihua: China’s sh*t talker-in-chief, calls Trump-aide Pompeo ‘sh*t face’ after calling a US Senator ‘lifetime b*tch’

OpIndia Staff
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Meet Chen Weihua: China’s sh*t talker-in-chief, calls Trump-aide Pompeo ‘sh*t face’ after calling a US Senator ‘lifetime b*tch’

“Chen Weihua is the Chief Washington Correspondent of China Daily and Deputy Editor of China Daily USA,” says the China Daily website. But on Twitter, the ‘journalist’ who is claimed to have “a particular focus on US politics and US-China relations”, can be found engaging in cantankerous banter with politicians in the West.

The tweets which drove him to media spotlight were the ones where he called a US Senator a ‘b*tch’. He did not stop at that and proceeded to call her a ‘lifetime b*tch’. That outburst was in response to a tweet by Senator Marsha Blackburn claiming that China had a 5000 year history of cheating and stealing.

But those are not the only contentious remarks Chen Weihua has made. On Sunday, he told British politician Nigel Farage to “Wear a mask and stop talking shit”.

Chen Weihua goes off at Nigel Farage
Chen Weihua goes off at Nigel Farage

He did not stop there, of course. He proceeded to mock Farage’s support for US President Donald Trump.

Chen Weihua vs Nigel farage
He was kind enough to retweet his own tweet for his audience

Chen Weihua does not hesitate to use expletives to demonstrate his angst.

Chen Weihua gets abusive
The ‘journalist’ gets abusive

Chen Weihua also declared that something was wrong with the United States because an “insane and stupid lunatic” like Donald Trump could be elected President.

Chen Weihua calls Donald Trump a "stupid lunatic"
Chen Weihua calls Donald Trump a “stupid lunatic”

The ‘journalist’ certainly has a lot to say about the US political system. An object of his ire is the supposed “shameless self-glorification” that is apparently a ‘unique’ feature of the US Presidency.

Chen Weihua is clearly not fond of the US political system
Again, there’s the trademark self-retweet.

He also has a suggestion for American politicians. This one is fair enough, one could argue. “US should spend more fixing its subways, street potholes in NYC and other cities instead of spending hundreds of billion dollars on killer weapons, nukes enough to carpet bomb our planet 100 times and over,” he says.

Chen Weihua has a suggestion for American politicians
The Chinese ‘journalist’ has a suggestion for American politicians

The Chinese ‘journalist’ is also not very fond of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Chen Weihua does not like Mike Pompeo

Okay, he really really does not like Mike Pompeo. Weihua has gone to the extent of calling Pompeo a ‘sh*t face’.

Chen Weihua gets abusive, again.
Weihua gets abusive, again.

Not the only time either, unfortunately.

Chen Weihua abuses Pompeo, again.
Weihua abuses Pompeo, again.

Chen Weihua has also compared Pompeo to the Nazi propagandist Goebbels.

Chen Weihua calls Pompeo a Nazi
Probably not as shocking, given a lot of US liberals believe Donald Trump is LITERALLY a Nazi.

He also says that Donald Trump cannot keep his eyes off China “simply because China is too successful”.

Chen Weihua vs Donald Trump
Probably one of his less offensive tweets

The tensions between China and the USA have intensified under US President Donald Trump. The Chinese have singularly blamed Trump for the tensions between the two countries and appear to believe that things will get better once he moves out of office. However, if their ‘journalists’ keep calling everyone they don’t like ‘sh*t face’ and ‘b*tch’, they might find it a tad more difficult in normalizing relationships with other countries.

Despite baseless allegations about ‘abolishment of MSP’, govt continues purchase of crops, 49% of total paddy purchase made from Punjab alone

OpIndia Staff
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Despite baseless allegations about ‘abolishment of MSP’, govt continues purchase of crops, 49% of total paddy purchase made from Punjab alone

While farmers from Punjab allege that the new farm laws will end the MSP regime, the union government has continued purchase of farm products paying the Minimum Support Price declared by it. As part of the same, during the Kharif Marketing Season 2020-21, the government of India purchased various crops like paddy, cotton, pulses, oilseeds, cotton etc from farmers across the country, benefiting crores of farmers.

Despite the protests in Punjab, paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 season has been going on smoothly in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, 412.91 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of paddy were procured as on 19th December, compared to 337.74 LMT in last year. Thus, paddy procurement under MSP has gone up by 22.25% this year despite the Coronavirus pandemic and the so-called farmer protests.

Out of the procurements of 412.91 LMT in India this year, procurement from Punjab alone was 202.77 LMT. Which means almost half of the total procurement, 49.10% to be exact, was made from Punjab.

Around 48.56 lakh farmers have benefited from the procurement at MSP totalling around Rs. 77957.83 Crore.

Apart from that, 51 lakh matric tonnes of pulses have bee procured from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh under the Price Support Scheme (PSS). Sanction for procurement of 1.23 LMT of Copra for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala was also given.

Approvals for purchase of Pulses, Oilseeds and Copra under Price Support Scheme (PSS) are being given to other states after receipt of proposals. Purchase of these crops can be made at notified MSP for the year 2020-21 directly from the registered farmers, if the market prices of those crops go below MSP during the notified harvesting period in the respective states and UTs.

Upto 19.12.2020, the Government through its Nodal Agencies has procured 1,95,899.38 Metric Tonnes of Moong, Urad, Groundnut Pods and Soybean having MSP value of Rs. 1050.08 Crores benefitting 1,08,310 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Similarly, 5,089 MT of copra with MSP value of Rs.52.40 crore has been procured benefitting 3961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, it may be noted that copra purchase last year was only 293.34 MT.

During the season, 57,83,122 bales of seed cotton valued at Rs. 16,865.81 Crore has been procured benefitting 11,24,252 farmers. Cotton purchases have been made at Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Karnataka.

Congress instigating farmers by peddling blatant lie that MSP will be abolished

It almost becomes imperative to note here that opposition parties, especially the Congress has been consistently misleading the farmers in Punjab by sharing some blatant and outright lies against the new farmer laws. Amongst other things, the Congress has been instigating the farmers that the central government, through its news farm laws, would abolish the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Which is an outright lie as seen by recent procurement of Kharif crops as per MSP.

The farmers have been, in turn, agitating at the outskirts of the national capital against Modi government’s farm laws assuming that the new laws mean that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) would be abolished.

Mandis will remain, MSP will be unaffected: Modi government

The central government has clarified a number of times that they are neither abolishing Mandis not repealing MSPs. Both the claims are lies. In fact, the Congress, in its own 2019 election manifesto, had promised to abolish the APMC Act altogether. However, the Modi government has only amended the APMC Act.

Modi government has not repealed the APMC Act in its entirety. The new laws passed by the current dispensation provides the farmers with an additional avenue to sell their produce besides the state-run Mandis. The provisions in the bills exempt transactions done outside the physical premises of APMC (agricultural produce market committee) Mandis from any “market fee or cess or levy” imposed by state governments.

PM Modi, government ministers and BJP leaders have asserted again and again that MSPs will continue. Rahul Gandhi and Congress, however, have been peddling the same lies again and again.

Ahead of Bengal elections, Amit Shah lays down chronology for CAA and coronavirus vaccine

OpIndia Staff
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Ahead of Bengal elections, Amit Shah lays down chronology for CAA and coronavirus vaccine

Rules of Citizenship Amendment Act will be formulated but only when the coronavirus vaccine immunisation plans are in motion, Home Minister Amit Shah today clarified. He was addressing a press conference in Birbhum, West Bengal.

Responding to a media query after his roadshow in Bolpur, West Bengal, Shah said that the rules for CAA are yet to be formulated but they had to be put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. “Such a large-scale exercise could not be undertaken because of coronavirus and hence once the vaccination process starts, we will get back to formulating rules on CAA,” he said.

Addressing the political violence in Bengal, Shah said that through this press conference he would like to let the TMC leadership know that by attacking and inflicting violence on BJP workers in Bengal, the BJP will not step back. “BJP workers have decided that they will fight violence with democracy,” he said.

Speaking on the misrule of communist government in Bengal, he said, “Bengal had a chunk of 1/3rd of India’s entire GDP when India got independence. Today, it has reduced to minimalistic levels after three decades of Communist rule and 1 decade of TMC rule. Bengal’s per person income was nearly double of Maharashtra’s in 1960. Today, it is not even half of India’s business capital! Who’s responsible for this?”

He further pointed out how in the 1950s, about 70% of pharmaceuticals production was carried out in Bengal. However, the same has now fallen down to 7%. He also said how the jute industry in Bengal has shrunk.

Speaking on FDI investment in Bengal, Amit Shah said how it has fallen so low (1% since 2011) that it cannot go any lower. “TMC govt can count that as an achievement.”

Speaking on how the West Bengal state government is depriving the farmers of central government benefits, he said, “23 lakh farmers from Bengal have requested online for PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi. Mamata di still prevents them by not giving them actual certification! She is not even sending a list of farmers to the Central government.”

Muslims worry whether Covid-19 vaccines are halal as they may contain pork products

OpIndia Staff
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Muslims worry whether Covid-19 vaccines are halal as they may contain pork products

There are concerns among Muslim countries around the world regarding Coronavirus vaccines as pork-derived gelatin is widely used as a stabilizer in vaccines to ensure that they remain safe and effective during storage and transport, Associated Press has reported.

Spokespersons for Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have said that pork products are not an ingredient of their Coronavirus vaccines. But circumstances are such, as a consequence of million dollar pre-existing deals and limited supply, that certain Muslim countries such as Indonesia will receive vaccines that are not yet certified to be gelatin free.

Aversion towards vaccines by the Muslim community due to their being ‘haram’ or containing pork products is not a new phenomenon. In 2018, the Indonesian Ulema Council, the highest clerical body in the country that issues halal certificates, declared that measles and rubella vaccines were “haram” because of the pork-derived gelatin.

The result? “Measles cases subsequently spiked, giving Indonesia the third-highest rate of measles in the world,” said Rachel Howard of Research Partnership. “Public communication regarding the halal status, price, quality and distribution must be well-prepared,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo had said in October.

Sinovac Biotech, one of the Chinese manufacturers of the Coronavirus vaccines, and other Chinese companies Sinopharm and CanSino Biologics refused to respond to AP’s queries about the ingredients of their vaccines. They already secured deals worth millions with Muslim countries around the world. Pakistan is conducting clinical trials of the CanSino Biologics vaccine, the trials are in late stage.

But there is still debate among Islamic scholars regarding whether a vaccine containing a pork-derived product could be halal after all. “There’s a difference of opinion amongst Islamic scholars as to whether you take something like pork gelatin and make it undergo a rigorous chemical transformation,” Dr. Salman Waqar, general secretary at the British Islamic Medical Association, said. “Is that still considered to be religiously impure for you to take?”

As we had reported earlier, the highest Muslim body in Indonesia is expected to issue a halal certificate for the experimental Coronavirus vaccine developed by China based Sinovac Biotech. The Indonesian Ulema Council Halal Product Guarantee Agency and Institute for the Assessment of Food, Drugs and Cosmetics had completed its study and a fatwa and halal certification is expected soon, Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy had told the media.

‘Non-Muslims can never get justice in Pakistan’, says father of minor Christian girl abducted for rape and conversion to Islam

OpIndia Staff
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‘Non-Muslims can never get justice in Pakistan’, says father of minor Christian girl abducted for rape and conversion to Islam

On Sunday, Pakistani Human rights activist Rahat Austin shared a video on Twitter, wherein the father of a 13-year-old minor Christian girl narrated his ordeal. According to him, the girl identified as Mehwish was forcefully abducted, raped and converted to Islam by Sajid Ali, Sumaira and Tarav in Thokar Nayaz, Kanjrah Lahore. “Police have investigated the matter. After examining the documents, the cops said that the papers are forged. Despite this, no action has been taken till now. We will know after they take action,” said the father of the victim. He informed that the documents made by the accused, following the girl’s marriage and forceful conversion, are fake.

On being asked whether he sought help from any political leaders, the man lamented, “Initially, we tried to meet Minister Jahaz Alam Ghasti on two occasions but failed. However, we met him later on 3 different occasions. He said that he cannot do anything about it… If Prime Minister, Ministers, Chief Justice and Parliamentarians do not listen to me or ensure the safe return of my child, then, I will be forced to kill my entire family.”

“It is impossible to get justice in Pakistan. Justice will only be rendered when my daughter returns back to me. Do not take my words lightly. If my daughter does not come back, then, I will do what I have promised,” the victim’s father remarked.

Persecution of religious Minorities

Movement for Solidarity and Peace (MSP) has estimated that about 1000 Christian and Hindu women between 12 and 25 years are abducted, raped, married, and forced to convert to Islam. Due to limited financial means of the families of such victims, many cases go unreported.

On October 10 last year, another 14-year-old Huma Younus was abducted from her parents’ home in Karachi by a Muslim man named Abdul Jabbar, a resident of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab. Farzana (14), and Sehrish (16) were gang-raped by 3 Muslim men but the families were forced to settle the matter outside the Court. In the case of Sana John (13) and Mehwish (14) who were abducted by Muslims, the police conducted a botched investigation and no attempts were made to rescue them. A 11-year-old Christian girl named Maria Sarfraz was also gang-raped for 3 days but was forced to settle the matter outside. In April 2020, 14-year-old Christian girl Myra Shehbaz was abducted in Faislabad in Pakistan by Muhammad Naqash and his accomplice while she was travelling to her workplace.

Mischief managed: From engaging troll army to weaponising censorship, how China built narrative around coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Mischief managed: From engaging troll army to weaponising censorship, how China built narrative around coronavirus

That China has gone to great lengths to hide the truth about coronavirus does not come as a surprise anymore. A New York Times report reveals how China censored the internet to suppress the negative news and sentiments surrounding COVID-19.

It all started in January 2020 when the world was not aware what is going to hit them in few days’ time.

It all started with Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who warned about a strange viral outbreak only to be accused of spreading rumours and threatened by police. He eventually succumbed to the virus. However, Chinese officials set into motion one of the longest censorship movement to suppress the inconvenient truth.

In a bid to reclaim the narrative, confidential directives were sent to propaganda workers and news outlets. Websites were asked not to push notifications about his death. Social media platforms were instructed to remove trending news about his death. Fake online commentators were propped up to distract the conversation surrounding his death.

New York Times and ProPublica accessed thousands of documents that helped the Chinese shape online opinion during the pandemic. Paid trolls were deployed to muzzle unsanctioned voices. In fact, the documents indicate that the Chinese officials did not try to manage the narrative to prevent panic but to make the virus look less severe and Chinese authorities more capable, now that the world was watching.

3,200 directives and 1,800 memos were accessed from Cyberspace Administration of China, in eastern city of Hangzhou. These include internal files and computer codes from Chinese company Urun Big Data Services which makes softwares for government to monitor Internet and manage army of online commentators. Hacker group CCP unmasked had shared these details. Some of the documents were also verified independently by The Times and ProPublica obtained separately by China Digital Times, a website that tracks Chinese internet controls.

CCP and Cyberspace Administration of China

In 2014, Xi Jinping created Cyberspace Administration of China to centralise the management of internet censorship and propaganda as well as other aspects of digital policy. It now reports to CCP’s Central Committee.

Early in January, CAC set into motion to control the narrative surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. As per the report, an agency directive ordered news websites to use only government-published material. They were instructed not to draw any parallels with the deadly SARS outbreak in China and elsewhere that began in 2002, even as the World Health Organization was noting the similarities.

In February 2020, a high-level meeting led by Chinese President called for tighter management of digital media, and the CAC’s offices across the country swung into action. A directive was issued in Zhejiang province, whose capital is Hangzhou where the agency should not only control the message within China, but also seek to “actively influence international opinion.”

Various virus-related links were sent to be promoted. Online reports were to play up ‘heroic efforts’ by local medical workers in Wuhan, where the pandemic began. Headlines were to be sanitised to not include ‘fatal’ and ‘incurable’. ‘Lockdown’ was also to be avoided to avoid ‘negative news’.

News outlets were told not to play up reports on donations and purchases of medical supplies from abroad. As per the agency directive, this kind of reports could cause a backlash overseas and disrupt China’s own procurement efforts with respect to personal protective equipment from abroad as the virus spread globally. China did not want to give an impression that their fight against pandemic is dependent upon foreign donation.

When Li Wenliang died, Chinese netizens descended upon his Weibo profile and left thousands of comments. The day after his death, a directive included a video of his mother reminiscing about her son which was deemed to be “taking advantage of this incident to stir up public opinion”. Soon, various online memorials began to disappear. Groups which were formed to archive deleted posts were arrested by police.

CCP workers worked round the clock to make sure that people did not see anything that contradicted anything that the CCP propagated. In fact, as per research, hundreds of thousands of people in China worked part-time to post comments and share content that reinstates CCP’s ideology. Students and teachers as well as low-level government employees are also recruited to further the CCP ideology.

That is not all. Specialised softwares were used to to shape public opinion online. Urun had at least two dozen contracts with local agencies to track online trends, coordinate censorship activity and manage fake social media accounts for posting comments.

As per the report, Urun softwares gave the government workers a platform to quickly add ‘likes’ to posts and assign specific tasks for commentators. The software would also track completed tasks and calculate money to be paid to the worker.

One of the documents said that original work with over 400 characters would fetch about 25 USD while flagging a negative comment that needs to be deleted would earn a worker 40 cents. Reposts would get them 1 cent. Urun made apps which would assign work and the individual would need to post screenshot of the task completed to certify that they completed the task.

Urun also developed video-game like softwares to train commentators. Users would be split into two and they would be then pit against one another to see who produces more posts. Government officials also used Urun software to scan the Chinese internet for keywords like “virus” and “pneumonia” in conjunction with place names, according to company data.

The report states that after the initial chatter surrounding the coronavirus died down, CAC returned to monitoring other things. However, towards May, confidential analysis of public opinion had been published online. This is when the agency decided to purge internal reports. Especially the ones which contained analysis of sentiment around the pandemic.

It is shocking how the Chinese CCP has managed to manipulate the online discourse as the world fought the pandemic.

Pune: Case filed against naturopathy doctor for duping a woman of Rs 1.47 crore for bogus treatment

OpIndia Staff
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Pune: Case filed against naturopathy doctor for duping a woman of Rs 1.47 crore for bogus treatment

A woman in Pune has registered a complaint at Wanavdi police station against a doctor who has duped her for Rs.1.47 crore on the pretext of treatment for ‘non-existing cancer’ in her liver. The woman identified as Sushma Jadhav works as an author at the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Officers). In her complaint, she said that a doctor allegedly took Rs. 1.47 crore from her saying that she had cancer and needs treatment or else she will die.

No tests, no scans, just medicines without names

Reports say that 58-year-old Jadhav came in contact with the doctor identified as Vidya Dhananjay Gondras, who lives in Wanavdi, in 2017. She went to Gondras for treatment of knee pain at her Kondhwa Budruk based naturopathy clinic. In June 2020, she approached Gondras again for a medical problem. Gondras allegedly claimed that she has closed her naturopathy clinic and now has a franchise of a Canada-based Ayurvedic organization. She also claimed that she had treated several patients in Pune.

Without carrying out any medical tests, Gondras allegedly told Jadhav that she has live ascites and urged her to start treatment immediately or she will die. Jadhav believed her and started paying her for the treatment. In return, Gondras gave her pills in red, black, green and white plastic bags. When Jadhav tried to inquire about the medicines she is taking, Gondras showed her photographs of liver damage on her cell phone and told her that she would die if she stops the treatment, but didn’t give any detail of the medicines.

Later in September, Gondras told Jadhav that she had developed cancerous tumours on her liver’s upper portion. She told Jadhav that these tumours could be treated with Ayurvedic medicines. Jhadav kept on paying Gondras, believing she is treating her. When she started to fall short of money, she asked her husband to arrange Rs.7 lakh.

Husband’s suspicion exposed fraud

Her lawyer husband was suspicious and asked Jadhav to show medical reports and treatment papers. Jadhav contacted Gondras for the documents which she could not provide. Then Jadhav took her husband and a lawyer friend to meet Gondras on December 3. Gondras allegedly said that she wouldn’t be able to provide any medical documents before completing the treatment. This was the tipping point where Jadhav decided to file a complaint against her.

FIR registered against Gondras

Police have registered an FIR against Gondras under appropriate Sessions, including 420 of the Indian Penal Code. Sub-Inspector Bholenath Ahiwale said, “The complainant has paid nearly Rs 1.45 crore to the accused via cheques and Rs 1.75 lakh in cash… The accused has not been arrested yet, but her bank accounts have been sealed. Further investigation is on.”

Welcome to the New Age: The Adhikari Rebellion, a new brand of politics takes root in Bengal, beginning of the end for Mamata Banerjee?

K Bhattacharjee
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Welcome to the New Age: The Adhikari Rebellion, a new brand of politics takes root in Bengal, beginning of the end for Mamata Banerjee?

The March of The Saffron in West Bengal that began with the Ram Navami rally in 2017 has reached resounding levels with the addition of senior Trinamool leader Suvendu Adhikari in its ranks and a host of other leaders from Mamata Banerjee’s party as well as others. For the first time, in a long long time, a BJP victory in the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections appears well within the realm of possibilities.

As we have maintained here at OpIndia, the rise of BJP in West Bengal reflects a tectonic shift in the political landscape of the state. And it is made even more significant because, perhaps for the first time in the history of the state, the fate of political parties will be decided by the extent of religious polarization among the electorate.

There are other significant takeaways from recent events that beg a special discussion.

A definitive cultural shift in West Bengal and a new brand of politics takes root

The BJP, as a political entity, has always embodied cultural aspirations that other parties in India do not generally envisage. Due to its umbilical attachment with the Hindutva movement, their political victories have been dependent on the success of the cultural agenda of which it is the political vessel.

It is precisely due to this reason that the rise of BJP in any state usually reflects the changing cultural landscape of the region as well. And that change is reflected in West Bengal too. There is an undeniable change in the air.

Certain individuals might pejoratively refer to it as ‘Mandir Politics’ but whatever it may be called, it is definitively different from the Communist politics that has dominated the state. In a lot of ways, even Mamata Banerjee did not put an end to that brand of politics even after she won the elections.

Trinamool Congress continued with the same brand of politics that the Communists espoused. It was only later that she embraced minority appeasement full tilt.

The Adhikari Rebellion

The Adhikari Rebellion, which has seen a horde of Trinamool MLAs and workers jump ship to join the BJP, is certainly a nightmare situation Mamata Banerjee would have hoped to avoid ahead of the elections. But perhaps, in her heart of hearts, she was well aware that it was only a matter of time.

There is a letter that Suvendu Adhikari penned for his colleague at Trinamool Congress and the grassroot workers of the party announcing his decision to quit. It is beyond doubt one of the greatest resignation letters ever to have been penned. And that letter beautifully illustrates the point this author was making before in this article.

The letter spoke of creating a West Bengal that our “ancestors” would be proud, it spoke of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Paramhansa Ramakrishna and emphasized greatly on the cultural heritage of the state. It was quite an emotive letter but the most interesting part, certainly, was the issues Adhikari chose to focus on.

Suvendu Adhikari is a mass leader and has great popularity on the ground. There will be repercussions of that decision in the elections.

West Bengal: The decline of the Left

West Bengal has been the home of the Communist movement in India. And now, after all these years, we are at a position where there is no realistic chance for the Left Front to win the Assembly Elections. 2016 will probably prove to be the last time in a very long time to come that they would be considered the primary opposition party in the state.

Even then, nobody seriously believed they would be able to win the state in 2016 and the overwhelming victory of the Trinamool Congress proved those predictions correct. Truth be told, Trinamool Congress is not responsible for the utter decimation of the Left. The credit for that goes solely to the BJP.

It is the BJP that has robbed the ground beneath the Left’s feet. It is also true that the Left needs a particular political climate to thrive. It cannot survive in regions where concerns around identity dominate political discourse. People must be more concerned with unions, land ownership, development and other factors to allow the Left to thrive.

But the BJP has managed to capitalize on concerns among the electorate regarding their identity and has weaponized the general poor state of governance and rampant corruption against the ruling TMC. In doing so, it has eliminated conditions favourable to the Left.

Also, unlike Trinamool Congress, which was more than willing to allow the Left Front to control certain spaces in Universities, it is extremely unlikely that the BJP will adopt a similar approach. For instance, the major confrontation between the ABVP and Communists at Jadavpur University is illustrative of the fact that the Left will not be permitted to retain control of their ‘safe spaces’.

A cultural revolution is on the horizon in West Bengal. And unfortunately for the Left, the sky has a saffron tint.

Enter Amit Shah

We have said it earlier here at OpIndia that unlike what liberal intellectuals would have people believe, West Bengal has always been extremely fertile to the politics of Hindutva. All it needed was a face credible enough and with an aura of authority to ensure it flourishes.

With Narendra Modi, time came for Hindutva to make its mark in the political landscape of Bengal. And his trusted general Amit Shah has personally engineered the rise of the BJP in the state. Also, it was in his presence that Suvendu Adhikari and others joined the BJP.

Amit Shah did what he does best. In a roadshow on Sunday, that served as a demonstration of the strength the BJP has gained in a very short span of time, he announced that time had come for Bengal to throw out Bangladeshi infiltrators. It was certainly a jibe at senior opposition leaders in Bengal who have been calling Narendra Modi and Amit Shah ‘outsiders’ in Bengal.

The roadshow and the defections will also work against Trinamool’s allegations that the BJP is a party of outsiders. Because no one could seriously believe that Suvendu Adhikari is an outsider or that the thousands and thousands of people at Amit Shah’s rallies are all outsiders.

The show of strength also demonstrates that the BJP will not be deterred by the relentless assault on its cadres and the brutal repression tactics of the West Bengal government. It will lift its chin and continue marching on.

Advantage BJP?

The induction of Suvendu Adhikari into the party certainly demonstrates which way the wind is blowing. Even more so, even Trinamool sympathizers would agree, Mamata Banerjee’s conduct is becoming increasingly erratic and on occasions, her recent behaviour has bordered on deranged.

Furthermore, she will have to combat two terms of incumbency in order to win in 2021. The allegations of corruption, the levels of political violence never before seen, no real improvement in the lives of people and a discernible dent on Mamata Banerjee’s personal credibility will contribute towards deciding the fate of political parties.

All of these factors will determine the results of the 2021 Assembly Elections. In addition to that, a sleek political machine that just keeps on rolling, the BJP will prove to be a formidable foe. But given demographic reasons, the aversion towards the BJP among certain sections of the urban Bengali Hindu community and the lack of any state leader in the party to match Mamata Banerjee, it is still an even prospect. But as of this moment, if the BJP were told that they have a 50-50 chance of victory, they would have grabbed it with open arms.

Kerala: Widow of journalist SV Pradeep, who died in a mysterious accident, expresses disappointment over probe

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Widow of journalist SV Pradeep, who died in a mysterious accident, expresses disappointment over probe

Widow of journalist SV Pradeep, a known critic of communist government and Islamists, has expressed disappointment at the direction of probe of the accident that killed her husband. As per reports, preliminary police findings have found nothing suspicious about the ‘hit-and-run’ case.

Sreeja Nair, Pradeep’s wife, has said that he had faced threats over his reportage and he was being pressurised to withdraw his plea before the court for a CBI probe into the honey-trap case involving minister AK Saseendran. On the basis of initial investigation, the police have ruled out ‘conspiracy’ angle. Sreeja, however, has expressed doubts over the genuineness of accident.

Sreeja said that only after Pradeep’s death it was known that the plea in honeytrap case was withdrawn. She further said that the investigation focussed only on the driver and also urged the police to form a high level team to probe.

A special team will be recreating the accident scene to ascertain whether there is any foul play involved. The accident will be recreated using a Swaraj Mazda lorry. Two professors from the Sree Chitra Tirunal College of Engineering, Pappanamcode will be present during the simulation.

The Kerala-based journalist died mysteriously on Monday evening after he was mowed down by a moving truck in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram.

The CCTV footage recovered by the police shows that the journalist was hit by an SML truck. The journalist can be seen on the road while the truck speeded away after crushing him to death.

Saudi Arabia gives nod to the formation of amateur women’s football league for the first time

OpIndia Staff
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Saudi Arabia gives nod to the formation of amateur women’s football league for the first time

In a major shift in its anti-women stance, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had allowed the formation of a community-level Women’s Football League (WFL) in November this year. As such, several amateur female football (soccer) players are now hoping to play the sport professionally.

“Finally, I am so happy that I now have the chance to achieve my dream. I used to play abroad but now thank God I can play in my own country. And if God is willing, I will get the chance to become a professional player,” stated soccer player Mariam Alamgiri.

While speaking on the development, coach Maram Albutairi remarked, “In the Eastern Flames Club, we have 52 players of various age groups. Some are below 17 years old and some are below 14 years old. We train them and develop their skills in different ways including overall fitness, neuromuscular compatibility, football skills and more. Hopefully, we will help them become professional players.”

Formation of amateur female soccer league in Saudi Arabia

The Women’s football league, developed by Ministry of Sports, Quality of Life program and Saudi Sports for All Federation, began its tournament on November 17 this year. Reportedly, a total of 24 teams from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam participated in the amateur league. The players belonged to the age group of 17-39.

The tournament included a city qualification round what was later transformed into the Champion’s Cup. The finals were played on December 17 during which Challenge Riyadh beat Jeddah Eagles to win the tournament. With a prize of 1,50,000 Saudi Riyals (₹29.4 lacs), the tournament marked a major shift in the policy of the Saudi government towards women. Interestingly, it was only in January 2018 when women were allowed entry in football stadiums.

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