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Outrage as Indian Consulate in Canada promotes JLF Toronto involving William Dalrymple, under fire for de-platforming of book on Delhi Riots, and abusive Devdutt Patnaik

OpIndia Staff
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Outrage as Indian Consulate in Canada promotes JLF Toronto involving William Dalrymple, under fire for de-platforming of book on Delhi Riots, and abusive Devdutt Patnaik

The Indian Consulate in Canada is drawing flak from social media users for enlisting controversial ‘historians’ such as Devdutt Patnaik and William Dalrymple for three-day JLF Toronto Literary fest to be held on November 27, 28 and 29.

A tweet about the details of the sessions conducted by various personalities was shared by the official Twitter account of the Consulate General of India to Canada. Pattanaik is scheduled to speak on “Mahabharata: Adapting Ancient Myth for Modern Theatre” on November 29.

“Experience conversations between some of the greatest authors, poets, historians, journalists of our time on @JLFLitfest from Nov 27-29,” the tweet said.

Furious netizens express their disapproval over litfest invitation to abusive ‘historian’ Devdutt Pattanaik

However, soon after the tweet was posted, scores of furious netizens took to Twitter to call out the Indian Consulate in Canada for providing a platform to individuals like Devdutt Pattanaik, who has a history of abusing people on social media websites for having views at variance with his beliefs and is often found concocting lies.

One of the Twitter user replied that Devdutt was one of the most abusive ‘expert’ she had interacted with. She added that Patnaik made her sick and condemned the Indian Consulate in Canada for providing a platform to someone who uses despicable language for women.

“Shame on you for calling this @devduttmyth as a speaker this abuser is a disgrace to be called as author even,” said another Twitter user.

One Twitter user responded to the tweet put by the Indian Consulate in Canada by sharing an instance when Devdutt Pattanaik had posted an abusively nasty tweet to a social media user.

Twitter users wondered whether Indian government considers the Mahabharata to be a myth, because that is what “Anti Hindu Mythologist like Devdutt” thinks.

The general consensus on social media is that Devdutt Pattanaik is anti-Hindu, serial abuser, mis‑interpreter of Hindu texts, and slammed the officials of the ministry for inviting him to the JLF Toronto Litfest.

Devdutt Pattanaik-A fountain head of abuses, distortions and lies

Devdutt Pattanaik has a chequered history of abusing people who do not conform to his worldview. There have been myriad instances when the so-called historian has resorted to crass remarks and vile abuses on social media websites. Pattanaik had also made fake assertions about the Citizenship Amendment Act and routinely indulges in ridiculing and abusing Hindus and Hindutva. Because of his chronically abusive behaviour and anti-Hindu antecedents, social media users have expressed their displeasure for having him invited for an event sponsored by the Indian government.

According to Nityanand Misra, an IIM graduate working in the finance industry, the self-proclaimed mythologist’s writing is not based on stories in Hindu Puranas. He also reveals that the author might be misinterpreting Sanskrit words.

Nityanand claims that Devdutt has been inventing his own stories and selling them as Hindu mythology. In addition to this, Misra says that the Pattanaik has a special hatred for Brahmins and doesn’t accept genuine criticism of his work.

Invitation to historian William Dalrymple to an Indian government program draws netizens’ ire

Besides Pattnaik, the invitation extended to another controversial figure, historian William Dalrymple, by the Indian government for JLF Toronto Litfest had drawn the ire of netizens on the social media websites. Several of them wondered as to why an “India hater and breaker” such as William Dalrymple, who also opposed the abolition of Article 370 and CAA was invited in a government-sponsored program.

Many other social media users were so miffed with the Indian Consulate in Canada’s decision to have Devdutt Patnaik and William Dalrymple as speakers in their organised event that they started tagging External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to express their disapproval for inviting the abusive ‘historian’ to speak on Hindu epic of Mahabharata.

One social media user wondered why the Indian Consulate was providing a platform to William Dalrymple, known for halting the publication of Bloomsbury India’s book on Delhi Riots. “Does @IndiainToronto work for Indian interests or for their personal ones?” the user questioned.

William Dalrymple credited for halting the publication of Delhi Riots 2020 book

Historian William Dalrymple is believed to have played an instrumental role in getting the Bloomsbury India to withdraw its publication of the book on Delhi riots. After publishing bouse Bloomsbury announced that it is withdrawing a book titled ‘Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story’ due to pressures from the Islamists and left-liberal lobby, Islamist Aatish Taseer had taken to Twitter to inform that Scottish historian William Dalrymple was behind the effort to prevent the book from being published.

Besides Taseer’s confession, Dalrymple himself had also tweeted about working to stop the publication of the Delhi Riots 2020 book. Responding to a request by Congress troll Saket Gokhale to somehow stop the book, Dalrymple had replied, “I’m on it. As are several other Bloomsbury authors”.

The book ‘Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story’ is authored by Monika Arora, Sonali Chitalkar and Prerna Malhotra. The book, which is a factual account based on investigation and interviews conducted by the authors, was to be released in September. Bloomsbury India buckled under the pressure from the Islamists, including William Dalrymple, and withdrew the book even as the authors were attending a virtual event to launch the book.

Bengaluru merchant pledges Rs. 700 cr for Chottanikkara Temple renovation, including building a super speciality hospital and more: Read details

Dibakar Dutta
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Bengaluru merchant pledges Rs. 700 cr for Chottanikkara Temple renovation, including building a super speciality hospital and more: Read details

A gold merchant named Gaanasravan from Bengaluru has offered to donate a whopping ₹700 crores to the famous Chottanikkara temple in Kochi in Kerala, reported The New Indian Express. He had visited the temple on Monday (November 16) along with the officials from ‘Swamiji Group of Companies’.

He has pledged the amount of ₹300 crores for the renovation of the temple and its transformation into an international pilgrim centre. Gaanasravan has also vowed to cover the sanctum sanctorum with gold plates. He has pledged the remaining ₹400 crores, for the construction of a 500-bed super speciality hospital, guest houses, auditorium, sewage treatment plant, water supply scheme and ring roads. It has been reported that the hospital is likely to be the largest hospital, offering free treatment, in South India.

While speaking about his decision, Gaanasravan stated, “I was born in a family of musicians at a village around 80 km from Bengaluru. Five years ago, my Guru told me to offer prayers at Chottanikkara temple which changed my destiny. My gold business flourished and could extend trade across the globe. I believe it is the blessings of Amma that brought me good fortune. So I decided to spend part of my earnings for the development of this temple.”

He informed, “A 500-bed super speciality hospital will be established at Chottanikkara and offer free treatment to all irrespective of religion, caste or creed. We are planning to build 7 guest houses with 300 rooms each apart from a VIP guest house.” Gaanasravan added, “An old age home with a capacity to accommodate 200 people will be established as part of the development. There will be an orphanage and an auditorium with seating capacity for 5,000 people. We will be developing Chottanikkara as an international pilgrimage centre on the lines of Tirupati.”

Gold merchant to undertake infrastructure development

Gaanasravan has planned to widen the roads and develop two ring roads to ease the movement of traffic. At the same time, two large gopurams will be constructed at the eastern and western entrance of the temple using laterite stones. He has vowed to renovate the temple pond in front of the Keezhkavu temple and build an annadanam using ₹3 crores of the budget. Gaanasravan will provide a dedicated parking lot by acquiring a nearby land for ₹50 crores.

Project to be completed by 2027, claims CDB

Cochin Devaswom Board (CDB) M K Sivarajan has informed, “The work will be executed by the construction wing of Gaanasravan’s company under the supervision of the Cochin Devaswom Board (CDB). A joint account will be opened in the name of Swamiji Group and the CDB and the entire amount for each phase of the work will be transferred into this account before the work starts. If needed, the CDB will appoint a chief engineer to monitor the works. They have agreed to pay Rs 5 crore to the CDB after signing the MoU for preparatory work.”

He further added that the Cochin Devaswom Board had appealed to the Kerala High Court for the sanction and the work will commence within a month of court’s approval. The work is expected to start in January 2021 and end by 2027.

Former Vice President Hamid Ansari, who had attended program by Islamist PFI, now rants against ‘aggressive nationalism’

OpIndia Staff
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Former Vice President Hamid Ansari, who had attended program by Islamist PFI, now rants against ‘aggressive nationalism’

On Friday, Former Vice President Hamid Ansari, who often displays his love for radical Islamists, displayed his hypocrisy yet again with his latest rants against Hindus and their ‘aggressive nationalism’.

Speaking at the virtual event of senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s book launch ‘The Battle of Belonging’, Former Vice President Hamid Ansari, as usual, went on to make rhetorical claims saying that in a short space of four years, India made the long journey from the vision of ‘civic nationalism’ to new political imagery of ‘cultural nationalism’.

Ansari claimed that even before the pandemic, society had become a victim of two other pandemics, to which he referred to as ‘religiosity’ and ‘strident nationalism’. 

Promoting Tharoor’s book, Ansari said that “there is a passionate plea for an ideal of India (in the book), an India that was taken for granted by our generation”, which according to him was endangered by “overt and covert ideas and ideologies that seek to segment it on imagined criteria of us and them”.

“Hitherto, our core values were summed up as an existential reality of a plural society, a democratic polity and a secular state structure. These were accepted in the freedom movement, they were incorporated in the Constitution and encapsulated in the preamble of the Constitution,” claimed Ansari saying that the plurality of Indian society is evident from the sociological evidence of 4,635 communities.

Ansari resorts to fearmongering, says nationalism and religion are danger than pandemic

The Former Vice President, who has a habit of fear-mongering by making false political narratives to target Hindu community in the country, continued to say that the pandemic was bad enough but before it came the society was already a victim of two other pandemics – religiosity and strident nationalism.

“Religiosity is defined as extreme religious ardour, denoting exaggerated embodiment, involvement or zeal for certain aspects of religious activity enforced through social and even governmental pressure,” he said.

By the looks of Ansari’s rhetorics, one can categorically say that the radical Islamic groups, which enjoys a close relationship with the likes of Hamid Ansari, were not Ansari’s target instead it was directed at the Hindu society. Essentially, the remarks of Ansari was pointed at Hindus and nationalist groups in the country which are time-and-again exerting their influence to demand fair treatment and equal rights for themselves, which is often brushed aside by ‘liberals-seculars’ as a manifestation of ‘cultural nationalism’.

Continuing his anti-Hindu rhetoric, Ansari said that the records across the world showed that at times it takes the form of hatred as a tonic that inspires vengeance as a mass ideology. Some of it can be witnessed in our own land, he claimed while making absurd observations saying Hindutva is a political doctrine and not a religious one.

The Islamists like Hamid Ansari, who seems to lack the intellect to understand Hindus and Hindutva, have always turned a blind eye towards the increasing radicalism in their own backyard and instead have shown their eagerness to preach Hindus and nationalists about the ‘secular’ values of the country.

Hamid Ansari and his love for radical Islamists

However, in reality, Ansari has no moral right to speak on issues such as nationalism or religious polarisation. Ansari’s whole career, from his days of being a diplomat to his ten-year tenure as country’s Vice President, has been marked with his contempt towards Hindus, nationalism and national interest.

During his hay days as a diplomat, Ansari was known for his duplicitous conduct in the Middle East, where he has served most of his tenure as an IFS officer. Former RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) officer NK Sood had made explosive revelations against the former Vice President Hamid Ansari who served as Indian Ambassador to Iran between 1990-92, alleging that he endangered the lives of RAW officers in Tehran and even ended up exposing the RAW set-up in Tehran.

Not just that, the Former Vice President has often exhibited his Islamist tendencies and had gone to an extent of favouring Islamic Sharia courts. He had backed the idea of setting up of the Shariat courts in every district of the country, saying that each community has the right to practice its own personal law.

Ansari had also displayed no shame in attending an event organised by radical Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI). In 2010, PFI goons had chopped off the hands of a professor in Kerala for allegedly insulting Islamic Prophet Mohammed. NIA has accused PFI of indulging in ‘love-jihad’ in Kerala.

Time-and-again, Ansari has also displayed his distorted sense of history when he claimed that Sardar Patel was equally responsible for India’s partition as was Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Ansari had said that not just Pakistanis or Britishers but Indians were equally responsible for the partition of the country.

Despite having a horrendous past, Hamid Ansari continues to display his audacity of preaching morals to Hindus and nationalists by peddling the dead political narrative of the country being affected by the so-called false notions of ‘religiosity’ and ‘cultural nationalism’.

MPs abused, it was out and out racism: Lord Meghnad Desai quits UK’s Labour Party after they re-admit Jeremy Corbyn days after suspension

OpIndia Staff
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MPs abused, it was out and out racism: Lord Meghnad Desai quits UK’s Labour Party after they re-admit Jeremy Corbyn days after suspension

Indian-origin economist, author and peer Lord Meghnad Desai has resigned as a member of the UK’s Opposition Labour Party after 49 years of being a part of it. Lord Desai has said that he took this decision due to the failure of the Labour Party to tackle racism and antisemitism within its rank and the manner in which Jeremy Corbyn was re-admitted into the party only 19 days after he was suspended over allegations of racism and his involvement in illegal activities.

Lord Meghnath Desai said that though he has been a Labour Party supporter for 49 years, he took the decision to cancel the primary membership of the party after former party leader Jeremy Corbyn was readmitted after just 19 days of suspension despite findings of “unlawful acts” by the country’s human rights watchdog.

“It was a very peculiar decision to allow him back without any apology. He has been refused the party whip in the House of Commons for a few months, but that is a very lame response to a very big crisis,” Lord Desai said.

“I have been very uncomfortable and slightly ashamed that the party has been injected with this sort of racism. Jewish MPs were abused openly, and female members were trolled. It is out and out racism,” he said.

Suspension of Corbyn from the Labour Party over allegations of racism and illegal activity in dealing with antisemitism complains

On the 30th of October, Former leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, was suspended by the party following comments he made on a damning report on the pervasive problem of antisemitism within the party. He has vowed to challenge the suspension. The suspension has the potential to ignite a civil war within the Labour Party with allies of Jeremy Corbyn rushing to his defence.

The report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) claimed that the Labour Party broke the law in three areas while dealing with complaints of antisemitism. The three areas included political interference in antisemitism complaints, failure to provide adequate training to those handling antisemitism complaints and harassment of those who complained.

The EHRC has served an unlawful act notice to the Labour Party. The Commission can recommend any actions to avoid the actions from being repeated in the future. The report said that the Commission had found 23 instances of political interference by the office of Jeremy Corbyn in the 70 cases that it looked into.

The EHRC’s lead investigator, Alasdair Henderson said that the buck stops with Jeremy Corbyn. “As the leader of the party at the time, and given the extent of the failings we found in the political interference within the leader of the opposition’s office, Jeremy Corbyn is ultimately accountable and responsible for what happened at that time,” Henderson said.

The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), stated that the blame “lies firmly with those who held positions of leadership – those who possessed both power and influence to prevent the growth of anti-Jewish racism”. The JLM was one of the groups that initially referred the party to the EHRC. The chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAM), another such party, Gideon Falter, said, “The EHRC’s report utterly vindicates Britain’s Jews, who were accused of lying and exaggerating, acting as agents of another country and using their religion to ‘smear’ the Labour party.”

Jeremy Corbyn re-admitted into the Labour Party only days after his suspension

On the 18th of November, the Labour Party re-admitted Jeremy Corbyn who was earlier suspended over grave allegations of illegality in dealing with complaints of antisemitism. He was suspended after saying the scale of anti-Semitism in the party had been “overstated”, in response to the report by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

The decision by Keir Starmer to re-admit the racist former chief Jeremy Corbyn was met by stiff opposition by several MPs of the Labour Party. In response to the criticism where MPs said that the decision ‘flies in the face of natural justice’, Starmer said that Corbyn’s Labour Party whip would remain suspended for 3 months.

According to a Guardian report, Nick Brown, wrote to Corbyn on Thursday saying the whip had been withdrawn for three months – suspending him from the parliamentary Labour party – pending an investigation into whether he had broken the PLP code of conduct. BBC has reported that the lawyers of Jeremy Corbyn are all set to challenge the suspension of the whip after he was re-admitted to the party.

Historic engagement with USA: President of Tibetan government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, visits White House for the first time in six decades

OpIndia Staff
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Historic engagement with USA: President of Tibetan government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, visits White House for the first time in six decades

In a historic event that could have massive geopolitical ramifications, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) President Lobsang Sangay visited the White House for the first time in the six decades.

The visit by Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, who is the president of Tibetan government-in-exile, to the White House comes as a historic recognition of the democratically elected Tibetan government by the United States government.

Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay and Representative Tsering outside the White House compound after the meeting/ Image Source: CTA

On Saturday, the Central Tibetan Administration released a press statement saying that for the first time in the last sixty years that the head of the CTA has been invited into the White House.

A spokesperson for the CTA said that Sangay had also become the first CTA president to be formally invited into the US State Department when he met Assistant Secretary and Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Robert Destro last month.

Reportedly, the head of the CTA was denied entry to the US State Department and the White House as the US government did not want to recognize the Tibetan government in exile considering its relations with the People Republic of China.

Lobsang Sangay visits White House: US’s acknowledgement towards democratically elected Tibetan government

Dr Lobsang Sangay’s visit on Friday amounts to an acknowledgement a tectonic shift in US policy towards Tibet and its recognition to the democratic system of the CTA and its political head.  

Prior to this meeting at the White House, Dr Sangay also met with White House officials in undisclosed meetings and locations over a dozen times in the past decade ever since he became the CTA’s Sikyong in 2011. This unprecedented meeting perhaps will set an optimistic tone for CTA participation with US officials and be more formalized in the coming years.

Sikyong is the head of the Central Tibetan Administration, a Tibetan exile organisation also known as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.

Though he nears the end of his term as the Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration, Dr Sangay has fearlessly advocated for the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019 even as the Communist Party of China continue to persecute Tibetians in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The historic meeting by the two countries assumes significance even as China continues to illegally occupy Tibet, ever since it occupied it in 1951. Tibet’s government is currently in exile. India shares an irritant relationship with China when it comes to the issue of Tibet Autonomous Region. New Delhi refers to its border in Arunachal Pradesh as an Indo-Tibet border. Reportedly, around 1 lakh Tibetans are living in exile in India including Dalai lama.

‘You are all dead’: Month after Samuel Paty was beheaded by man screaming Allahu Akbar, school where he once taught threatened

OpIndia Staff
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‘You are all dead’: Month after Samuel Paty was beheaded by man screaming Allahu Akbar, school where he once taught threatened

A month after a 47-year-old Samuel Paty was beheaded by a Muslim man for showcasing ‘blasphemous’ cartoons of Prophet Muhammad to his students at Sainte-Anne school, Islamists have now issued death threats to the school, reported Jihad Watch. Paty was killed on October 16 by 18-year-old radical Islamist named Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch A.

This has become an alarming issue for the school which is located in Bouscat, near Bordeaux in France. As per reports, an inscription was found in the school on Sunday that read, “You are all dead.” The same inscription was found in the Sainte-Anne school earlier as well. Moreover, another school named the Jean Moulin school was also issued death threats by Islamists.

“You are all dead, you are all dead. Samuel Paty. Allahu Akbar”, an inscription warned. It is important to note that the Jean Moulin school is located just 500 metres away from the Sainte-Anne school. A fresh investigation has been initiated to look into the inscriptions that have surfaced from the jean Moulin school and the Sainte-Anne school. While none have been arrested so far, the Departmental security is leading the probe in the cases related to death threats and support for terrorism.

Four killed in France over the cartoon row

In the last month, four people have been killed in France over the Prophet Muhammad cartoon row. On 16th October, Samuel Paty, a teacher, was beheaded in France for showing a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad in his class. Later, on 29th October, three people, including a woman, were reportedly beheaded at a Church in Nice, France. Several were injured in several attacks that happened on the same day in different locations across the world. A priest was shot on 1st November while he was closing a church. While India has shown support to France against terrorism, Islamic nations like Turkey and Pakistan have categorically justified the terrorist attacks in France.

1,300-year-old Temple discovered by Pakistani and Italian archaeologists in Northwest Pakistan, was built in Hindu Shahi period

OpIndia Staff
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1,300-year-old Temple discovered by Pakistani and Italian archaeologists in Northwest Pakistan, was built in Hindu Shahi period

A Hindu temple, estimated to have been constructed around 1,300 years ago, has been unearthed by Pakistani and Italian archaeological experts at a mountain in Swat district of northwest Pakistan.

According to the reports, the archaeologist excavated a Hindu temple at Barikot Ghundai in Northwest Pakistan. Fazle Khaliq of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Department of Archaeology said that the temple discovered is of God Vishnu.

The temple is estimated to have been built the Hindus 1,300 years ago during the Hindu Shahi period, the archaeologist said.

The Hindu Shahis or Kabul Shahis, a Hindu dynasty which ruled the Kabul Valley (eastern Afghanistan), Gandhara (modern-day Pakistan), and present-day northwestern India from 850-1026 CE may have built the Hindu temple in the region.

During their excavation, the archaeologists also found traces of cantonment and watchtowers near the temple site. The archaeologists have also found a water tank near the excavated site, which is believed to be used by the Hindus for bathing before offering their prayers at the temple.

Khaliq further added that Swat district is home to thousand-year-old archaeology sites and the traces of the Hindu Shahi period have been found for the first time in the area. Several Buddhist temples and worship places are also present in the Swat district.

Dr Luka, the head of the Italian archaeological mission, said this was first temple of the Gandhara civilisation discovered in Swat district.

Only recently, newly discovered Buddha statue in Pakistan was ruined by Islamists

In July 2020, a newly discovered Buddha statue was smashed into pieces by local construction workers and a Muslim cleric on Saturday in Pakistan. The relic was discovered while digging the foundation for a house in the Pashtun-dominated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Mardan district in Pakistan.

A video of the act showed the construction workers, along with a Muslim cleric, smashing the Buddha statue using a sledgehammer. They were seen walking over and destroying the life-sized Buddha status while expressing their acrimony against Buddhism, which they consider anti-Islam. 

According to reports, the statue was destroyed on the order of a local Muslim cleric, who ruled that it is against Islam. ‘Your nikah would cease to exist and you will no more be a believer if the statue isn’t disposed of’, the cleric told the people at the site, who then followed his orders to destroy the priceless relic, which was accidentally discovered in a good condition.

In July 2020, in a similar incident, the ancient Buddhist rock carvings in the Chilas area of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK)’s Gilgit-Baltistan was desecrated by Islamists, who painted Pakistani flag and slogans on the rock-cut art. According to reports, the incident came to light when the locals of Gilgit-Baltistan posted images on social media platforms. The Islamists had vandalised the rock carvings by writing Islamic slogans on the rock-art that belonged to 800 AD.

Mass shooting rocks mall in Milwaukee, USA, 8 people injured including a teenager: Here is what we know so far

Dibakar Dutta
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Mass shooting rocks mall in Milwaukee, USA, 8 people injured including a teenager: Here is what we know so far

In a gruesome act, 8 people were injured at a suburban mall during a mass shooting incident on Friday. The shooting incident took place at Mayfair mall, outside the northwest entrance to Macy’s, in the city of Wauwatosa near Milwaukee in Wisconsin. As per reports, a probe has been initiated into the matter and attempts are underway to nab the accused.

While speaking about the incident, Wauwatosa Police Chief Barry Weber stated, “Preliminary statements from witnesses indicate that the shooter is a white male in his 20s or 30s. Investigators are working on determining the identity of that suspect…Seven injured adults and one injured teenager were transported to the hospital by Wauwatosa Fire Department. The extent of their injuries is unknown at this time. Everybody was alive at that time, though, so there have not been any fatalities that I’m aware of,” he said. He added that the accused had fled the crime scene by the time cops arrived.

Police officials, equipped with tactical gear, barged into the mall to rescue those, who remained hostage inside the mall. According to Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride, none of the victims had suffered critical injuries. He added that a total of 75 cops were deployed at the mall, a week prior to the shooting ahead of the holiday season.

During the shooting attack in Milwaukee, one teenager and 7 adults were injured. When the gunman opened fire within the premises of the mall, customers and workers ran to safety or remained hidden in the building. As the news spread, the family members and friends of those, who were at the mall during the incident, flocked to the parking lot of the mall. Reportedly, the Froedtert Hospital and Children’s Wisconsin was informed about the mass shooting and the trauma teams of the hospitals were on standby to receive the injured victims in the attack.

Reactions to the shooting incident in Milwaukee

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers shared sympathies with the customers and workers, injured in the barbaric act. He tweeted, “Our hearts go out to those who were injured in the shooting at Mayfair Mall today. Kathy and I are thinking of them and their families and wish them a full and speedy recovery…We are also thinking about all the customers and workers affected by this act of violence and are grateful for the first responders who helped get people to safety. As we learn more, we offer our support for the entire Wauwatosa community as they grapple with this tragedy.”

In a Facebook post, Mayfair Mall stated that it was temporarily closing its services in light of the mass shooting incident. “We are disheartened and angered that our guests and tenants were subject to this violent incident today. We are thankful for our partners at the Wauwatosa Police Department and we are cooperating with them as their investigation develops. Mayfair is closed at this time,” it wrote.

As per 24-year-old eye witness Austin Seybold, employees rounded up the customers, locked the front gate and escorted the customers out through the back door. Seybold recounted that a dozen customers and six employees remained locked in the backroom for over 2 hours until they were escorted to safety.

“It was a little frantic at first, but we managed to get everyone into the back without any hassle and everyone has remained fairly calm which is good, although we can hear what sounds like SWAT teams in the back passageways of the mall and the gravity of the situation is beginning to set in”, he narrated.

Hundreds of fishermen contract mysterious skin disease in Senegal, suffer from lesions on the face, extremities and skin rash

OpIndia Staff
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Hundreds of fishermen contract mysterious skin disease in Senegal, suffer from lesions on the face, extremities and skin rash

Hundreds of fishermen in Senegal, a small country in West Africa, have contracted a mysterious skin disease recently. Minister of Health and Welfare Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr has informed that they have currently been placed under isolation and are undergoing tests. According to Minute News, the disease appeared in fishermen, who come from the area of Thiaroye, a port south of capital Dakar, with predominantly fishing towns. Reportedly, over 500 fishermen have been infected so far.  

The first case of this mysterious skin disease was reported on the 12th of November 2020. The patient was a 20-year-old fisherman and had developed non-generalized vesicular rash, swelling of the face, dry lips and redness of the eyes.

Fishermen in Senegal being treated for mysterious skin disease (Source: Independent.co.uk)
Patient being treated for mysterious skin disease (Source: Independent.co.uk)

“It’s dermatitis associated with an infectious disease,” Gueye told Reuters. “We are checking further and hope to find out soon what it is.” A report by the Ministry of Health said that the patients had developed “lesions on their faces, extremities and for some, on their genitals.” 

Reports have also indicated that Senegal has imposed a ban on travelling to the sea and strict medical protocols have been imposed in the country till the source of the disease is found.

According to the report, 18 people have been hospitalised so far, while others who have contracted the disease are being treated. Senegal’s health ministry has said that the disease is in no way connected to the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic and has also confirmed that it is not viral. The ministry said that the fishermen who have contracted the mysterious disease have tested negative for COVID-19. 

Several images and videos have emerged on social media that show lesions on the hands and face, swollen lips and a severe rash that have emerged on the infected patients.

The Ministry of Health and Social Action added: “[Mr Sarr] with his colleagues from the environment and fisheries held a meeting in the presence of the governor of Dakar to take stock of the disease, the number of cases, the management, the state of investigations, harmonisation of the response to more efficiency.  

Further, it is being reported that the Senegalese navy will be sent to take water samples for analysis.

Uttarakhand govt decides to give Rs 50,000 for interfaith and intercaste marriage, withdraws order following criticism: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Uttarakhand govt decides to give Rs 50,000 for interfaith and intercaste marriage, withdraws order following criticism: Details

The social welfare department of the Uttarakhand government had recently passed a controversial order to promote interfaith and intercaste marriages in the state and incentivise people by providing Rs 50,000 for such marriages.

In an order passed by Tehri Garhwal district’s social welfare officer, it was specified that the government had decided to incentivise and promote interfaith and intercaste marriages in the state in an effort to bring unity in the society and country at large. Under the scheme, the social welfare department in the state would provide Rs 50,000 to a person marrying outside his caste or religion.

Uttarakhand govt’s order promoting ‘inter-faith’ marriages/ Image Source: Suresh Chavhanke

However, as per the order dated November 18, 2020, one of the persons being married should belong to the Scheduled Caste community to avail the state benefits. The order had stated that the concerned couple can avail the benefit by marrying in any of the certified temples, mosques or registering their marriage with the concerned department.

According to the Uttarakhand’s social Welfare department, such marriages can help bring about social harmony in society.

Criticism against notification rewarding ‘interfaith’ marriages, say it promotes ‘Love Jihad’

The order passed by Tehri Garhwal’s social Welfare Department to promote the so-called ‘interfaith’ marriages, however, did not go well with the citizens of the state and also the concerned citizens of the country.

Various people took to social media to criticise the Uttarakhand government for passing such an order alleging that such an ill-conceived order will only promote religious conversions and ‘Grooming Jihad’ (Love Jihad) in the state.

Netizens shared that such an order would now not only promote the conversion of Hindus, especially women of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes into Islam and other religions but also incentivise people belonging to other communities to trap Hindu women to get married to avail the reward.

Taking to Twitter, Suresh Chavhanke, the Editor of Sudarshan TV, also raised objections to such an order of the Uttarakhand social welfare department. He said that instead of punishing people for promoting ‘Love Jihad’, the Uttarakhand government was rewarding them with Rs 50,000 for doing so.

Suresh Chavhanke said that when the rest of the states were making laws against ‘Love Jihad’ to stop the forced religious conversion, the BJP government in the state was promoting it by rewarding such an act. He asked the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat whether he knew about such a notification.

Uttarakhand government clarifies on its notification incentivising interfaith and intercaste marriages

Following the outrage over such an unsound order promoting interfaith marriages, sources close to Uttarakhand government has clarified that the controversial order will be withdrawn and stressed that the necessary corrective action will be taken for passing such an order.

Alok Bhatt, the Economic Adviser to Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat, also clarified that the notification was issued by Zila Samaj Kalyan Adhikari of Tehri Garhwal district. The concerned officer had issued a press note in continuation with an earlier scheme which was in force under a 1976 scheme of Uttar Pradesh government that was made applicable to Uttarakhand after the bifurcation of the state.

Bhatt added that as Uttar Pradesh was the parent state, there is an unwritten code that schemes, rules etc are generally copied from the Uttar Pradesh. So, the notification to promote interfaith/intercaste marriages was followed directly from the previous Congress government order. The Congress government had adopted the old order of the UP government but had increased the reward from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000, Bhatt added.

Further, Alok Bhatt added that during 2019-20, 18 couples were paid this prize money, out of which 15 were cases of inter-caste marriages and 3 were that of interfaith marriages. The three cases are of Haldwani, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital.

“As District Tehri was not receiving any applications under this head so this overzealous officer issued a press note and thanks to this press note this issue got highlighted and has come to the notice of the government,” Alok Bhatt clarified on Twitter following the controversy over the order by Uttarakhand order promoting interfaith marriages.

He also added that the press note has now been withdrawn and necessary corrective actions have already been initiated.

“What people need to understand is that Govt always works in continuation & now that this issue has come to the attention of the Govt, necessary corrective action is being taken,” he further said adding that this initiative was not a decision of the present government in the Uttarakhand.

Ending his tweet, Alok Bhatt also stressed that no one in BJP government, even in their wildest of dreams, will do or support anything that promoted such forced conversions in the name of ‘interfaith’ marriages.

The particular order to promote interfaith marriages by the social welfare department of Tehri Garhwal district comes at a time when there has been an increasing trend of ‘Love Jihad’ cases in the country. The dangerous trend of trapping of Hindu women to marry them and forcing them to quit their religion to convert to Islam has become a raging debate in the country. The various state government have now finally decided to act against such horrendous act by bringing strict laws against cases of ‘Love Jihad’ in their respective state.

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