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Mahakali idol destruction in Karnataka temple: ASI should get out of temple management if it can’t protect them

Chiranjeevi Bhat
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Mahakali idol destruction in Karnataka temple: ASI should get out of temple management if it can’t protect them

Last week, one Hoysala-era idol of Mahakali at the Doddagaddavalli Temple near Hassan district, Karnataka was found damaged. The temple, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monument, was built in the 12th Century by Hoysala dynasty. But the news was quickly buried, there was no outrage over it, there was no heated debate on it.

It is not known why this beautiful idol was splintered into two and many theories are being put forth but no one knows what really happened. Some even think it is not necessary to know. It is not a temple that was constructed by some rich man to wash away his sins. It has a historicity and antiquity of 900+ years. Not only, it was the first temple built by Hoysalas, it is also the only Chatushkoota (4-towered and hence 4-shrine) temple. It is also believed that it resembles Kolhapur’s Mahalakshmi closely, the reason why it is also referred to as Abhinava Kolhapuri. According to the literature discovered here, it is believed that the temple was built by Architect Mallojha MaNiyoja, who had earned the title of Vishwakarma Subhashita.

Central Government has declared this as National Protected Monument since 1958, This temple is an example of methodical architecture where there are Nine crowns and 4 towered temple where Mahalakshmi temple’s crown is in Chalukya style and rest of them are in Kadamba Naagara style. There is no other temple of this kind and also with many special features anywhere else in Karnataka.

Another specialty – Goddess Kali is generally found either in calm gentle form or in fierce ferocious form. But Lord Vishnu is installed in this temple exactly opposite to Kali in order to calm Her down. Similarly to calm down Lord Shiva, Godess Lakshmi is installed opposite to him. It is thus not surprising that there is no other temple in the country that has these extra ordinary and unique features. This temple being guarded by a 7ft tall Nude Vampire (Betala) is another unique feature.

Yet another specialty of the carvings here. In modern time, technology has advanced and any sculpture can be carved out in any manner that we wish. With available best resources it had to be carved in olden days (12th Century) which still baffles modern sculptors. The lore is that Vishwakarma the famed Divine Architect used to bring some herbal concoction to this temple and apply it on the stones, due to which stone used to soften up for a few days. Famous Sculptors then used to sculpt the stone into the form they desire and thereafter the stones used to harden again. These hardened stones are seen even today after centuries without losings its form and shape. One can find a whetstone in this temple in which this herbal concoction is believed to have been ground.

These are the information gleaned from the guides and locals. In fact, they have far more information than what is mentioned here, which is besides the point. Issue is what Archeological Survey of India was doing when an Idol of this Unique and popular temple was being broken.

This is not the first time such an incident has happened in this temple. 40 years back, Idol of Lord Vishnu was stolen from the same temple and in its place stands Bhairava today. Many come here with utmost devotion and many come here to damage it too. Yet others come here to steal and make money out it. All these only indicates the importance and glory of this temple.

Given this situation, ASI should have been far more responsible. But what has been their role in the current times? The locals say that dogs, pigs and other stray animals enter the temple premises and move around freely. The security for this 900+ year old marvel is pathetic, the reason why we lost Lord Vishnu idol in the past. Apparently, no lessons were learnt by ASI despite this. It was Muslim invaders who destroyed our temples in the past, but today it is incompetent people of ASI who have facilitated the destruction now.

The reasons for this anger against ASI are well founded. When the initial reports of destruction of the Idol came in, I assumed it to be handiwork of “miscreants from a particular community”. Upon enquiry I realized it was not the case. How did it break in that case? Was it treasure-hunters? There were no signs of forced entry too is what got revealed. Was it idol thieves who fled when it was accidentally dropped? No! If none of them is the cause, what really happened?

The truth was known only to the priest. During the installation of an idol to its base (Peetha), they apply Ashtabandha, a special glue used by Temple architects. According to experts of temple architecture and construction, this Asthabandha is not a permanent glue. Its bonding power lasts for 12 years and it needs to be reinstalled thereafter. Ever since it was taken over by ASI as most of the temples under their charge are, it is in a worrisome state. It needs the permission of these overrated incompetent officers to even move a stone within the complex. They don’t care about these important matters. Even if we offer to do it, we have to run around the courts to get permission. Or we may have to face the consequences for altering so-called National Monument.

This is how even Bhadrakali’s idol also got broken. For a few years now, the temple priest has been raising alarm repeatedly and complained to the department that Ashtabandha of the idol had weakened and it was wobbling. The apathy of the officers as if it was none of their business and Bhadrakali is not owned by them has now reduced in the devotee community to grief. Idols are not supported by the walls. It is held in position by the gib. The idol got toppled as it began leaning to the front due to the weight. The question is if it fell on its own? Or stray dogs, foxes or pigs leant on it is still unanswered. It has shocked the priest beyond belief is to find the broken idol when he reached the temple early in the morning for his daily duties.

We have to keep repeating this. If they are incapable, let ASI get lost from the temple management. They can always come and dig some place, pick up some pieces of pottery or tree bark etc and continue their research for years. Let them leave temple management to responsible Hindus. We will bring the glory back with the contributions of devotees. If not out of devotion to the temple, let them at least address the problems as a National Monument immediately.

If nothing is possible what is the point of their research. Is it only to dig and pick up some artefacts? Why do we pay our taxes for these pointless activities? Remember, this is not just about this temple. Many temples of Karnataka face similar fate. It is a temple only for namesake, the rituals performed without any commitment, if something happens at all. Many Deities in the Hampi’s Bishtappayya Gopuram do not even get their regular Pooja. Rituals that have been practiced for centuries have ceased because of ASI. They defend their inaction hiding behind the procedure for applying and approval from the Government. If anything as harmless as a ritual is done by devotee, they promptly file a case against them. Sadly, it is applicable only to humans. Pigs and Dogs have free run and defecate inside but they claim it is not their responsibility.

The temples that withstood Muslim invaders’ onslaught, got broken on Tippu Jayanti. Hindus haven’t raised their voices. They will not do it ever. It is a shame on us.

Aziz Burney’s ’26/11 RSS ki Saazish’: Read how the Congress-favourite Urdu journalist gave Pakistan a clean chit and blamed Indian Army

OpIndia Staff
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Aziz Burney’s ’26/11 RSS ki Saazish’: Read how the Congress-favourite Urdu journalist gave Pakistan a clean chit and blamed Indian Army

While the world was holding Pakistan responsible for 26/11, then Congress party leaders and members of the party’s tight-knit ecosystem were floating conspiracy theories to fix RSS in the 26/11 terror attacks. Twelves years after the cowardly terror attack, it is not an unknown fact today that how Congress party had pushed theories blaming RSS and the imaginary ‘saffron terrorism’ for the Mumbai terror attacks.

Aziz Burney, known for his anti-Hindu rants, was one of the key figures who actively pushed Congress party’s conspiracies against the RSS. Burney, who was the Group Editor of Sahara Publications like Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, Bazm-e-Sahara, Aalami Sahara, had published a book titled, “26/11 RSS Ki Saazish?” (26/11, An RSS Conspiracy?) to pin the blame on RSS for the Mumbai Terror attacks that were carried by Pakistan-based Islamic terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

To give credence to the book written by the then editor-in-chief of Sahara Urdu newspaper, Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh had himself inaugurated the book, not once but twice, once in Delhi and then in Mumbai again. 

Image Source: Postcard news

During the book release, Singh had alleged that Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare had called him two hours before the 26/11 attack in Mumbai to say that his life was blighted by constant threats from those opposed to the ATS probe into the 2008 Malegaon blast in which ‘Hindu extremists’ were accused. Thus, Singh had exonerated Pakistan and had decided to push the blame of 26/11 attack on RSS and Hindu extremists.

The book was a collection of his hundreds of editorials and articles in his Urdu paper. Its English version was named, “26/11: Biggest attack in India’s history”, that supposedly offered an “alternative” view of the siege. Through his articles, Burney had given a clean chit to terror-state of Pakistan by claiming that it was not the ISI or LeT that was behind the attack, but the RSS with covert support from Mossad and the CIA.

Indian Army responsible for Hemant Karkare’s death: Aziz Burney

Shockingly, in one of his articles, the ‘secular’ Aziz Burney had even alleged that the Indian Army was responsible for 26/11 Mumbai Islamic terrorist attack in 2008.

In the early part of the year 2009, Burney had written an article claiming that the ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who lost his life in the Mumbai terror attack, was killed by the Indian Army. Burney had also alleged that RSS and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi were involved in this terrorist attack on Mumbai.

“The higher authorities with criminal background from Mumbai police force killed Hemant Karkare with the help of Indian army. CIA, Mossad, Narendra Modi and RSS are responsible for 26/11 attack,” one of the articles written by Aziz Burney had reportedly stated.

In another piece, Burney had claimed that the constables from Mumbai police force had fired at CST railway station and some BJP volunteers who had already arrested Kasab brought him before CCTV camera.

In reality, it was Times Of India’s photojournalist Shriram Vernekar who had clicked the famous image of the armed Ajmal Kasab crossing the foot over bridge near CST. Vernekar was later awarded and had also testified in court during Kasab’s trial. One of the terrorists had also noticed the camera flash and had fired gunshots at the TOI building.

Burney’s close relationship with the Congress leadership

Reportedly, the Pakistan apologist Aziz Burney is known to be extremely close to the Congress leadership and enjoyed a close friendship with Dr Manmohan Singh during his tenure as the Prime Minister.

In 2007, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had even felicitated Aziz Burney and his Urdu publication Roznama Rashtriya Sahara for the excellence in journalism at an event to celebrate the 60 years of Indian regional language journalism.

Image Source: Befitting facts

Aziz Burney, who was considered as a shining symbol of secularism by the Congress party, was even part of an official Indian delegation led by Dr Manmohan Singh during his visit to France and Egypt in 2009. Reports say that Burney was trying to get a Rajya Sabha nomination under the UPA government. The presence of Congress veteran Digvijay Singh at his book launch, peddling the same lies as the book, tells how he was a Congress favourite.

Burney apologised to RSS for false propaganda, faces defamation suit

In August 2009, Aziz Burney was dragged into a Session’s Court in Mumbai for publishing anti-India articles in his Sahara Group Publications.

Aziz Burney, through his several concocted theories in his Urdu and Hindi newspapers, had accused RSS of being responsible for the 26/11 conspiracy despite being aware of the fact that Pakistan and its Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists had involvement in the terror attacks that was unleashed on the streets of Mumbai on November 26, 2008 that killed over 174 people and injured 300 others

A case was filed against Aziz Burney by Shri Vinay Joshi, a social worker from Mumbai for spreading false conspiracy theories against RSS.

A year later, Aziz Burney, who was expected to be nominated to Rajya Sabha by the then Congress party, had published a grovelling front-page apology for linking the RSS to Mumbai terror attacks. However, the RSS had rejected the apology tendered by Burney. While it was proven in court that Burney did not have a single shred of evidence to back his claims, he had even offered to change the name of his book.

Caravan Magazine asked us about our coverage on Wikipedia and its Left bias – Here is our detailed response

Nupur J Sharma
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Caravan Magazine asked us about our coverage on Wikipedia and its Left bias – Here is our detailed response

We live in a post-truth world where the facts often get lost in the cacophony of emotional wails and motivated narratives. One website which has occupied the driver’s seat in the information-warfare era is Wikipedia. Wikipedia has become the agent of misinformation and propaganda. In a post-truth world where facts are relegated to the ‘right-wing imagination’ and the Left narrative is considered as the Gospel truth, Wikipedia reigns supreme. OpIndia coverage of the Wikipedia misrepresentation of facts started right after the Delhi Riots 2020, where Islamists coordinated and executed violence across the national capital.

After OpIndia’s extensive coverage of the inherent bias of the platform, we also interviewed the co-founder of Wikipedia, who explained in detail why the platform is a cause lost to Left’s propaganda. Almost vindicating everything that Larry Senger told us later about the functioning of Wikipedia, the platform had blocked OpIndia from being referenced in Wikipedia almost immediately after our Delhi Riots coverage and the reportage on how Wikipedia editors are heavily biased towards the Left.

The Left was not too happy with OpIndia and it was evident. Jimmy Wales himself went on a tirade on Twitter, but more on that later. Since the Delhi Riots have become a propaganda flash-point for the Left, sympathetic media has now decided to presumably pick up the issue to ensure that Wikipedia’s credibility, which has been on the slide, is maintained, if not improved.

Presumably to that end, Caravan Magazine, that was recently counting the caste of the soldiers who laid their life down at Pulwama in defence of the nation, reached out to OpIndia saying that they were doing a story on OpIndia’s coverage of Wikipedia and wanted to ask us certain questions.

The Left has not exactly covered itself in glory, considering how they conveniently cherry-pick facts and misquote the people and organisations that they wish to malign. Hence, OpIndia’s responses to Caravan Magazine are being reproduced here in the spirit of transparency and honesty, tenets long abandoned by not just Wikipedia, but also the Left media that it seems to rely on heavily.

The questions asked by Caravan Magazine are in bold, and OpIndia’s response to them follow each question.

Why did OpIndia choose to dox a Wikipedia editor? What is your editorial stance on the ethics of revealing the editor’s personal information?

OpIndia started its coverage of how Wikipedia was biased in its coverage of the Delhi anti-Hindu Riots 2020 on the 26th of February. It is pertinent to remember that the Delhi Riot itself started on the 24th and lasted in the wee morning of 26th February.

Here are some of the issues we raised regarding the Delhi Riots page of Wikipedia.

  1. On 24th, one anti-CAA protester had brandished a pistol and fired 8 shots towards pro-CAA protesters, who was identified as Mohammad Shahrukh. The Wiki page merely mentions him as a shooter and did not even mention that he is from anti-CAA mob.
  2. When the shooting happened, the Left media had claimed that Shahrukh was a part of the pro-CAA mob, however, when the images of the incident were analysed, it emerged that he was a part of the anti-CAA mob. When other users wanted to include this information in the Wikipedia article, they were shot down by the moderator. The senior editor, who is supposed to be politically neutral while editing and moderating content on Wikipedia, commented that if the man was a Hindu, media would not have focused on him, and there is no need to include more detail on the incident.
  3. The article mentions the attack on a mosque in Ashok Nagar and shouting of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Hinduon ka Hindustan” slogans by the mobs, but have absolutely no reference to any attack by Muslims and anti-CAA mobs. On the other hand, while there are videos showing mob shouting “Nara e Taqbeer” and “Allahu Akbar”, but they find no place on the page.
  4. The Wikipedia page mentions journalists heckled by Hindu Sena, right-wing protesters and other Pro-CAA mobs, but does not mention a single incident of journalists attacked by Muslims and anti-CAA mobs. In fact, there is even a video of NDTV journalist Sreenivasan Jain being heckled and threatened by anti-CAA mob, but the Wikipedia article was hardly interested in facts.
  5. The article on North East Delhi riots was made semi-protected. As a result, ordinary users had to request user DBigXray for making changes, and user DBigXray, who had special privileges as a Master Editor III, decided which contents are included and which are not in the page. Hence, we discovered that this editor was directly responsible for the poor chronicle of facts that the Wikipedia article was.
  6. When one user requested the moderator to include the news of the murder of a Hindu activist by Muslims, the moderator declined the request, saying the request was ‘not clear’.
  7. The moderator even refused to include the provocative comments by AIMIM leader Waris Pathan, again asking for ‘reliable source’, for a comment that was already in the media.

Our detailed first report can be read here.

Since repeated attempts of getting the page rectified did not work, it was on March 2nd that an OpIndia report investigating who was editor DBXray, was published.

In the report, we relied on publicly available information and at no point was personal information not on the public domain was released. Some of the information, like the Editor’s real name, was already published in a Reddit thread at the time. OpIndia embarked on a journey to verify publicly available information, much of it, was already in the Wikipedia archive and his Facebook profile.

Interestingly, the anonymity of Wikipedia editors is a part of the problem that Caravan, at least by the tone of the question, seems to be defending. Wikipedia editors are increasingly functioning as Mainstream Media editors where they decide what information should be included in an article and which information should not be included. No longer is Wikipedia a purely publicly sourced platform, as was proved during the Delhi Riots fiasco where the page was locked and people’s counters were dismissed with derision. When the Editors of Wikipedia behave like MSM editors, they should not be granted the luxury of anonymity. What is even more interesting is that while the editors of Wikipedia mirror Left editors, who deride anonymity and consider it a yardstick on which authenticity should be measured, they are more protective of their own identity while peddling the very same agenda.

OpIndia believes that any editor, whether on Wikipedia or otherwise, who decides which fact is worth communicating to the public and which isn’t, based on their own world-view and narrative, does not deserve the shield of anonymity. Just like you have the means to reach out to the Editor of OpIndia to pose questions to us about our coverage, editors of Wikipedia who are now functioning in the same realm, have no right to claim anonymity while spreading falsehoods about sensitive and important events of India.

Does OpIndia intend to dox more editors? In what circumstances would you decide to do so?

While Caravan Magazine uses the word ‘dox’ to define what OpIndia did, thankfully, reputation does not indicate that it is, in fact, the truth. There was no attempt made by OpIndia to compromise his personal details like his address, phone number etc. The information that was investigated by OpIndia was publicly available information available on Wikipedia and his own Facebook profile. We take exception to this being called doxxing since Caravan Magazine seems to believe that being protected while spreading falsehood was his right. It was not.

Further, unlike the Left, OpIndia has no documented strategy to investigate more editors. In our coverage, if we feel that other editors need to be investigated, we will take that decision on a case to case basis. However, if the question posed is inquiring whether we will stop investigating Wikipedia, its antecedents or its Editors, the answer is certainly in the negative.

A few months ago, OpIndia was blacklisted from Wikipedia for doxxing an editor. Would you like to comment on Wikipedia’s decision to blacklist OpIndia?

OpIndia again takes exception to the Caravan Magazine journalist calling the investigation ‘doxxing’. While we put this on record, we are sure that in their article, Caravan will use this word since we abandoned our expectations from the portal a long time ago.

Instead of OpIndia opining on its blacklisting from OpIndia, we would like to add some quotes by Larry Sanger, who is the co-founder of Wikipedia on how the platform really functions:

  1. ‘If you are an admin, or if you just have a lot of pull because you are popular because you have a lot of views and stroke the right backs, if you are in the in-crowd then you have a lot more authority in the system. It is mob rule and it has been since I left. Although it was become more organised in many ways. There is a veneer of rather strict bureaucracy – a set of rules and functions applied in an arbitrary way. You can detect a pattern, but it’s a political pattern. Not a principled pattern”.
  2. “Basically, the Left tends to invade open institutions, its been their modus-operandi for the last 100 years. Basically, invading open institutions and subverting them, dominating them, and freezing out anyone who dissents their views. I can’t tell you what the cause of the bias on Wikipedia is, I can only tell you that it is really obvious now. It used to be quite obvious 10 years ago, Now, it is just embarrassing”.
  3. “The bias that they (Wikipedia) now reflect, is that of the Globalist Left. Of the Establishment, with a capital E”.
  4. “It is more than just a mob now. It is a mob in the sense that there is real internal political authority being wielded and no regularised fair, democratic way of determining who should have that authority. The arbitration committee elections are a joke. You cannot know, announce, reveal the identities of the most of administrators on Wikipedia… you don’t know who those people are and if you don’t know, there is no accountability. It is a self-contained system. If it just so happened that one of the leading administrators on Wikipedia is a convicted paedophile, sitting in prison right now, in some prison where they let prisoners use the internet, that does not make any difference because there is no way of finding that out. That bothers me. That does not make it a mob. What makes it a mob is the combination of lack of a fair democratic process of determining who those in charge would be and lack of a fair application of rules, there is no rule of law in Wikipedia. They try to make it look like there is since they keep citing these alphabets soup of acronyms which is short for policies, but the way in which these policies are applied is arbitrary”.

There are several such quotes and explanation by the co-founder of Wikipedia, Larry Sanger, which if the journalist or the magazine really wants to understand the issue instead of doing a shoddy hit-job, could go through.

Here is the link to his interview by OpIndia.

Researchers from the University of Maryland have claimed in a study that OpIndia’s articles consistently include themes such as “Naming and Shaming Journalists,” “Media as Partisan and Elite-Oriented,” and “Media Biased Against India and Hindus.” Is this an accurate characterisation of OpIndia’s work?

We don’t agree with the adjectives used or the characterization of our work, but we plead guilty to treating journalists the same way journalists treat others. Celebrity journalists are often the object of our articles, which upsets the Omertà that is there exists in the media where they don’t take potshots at each other. This Omertà was broken for at least Arnab Goswami by the rest of the media, while we broke this code for entire media years back.

Perhaps you could read an example of that in this article, where Caravan Magazine allowed blatant lies to be published against Arnab Goswami without due diligence or basic journalistic investigation:

Anvay Naik suicide case for which Arnab Goswami was arrested: Letters exchanged, the closure report, and unanswered questions

After OpIndia’s editor-in-chief emailed Jimmy Wales outlining grievances, have you received any communication from the Wikimedia foundation or Wales himself?

A 5000-word email was sent to Jimmy Wales on the 5th of March after Mr Wales had, messaging OpIndia editor Nupur Sharma personally, claimed that he can be an ally in solving issues and that the editor must help him with people who were questioning him on Twitter. No help was offered, however, a detailed email was sent to him focussing on the misrepresentations in the Delhi Riots page. Other than his strange rant on Twitter, we have not received a response from him yet.

Since the ban on OpIndia, the publication’s coverage of issues related to Wikipedia has increased significantly. What is the reason behind this editorial decision?

OpIndia’s coverage of Wikipedia has increased not after the ban on OpIndia but after its biased article as far as the Delhi Riots 2020 is concerned, which was a case investigated extensively by OpIndia.

I understand why Caravan Magazine would want to impugn the ban as a motive, but it must understand that OpIndia works differently from the Left media.

Here is a list of the articles OpIndia has published with regards to Wikipedia after we reported on its bias as far as the Delhi Riots were concerned:

  1. Journalist who exposed cartel of Wikipedia editors permanently banned from the platform for ‘offline harassment’
  2. Wikipedia page on Noakhali genocide, where Muslims massacred Hindus, vandalised to show Muslims as victims: Details
  3. Wikipedia deletes article on Tablighi Jamaat hotspot of Coronavirus calling it anti-Muslim, the administrator uses Supervote to overrule majority vote to retain article
  4. Wikipedia page of RSS vandalised calling it a Hindu terrorist organisation by Islamist user with a history of anti-Hindu edits
  5. Wikipedia vs OpIndia: The crusade launched against OpIndia by Wiki, the left-bias and the players involved
  6. Fact-check: Was Wikipedia updated with time of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death even before he had died
  7. Left dominated Wikipedia displays bias against conservative voices yet again, ‘downgrades’ reliability of Fox News after ‘discussion’ by Wiki Editors
  8. The saga of Wikipedia bias continues: ‘Jai Shri Ram is a war cry’
  9. Bengaluru riots, Wikipedia and the impossible staircase of Indian secularism
  10. Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger had accused the organisation of hosting paedophilic content
  11. Most article on Scots Wikipedia written in mangled English by an American who can’t speak Scots: Reddit user makes explosive revelation
  12. As Pornhub faces heat over child rape videos, Wikipedia editors promptly remove content mentioning criticisms and petitions against the website

Ranging from child rape videos to an FBI complaint about paedophilic content, changing history of the Noakhali genocide and a global bias against conservatives, OpIndia has covered a range of issues that ails Wikipedia.

We would like to understand from Caravan if the magazine believes that these issues do not deserve coverage simply because Wikipedia seems to pander to the ideology that Caravan follows.

Further, Wikipedia, for most issues, is the first result that Google throws up. Any bias or misinformation in that regard becomes crucial since the platform seems to be re-writing history from a Left prism and furthering blatant misinformation as we speak. Perhaps issues like the truth, propriety, transparency, an accurate representation of history and current events etc are not issues that the Left likes to concern themselves with, but is certainly something OpIndia holds dear and will continue to report thereof.

‘Sant’ Rampal’s devotees have been flooding social media to tell Muslims how they don’t know Islam. Read bizarre details

OpIndia Staff
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‘Sant’ Rampal’s devotees have been flooding social media to tell Muslims how they don’t know Islam. Read bizarre details

Disclaimer: A lot of things mentioned below are confusing and make no sense whatsoever. We spent over a week trawling through Rampal’s website and tweets of his devotees. This is all we could figure out before giving up to preserve some sanity.

If you have seen ‘Quran’, ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘Prophet’ trending on Twitter recently and wondered why, hold your horses.

It has been because one Sant Rampal, who’s currently in jail serving life term for murder of four women. His followers have declared him the new prophet of Islam and is rewriting Islamic history while sitting in jail.

Many Rampal devotees claimed that Rampal, accused of sedition, murder, waging war against state government and rioting amongst others, is the ‘last’ prophet.

Rampal is last prophet

According to Rampalians, Kabir is the real Allah and Rampal is the last prophet. Prophets are individuals sent by God to serve as examples of ideal human behaviour. Of these, Prophet Muhammad is widely believed to be the last prophet of Islam. Muslims believe their holy book, Quran was revealed to him directly by god.

Rampal’s website states that Muslims believe in Quran Sharif as narrated by ‘Kaazis and Mullahs’ for ages. Rampal states that Muslims do not understand the Quran properly. Rampal says that Allah is actually Kabir, who is the ‘complete God’. He cites various Ayats wherein it is ‘proven’ that Allah is none other than Kabir. In fact, the ‘Allah’ in Allahu Akbar is none other than Kabir, he states.

As per Rampal, Allahu Akbar alias Allah Kabir met Prophet/Hazrat Muhammad about 1400 years ago.

From Rampal’s website

As Prophet Muhammad was a ‘pious man’, Allah Kabir showed him the ‘Satlok’, Rampal says. Allah Kabir also met Taimur Lang, founder of Mughal dynasty and ‘blessed him’ because of which he became a ‘great conquerer’ from a poor shepherd. Rampal also states how Allah Kabir blessed Sikander Lodhi after he suffered burn injuries. Upon healing, Lodhi became an Allah Kabir follower as only he was worthy of worship, he says.

Rampal believes that Allah Kabir also gave ‘salvation mantras’ to Sheikh Farid, the 12th century Punjabi Muslim preacher. As per Rampal, ‘Allahu Akbar Kabir’ brought Mecca to a place where Rabia Basri, a pious and devout Muslim woman was sitting and ‘liberated her’.

Rampal says that Rabia born in ‘Kalyug’ was actually ‘Deepika’ born in Satyug. Deepika was wife of a saint named ‘Gangadhar’ and increased her ‘karma’ by raising ‘KavirDev’, a divine child. Because of that, she was born as Muslim in Kalyug. In ‘Kalyug’, Rabia worshipped Allah Kabir. When Rabia was 55-60 years old, Rampal says, she went for Islamic pilgrimage Hajj. He says that because of righteousness from previous birth as Deepika, when she saw a thirsty dog near a well in desert, she gave her water.

After the good deed, as she moved ahead towards Mecca, she heard an ‘Akashvani’ where she was informed the mosque at Mecca had flown 60 miles for her.

But this is about what Rampal thinks about popular Muslim figures. His devotees, however, believe he is the only saviour.

Rampalians, the devotees of ‘Sant’ Rampal, have taken it upon themselves to let the world know that Rampal is the true prophet of Islam. In fact, Rampalians are claiming Muslims don’t know real Allah. Here is one of the many posts by Rampalians informing Muslims they don’t know real Allah.

Rampalian informing Muslims they don’t know real Allah

Twitter user Momos Wale, amongst many, has been tweeting similar things about the Quran and Muslims.

Rampalians believe Rampal is the last prophet, the one who came after Prophet Muhammad. Except, he believes in Kabir as God, not Allah.

Sant Rampal as last prophet

In fact, Rampalians have challenged radical Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik. They have also gone a step further to claim that Naik has ‘succumbed’ to the knowledge Rampal possesses and has ‘run away’.

Rampal challenging Zakir Naik

Rampal propagates that Allah is actually Kabir and that he is not formless.

Rampal on Allah’s form

Islam, however, believes that Allah is neither spiritual or a material being and that no vision can grasp him. Islam does not endorse idolatry and hence, there are no pictures or idols of Allah. This is why drawing up caricature or cartoon or image of Allah as well as Prophet Muhammad is blasphemy, which some Islamists punish with death.

Rampal, however, claims Allah is not formless and Kabir is actually the true Allah.

Rampalians also say that Allah prohibits animal slaughter and Muslims should turn vegetarian.

Rampal urging Muslims to become vegetarians

Interestingly, goat slaughter on Bakri Eid is one of the intrinsic rituals followed by Muslims.

Rampal on Christianity

It is not just Allah who is Kabir, but even Jesus is an avatar of Kabir as per Rampal.

As per Rampal, it was not Jesus but Kabir (from Allah Kabir fame) who rose in place of Jesus from the dead after crucification. “He was not Jesus who rose from the tomb, but he was complete God Kabir who appeared as Jesus to keep the faith of the followers intact. Otherwise, all those followers would have lost faith in God. They would have become an atheist,” the website claims. Per him, as per Bible also only Kabir is true god.

“God Kabir met Jesus and took his soul to Satlok. On their way, God Kabir made him see his ancestors David, Moses, Abraham, etc. in the Pitra Lokas. Then God took him to Satlok. But Jesus did not have faith in Lord Kabir. He did not believe him to be complete God, but he admitted that God is one. When he came back from Satlok he preached about one God and talked about salvation. After the crucifixion, he only pleaded God to forgive his children for all the harsh deeds,” Rampal preaches.

The only inconsistency here is that earlier, Rampal had asserted that in place of Jesus, it was Kabir who resurrected.

Who is Kabir

Kabir is a 15th century poet and mystic who is widely believed to be born to a family of Muslim weavers. As per the book The Bijak of Kabir, he was quite critical of Hinduism as well as Islam as religion. However, owing to his teachings, he has been revered by people of both the religions. His legacy has been carried forward by his disciples through ‘Kabir Panth’ (The path of Kabir).

Founded centuries after his death, the community has almost 10 million members. One such member is ‘Sant’ Rampal.

Who is ‘Sant’ Rampal

Born in 1951 as Rampal Singh Jatin in Punjab, the 69-year-old self-styled godman is currently lodged in Hisar central jail for murder charges.

Before becoming a ‘godman’, Rampal worked as a junior engineer in Haryana Government’s irrigation department. However, in 1996 he quit his job.

Previously he was reportedly a devout Hindu was earlier referred to as ‘Jagatguru Rampal Ji’ by his followers. But after meeting one Swami Ramdevanand, he ‘abandoned’ Hinduism only to claim himself as successor of Kabir.

In 2006, a violent standoff between his followers and police resulted in death of five women and a child and over 200 were injured. He was arrested in November 2014. He has been charged with sedition, murder, attempt to murder, waging war against the state government, rioting, illegal detention and others.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Haryana Police conducted search operation at Satlok Ashram in Barwala after his arrest. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered. Besides this, petrol bombs, acid syringes, a chilli grenade and a pregnancy test strip were also recovered from his ashram. The police had believed that Rampal had a well-armed force of at least 300 “commandos” which were possibly trained by retired Army and police personnel including some former officers from elite units such as National Security Guard and Special Protection Group.

Rampal now claims to be successor of Kabir, who he claims is actually Allah, the Islamic god as well as Jesus.

Enforcement Directorate arrests Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik’s aide in connection with multi-crore MMRDA security deal

OpIndia Staff
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Enforcement Directorate arrests Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik’s aide in connection with multi-crore MMRDA security deal

In yet another setback for Shiv Sena, the Enforcement Directorate has arrested Amit Chandole, a close aide of Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik in connection with a money laundering case linked to the legislator.

According to the reports, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik’s aide Chandole was grilled by ED officials for nearly 12 hours before being placed under arrest. The ED will produce Chandole in court on Thursday to seek his custody for further investigation.

Amit Chandole, a close relative and business associate of Sarnaik, is the first arrest in a money laundering case under investigation by the ED.

Prior to the arrest of Chandole, the ED had carried out raids on the Shiv Sena MLA’s residence and offices of Tops Group. The raids were conducted to collect evidence of suspicious transactions between the Tops Group and Shiv Sena MLA from Thane, Pratap Sarnaik. Tops Group, a private security agency, is owned by Amit Chandole.

Shiv Sewn MLA raided based on a complaint to ED

The ED had registered a case based on an FIR that was filed with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police last month. The FIR, in this case, named Tops Group Security employees and its promoter Rahul Nanda among others. Nanda is also considered to be a close acquaintance of MLA Pratap Sarnaik.

In the FIR, the complainant had alleged that there were irregularities in the contract given to Tops Group for providing security guards to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The FIR was registered on October 28 alleged that Tops Grup cheated the MMRDA to the tune of Rs 175 crore.

Following the raids, Sarnaik on Wednesday quarantined himself citing coronavirus guidelines. He has asked the ED one week’s time to join the investigation.

Sarnaik, an MLA from the Ovala-Majiwada constituency in Thane, had recently demanded that actor Kangana Ranaut be booked under sedition charges for likening Mumbai to Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir. 

Pratap Sarnaik – from driving autorickshaw to being a millionaire

Back in the 1980s, Pratap 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. Today, Pratap Sarnaik is the chairman of Vihang Group Of Companies, a major player in the real estate industry in Thane region.

Sarnaik’s relative affluence and his growing stature in the Shiv Sena party is a recent phenomenon. According to a report, Sarnaik’s political journey did not start from Shiv Sena. He was earlier associated with Pawar’s NCP. Sarnaik first hogged the limelight in 2008 when he gifted a diamond-studded cell-phone worth a staggering Rs 15 lakhs in 2008 to his former boss, NCP’s Ajit Pawar. 

But his association with the NCP came to an end over a perceived insult over the appointment of the leader of opposition in Thane Municipal Corporation. He jumped ship and joined the Shiv Sena in November 2009 and since then his political career took off at an inexorable pace, catapulting him on the path to becoming three-time MLA from Ovla-Majhiwada constituency in Thane.

Fact check: Did Congress remove Ahmed Patel’s profile from its website within hours of his demise

OpIndia Staff
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Fact check: Did Congress remove Ahmed Patel’s profile from its website within hours of his demise

Hours after reports of the death of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel emerged, Times Now Editor Navika Kumar noticed a strange behaviour on the Indian National Congress party’s website. Taking to Twitter, Navika Kumar said that the Congress party had deleted Ahmed Patel’s image from the website just hours after his death.

“Truly life is strange,” said Navika Kumar while indirectly highlighting how Congress party had disrespected one of its tallest leaders by removing his image from the list of office-bearers from the party’s website even as his death was being mourned by fellow party colleagues.

Navika Kumar had also shared an image on Twitter which depicted Congress party’s official website. In the image, it can be seen that the party has removed the image and details of the Treasurer of the Congress party.

Image Source: Navika Kumar

At the time of his death, Ahmed Patel, a key confidant of Sonia Gandhi, was serving as the Treasurer of the party. Navika Kumar alleged that his details and his image were insensitively removed by the Congress party just hours after his death.

Congress sympathisers, trolls attack Navika Kumar

As Navika Kumar put out tweets highlighting how the images of Ahmed Patel was allegedly removed by the Congress party within hours of his death, the Congress party sympathisers and trolls descended on Twitter to attack and mock Times Now chief Navika Kumar.

Several Congress party workers and trolls abused her, forcing her to delete her earlier tweet.

Another lady even referred to Navika Kumar as ‘Neech’.

Not just Congress IT cell members, even self-proclaimed fact-checkers, who are sympathetic to Congress party and radical Islamic movements too attempted to take a dig at Navika Kumar for posting images that exposed Congress party’s insensitivity towards death of one of its own leaders.

Mohammad Zubair, the co-founder of ‘fake news’ website – Alt News, who is also accused of doxxing minor Hindu girls, took to Twitter to do his so-called ‘fact-checking’ hit job against Navika Kumar.

Zubair posted a series of images from the Congress website to claim that he has a screenshot from mobile as well as laptop to state that the Congress party had never removed the details and images of Ahmed Patel from its website.

According to self-proclaimed ‘fact-checker’ Zubair, the specific image and details of Ahmed Patel existed all along to claim that it was never removed from the website in the first place as hinted by Navika Kumar in her deleted tweet.

Image Source: Zubair

Did Navika Kumar lie on Twitter when she said that the Congress party removed his images from website? Let’s analyse

Fact-Check:

The Islamists of Alt News, Congress trolls on social media, who descended on Navika Kumar’s timeline to abuse her and claim that the Congress party did not delete the original image of Ahmed Patel soon after his death is a blatant lie.

Zubair, who posted a series of images to do some kind of ‘fact-check’ on Navika Kumar’s tweet attempted to mislead the public yet again by asserting that it was never removed in the first place.

However, if one looks into the images of Ahmed Patel that shared by Zubair in his ‘fact-check’, it can be seen that Ahmed Patel’s image is completely different from the one that was first uploaded in the website by the Congress party.

Here is the image shared by Zubair (on left) and the original image posted on the website (on right) before being ‘allegedly’ removed by the Congress party. The original image can be seen on the archive of the webpage dated 1st September.

The image shared by Zubair (on left) and the image which was deleted by the Congress party soon after his death (Right)/ Image Source: Befitting facts

Earlier, the Congress party had uploaded a ‘right-profile face’ image (on the right above) of Ahmed Patel and other details in its website. In addition to Ahmed Patel’s image, who was a Treasurer of the Congress party, there was also some details such as his address, telephone number of his residence on the party’s website before his death.

However, the image (one on the left) uploaded by the Congress party after getting exposed by the likes of Navika Kumar had several discrepancies. The image was also shared by the likes of Zubair and others to claim that the image of Ahmed Patel was never removed by the Congress party in the first place.

The image shared on the party’s website currently, has a ‘left-profile face’ image of Ahmed Patel along with fewer details. Moreover, in the address part, they have removed the pin number, another proof of recent editing done on the page. It may be noted that several archives of the page exist for the last few months, and all of them contain the right-profile image of Patel.

Perhaps, the Congress party thought current post holders should be alive and that is how it should be practical, as a post cannot be held by a dead person, and therefore removed the image and details of the treasurer of the party. However, the new guard of the Congress party perhaps acted too soon and later realised it was bad for optics.

As the likes of Navika Kumar picked the faux pas of the Congress party and posted it on Twitter, the IT team of the party may have thought of undoing the damage caused by them and decided to restore the page. But they selected a different image of Ahmed Patel this time instead of restoring the original image, leaving a digital footprint of the change made.

Not only that, but the Congress party may have also unleashed few of its trolls, ‘fact-checkers’ to keep the likes of Navika Kumar in check to buy some time to undo the damage they had caused.

However, if one looks at the above discrepancies, Navika Kumar was right after all when she said that the Congress party had removed the images of Ahmed Patel from its website soon after his death. Strangely, she had to delete her tweet after being subjected to extreme bullying by ‘fact-checkers’ and the Congress party workers.

As Congress remembers the 26/11 Mumbai attacks anniversary, netizens remind the grand old party of its double standards

OpIndia Staff
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As Congress remembers the 26/11 Mumbai attacks anniversary, netizens remind the grand old party of its double standards

Today, on the 12th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the social media handle of the Congress Party has Tweeted in remembrance of the dreadful terrorist attack.

The Mumbai terror attacks of 26 November 2008 left a throbbing scar on the psyche of the country, one it is still struggling to come to terms with. 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic terrorist organisation based in Pakistan, carried out a series of 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks, targeting the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station, Nariman House complex, Leopold Cafe, Taj Hotel and Tower, the Oberoi-Trident Hotel and Cama Hospital among other prime locations in South Mumbai. While the terrorists were eventually killed, Ajmal Kasab was captured alive. Despite overwhelming evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in carrying out the terrorist attack, the then Congress government never retaliated against Pakistan. Instead, Congress leaders started a relentless tirade, trying to shift focus to the imaginary ‘saffron terror’ narrative.

While Congress never forgets to put out a Tweet every year on the anniversary of the attack to express its solidarity, social media users also never give up reminding the grand old party of its double standards and the despicable politics it had played over the incident.

Some Netizens reminded the Congress party of how their “Yuvraj” (Rahul Gandhi) was partying a soon after Mumbai 26/11 attacks.

It becomes imperative to reminisce here how soon after the 26/11 attack, the Gandhi scion went partying with his pals at a farmhouse on Delhi’s outskirts. Being completely out of sync with the mood of the nation post 26/11 attack, Rahul Gandhi partied hard, till 5 in the morning at the ‘sangeet’ function of his childhood friend Samir Sharma.

Meanwhile, some Twitter users also remembered how the grand old party had tried to spin a ‘Hindu terror’ narrative around the heinous attack carried out by Pakistan sponsored Lashkar-e-Taiba, by falsely implicating RSS in the attack.

For the unititiated, in 2010, months after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, along with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and others had launched a book which claimed that the Mumbai terror attacks were an RSS conspiracy. While the world was holding Pakistan responsible for 26/11, then Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh and close aide of Rahul Gandhi, had released the book “26/11 RSS Ki Saazish?” (26/11, An RSS Conspiracy?). The Congress, going by its penchant, had then timidly “distanced” itself from Singh’s remarks. In fact, no top leader, including the Gndhi clan, had stepped out to condemn senior party leader Digvijay Singh. 

The Congress party probably forgets that in today’s age of the internet, it is difficult to ignore, deny, or conceal history from public view.

Six Pakistani cricketers test positive for Coronavirus in New Zealand, NZ authorities say they breached isolation protocols

OpIndia Staff
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Six Pakistani cricketers test positive for Coronavirus in New Zealand, NZ authorities say they breached isolation protocols

Six members of the Pakistan cricket team on a tour of New Zealand have tested positive for coronavirus, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Thursday.

According to the reports, six Pakistani cricketers were tested positive for the coronavirus after authorities in New Zealand carried out tests on the suspected Pakistani players. The Pakistani cricket team is currently quarantining in Christchurch. The names of the infected cricketers have not been disclosed.

New Zealand’s health ministry said the players will now “be tested a minimum of four times while in managed isolation” and the entire squad would be confined to their rooms.

With Pakistani players testing positive for the Chinese virus, the exemption to train while in isolation has been put on hold for now. The six members of the squad will be moved to the quarantine arm of the managed isolation facility, NZC said in a statement.

The latest testing of Pakistani players has now thrown preparations for the five-match series into turmoil and has caused a scare in New Zealand, that has largely eradicated the virus.

Pakistan team breached quarantine protocols

Reportedly, all members of the 53-people squad had tested negative for Covid-19 before leaving Pakistan, this means that the infected players got the virus after reaching New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket has revealed that the latest positive results may have emerged after few members of the touring party breached the protocols on the first day of managed isolation.

“Separately, NZC has also been made aware that some members of the Pakistan team had contravened protocols on the first day of managed isolation. We will be having discussions with the tourists to assist them in understanding the requirements,” the NZ Cricket statement further added.

The New Zealand’s Minister of Health also issued a statement backing NZC, adding that CCTV footage is clear evidence of a few members contravening the protocols despite ‘clear instructions’.

“Several team members have been seen on CCTV at the facility breaching managed isolation rules, despite clear, consistent, and detailed communication of expected behaviours while in the facility,” the Ministry of Health said criticising the behaviour of Pakistani cricket players.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Director-General of Health has stated the Pakistan squad has been issued a final warning.

“It is a privilege to come to New Zealand to play sport, but in return, teams must stick to the rules that are designed to keep Covid-19 out of our communities and keep our staff safe,” he added.

The Canterbury District Health Board’s medical officer of health has now sent a letter to the squad’s management saying all team members must stay in their rooms until further advised.

A 53-member Pakistan Cricket is currently touring New Zealand, which includes 35 players. They will play three T20 matches and after that two ICC World Test Championship test matches against the host team. The first T20 match is scheduled on December 18.

Odisha: Largest ever vigilance raid in state unearths massive wealth gathered by IFS officer, fancy cars, ultra-luxurious lifestyle

OpIndia Staff
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Odisha: Largest ever vigilance raid in state unearths massive wealth gathered by IFS officer, fancy cars, ultra-luxurious lifestyle

Dr Abhay Kant Pathak, 1987 batch IFS officer under the Odisha government, is under probe after a massive vigilance raid, considered to be one of the biggest and most extensive raids so far, has unearthed disproportionate assets and unimaginable wealth accumulated by Pathak over the years.

As per reports, Vigilance Cell Division, Cuttack, with 150 officers and staff of various divisions of Vigilance Directorate of Odisha have simultaneously raided five places in Bhubaneshwar, seven places in Mumbai and Pune, and some regions of Bihar and Rajasthan in the last few days.

According to reports, a senior officer said that Pathak had accumulated assets by illegal means. “Searches are being conducted on the strength of search warrants issued by Court of Special Judge Vigilance in Bhubaneswar,” he added. During the search operation, the department mobilized witnesses. Further verification and investigation are going on.

Since June 2018, Pathak is serving as Additional PCCF Plan Programme and Afforestation at the office of PCCF, Odisha. The investigation agencies have not revealed the exact amount of disproportionate assets as the investigation is still underway.

Trips in chartered planes, luxury hotel bookings

According to a report published in Times of India, a vigilance officer said they seized a considerable amount of cash and other incriminating documents. “Details of his assets and their value would be known after everything is collate,” he added. The reports suggested that a central agency had alerted the Odisha government that Pathak and his family had air travelled at least 20 times to Mumbai, Delhi, Patna, and Pune during the lockdown and post-lockdown period. 

A detailed report by Odia daily Sambad stated that the Pathak family had hired chartered planes for the 20 trips taken during the lockdown period and have spent upwards Rs 4.5 crores on the flights alone. The chartered planes reportedly belong to a private company named Kalinga Aero and Allied Services Pvt Ltd. The report also states that in the simultaneous raids, bills for hotel bookings, lavish banquet halls and other luxuries worth over Rs 2 crores have been recovered so far from the IFS officer’s residential properties in Bhubaneswar.

Odia media has reported that the amount of wealth, documents pertaining to financial transactions, bills and valuable items is so vast that the vigilance department has had to hire CAs to keep detailed accounts.

Italian marble floors, ivory bed, lavish houses

Pathak’s lavish apartment at Bhubaneswar’s Khandagiri reportedly had Italian marble flooring, a bed made of ivory worth over 60 lakh rupees, and other luxuries. Forest and wildlife products like horns have also been recovered.

TOI quoted a senior officer saying that during the inquiry, they found that four private bodyguards were hired for Pathak and his son at a salary of Rs.50,000 per month per bodyguard. His son is known for living a lavish lifestyle. They have rented a farmhouse in Pune on rent at Rs.5 lakh per month. In Pune’s Koregaon area, Pathak’s son Akash has also been staying in a swanky flat rented at Rs 5 lakh a month. The investigation agency has recovered Rs. 50 lakh from Pathak’s nephew’s house. A huge cache of cash was recovered from his driver’s home as well. Pathak and his family own five high-end cars.

IFS officer’s son was to marry MLA’s daughter on December 11, accused of forgery by TATA Motors

A report by Sambad has also stated that Pathak’s son is set to marry a state MLA’s daughter on December 11. The family had organised a lavish pre-wedding ceremony at a five-star hotel in Bhubaneswar recently which had lasted for several days. Pathak family had booked a ‘palace’ hotel in Udaipur for the wedding ceremony and were to fly there. The hotel has been raided by vigilance too. As per reports, vigilance is trying to ascertain which individuals were funding such lavish lifestyle of a government officer.

It is notable here that Pathak’s son Akash was earlier accused of fraud and forgery by TATA Motors. Akash has a case registered against him at the crime branch’s cybercrime cell. He was allegedly cheating people of money, promising to get them jobs at TATA Motors by falsely claiming to be an MD at TATA Motors. Akash had allegedly used forged documents, logo, and email id of TATA Motors to loot vulnerable people looking for jobs during the lockdown. Despite a crime branch FIR in May, no action has been initiated so far against Akash. This has raised suspicion of political collusion and efforts to shield the corrupt officials by powerful people.

Germany expresses concern after corporate dependency on China increases

OpIndia Staff
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Germany expresses concern after corporate dependency on China increases

German car manufacturers have seen an increase in car sales in China in last quarter. While the companies are happy that it offsets the fewer units sold in European countries amid the pandemic, they are also being cautious. A report in FT states that in last quarter, Daimler saw 23% rise in sales in China. Better known as Mercedes-Benz, Daimler is a German multinational automobile manufacturer.

The rich Chinese, who could not take foreign trips due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, bought luxury cars instead. While the corporates are elated, it has also raised concerns that the German industry is highly dependent on the Chinese market.

An October report in DW quotes Stefan Bratzel, head of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) who had also said that it was only Chinese market that was currently recovering. Last year, VW had sold 40% of its vehicles in China. He says that while the Chinese market may be temporarily helping companies stay afloat, in longer term, the industry’s dependence on Chinese market makes it prone to blackmail.

With highest growth rate, China is quite likely to be largest single market in future. Which is why industries can’t just completely withdraw.

In fact, even German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged German businesses to diversify into Asian markets beyond China. Germany currently is one of the biggest economy in European Union. Other EU leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron has also suggested diversification beyond China.

At an event in October, Merkel said that as of now, about three-quarters of Germany’s Asia exports go to east Asia, and half of them go to China alone. German Economics Minister Peter Altmaier also suggested to look for markets beyond China. He suggested how Singapore and South Korea offer promising markets.

And while the economic divorce many not happen completely, the pandemic has definitely increased Europe’s dilemma to introspect its dependence on the communist country.

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