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NGO that monitors United Nations roasts Pakistan govt for justifying beheading over ‘blasphemy’

The UN watch group, a Geneva-based NGO that monitors the performance of the United Nations, on Saturday roasted the terror-state of Pakistan over its inclusion in the United Nations Human Rights Council.

It all started when the Government of Pakistan defended the brutal act of beheading of a French teacher in Paris by an Islamic terrorist by claiming that the blasphemy in the garb of freedom of expression is ‘intolerable’.

Govt of Pakistan insinuating beheading for blasphemy is ok

Essentially, Pakistan government indirectly attacked France and its people for standing up against radical Islamic terrorism following the beheading of a teacher by a Muslim immigrant terrorist two weeks ago.

As Pakistan cheered the act of killing non-Muslims for their alleged act of ‘blasphemy’, the UN Watch – the NGO that keep an eye on the mandates fulfilled by United Nations and its agencies, took to Twitter to slam Pakistan saying that the country’s presence on UN Human Rights Council is ‘intolerable’.

UN Watch roasting Pakistan

It is pertinent to note that Pakistan was recently re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council despite opposition from activist groups over its abysmal human rights records.

The Pakistan government, humiliated by the comment made by the UN watchdog, attacked the NGO by alleging that it was pro-Israel NGO that had evident bias against Muslims.

Arslan Khalid, the digital media adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, responding to UN Watch said that the NGO was another pro-Israel NGO with evident bias against Muslims. He claimed that the tweets made by the NGO had nothing to do with the United Nations.

Imran Khan’s media advisor’s tweet

Khalid said that tweets by ‘pro-Israel’ condemning Pakistan’s act of blasphemy only proved that Imran Khan’s comments of not accepting Israel have hurt all these anti Muslim lobbies.

Following the anti-Israel rant by Imran Khan’s adviser against the UN Watch, the NGO responding to Pakistan dared them against pretending to be a defender of Muslims by citing its stand on the issue of Uighur Muslims.

The NGO pointed out how the Pakistan government has overlooked the Human Rights violation by signing letters praising the Chinese government even after their inhuman actions against nearly one million Uighur Muslims.

The UN Watch also pointed out how Imran Khan has officially backed genocide against Muslims in China, by supporting the Communist Party of China’s human rights violations against Uighur Muslims.

Pakistan’s silence on atrocities against Uighur Muslims

Just a few days back, Pakistan experts had claimed that the persecution of Uighur (also spelt Uyghur) Muslims by the Communist government in China is a non-issue, and they are satisfied with the way China is handling the Muslims in the country.

Fearful of action by their masters, Imran ‘Taliban’ Khan, the civilian face of terror state of Pakistan, has largely chosen to be tight-lipped about the persecution of Uighur Muslims by China at a time when the whole world is taking a serious note of the issue. For a long-time now, Pakistan has evaded responding to Chinese atrocities against its own citizens- the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province of China. 

Recently, Khan had defended China’s action against Uighur Muslims by saying, “China is a great friend” and has helped Pakistan when it reached rock bottom and hence Pakistan government is grateful to the Chinese government.

Pakistan, a ‘rented’ state of China, has been in a tough spot as it can neither condemn nor be decisive about the growing concerns about human rights abuse by China against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province of China.

Who are Uighur Muslims?

Uighurs are a Turkish-Muslims ethnic group living in Xinjiang, the largest and most western of China’s administrative regions surrounded by Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The Xinjiang autonomous region in China has had a long history of discord between the authorities and the indigenous ethnic Uighur population.

The indigenous Muslim Uighurs have a complicated relationship with China which is fuelled with growing discontent among Uighur people over ethnic, religious and cultural factors. However, the discontent of the Uighurs had turned to a form of extremism, which China intended to control by curtailing their commercial and cultural activities and by putting restrictions on Islam, strict control over religious schools.

Additionally, China has detained more than one million Uighurs in so-called “reeducation centres” and has forced them to undergo psychological indoctrination programs — like studying communist propaganda and giving thanks to Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, the Chinese government claims that the camps are simply vocational and training centres intended to combat extremism and to teach detainees some useful and valuable skills.

Breaking: Bombay HC to pronounce order in Arnab Goswami’s interim bail application challenging arrest in 2018 suicide case on 9th November

In a late-night announcement, the Bombay High Court has declared that it will be pronouncing its order in the bail plea moved by the editor-in-chief of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami on the 9th of November, Monday.

Notification by the High Court

The notification says that the order in the interim application moved by Arnab Goswami in the plea challenging the illegal arrest will be pronounced at 3 PM on 9th November.

The verdict will be pronounced by a Bench of Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik will announce the verdict.

What happened in the hearing on Saturday by Bombay High Court in Arnab Goswami’s case

After almost 6 hours of hearing, on Saturday, the Bombay High Court reserved its judgment in a petition filed to challenge Republic TV Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami’s arrest. While withholding the verdict in the ad-interim plea filed by Arnab Goswami, the court said that it could not pass an order as it was already 6 PM. The Republic Media Network Managing Director had filed the plea requesting to declare his arrest as illegal, and also sought interim release from jail.

The court said that it could not pass an order citing the considerations and compilations submitted to them. The court added that it will pronounce the orders someday in the next week.

Senior advocate Harish Salve cited the precedent of the Jagisha Arora’s habeas case where the Supreme Court ordered the release of Prashant Kanojia from custody last year. Salve argued that similar to Kanjia’s case, his client, Arnab Goswami, too, should be granted bail. However, the court refused to grant a verdict in the case, adding that the pendency of the petition will not bar the petitioner from approaching the sessions court for bail and if such an application is filed, it should be decided within 4 days.

The prime argument raised in the HC petition is that the police has no power to suo moto re-open the case without getting a judicial order after the Magistrate passed a closure order in the case in 2019 based on the report submitted by police. The defence lawyers contended that action of the police officers to re-start the investigation in the case were illegal and hence the accused ought to be released.

On Friday, after hearing Arnab Goswami’s counsel, the division bench of Bombay High Court, comprising Justices S S Shinde and M S Karnik, had adjourned the plea of Republic TV’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami that sought revocation of the 2018 abetment of suicide case in which he has been arrested. The Bombay HC on Friday had said that the court needs to hear the other side before coming to a conclusion. Arnab Goswami also sought interim release from jail. The hearing had started on 5th November, a day after Raigad court had rejected the plea for police remand had sent him to judicial custody of 14 days.

Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami arrested

Continuing their witch-hunt against Republic TV chief, the Mumbai Police on Wednesday arrested Arnab Goswami. The Mumbai Police reached Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami’s residence on Wednesday and physically manhandled him as they tried to detain him in a 2018 abetment to suicide case that was already closed.

A team of Mumbai Police arrested Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami after they physically assaulted and dragged him by grabbing his hair. In a shocking act, a large contingent of Mumbai Police was seen present at Goswami’s residence on Wednesday morning. In the below video, it can be seen how officials of the Mumbai Police were manhandling the Republic TV chief.

In May 2018, an FIR was filed against Arnab Goswami after an interior designer had committed suicide in Mumbai. In a suicide note, Anvay Naik claimed Goswami owed him a total of Rs 5.4 crore. However, Goswami was investigated and case was closed by court after a closure report was filed by the Police.

ISRO successfully launches PSLV C-49 carrying India’s latest earth observing satellite and 9 other payloads

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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the country’s first space mission and 51st mission of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on Saturday. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle named as PSLV-C49 was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota today afternoon. It was carrying the all-weather earth imaging satellite EOS-01 from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) along with nine international satellites.

According to a tweet from the official ISRO handle, all the nine satellites and EOS-01 have successfully separated and injected into their intended orbit.

The lift off was scheduled for 15:02 hours IST today but the mission was delayed by 10 minutes due to bad weather. The delay was sanctioned by the mission director.

The launching of the EOS-01 holds special significance for the ISRO and the Space Organisation chief K Sivan, who said that the space activity cannot be worked upon from a remote location and it requires engineers and technicians to come together for a successful launch.

“This mission is very special and unusual for ISRO. The space activity cannot be done from ‘work from home’. Each engineer has to be present at the lab. When talking about missions like these, each technician, employee has to work together,” Sivan said.

Earth Observation Satellite

ISRO today launched its Earth Observation Satellite EOS-01 through PSLV C-49. The satellite is meant for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.

This is the second earth observation satellite launched by ISRO within a span of one year. Last year on December 11, ISRO had launched a similar mission, through which it had launched RISAT-2BR1, another observation satellite similar to EOS-01. Following that, ISRO had launched a communication satellite GSAT-30 in space in January this year, but that was done using an Ariane rocket launched from French Guiana.

EOS-01 will work in conjunction with RISAT-2B and RISAT-2BR1 launched last year. It was earlier supposed to be named as RISAT-2BR2 as it was assumed to be the third of the three-spacecraft constellation aimed at providing all-weather round-the-clock service for high-resolution images. With EOS-01, India has moved towards a new naming convention.

Through the recently launched satellite, mapping and monitoring of land, forests, mapping of resources like water or minerals or fishes, weather and climate observations, soil assessment, and geospatial contour mapping will be possible.

EOS-0 was launched alongside 9 other customer satellites under a commercial agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space. The customer satellites include one from Lithuania for technology demonstration, and four each from Luxembourg and USA for maritime applications and multi-mission remote sensing respectively.

UAE introduces major legal reforms including improved judicial procedure, legalisation of alcohol consumption and cohabitation by unmarried couples

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In a bid to be improve the standard of living and to keep the foreign direct investment flowing in, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to introduce some sweeping amendments in its legal system including family laws. As reported by the National News, the reforms that will come into effect immediately will allow non-citizens to have their personal matters dealt with as per the law of their home country. The amendments will be affecting crucial personals laws including laws relating to divorce and separation, division of wills and assets, suicide and protection of women.

Under the reformed legal system, the laws of a person’s country of origin can be invoked in several cases including divorce and inheritance, which will mean reduced application of Islamic sharia law for foreigners. Here is a look at some of the laws that will be witness major changes after the amendments:

Laws relating to divorce and inheritance

As per the report, under the reformed laws, in case a couple married in their home country gets divorced in the UAE, a similar procedure of divorce as in their home country could be adopted in a UAE court. The new laws also make provision for joint accounts, joint assets and a mediation process in a court in the absence of any agreement between the parties. The reforms will also apply to laws relating to wills and inheritance. In the absence of a will, a person’s assets can now be divided among their next of kin as per the laws of their home country. However, if the property was purchased in the UAE, it will be governed by the laws of the UAE.

Non-Muslims in Dubai have been getting their wills registered with wills and probate registry of Dubai International Financial Centre which is linked to the government. However, this was not possible in Dubai’s state-run civil courts for some years. In Abu Dhabi, non-Muslims have been getting their wills registered at Emirate’s Judicial Department since

Decriminalisation of attempted suicide and good samaritan

Like India, the UAE has also decriminalised attempted suicide. Prior to the reforms, anyone who attempted suicide could be prosecuted though such instances were rare. Police and courts will now ensure mental health support to vulnerable people. But if anyone found assisting a person who attempted suicide will face imprisonment.

Under the unreformed laws, a person who intervened in situations where someone needed help e.g. providing first aid or giving CPR, the person could be held accountable for any injury or death. But after the reforms, persons who offer help to people in such situations will not be held liable for the outcome. The reformed law provides, “any person who is committing an act out of good intention, that may end up hurting that person, will not be punished. If you want to give help or assistance in an emergency and that person gets harmed (as a result) you will not be punished.”

Consumption or possession of alcohol not a offence

The report says that after the amendment, consumption or possession of alcohol or alcoholic beverages will no longer be an offence. Besides, consuming alcoholic beverages in authorised areas even without a licence will not attract penalty. Earlier, a person could be booked for consuming alcohol without a licence even if arrested for a different offence. The legal age of drinking in the UAE is 21. Anyone caught selling alcohol to an underage person can be punished. However, alcohol can still be consumed privately or in licensed public places. In September this year, Abu Dhabi ended its alcohol licence system for residents. Earlier, a license was needed to purchase or consume alcohol but now the federal law will apply to all emirates.

Women’s safety

The reforms have also addressed one of the most important areas relating to women’s safety. Prior to reforms, a male relative could get away with a lighter punishment for assaulting a female relative in the name of ‘protecting honour’. After the reforms, such instances will be treated at par with a crime of assault. The new laws provide stringent punishment for men who subject women to any kind of harassment including street harassment and stalking. This is in line with a law enacted last year which provided tougher punishment for harassment and recognised that men could be victims of harassment or stalking. In cases of rape with minor or someone with limited mental capacity, the culprit will be executed.

Live-in relations made legal

The reformed law will allow unmarried couples to cohabitate in a live-in relation. Previously, it was forbidden for an unmarried couple or even unrelated flatmates to share a home in the UAE. According to the report, the authorities in the UAE have rarely prosecuted anyone found violating this particular law.

Translators to be provided in courts

After the reforms, the defendants and witnesses will be able to get translators in court if they do not speak Arabic. The courts are mandated to ensure that translators are available. New privacy laws have been introduced prohibiting the publication of evidence relating to indecent acts.

As you sow, so shall you reap: Why Democrats can’t blame Trump supporters for undermining faith in the US election process

Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden appears set to win the US Presidential Elections 2020, however, uncertainty still looms large over the results. Donald Trump has made it clear that he will approach the Supreme Court over the matter. Widespread claims of voter fraud are doing the rounds, much to the chagrin of Democrats, and while many of them have been debunked, there is a persistent feeling among Trump supporters that the election was stolen from their favoured candidate.

There is good reason for this, of course. Democrats have undermined faith in the US election process ever since the 2016 presidential elections. An FBI investigation was initiated into alleged links between Trump associates and Russian officials to determine “whether individuals associated with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign were coordinating, wittingly or unwittingly, with the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election”.

That eventually translated into spying into the Trump Campaign and approval for it came from the very top with Joe Biden and President Obama themselves believed to have played a part. All of this was unprecedented. A sitting president ordering an FBI investigation into a political opponent is unheard of. A review by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz determined that the FBI had made 17 errors or omissions while applying for FISA warrants at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court).

Recent declassification of intel revealed that according to Russian intelligence, Hillary Clinton “had approved a campaign plan to stir up a scandal” against Trump by “tying him to Putin and the Russians’ hacking of the Democratic National Committee”. The report does not say whether the US intelligence agencies verified the information but the declassification of the information did reveal that the intelligence agencies forwarded the information to the FBI. The events that have followed since then makes the motivation for the Russia allegations against Trump abundantly clear.

The conduct of disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok and others revealed quite clearly there were elements within the intelligence agencies that were effectively trying to enforce a coup against a democratically elected president of the United States. Throughout all of this, the media pretended that there was absolutely nothing untoward happening at all. If Donald Trump believes that he is the victim of the biggest witch-hunt in history, then he would be correct in believing so.

The Democratic establishment, unable to digest the results of the 2016 presidential elections and in severe need of a scapegoat to continue to remain in control of the party amidst a rebellion from the Bernie Sanders faction, decided to invent the Russian Collusion hoax. They could always rely on their friends in the mainstream media to peddle their favoured narrative and journalists did not disappoint.

Despite an utter lack of evidence, they continued on their fact-free treasure hunt and in the process, had half the country convinced that Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential elections only because Russia interfered on his behalf. The collusion hoax led to a Special Counsel investigation by Robert Mueller and his team. Between 2017 and 2019, during which period the investigation was run, the mainstream media exposed its viewers to a barrage of propaganda and the viewers were convinced that Mueller had hit the jackpot in terms of evidence.

But the Mueller report came and went by and no evidence was ever found to prove that Donald Trump and his campaign had colluded with Russia. That did not stop the Democrats or the media to give credence to the hoax. In one of the lowest points during the whole saga, leading MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow suggested that Russia might attack the US power grid and leave its citizens freezing in the cold.

It is bizarre but the Democrats and the mainstream media did have half the country convinced that Donald Trump was a Russian puppet. Soon enough, everything began to be blamed on Russia and every political opponent of the Democratic establishment was deemed to be a Russian asset. Tulsi Gabbard, a serving veteran in the US Army Reserves, was accused to be one too and during the Democratic primaries, intelligence agencies informed presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders that his campaign was being helped by Russia.

There is nothing that the Democratic establishment wouldn’t blame Russia for. One Democratic Senator suggested that the media should not cover the allegations of corruption against Joe Biden because the Hunter Biden emails were supposedly Russian propaganda and it was a claim that was peddled by several other Democrats, without a shred of evidence of course, but the media duly complied.

Throughout all of this, Democrats and the media branded Donald Trump a fascist and ignored the brutal attacks on Trump supporters. Simultaneously, widespread looting and rioting in the wake of the death of George Floyd was either ignored or justified. CNN described the rioting as ‘mostly peaceful protests’, which has since then become the butt of many jokes. People could see with their own eyes that there was widespread violence but the mainstream media continued to gaslight its viewers and pretend that these protests were peaceful.

That was not all. The media blamed supporters of Donald Trump for violating Coronavirus restrictions while continuing to celebrate the massive gatherings at anti-racism protests. At least public health were a lot more honest. They claimed that the racism was a greater health-risk than the Coronavirus and justified the massive public gatherings during a pandemic. The political partisanship at every public institution was at insane levels.

Then, there is Big Tech. It began with the censorship of renowned conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. He is perhaps the most banned person on the internet today. And why was he banned? For apparently spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories. If that is the standard to go by, then none of the mainstream media news networks and the journalists associated with them should have a platform on the internet. Because they have spread the single most devastating hoax in the history of the United States: the Russian Collusion Delusion.

Since then, social media giants have done absolutely nothing to address the concerns regarding censorship. And it is always conservative voices on the internet that suffer. Twitter does not even attempt to hide their partisanship. They have gone to the extent of censoring the United States president for promising to enforce law and order in the wake of widespread rioting across the country. They have also censored the New York Post for its reports on the alleged corruption by Joe Biden. This is direct election interference.

Now let us look at things as they stand. There have been reports of dead people voting for Joe Biden in the presidential elections. There was a software glitch in Michigan which was later fixed that counted votes cast in favour of Republicans for Democrats. The error was later fixed but since then, the state Republican Chair has claimed that the same software was used in 47 other counties and she has demanded a reexamination of votes. In Pennsylvania, Republicans claimed that they were not permitted to watch the counting of votes.

All of this does not inspire faith in the election process. In the end, rigging may not have contributed at all to Joe Biden’s victory or even if voter fraud did occur, it might not have been significant enough to alter the results to any significant degree. But how does one convince the Trump voter-base that there was no widespread fraud during the entire process? In a democracy, it is not enough to have a fair process. People must be convinced that the process is fair.

Towards that end, it is essential that there are public institutions that the masses trust. Who should the Trump voter-base trust now? The mainstream media that has been lying continuously since 2015 in order to take down Donald Trump? The election process that Democrats claimed was interfered with by Russia? Normal functional human beings would find it hard to believe that an election process that could have been interfered with by Russia cannot be rigged by a domestic political party.

Similarly, normal functional human beings cannot trust the same people who have been feeding them nothing but lies for the past four years. In their thirst for power, the Democrats might have damaged public faith in the election process for good. The conduct of Democrats does not inspire faith either. Vast sections of Democrats, at least, truly believe that Donald Trump is a fascist. Wouldn’t you do everything in your power to defeat a fascist? Rigging elections is perhaps a low hanging fruit in that department.

Moreover, Democrats have spent the past four years in attempting to overturn the results of the 2016 elections. They have amply demonstrated they will stop at nothing to bring down Donald Trump. The Russian Collusion hoax and the impeachment saga are only two of such instances. The manner in which they tried to destroy Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s life illustrates abundantly their lust towards ruining the Trump presidency.

The core of the problem is that there is every public institution has been so dedicated against Donald Trump and his support base that they have destroyed public faith in themselves for good. Even if there was no voter fraud at all, or nothing significant for that matter, they would have a hard time convincing the Trump support base of it. People cannot just take your word for granted if you have been gaslighting them for the past four years. As Michael Tracey said, a Trump defeat is a “win for the lunatics who’ve spent four years subjecting the rest of us an unceasing tsunami of freakish nonsense.”

There is no easy solution to this. The Supreme Court will likely get involved in the process. Donald Trump has been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to make three appointments to the highest federal court in the country and it appears inevitable that should the apex court decide in Trump’s favour, the other side will believe that the election was stolen for them. In short, there is unlikely to be a scenario where both sides are convinced of the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential elections.

American institutions can blame no one but themselves for the lack of legitimacy they suffer from. The seeds for it were sown by Democrats and they will suffer for it. Fortunately for them, they have the Big tech in their favour so they can control the flow of information. They also have the unyielding support of Big Business, the entertainment industry, the military-industrial complex and every other major cultural and public institution. Therefore, they may not have much to worry about in that regard.

In the event of a Trump defeat, it is unlikely that the sentiment of disenfranchisement, that is no doubt rampant among vast sections of the Trump support-base, will fade quickly. Joe Biden has campaigned as a reconciliation candidate but the far-left section of his party is already drawing plans to punish Trump supporters for exercising their democratic right. Thus, it could very well be that Joe Biden ends up fighting Democratic socialists as much as he fights Republicans.

In any scenario, things look extremely tumultuous for the USA in the short term. Business owners had decided to board up their property in anticipation of riots prior to the declaration of results and it appears that they will have to continue boarding them up for some more time. Trump supporters were stabbed in Washington DC as results continued to pour in. And things could devolve into something much more devastating very quickly.

In 2015 Bihar elections, most exit polls were wrong, the one correct was rejected by the channel as it didn’t believe it: Read details

After the voting for the third and last phase of Bihar election was over, the news channels and poll agencies announced their exit poll results. Compared to previous elections, this time the number of exit polls was very less, with only a few agencies conducting the polls in an attempt to predict the election results.

The exit polls have predicted a very close contest, with UPA comprising RJD, Congress and left parties marginally ahead of NDA, which has BJP, JD(U) as its members. In this context, let us see how the exit polls feared in the last assembly polls in Bihar.

In the 2015 elections, a total of 8 poll agencies had conducted exit polls, with diverse results. ABP-Nielsen, CNN-IBN-Axis and News X-CNX had predicted clear win for MGB, while NDTV-Hansa and News 24-Today’s Chanakya had predicted win for NDA. The others had predicted a very close contest with little gap between the predicted numbers for the alliances.

This shows that among the 8 exit polls, only one had predicted it correctly, the Axis poll, which was commissioned by CNN-IBN but was not aired. All other exit polls didn’t predict the landslide victory by JD(U)-RJD-Congress alliance. While some predicted win for the alliance, they predicted far narrow margin of victory for the UPA. While others were completely wrong as they had predicted NDA win.

The Axis poll, which turned out to be correct, was not aired by CNN-IBN because the channel was not convinced with the numbers. They didn’t believe that UPA will win by such huge margin, and decided not to air it on both the English and Hindi channels of the network. Due to this, Axis had deleted the exit poll results from its website also. But after they results were out, they had re-uploaded the same. This shows that News Channels which air the exit polls will not show a prediction if it does not match with their inter prediction.

On the other hand, Today’s Chanakya and NDTV had publicly apologised for predicting wrong results in their exit polls, after the election results were out. In a statement, Pranoy Roy had blamed the poll agency, saying that the data provided by them was wrong.

it is notable that while a JD(U) led Mahagathbandhan govt was formed after the elections, Nitish Kumar chose to return to NDA two years later, and an NDA govt was formed as a result, with Nitish Kumar continuing as the CM.

Bihar Assembly elections: Exit Polls suggest a hung assembly, predict a close contest with a slight edge for Mahagathbandhan over NDA

As Bihar Assembly Elections draws to an end, several exit polls have emerged with their predictions of which alliance is poised to sweep the state. However, contrary to the expectations, the exit polls have suggested that the electoral contest in Bihar will be a closely-fought one, with neither of the parties and alliances emerging out as a clear victor.

The trends from the various exit polls suggest that this time around Bihar may be in for a hung assembly as Mahagathbandhan and NDA seemed to score almost equal seats in each of the exit polls conducted.

Exit PollNDA allianceMahagathbandhanLJP Others
Republic-Jan Ki Baat91-117138-1188-56-3
Times Now-C-voter104-128108-1131-34-8
TV9 Bharatvarsh 110-120115-1253-510-15
Today’s Chanakya55-66180-1918-12
India Today-Axis69-91139-1613-53-5
Exit Polls predictions for the Bihar Assembly elections

The Republic-Jan Ki Baat poll says that NDA alliance is expected to get seats in the range of 91 to 117 out of the 243-seats Assembly. The survey adds that Congress and RJD’s Mahagathbandhan alliance is all poised to rack up somewhere in the range of 138 to 118 seats and emerge as the alliance with the highest number of seats. Besides, LJP and others are expected to bag up to 8 and 6 seats respectively.

The C-voter exit poll, on the other hand, says that NDA alliance which comprise of BJP, JDU and other parties, will win seats in the range of 104 to 128. Mahagathbandhan alliance is expected to bag 108 to 113 seats while LJP and others would score 3 to 8 seats tentatively.

The third exit poll, TV9 Bharatvarsh, also hinted that the electoral battle in Bihar is fiercely contested, with the NDA alliance expected to secure 110-120 seats while its rival Mahagathbandhan is presumed to win 115-125 seats. The exit poll claims LJP and Others will grab up to 5 and 15 seats respectively.

The only outlier in the exit polls is the survey result thrown up by Today’s Chanakya. The exit poll predicts that the Mahagathbandhan alliance is all set to form a government in the state by winning 180 to 191 seats of the total 243 seats. The NDA alliance, the Chanakya claims, will be relegated to the second position with 55 to 66 seats.

India Today – Axis also announced a clear victory for RJD-Congress alliance, with Rajdeep Sardesai declaring Tejashwi Yadav as the next CM.

All the exit polls were unanimous that LJP did a big mistake by leaving NDA, as all of them predicted single digit seats for them. Similarly, others are also not likely to win many seats.

The result of the Bihar Assembly elections, which went to polls in three phases, with the last phase ending today, will be declared on Tuesday, November 10. Electronic Voting Machines will be opened at 8 am on November 10 and counting will begin. Normally, the picture of who is winning the contest is clear by noon but given the closeness of the electoral battle as the number from exit polls suggest, results may not be clearer until the evening.

Jaipur: Man dies after hit by a speeding luxury car, the police allow accused to go home

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On Friday, a 22-year-old boy was killed in a car accident by a speeding Audi car at 8 am on Sodala elevated road in Jaipur. As per reports, the victim, identified as Mada Ram, was going to his examination centre for police constable recruitment exam when he was hit by the luxury car. He fell from the flyover and landed on the rooftop of a house, around 150 metres below the flyover. The victim had reached Jaipur from Jodhpur around 5:30 am in the morning.

“He was walking on the flyover when the car, which was driven by a woman, hit him from behind. Mada Ram was thrown off the bridge and he landed on the roof of the house below. The accident was so severe that he died on the spot,” an officer informed. The video of the victim, lying lifeless on the rooftop of the building, has now come to light.

Jaipur police allows accused to go home

The cops detained two accused women after the incident, including the driver Neha Soni. The police said that she had a valid driving licence. The accused has been identified the daughter-in-law of Vimal Soni, the owner of Soni hospital. The police informed that the accused were en route Ajmer Road when the vehicle went out of control. The car ended up hitting a pole, which resulted in its uprooting.

The cops have seized the vehicle. A case has also been registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 279 (rash driving), and 304A (death due to negligence). The police have not arrested any of the accused and instead allowed them to return home. The post mortem of the victim was conducted on Friday evening.

“It happened around 8am when the deceased was on his way to the examination centre. The women were on their way to Ajmer Road. It appears to be a case of speeding. The vehicle went completely out of control. After hitting Mada Ram, the driver could not control the car and it hit a pole. We have seized the vehicle,” a officer told media.

Victim’s brother demands strict punishment for accused

As per reports, Mada Ram has seven siblings. While speaking about the tragic incident, his brother Raja Ram lamented, “For the last many years, Mada Ram was preparing for competitive exams. He had previously appeared for patwari and forest department exams but was not selected. He had worked hard to clear the exam.” He added, “My father-in-law had mortgaged his land so as to help Mada Ram take coaching for exams. His elder brothers work as labourers and do not earn much.” Raja Ram lamented that he hoped to see his brother as a constable. He had also demanded strict punishment for the accused.

Netflix’s ‘A suitable Boy’ – Suitably Secular: A Review

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The TV series “A Suitable Boy” is a six-part adaptation of the Vikram Seth novel of the same name and helmed by Mira Nair, an old hand in translating ‘India’ to Western eyes. I haven’t read the book, so the trailer, treatment and cast seemed appealing enough for me to watch it over last week. Expectedly, for a well-hyped series, fresh off the oven, it did garner eyeballs and many a review.

But this is not another review, at least not a regular one. What I intend to do here is highlight the problematic stereotypes and portrayals, especially of Hindus, that somehow regular reviewers either seem to largely miss noticing or don’t seem to care enough about. And to show how they go a long way in perpetuating the perennially distorted image of the Hindu community.

But before we dive deeper, let’s take a quiz to test the secular quotient of those of you that haven’t read the book or watched the series. What follows is a set of one-line descriptions of a few key characters from the series. Try to peg the religion (they are either Hindu or Muslim) to which they belong, from these descriptions.

  1. Wayward scion of a wealthy politician, given to irresponsible behaviour and besotted by a courtesan
  2. Kind courtesan with a heart of gold, exploited by a religious but ruthless ex-ruler
  3. A highly religious debaucherous erstwhile ruler hell bent on building a place of worship that would disturb communal harmony.
  4. An aristocratic zamindar and his son, both benevolent and forgiving of the wayward scion who endangers the latter’s life
  5. A politician with his heart in the right place but is non-religious and couldn’t care less about places of worship

If you answered – Hindu, Muslim, Hindu, Muslim, Hindu – or got at least the majority of them correct, congratulations on scoring high on your SQ test. Now on to the details.

‘A Suitable Boy’ is set in 1951, in a fictional town in North India, that is still trying to grapple with the aftermath of partition and the ever-simmering undercurrent of religious tensions. The central theme by itself is non-political – of a mother trying to find her younger daughter a suitable groom, but the sub plots and characterizations are too politically shrill to ignore.

In the very first episode, we get the first glimpse of the Ganga-Jamuna Tehzeeb where a Muslim zamindar tells his Hindu friend, the influential revenue minister, how a certain maharaja is trying to build a temple next door to a mosque, potentially threatening the delicate communal harmony. The revenue minister in turn tries to warn the home minister and the maharaja himself that healing touches and not temples, are the need of the hour (the oh-so-familiar language spoken by secular liberals) But his pleas fall on deaf years.

As expected (only in secular stories like these), an unarmed peaceful Muslim group comes protesting against building of the temple and get ruthlessly shot by the police. Clearly, to the uninitiated viewers (especially Western ones) the narrative being set is of majoritarian ruthlessness. No novel or TV series, of course, will tell them the harsh truth of real India.

An India where there almost never are cases of temples being built next to mosques with the purpose of destroying communal harmony, but only the unacknowledged truth of hundreds of mosques built over destroyed temples – some even sitting visibly on top of desecrated temples in even the holiest of holy Hindu places.

And far removed from the screenplay of unarmed crowds getting shot by police, in real India, it is actually Islamist mobs in thousands that gherao police stations to pelt stones and set them on fire, as it happened in Bangalore recently, at even the slightest hint of a perceived insult.

When we talk of Hindu-Muslim tensions, how can riots be far behind?

In one of the later episodes, a Muharram procession and a Ramlila celebration come face to face and the aggressor is – not surprisingly – a Hindu. His angry shoving of a Muslim results in breakout of clashes. What follows is more stereotypes – an angry ‘saffron’ mob chasing the hero and his Muslim friend.

While the hero does end up eventually saving his Muslim friend from the bloodthirsty mob, there is no depiction of any scenario where Hindus are chased or killed, since in the make believe secular world there is no possibility of such a thing ever happening. Perhaps that is why Wikipedia calls Delhi riots ‘an anti-Muslim pogrom’ and the mainstream media never once mentions Godhra in the context of 2002.

If the story and screenplay is mischievous and misleading, characterizations are no better.

The Gita-chanting mother of the protagonist is shown as a mousy and wimpy woman. “What did I do in my past life to bring this curse on my beloved child,” she shrieks when she learns of her daughter’s love for a Muslim man. “(All Muslims are) Dirty, violent, cruel, lecherous,” she then exclaims, before vehemently denying the permission her daughter seeks to continue seeing the man.

“We never talk about religion. My father only cares about his mathematical problem,” is the innocuous response on the other hand that Lata gets from her ‘progressive’ Muslim lover Kabir Durrani, the son of a Maths professor, when she brings up the topic of family resistance to their relationship. These two scenes, especially when juxtaposed against each other, reveal an insidious agenda – of showing a contrast that cannot be starker.

The picture being projected is Hindu closemindedness and Muslim openness when it comes to interfaith relationship. Almost like a prequel to the fawning Tanishq ad. Once again, it cannot be emphasised how far removed from the truth the scenes are. A spate of recent cases in the news show that the victims by far, in the brutal and violent ends that many interfaith relationships come to, are indeed Hindus.

Even if the couple goes on to marry, the sad truth of legal disadvantages a non-Muslim woman is likely to face and the dangerous privileges that minority men get of having their own unquestioned personal laws is never highlighted. Overt insinuations aside, there are enough subtleties too peppered throughout to reinforce stereotypes.

Repeated references are made about how dishy the young Muslim lover is – as opposed to the Hindu suitors of Lata who need to admittedly scale up to compete (superior Muslim looks – check!). Even a Hindu child is not spared – the revenue minister’s precocious grandson, a Maths genius, rattles off caste statistics in his grandfather’s constituency that is supposed to help him win (Hindu caste obsession – check).

The only religious Hindu, the Maharaja is shown to be an uncouth, paunchy villain who exploits a courtesan and causes a stampede in a temple (undisciplined Hindu crowds – check). Of the only two remotely ‘grey Muslim characters’ one is a village zamindar who is hinted at being unjust to his worker and merciless to his own son, but there is enough warmth in his portrayal to not outright hate him.

The other is Waris, the benevolent zamindar’s wily servant who turns the minister’s tragic circumstances to his advantage. But he too hugs and makes up with his opponent in the end. And finally, the heart and soul of the Hindu community – the temple – forms a constant backdrop throughout. And not in a good way.

Lata and Kabir share a passionate kiss in temple premises. Characters are shown repeatedly walking around in shoes and sandals near sacred idols and holy trees. And thus, we can go on and on. But that will only make it more frustrating. Needless to say, ‘A Suitable Boy’ follows all secular tropes very religiously (pun intended)
• A good Hindu is a non-religious one, or religiously indifferent, at best – check
• A religious Hindu is always uncivilized or regressive – check
• Muslim – religious or otherwise – is mostly reasonable and understanding – check
• Muslim is always a victim – of Hindus or his/her circumstances – check

There is no doubt that the series is overall competently made. The actors are well cast and deliver stellar performances. The flow is engaging, even if predictable. The production values are top-notch (costume and set designs specifically) and the series itself to bound to sell well. And therein lies the problem.

As long as distortions and stereotypes are packaged glossily and sold well, they would remain entrenched as the unquestioned truth in the minds of large swathes of the viewing audiences while all ‘other versions’ will continue to remain unheard or worse, dismissed as untruths. It is time for professional Hindu voices to learn to tell and sell our versions of our stories.

And unapologetically. I hope, one day, not too far in the future, series and movies that talk of the majority of this country in a far kinder tone – of their glories, their accomplishments, their struggles, their resilience, their grit, their wisdom, their inclusiveness, and above all, their truths – get made skillfully enough, for the rest of the world to hear, understand and appreciate.

We can’t pass order today, it is already six: Bombay High Court refuses to grant bail to Arnab Goswami today, lawyers free to approach the sessions court

After almost 6 hours of hearing, the Bombay High Court reserved its judgment in a petition filed to challenge Republic TV Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami’s arrest. While withholding the verdict in the ad-interim plea filed by Arnab Goswami, the court said that it could not pass an order today as it was already 6 PM. The Republic Media Network Managing Director had filed the plea requesting to declare his arrest as illegal, and also sought interim release from jail.

The court said that it could not pass an order today citing the considerations and compilations submitted to them. The court added that it will pronounce the orders someday in the next week.

Senior advocate Harish Salve cited the precedent of the Jagisha Arora’s habeas case where the Supreme Court ordered the release of Prashant Kanojia from custody last year. Salve argued that similar to Kanjia’s case, his client, Arnab Goswami, too, should be granted bail. However, the court refused to grant a verdict in the case, adding that the pendency of the petition will not bar the petitioner from approaching the sessions court for bail and if such an application is filed, it should be decided within 4 days.

The prime argument raised in the HC petition is that the police has no power to suo moto re-open the case without getting a judicial order after the Magistrate passed a closure order in the case in 2019 based on the report submitted by police. The defence lawyers contended that action of the police officers to re-start the investigation in the case were illegal and hence the accused ought to be released.

On Friday, after hearing Arnab Goswami’s counsel, the division bench of Bombay High Court, comprising Justices S S Shinde and M S Karnik, had adjourned the plea of Republic TV’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami that sought revocation of the 2018 abetment of suicide case in which he has been arrested. The Bombay HC on Friday had said that the court needs to hear the other side before coming to a conclusion. Arnab Goswami also sought interim release from jail. The hearing had started on 5th November, a day after Raigad court had rejected the plea for police remand had sent him to judicial custody of 14 days.

Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami arrested, he files habeas corpus petition

After being manhandled at his residence by Raigad police cops who came to arrest him at his house on November 4th in relation to a two-year-old closed case, Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami had filed a plea before the Bombay High Court challenging his arrest by the police. 

The plea in the Bombay High Court came after Mumbai Police had arbitrarily started re-investigation in the 2018 closed case of interior designer Anvay Naik’s suicide on the direction of Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

In the plea filed by him before the Bombay High Court, Goswami said that his arrest was conducted in blatant violation of his fundamental rights to life and personal liberty and his dignity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. He had alleged that he was forced out of his residence by around 20 officials of Mumbai police and was dragged into the vehicle and his son was also assaulted.

In his plea, Goswami had sought an urgent interim stay on the re-investigation in the 2018 FIR lodged at Alibaug police station in which he was accused of abetment to suicide of Naik. He had asked the court to the issuance of a writ of Habeas Corpus directing Alibaug police to produce him in court claiming that his arrest and detention was illegal because the case was closed.

Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami arrested

Continuing their witch-hunt against Republic TV chief, the Mumbai Police on Wednesday arrested Arnab Goswami. The Mumbai Police reached Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami’s residence on Wednesday and physically manhandled him as they tried to detain him in a 2018 abetment to suicide case that was already closed.

A team of Mumbai Police arrested Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami after they physically assaulted and dragged him by grabbing his hair. In a shocking act, a large contingent of Mumbai Police was seen present at Goswami’s residence on Wednesday morning. In the below video, it can be seen how officials of the Mumbai Police were manhandling the Republic TV chief.

In May 2018, an FIR was filed against Arnab Goswami after an interior designer had committed suicide in Mumbai. In a suicide note, Anvay Naik claimed Goswami owed him a total of Rs 5.4 crore. However, Goswami was investigated and case was closed by court after a closure report was filed by the Police.