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One in three farmers in Punjab are absentee landlords, MSPs paid to middleman through DBT: Here is how Punjab farmers play by different rules than rest of country

Shashank Bharadwaj
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One in three farmers in Punjab are absentee landlords, MSPs paid to middleman through DBT: Here is how Punjab farmers play by different rules than rest of country

Even as ‘farmers protests’ rage around the highway entrances to Delhi, causing inconvenience to the common man, more details are emerging out that shed light on how the farmers in Punjab play by different rules, especially in procurement and Direct Benefit Transfers than the rest of the country.

Amidst the debate over the credibility of such ‘farmer’ protests, interesting details about the extent of absentee landlordism in Punjab and its influence on the ongoing protests have come out. A report by Indian Express has revealed that at least 30-35% of Punjab’s farmers who cultivate land do not actually have any lands, but do farming in lands that belong to government employees, NRIs and permanent urban residents within and outside the state.

The report also cites one farmer named Balwant Singh Boparai, who has been cultivating in 10 acres in Ghudani Kalan village of Payal tehsil in Punjab’s Ludhiana district. The 58-year-old does not own the land, but cultivates on rented land at an annual rate of Rs 55,000-60,000 per acre. Interestingly, there is no record in any official document of his cultivating this land or its owner having given it out on lease. Boparai states that the land belongs to an NRI (non-resident Indian) based in Canada.

According to the prevailing rules to obtain institutional loans, insurance or even subsidies for that matter, one should be a registered farmer in any part of the country. Not being either the owner or a registered tenant farmer will not allow accessing any crop credit from the local primary agricultural cooperative society, loan waiver schemes or the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) income support schemes.

Quoting Boparai, the report states that middlemen (arhatiyas) get the money to their account after the Food Corporation of India and state agencies undertake grain procurement in APMC mandis, which is then distributed to landless tenant farmers like Boparai after deducting the commission.

“Yes, the payment is made into the arhatiya’s account. But that money also comes to us. Moreover, he (arhatiya) is the one who is also giving us loans to raise our crop. If the government now starts transferring MSP money to the zamindar, what will happen to us?,” the report adds quoting Boparai.

Another tenant farmer, Jagjit Singh, who cultivates five out of the 15 acres owned by a zamindar of Jhumba village in Bathinda district and tehsil, said, “Whenever I take my crop to the mandi, the arhatiya makes sure that the J-form is filled not in my name. And he pays me after deducting interest and loans that I have taken from him”.

“Where will I go if the government pays only the zamindar and the arhatiya loses interest in giving me loan that he cannot recover from sale of crop to him?,” asks Singh, who has paid Rs 60,000 per acre for growing paddy and wheat this year.

“I pay 50% of the rent amount in April (ahead of the paddy season) and the balance 50% in September (before sowing wheat),” adds Singh, who have been cultivating the land rented from the same zamindar who has also rented his land to three other tenants for the last 15 years.

Ravinder Singh Gill, the sarpanch of Mehmuwal Yusufpur village in Jalandhar district’s Shahkot tehsil cultivates about 70 acres. Like Boparai and Singh, he too does not own the land that belongs to two NRIs, one living in Canada and the other in the United Kingdom.

“Whatever land you can call my own is too small. The 70 acres, on which I grow wheat, paddy and potato, is not in my name. So, I can neither avail any crop loan nor receive government benefit against this land,” Gill says.

In Punjab, MSPs through DBTs are transferred through intermediaries

Another interesting fact is, unlike the rest of the country where farmers are direct beneficiaries of MSPs through Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, in Punjab, it passes through intermediaries.

Under the current system in Punjab, the Food Corporation of India and state agencies procure the grains from arhatiyas and deposit the MSPs through DBT into their account. Arhatiyas, taking the outstanding loans, commission into account, settles farmers share out of the total transfers he received on behalf of the farmer.

Reportedly, Punjab has some 48,000 of these mandi intermediaries, of which 28,000-odd are active, who deals anywhere from 20 to 200 farmers.

The Punjab government has now made it compulsory for Arhatiyas to provide bank and Aadhaar numbers of all their farmers. The bank accounts of the farmers will be linked to the Centre’s Public Financial Management System (PFMS) network, which will enable direct payment of MSP monies into the accounts of farmers rather than that of the arhatiyas.

The move has predictably met with opposition from the arhatiyas, who had announced state-wide protests in March. It is reported that the current protests are also allegedly fuelled by these Arhatiyas, who fear of losing their existing hegemony in procurement process. The three farm laws passed by the Modi government aims to bypass these intermediaries in the procurement process.

The recent move by the Modi government to make minimum support price (MSP) payments directly into the bank accounts of farmers, from the ensuing wheat procurement season starting April has caused discomfort to both farmers and Arhatiyas.

The farmers, majority of them are tenant farmers fear that the money would be deposited into the account of absentee landlords. The direct transfer to farmers also disrupts the existing nexus of Arhatiyas, who will lose out big as he/she cannot arbitrarily avail commission fees and also high-interest rates for the loan availed to small farmers.

Punjab farmers – a major cause of air pollution, water level depletion

The Punjab farmers, one of the primary beneficiaries of Green Revolution in the 1960s, are also one of the major reasons for the rising air pollution in North India, especially during the winters.

In recent years, Punjab has recorded the highest number of incidents of stubble burning among the northern states. The incidents of crop burning in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have drastically come down but Punjab has seen a marked increase in the number of stubble burning incidents that contributed to the exacerbating pollution in the Delhi-NCR region.

Even though the Supreme Court had rapped the state governments on the growing number of stubble incidents, advising them to incentivise the farmers to give up burning the residual, the Congress government in the state has conspicuously failed in stopping the farmers from doing the same.

As per data released by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, the State witnessed 73,883 incidents of stubble burning between September 21 and November 14, which is the highest since 2016. In 2019, Punjab had reported 51,048 cases of stubble burning and 46,559 such incidents in 2018.

It is interesting to note that in several other states, stubble is harvested by farmers, which is used as fodder for livestock during monsoons when the grazing lands are farmers. But it is claimed that stubble in Punjab is not suitable for for animals, and hence the farmers are forced to burn it.

Depleting groundwater a menace of equal proportion as stubble burning

Not just stubble burning, Punjab is also racked by the menace of depleting water reserves. The groundwater resources of Punjab also paints an alarming picture as agriculture experts in the state have expressed shock and worry over the diminishing water indices from the state. A report published in January 2020 points out how Punjab will have a net groundwater availability of -14.58 billion cubic metre (BCM) within the next 25 years and even the domestic and industrial water supply will reduce by 1.22 BCM.

An eminent agriculture expert Sucha Singh Gill of IIM, Ahmedabad, said that while Punjab had a net ground water availability of only 21.58 BCM, it was consuming at much higher levels of 36 BCM. A latest government report on Punjab’s groundwater resources observes that the groundwater pumpage has increased from 149% (of naturally available recharge) in 2013 to 165% in 2018. It also holds the distinction of being the state with the maximum percentage of wells showing groundwater depletion among all states in India.

A report tabled in Rajya Sabha a couple of months ago by the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation stated that 79 per cent of the assessment units showed the annual groundwater extraction in Punjab was more than the assessed annual extractable groundwater resource. In 2019, it was 76 per cent.

Mainstream media goes overboard in whitewashing Yuvraj Singh’s father Yograj Singh’s hate speech against Hindus: Read details

K Bhattacharjee
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Mainstream media goes overboard in whitewashing Yuvraj Singh’s father Yograj Singh’s hate speech against Hindus: Read details

Former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh on Saturday distanced himself from the deplorable comments made by his father Yograj Singh. He made a statement to that effect on the occasion of his birthday. He said that the remarks were made in his personal capacity and he does not share the ideologies of his father.

While Yuvraj Singh does not specifically mention the statement made by Yograj Singh he is referring to, it appears safe to assume he is referring to the instance where Yograj made derogatory comments against Hindus and engaged in hate speech.

“Inki aurate take-take ke bhaw bikti thi” (their women were sold for two cents). When their women and daughters were abducted by people like Ahmed Shah Durrani and sold off for a paltry sum, it was we Sikhs who saved them. These are the people who have betrayed us. This community has been slaves for thousands of years,” Yograj Singh had said.

But the mainstream media, however, twisted itself up in knots trying to whitewash and even shamelessly hide what Yograj Singh had said even after Yuvraj Singh said that he was himself saddened and upset by the comments. One would assume that the media would report accurately on what was said at least then. But consistent with its record, it went out of its way to avoid mentioning the precise statements that elicited the response from Yuvraj.

Zee News, for instance, reported that, “Former Team India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has apologised for his father Yograj Singh’s extremely critical remarks concerning the farmers’ protest and wished for early resolution of their issues.” Nowhere in the report do they mention the anti-Hindu speech made by Yograj.

Zee News on Yuvraj Singh statement

According to Zee News, “This clarification from Yuvraj came days after Yograj Singh urged the Central Government to listen to the demands of the farmers, and backed sportspersons who were returning their awards to show support with the protesting farmers.” The report makes it appear the hate speech was never made.

Instead, the quote by Yograj that is mentioned is: “Farmers are demanding the right thing, the government should listen to them. It is really high time that the government should come up with solutions in this regard and I back all those sportspersons who are returning their prestigious award.” An unaware reader would come to the conclusion that Yuvraj Singh had made the statement because his father said the Central Government should listen to farmers, which is definitely not the case.

India Today reported on the matter similarly. They said, “This comes after Yograj Singh on Monday urged the Central Government to listen to the demands of the farmers, and backed sportspersons who were returning their awards to show support with the protesting farmers.” And then proceeded to cite the same quote as Zee News. Again, no mention of the hate speech against Hindus.

India Today on Yuvraj Singh statement

Times of India, reproducing PTI’s report, was kind enough mention that Yuvraj’s statement was in response to “unsavoury comments” made by his father at a rally but did not mention the exact words. And “unsavoury comments” is an extremely mild way of putting it. It was hate speech and yet, TOI would not say it as it is.

TOI on Yuvraj Singh statement

NDTV, reproducing ANI’s report, went a step further. They said that the statement by Yuvraj Singh was in response to “his father Yograj Singh endorsing the sportspersons returning their awards to support the agitation.” Again, a deliberate effort was made to obfuscate the matter and suppress the hate speech that was made by Yograj.

NDTV on Yuvraj Singh statement

Thus, there is clearly an organised effort underway to suppress the hate speech that was made by Yograj Singh against Hindus. From Yuvraj Singh’s statement, it is abundantly clear that he as not distancing from supporting farmers on the matter but the derogatory comments made by his father against Hindus. And yet, the mainstream media would have us believe that the former cricketer was distancing himself from his father’s stance on the protests.

It is, of course, consistent with the media’s penchant of denying the rampant Hinduphobia prevalent in public discourse. Confronted by undeniable and irrefutable evidence of hinduphobia, the media’s first reaction is to deny that it ever happened. In this case as well, the media is pretending that Yuvraj Singh was not referring the hate speech made by Yograj Singh but the latter’s comments on sportsperson returning their awards.

1500 vehicles of protesters from Punjab to reach Delhi to replenish the tired demonstrators: Here is what the report says

OpIndia Staff
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1500 vehicles of protesters from Punjab to reach Delhi to replenish the tired demonstrators: Here is what the report says

If there were still doubts that the ongoing farmers’ agitation is not organic but a well-thought-out plan to pressurise the Modi government, a report published in Navbharat Times decisively puts to rest the ambivalence surrounding the nature of the ongoing protests.

The report states that a large convoy of about 1,500 vehicles from 1000 villages of Punjab is about to reach the demonstration site along the Delhi border. This convoy will replenish the fatigued and tired protesters who have been demonstrating at the site for weeks now, in a bid to coerce the central government into repealing the newly introduced farm bills.

More than 1300 tractor trolleys, carrying people, food, clothing and other necessary equipment are expected to reach Delhi border from Punjab by this weekend, Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti said. This is the same organisation which organised state-wide ‘Rail Roko’ agitation in the state in September this year to oppose the new agriculture laws passed by the government.

The report further mentions that Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti had candidly admitted that the convoy reaching the protest site would replace those were involved in the agitation from the last two weeks. 

Satnam Singh Pannu said, “There is already a raft of people present at the Delhi borders. In such a situation, we will have to find a place to stay. If we don’t find any site, we will hunker down at the place where we can stay. In such a situation, we have to find a way. Apart from all this, we already have a ‘stage’ from which we can continue our protests. Those who are present at the protest site for a long time now and would return home, their place will be occupied by the inbound protesters.”

Protesters along Delhi borders enjoy massage parlours, gym langars and cook Pizzas and other delicacies

Earlier today, even as Delhi residents chafed at being held hostage to the ongoing protests along the borders, videos of protesters enjoying massage parlours, gym langars and demonstrators cooking and savouring pizzas led many to wonder if the protests were meticulously planned. Several netizens wondered how can they ‘join’ the protests where demonstrators had turned the public roads into a picnic spot by baking and distributing Pizzas to the so-called protestors.

Pro-Khalistani supporters hijack the farmers’ protest

The involvement of Khalistani proponents in the protests also seed doubts about the authenticity of the ongoing farmers’ protests. On several instances of blockades called out by the agitating demonstrators, Khalistani slogans were raised, and posters of Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale were held. Deep Sidhu, who had become the face of the farmers’ protests after his video of arguing with a security official went viral, was seen in an interview with Barkha Dutt, defending Bhindranwale and hailing him as a revolutionary fighter who fought for a strong federal structure.

Several so-called protesters who had participated in the farmers’ protest were also seen gloating over the former PM Indira Gandhi’s assassination and dishing out menacing threats of meting out a similar fate to PM Modi if he refuses to heed their demands.

Khalistanis based out of India extend their support to the farmers’ agitation

Khalistani supporters based out of India also showed an eager alacrity to associate themselves with the ongoing protests. The Pro-Khalistani group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) on Monday threatened that they would close down the Indian diplomatic missions in London, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Vancouver, Toronto, Washington DC, San Francisco and New York on December 10 through cars, tractors and truck rallies. It is a different thing that not a single protester turned up for the protest.

With Khalistanis being involved in the farmers’ protests, the shady role of the SFJ was being analysed as more and more details that emerged pointed towards the possible interference of pro-Khalistan elements to hijack the farmers’ protest. The Khalistan organisation SFJ, funded by Pakistan, had earlier declared a grant of $1 million for farmers in Punjab and Haryana in lieu of their support for Khalistan.

On 23rd September, it was reported that the SFJ had attempted to capitalise on the ongoing protests by farmers and had declared that it would distribute $1 million among farmers who had defaulted on agricultural loans.

Kerala: Irked by dog ‘creating trouble’ in his area, one Yusuf ties dog to car and drags her along, arrested for cruelty

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Irked by dog ‘creating trouble’ in his area, one Yusuf ties dog to car and drags her along, arrested for cruelty

The Kerala police have arrested a man named Yusuf in Ernakulam district for tying a dog to his car and dragging it for miles. The incident took place near Paravur at 11 o’s clock on Friday morning.

As per reports, Yusuf committed the barbaric act of animal cruelty as the dog was ‘creating’ problems along with other strays in his area. He decided to tie the animal to his car and drag it for miles, before abandoning it in the wild. However, the accused was caught red-handed on tape in the act by a passerby named Akhil.

In the video footage that has now gone viral on social media, the dog was seen initially keeping up with the pace of the moving car. However, soon, the canine became exhausted and lay down while it continued being dragged against the road by Yusuf’s car. When Akhil intervened, the accused remained adamant and asked, “What is your problem if the dog dies?” After being caught off guard, Yusuf left the dog on the street.

While speaking about the incident, the eye witness recounted, “It was a horrific scene. A rope was tied around the neck of the dog and it was being brutally dragged along the road.” He informed the animal rights organisation DAYA about the incident. The organisation filed a police complaint against Yusuf and he was arrested.

The cops have booked the accused under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 428 (Mischief by killing/maiming animal), 429 (Mischief by killing/maiming cattle) and Section 11(1) in The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Meanwhile, the dog was taken to a government-run veterinary facility for further treatment.

Elephant killed in Kerala

In June this year, the case of a pregnant elephant from Palakkad, Kerala dying after consuming jaggery coated explosive came to the fore and led to widespread outrage. The picture, of the Elephant standing calmly in the water while she died, bit by bit, due to the explosives going off in her mouth was heart-wrenching. The initial outrage also revolved around whether this was a deliberate act to torture the elephant or was there more at play in this case.

One accused, P Wilson, who is an employee of an estate that cultivates cash crops and spices, was arrested. Two other suspects, Abdul Kareem and son Riyasudheen, owners of the estate where Wilson worked were said to be absconding. The accused reportedly said to the interrogators that they had set up a trap of fruit filled with crackers to scare wild boars, which destroy their farms often. Evidently, it is common to practise in Kerala to use jaggery-coated explosives or explosives stuffed in fruits to “scare away” wild boars who enter farms and destroy crops.

Kerala: Complaint lodged against a Hijab clad woman for entering a temple in Malappuram district wearing shoes

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Complaint lodged against a Hijab clad woman for entering a temple in Malappuram district wearing shoes

The secretary of Sree Thripurasundari Devi Temple, Sarath Kumar, has lodged a complaint against an unidentified Hijab clad woman for entering the Vanniyambalam temple in Malappuram district with her shoes on, reports Organiser. A picture of this girl sitting in the temple premises wearing her shoes went viral on social media platforms.

Kumar, in his complaint, has accused the woman of intentionally hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus and trying to stoke communal tension in the area. He said that the girl’s offence is punishable under the Indian Penal Code sections 153, 153A and 295A.

It is pertinent to note that Malappuram in Kerala has one of the highest concentration of Muslim population and according to Census data nearly 70% of residents of the district are Muslims. In fact, Malappuram is considered to be the hotbed for Islamist fundamentalism. The presence of the Muslim League as a formidable force has also resulted in the expansion of radicalisation in the Malappuram district.

In the beginning of the year, it was reported how the Hindu residents of a colony at Kuttipuram in Malappuram district were reportedly denied drinking water and had to face a boycott allegedly by Muslim groups for supporting the government on the historic Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)

Muslim dominated Malappuram district in Kerala- a known Grooming Jihad factory

In fact, many controversial religious conversion centres operated through petrodollar are headquartered in this district. According to a 2016 intelligence report, two known religious conversion centres in Kozhikode and Malappuram converted as many as 5,793 people to Islam between 2011 and 2015. Conversion happening in unrecognised conversion centres must be much higher, the report said.

Recently, the Syro Malabar Church, The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ council and many Christian organisations had voiced their concerns over the growing number of Grooming Jihad (Love Jihad) cases in Kerala. This is something many Hindu organisations, grieving parents and families have also been alleging for the last few years too, that there are forces active in Kerala that are targeting young women, brainwashing them in the name of ‘religious studies’, forcefully converting them into Islam and then shipping them off to serve for ISIS as sex slaves.

These cases started getting media attention back in 2016. Almost all the missing women found linked to the Sathyasarani Trust or the Markazul Hidaya in Malappuram, an organisation run by PFI. An India Today sting into Sathyasarani and PFI had reported that PFI’s founder member had admitted on tape that their ultimate goal is to make India an Islamic State. It was also reported that NIA has taken cognisance of the investigative report.

Samsung to relocate mobile display plant from China, to invest Rs 4,825 crore in Yogi Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh: Details of the deal

OpIndia Staff
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Samsung to relocate mobile display plant from China, to invest Rs 4,825 crore in Yogi Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh: Details of the deal

Smartphone major Samsung is all set to relocate its mobile and IT display production unit from China to Uttar Pradesh and invest Rs 4,825 crore in the state.

According to the reports, the new production plant by Samsung will be the first high-technique project, which is being set up in India after relocating from China. The new project is likely to generate 1,500 direct employment and thousands of indirect jobs.

On Friday, the UP government’s cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved special incentives to Samsung Display Noida Private Limited for setting up a manufacturing unit of mobile and IT display products in Noida.

“The unit intends to invest Rs 4,825 crore. It could be made possible by the sustained efforts of the UP government to create an eco-system in NCR in sync with the intent of the Centre to make an export hub in view of the ever-increasing demand of mobile and other gadgets in the country and abroad,” the Uttar Pradesh spokesperson said.

Samsung will get exemptions, central govt incentives

Under the state government’s “Electronics Manufacturing Policy 2017”, the South Korean telecommunication giant will get an exemption from stamp duty on the transfer of land. The state government will also make financial provision of Rs 250 crore for this project for the next five years, the official said.

Samsung will also receive a financial incentive to the tune of Rs 460 crore under the Centre’s Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS).

The project will provide Uttar Pradesh with a global identity of an export hub and will help the state receiving more foreign direct investment (FDI).

In 2018, Samsung had built the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturing facility in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The new facility had the capacity of shelling out 120 million mobile phones a year.

Uttar Pradesh turning out India’s manufacturing hub

Even as markets worldwide are reeling from the effects of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic, over twenty foreign companies are eyeing to invest over Rs 9000 crores in Uttar Pradesh. According to a government spokesperson, 57 domestic and foreign companies have signed agreements for investments worth Rs 46,501 crores with the state government. 

Out of these companies, 28 foreign companies have signed contracts worth Rs 9357 crores with the Yogi government. 29 domestic companies have made agreements worth Rs 37,441 crore.

It was also reported that industrialists and electronic makers from Korea were seeking to move investments out of China and invest in Uttar Pradesh.

The Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been putting in all efforts to attract these investors to the state, which would help in reviving the pandemic-hit economy. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has held video-conferencing with over 100 American companies recently in a webinar after these companies expressed their interest in India.

UP government has also started reformulating its various policies to suit these investors who are contemplating opting out of China in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Ever since Yogi Adityanath took the reigns of the state, the government has been pitching itself as an attractive investment destination in the country.

As farmer protest’s Shaheen Bagh model reaches Delhi-Jaipur highway, Amit Shah holds meeting amidst suspicions of potential violence

OpIndia Staff
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As farmer protest’s Shaheen Bagh model reaches Delhi-Jaipur highway, Amit Shah holds meeting amidst suspicions of potential violence

As farmers protest, premised on the Shaheen Bagh model to hold the Union government to ransom, gains momentum and reaches the Delhi-Jaipur highway on Saturday, Home Minister Amit Shah had held a high-level meeting with senior police, security and government officials on Friday.

As per reports, the objective of the meeting was to pre-empt the outbreak of violence at the bordering areas of Delhi. Intelligence reports had earlier pointed to the presence of at least 10 extremist groups, in the anti-farmer agitation. These groups have joined the protests to engage in violence, thereby forcing the police to intervene and resist.

On Friday, in response to the calls by farmer unions, the protestors have decided to block the Delhi-Jaipur Highway and picket toll plazas on Saturday. “More farmers have now joined the dharna sites at Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur and Palwal. Farmers from Tamil Nadu have arrived and groups of farmers from almost all States of India shall be arriving to join the Delhi protest soon,” stated All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee.

Security tightened at Delhi’s bordering areas

The security arrangements have been tightened in light of the decision of the protestors to block the Delhi-Jaipur highway. Reportedly, the District Magistrate (Gurugram) has appointed 68 Duty Magistrates and deployed them at different locations to maintain law and order situation in the district. About 5000 police officials have been deployed along the Delhi-Haryana border.

Similarly, 2000 police personnel have been deployed along the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal intersection to prevent the blockage of the crucial Delhi-Jaipur highway. The Gurugram police have also chalked out diversion plans to prevent commuters from having inconvenience.

An additional 3500 police personnel, armed with riot equipment, have also been deployed. To prevent security breaches, Reserve Police Force officers have been sent to 5 tolls along KGP toll plaza, Pali Crusher Zone, Badarpur border, Gurugram-Faridabad border and Dhoj. A heavy police force has also been deployed at the Shambhu border.

The Anti-farm law agitation

The renewed anti-farm law protests began in late November, with demands to repeal the three historic farm laws that are aimed at ending the monopoly of middlemen, APMC markets, and bringing prosperity to the lives of farmers through fair pricing for their produce. While their demands have been rejected, the government has assured that they are open to discussion on the subject. The BJP had accused the Congress and the commission agents of misleading farmers and spreading rumours about ‘abolishment’ of Mandis.

Khalistanis, Naxal sympathisers take centre stage in farmers protest

In a shocking incident on Thursday, the protestors along the Tikri border, who started their protest as a grievance against the farm laws, began demanding the release of terrorist sympathisers and enablers such as Gautam Navlakha, Sudha Bhardwaj, Varvara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, and riot accuses such as Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi etc.

BKU Ekta Ugrahan, which claims to be a farmers’ organisation and had gathered some of the protestors along the Delhi-Haryana border observed ‘human rights’ day at Tikri border and demanded the release of Urban Naxals arrested in Elgar Parishad case, Islamists arrested in Delhi riots case and others. The protestors also demanded the government to release the accused of Anti-Hindu Delhi riots case.

It is important to note that the Khalistan organisation SFJ, funded by Pakistan, had earlier declared a grant of $1 million for farmers in Punjab and Haryana in lieu of their support for Khalistan. On 23rd September, it was reported that the SFJ had attempted to capitalise on the ongoing protests by farmers and had declared that it would distribute $1 million among farmers who had defaulted on agricultural loans.

Farmers protest and Shaheen Bagh agitation share uncanny resemblance

The central government has time and again clarified that they are not doing away with the MSP. However, for some reason, these agitating ‘farmers’ still insist that government should not do away with MSP. How can the government not get rid of something they are not getting rid of?

This is exactly like the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests in Shaheen Bagh where people claimed that Indian Muslims will be asked to show their documents to prove citizenship. This, when government clarified multiple times that CAA has absolutely nothing to do with Indian citizens, irrespective of religion. With these elements now rejecting the proposal by the government and planning to block more highways, it becomes evident that these protests are being modelled after the Shaheen Bagh protests, where the aim is to disrupt the nation and create unrest.

Pakistani credit card recovered from Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik, was registered to his address in Mumbai

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistani credit card recovered from Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik, was registered to his address in Mumbai

Trouble mounts for Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik as a credit card registered under the name of a Pakistani national is recovered from the premises of the Shiv Sena legislator. The Pakistani credit card is registered on the address of Pratap Sarnaik.

The shocking revelation comes after weeks of being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate in a Monnet laundering case.

ED raids at Sarnaik’s premises in connection with a money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate had last month raided the residences and official premises of the Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik. The search was conducted at 10 places across Mumbai and Thane with the links to the aforementioned Shiv Sena leader. The raids were carried out reportedly in connection with a money laundering case involving Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik.

Sarnaik, a reality sector baron, was once an auto-rickshaw driver

Pratap Sarnaik, the chairman of Vihang Group Of Companies, a major player in the real estate industry in Thane region, represents Ovala-Majiwada in the state assembly. He is also the spokesperson of Shiv Sena in Mira-Bhayander, a city in Thane district.

Sarnaik is also known for holding considerable clout in the Thane region and for his long rivalry with NCP’s Jitendra Awhad, who is the currently a cabinet minister in the Thackeray government. However, after Shiv Sena and NCP joined hands to form Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, Sarnaik and Awhad had come together and were recently seen in a joint press conference over a housing scheme launched by the NCP leader.

However, Sarnaik’s relative affluence and his growing stature in the Shiv Sena party is a recent phenomenon. According to a report published in the Indian Express, back in the 1980s, Sarnaik drove an autorickshaw and was struggling to make ends meet. Subsequently, he made a fortune by the reality sector boom that swept Mumbai and the adjoining regions in recent decades.

Pratap Sarnaik, a vocal critic of opposition parties and dissenting voices

Sarnaik had recently hogged the limelight after he had threatened to break actor Kangana Ranaut’s nose after she likened Mumbai to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir for allowing the streets of the city be defaced by Azadi graffiti.

Sarnaik has also been vocal against the opposition in Maharashtra. He had vigorously defended the allegations made against Maharashtra Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray and also asked for a drug probe against Kangana Ranaut for her earlier comment on rampancy of drug consumption in Bollywood. Sarnaik also brought in privilege motions against Kangana Ranaut and Arnab Goswami in the previous session of the Assembly.




After massage parlour and ‘gym langar’, video emerges of farmers making pizza, netizens wonder how they can join the ‘protest’

OpIndia Staff
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After massage parlour and ‘gym langar’, video emerges of farmers making pizza, netizens wonder how they can join the ‘protest’

The ‘farmers’ who are protesting against the Modi government over passing three farm bills causing inconvenience to the citizens of the National Capital Region (NCR) seem to be enjoying their free time at these protest sites. After getting extremely comfortable with massage parlours and a gym at these protest sites, these ‘farmers’ have now turned these public roads into a picnic spot by baking and distributing Pizzas to the so-called protestors.

On Friday, ‘Journalist’ Saba Naqvi took to social media to post a video in which it was seen how aggrieved ‘farmers’ are enjoying their time at the protest site by baking and distributing free pizzas.

Saluting the spirit of these protestors, Saba Naqvi hailed the enterprising idea of these protestors to set up ‘Pizza langars’.

In the video that has gone viral now, one can see how the protestors were waiting at a pizza stall that has sprung up at the protest site along the Haryana-Delhi border.

As videos of the ‘pizza party’ at the protest site along the Haryana-Delhi went viral, netizens began to wonder whether these alleged farmers’ protests were organised to put forth their grievances against the farm laws or to enjoy their time through such parties.

Another social media user asked whether the farmers converted the protests to another picnic spot.

Archie mentioned that the protestors, after distributing cashews and raisins to attract the crowd, are now serving Pizzas to the alleged farmers at the protest site. He said that the organisers are doing such acts to retain the crowd and attract more protestors.

A few of them also expressed their anger about the façade of these so-called farmers protests. Mr Sinha said that while goons and Khalistan sympathisers are enjoying Pizza and foot massagers by blocking roads in the name of protest, common people are suffering because of long traffic jams.

Some netizens also mentioned that the ‘farmers protests’ looked like a much dangerous conspiracy than the Shaheen Bagh anti-CAA protests that subsequently resulted into the Anti-Hindu Delhi riots.

Not just free pizzas, protestors can work out at ‘Gym langars’

Apart from free pizzas, the protestors have set up ‘Gym Ka Langar’ at the Singhu border. To cater to all the sportspersons who have joined the farmers in solidarity and anyone who wishes to work out, Mangat Singh, former Captain of the Indian Kabaddi team, and Aman Hothy, a powerlifter have set up gyms at the protest site.

The open gymnasium has been equipped with dumbbells, weight plates, a bench, a rod and two holders. The bench and holding rods were made from scratch here in Delhi, according to those people who set up the gym.

Amidst all these attempts to turn the protest sites into another picnic spot by the protestors, it is pertinent to note how Khalistani sympathisers have hijacked the ‘farmer protests’ are using to further their secessionist agenda. Foreign-based Khalistanis and certain entertainers with a shady history have been extremely vocal over the course of these protests.

Most importantly, organisations that have connections with pro-Khalistani outfits are now operating in these protest sites to facilitate the so-called protests against the Modi government. Pro-Khalistan organisations, in order to attract the crowd to these protests, had also come up with the idea of free foot massage centres at the protest site.

‘Farmer protestors’ enjoys foot massage at the protest site

Earlier, we had reported about how Khalsa Aid India had set up massage centres at Singhu border. In an effort to attract more crowds for the already dwindling protests, Khalsa Aid India had also opened stalls at these protest site to provide massages to the farmers.

The Khalsa Aid is a front organisation for the Khalistani outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

In a Facebook post, they announced, “Khalsa Aid India has set up this makeshift space as a massage centre. This is for our farmer brothers and sisters who were experiencing pain. We are overwhelmed by the love and blessings that our farmers bestow on us.”

Khalsa Aid India opens massage center at Singh Border for farmer protests

Khalsa Aid is suspected to have ties with radical Khalistani terror networks. The NIA had registered a case in 2012 where the allegations were summarised as, “On the allegation that Punjab based BKI operatives are receiving money from UK based BKI operatives (viz. Balbir Singh Bains, Joga Singh) and its front organizations, including but not limited to, Sikh Organisation for Prisoner Welfare (SoPW), Akhand Kirtanee Jattha (AKJ) and Khalsa Aid, to commit terrorist acts in India, with the active support of Pakistan based BKI leaders (Wadhwa Singh, Jagtar Singh Tara)”.

Further, Intelligence agencies had suggested that the money is being distributed to sleeper cells, jailed terrorists and the families of the terrorists in Punjab.

Are Farmers protest sites turning out to be another ‘Shaheen Bagh’?

The gradual turning of ‘farmers protests’ into party spots reminds of a similar trend that had emerged during the Anti-CAA protest site at Shaheen Bagh. The Islamists, left-wing protestors, who had captured the public roads in the name of protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, had also turned the protest site into a picnic spot.

After the protests against the Modi government earlier this year began to fizzle out, the organisers had begun to attract the Muslim mobs by offering free Biryani, thus energising them to protest for long hours so that they could create further nuisance to the public.

The free Biriyanis, proclaimed by the protestors as ‘Kudrati Biriyani’, dramatically depicted as the ‘Biryani sent by none other than one true God -Allah’ became a household name across the country, depicting how freeloading can work to mobilise crowds to further a political agenda.

Expectedly, a similar trend has now emerged at the protest sites along the border of the NCR this time, however, this time with a change. ‘Kudrati Biriyanis’ have replaced with more lavish pizzas and foot massaging centres. Perhaps the organisers of the so-called farmer protestors are much more generous than Islamists of the Shaheen Bagh.

Shoyab Khan, who befriended a minor girl under false identity then abducted and forced her into marriage, arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Shoyab Khan, who befriended a minor girl under false identity then abducted and forced her into marriage, arrested

The Delhi police have arrested an 18-year-old Shoyab Khan on serious charges of impersonation, kidnapping and forced marriage of an underage girl. The case is an addition to the already worsening situation of ‘Grooming Jihad‘ wherein sections of radical Muslims specifically target non-Muslim women.

As per ANI, Shoyab Khan had befriended the 15-year-old girl under a false name on the social media platform, Facebook. He then abducted her and forced her for marriage. However, the minor girl was soon found. The Rajouri Garden police launched a probe in the case, following a complaint by the victim’s father. The accused has now been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

The growing menace of Grooming Jihad

Last month, a Hindu man from Delhi had accused a Muslim woman from Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, whom he had married, of hiding her Muslim identity and later forcefully converting him to Islam after revealing her true identity. The man had met the woman on Facebook. The woman reportedly used to play victim during their conversation on Facebook and had told him that she was Hindu and her parents assaulted and mistreated her. Finally, they got married but the woman went back to her father’s house soon after their marriage.

The man had alleged that when he went to Gonda along with his mother to bring his wife back, a policeman threatened him and demanded an amount of Rs 80,000 from him. He further alleged that the woman’s relatives kept him and his mother locked in the room of a hotel and forcefully converted him to Islam by threatening to kill his mother. His Nikaah was also performed after he was converted. The man had accused the woman’s relatives of forcefully getting his circumcision done.

In another such case, a minor victim was lured by one Golu Khan by posing as a Hindu and ultimately forced her to convert to Islam and perform Nikaah with him. He went to the extent of wearing a Tilak and Kalawa in order to make his presence as a Hindu more convincing.

In another case, a minor girl from Ballia was lured by Imran after hiding his religion. He managed to elope with the girl but her relatives with help from relatives managed to track them down. He was arrested by the Police in the end and a case was registered against him under relevant sections of the IPC. In yet another case, a Muslim man engaged in a relationship with a Dalit Hindu woman by posing as a Hindu and later, told her that she had to convert to Islam if she wished to get married.

The list of such cases is endless. Ultimately, political parties have been forced to take cognizance of the phenomenon and governments in numerous states have decided to enforce legislations in order to combat the crime. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and other states have either passed such laws or are in the process of passing them.

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