Months after Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai apartment, another budding actor from Bihar, Akshat Utkarsh, has reportedly died under mysterious circumstances in Mumbai. His family has alleged foul play. According to reports, actor Akshat Utkarsh hailing from Sikanderpur in Muzaffarpur, Bihar had come to Mumbai to make a career in Bollywood. He was found dead on September 28 (Sunday) late night.
The actor’s maternal uncle, Ranjit Singh has claimed that his nephew has been murdered. He alleged that the Mumbai police has not been cooperating with them. It has not even provided the family with a copy of the FIR lodged in the case of Akshat’s death yet, alleged Ranjit Singh.
Speaking to the media, the actor’s uncle said that Akshat had last spoken to his father- Vijayant Chaudhary at 9 pm on Sunday. Later in the night, they got the news of his death. The family is certain that the actor has been murdered.
On Tuesday morning, the family took the body of Akshat to Patna. From there, it was taken to his house in Muzaffarpur, where the last rites of the actor would be conducted.
The AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) report in Sushant Singh Rajput case suggests that no traces of organic poisoning was found in the post mortem. As reported by Republic TV, no clean chit has been given to any of the stakeholders in the investigation including Mumbai Police and Cooper Hospital where Rajput’s postmortem was carried out. Further, the report has not ruled out any angles for his death including murder.
The murder angle is reportedly backed on evidence and testimonies contrary to the purported ‘suicide theory’ as per the report. Citing sources, Republic reported that the AIIMS findings are in line with the CBI findings which it concluded in first leg of investigation. Republic further reports that the CBI considers the AIIMS findings as ‘opinions’ on which rest of the investigation.
The second leg of the CBI investigation is likely to begin by end of this week. The CBI is likely to re-examine Dipesh Sawant, Sidharth Pithani along with Sushant’s personal staff who were present in the house on 14th June when the actor was found dead in his room.
Amidst the mounting pressure on the CBI by Sushant Singh Rajput’s family and fans over the delay in the investigation into the mysterious death of the actor, the forensic panel of Delhi’s All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has submitted their findings Monday to the CBI. The panel, headed by Dr Sudhir Gupta, was constituted on the request of the Central Bureau of Investigation to study the autopsy and viscera reports of late Sushant Singh Rajput.
According to reports, a detailed meeting was held yesterday late evening, during which the AIIMS doctors’ panel submitted its conclusive findings to the CBI. Now, these conclusions of the AIIMS panel are being corroborated with the CBI’s findings over the last 40 days to reach any decision.
AIIMS panel based its finding on the remaining 20 per cent viscera sample available of actor Sushant Singh Rajput
Since most of the evidence at the crime scene has already been destroyed, the panel has based its finding on the remaining 20 per cent viscera samples of the actor available, to ascertain if it was a murder or suicide.
Meanwhile, the CBI, responding to the backlash it has been receiving over the delay in the investigation, has issued its first official statement stating that they are conducting a professional investigation into the death of SSR. They claimed that the investigation is being conducted “professionally” and that all aspects are being looked into and nothing has been ruled out as of yet. “The Central Bureau of Investigation is conducting a professional investigation related to the death of Shri Sushant Singh Rajput in which all aspects are being looked at and no aspect has been ruled out as of date. The investigation is continuing,” said the CBI in an official statement.
Actor’s lawyer alleges strangulation
On September 25 (Friday), advocate Vikas Singh, the lawyer representing the actor Sushant Singh Rajput family, had claimed that an AIIMS doctor, had informed him that the 34-year-old had been strangled to death and did not commit suicide.
Taking to Twitter, Singh had expressed dissapointment at CBI’s speed in solving the death case and said that he was getting “frustrated” with the delay in the CBI investigation into Sushant Singh Rajput’s case.
Speaking to the media, the family lawyer Sushant Singh Rajput, Vikas Singh, said that the investigation into the death of the Bollywood actor is being dragged into another direction and alleged that the suicide case is being diverted towards the drugs case.
The Kai Po Che actor-Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14. Initially, the Mumbai Police said the actor had committed suicide and had claimed that the actor was suffering from depression.
On Sunday, the Kerala police had lodged a case against three women activists for assaulting and pouring motor oil on a Youtuber named Vijay P. Nair, who made derogatory comments against ‘feminists’ in a viral video. Nair, a resident of the area near the Gandhari Amman Koil in Thiruvananthapuram, had filed a complaint at the Thampanoor police station, following the attack on Saturday.
The case was registered based on his complaint. The three women activists, including dubbing artist Bhagyalakshmi, were booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 34 (criminal act by several persons with a common intention), 294 -b (verbal abuse), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 392 (robbery), 452 (trespassing, assault or wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation). Nair was earlier booked for outraging the modesty of women.
The women were angry over Nair’s derogatory video on ‘feminists’
Reportedly, these women ‘activists’ were triggered by a video posted by Nair on his YouTube channel a month ago. Nair had put out a video titled “Why do feminists in India, especially Kerala, not wear underwear?” In his YouTube channel ‘Vitrix scene’, Nair had had also accused feminists in Kerala of being ‘sex workers’. He also allegedly claimed that Kerala feminists were like ‘toilets in public transport’ stands as they have sex eight-nine times every day. He had also allegedly said one dubbing artist would have sex after every movie.
The assault on the Youtuber
In a viral video, Bhagyalakshmi and Diya Sana could be seen slapping the Youtuber and pouring black oil over his head. The women landed up at his residence at Thiruvananthapuram to question him for putting out a video and then slapped him for doing so. As the women attacked and screamed at him, Youtuber Nair, with folded hands, apologised to women for hurting them. The women ‘activists’ also asked him to delete the videos he has uploaded on his YouTube channel. Apparently, these three women ‘activists’ also forcefully took away the laptop and other gadgets used by Nair to submit to the police station.
As the movement around the liberation of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura gathers steam, most notably by a petition filed on Friday seeking the removal of Shahi Idgah mosque built reportedly at the exact place of Lord Krishna’s birth, an organisation headed by a Congress leader has moved to denounce the petition.
The ‘All India Teerth Purohit Mahasabha’ headed by Congress leader Mahesh Pathak has condemned the petition seeking the removal of the 17th-century mosque. Pathak said that there is no dispute between the mosque and the temple after an agreement was reached between the two parties in the twentieth century.
Congress leader Mahesh Pathak calls petitioners seeking the right over Lord Krishna’s birthplace as ‘outsiders’
Pathak called those filed the petition as ‘outsiders’, accusing them of fomenting chaos and disharmony in Mathura by raising the issue of reclamation of Lord Krishna’s birthplace.
“Some outsiders are trying to disrupt the peace and harmony in Mathura by dredging up the mosque-temple issue. There is a mutual understanding between the two communities and the existence of two religious sites next to each other signifies the emotional solidarity,” Pathak said.
It is worth noting that Mahesh Pathak has also contested the Lok Sabha elections from Mathura on a Congress ticket. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he got only 28,084 (2.55%) votes and Hema Malini of BJP won for the second time in a row from the Mathura constituency.
Babri litigant calls those petition filed in Mathura a design of people wanting to perpetuate Hindu-Muslim politics
Babri litigant Iqbal Ansari also echoed sentiments raised by Congress leader Mahesh Pathak, claiming that purveyors of Hindu-Muslim politics are trying to create a controversy over the issue. He added that it is in some people’s interest to let temple-mosque issue dispute continue interminably. He cited the example of Babri case which lasted for more than 50 years in the court. Ansari accused the people seeking the liberation of Lord Krishna’s birthplace as those who are hindering the progress of India.
On the other hand, ‘Bajrang Dal’ founder Vinay Katiyar clarified that the mosque stands today in the same place in Mathura where Lord Krishna was born. He said that the path to that mosque goes through Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi. He added that it was forcibly taken over by people of another community, adding that without any major demonstration the administration won’t wake up to the demands made by the Hindus.
Petition filed in Mathura court for seeking ownership of Lord Krishna’s birthplace
A civil suit was filed on Friday last week in a Mathura court seeking the ownership over entire 13.37 acres of Krishna Janmabhoomi land in Mathura and also sought the removal of Shahi Idgah Masjid.
In a petition filed, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain demanded that the agreement reached between the Sri Krishna Janmasthana Seva Sansthan and the Shahi Idgah Management Committee in 1968 is completely wrong and should be repealed. The petitioners have stated that the entire area is known as ‘Katra Keshav Dev’, a place where Lord Krishna was born in the karagar of King Kans and added that the place of birth currently lies beneath the existing structure.
Dubious NGO Amnesty International India that has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons lately, has halted its operations in India on 29th September 2020. The organization has blamed the government of India for witch hunt on “Human Rights” organizations, like themselves.
Recently, the Enforcement Directorate had frozen all bank accounts of the organisation. Amnesty has stated that it has now let all its staff members go, 150 of them. A statement by Amnesty has stated that they came to know of the freezing the bank accounts on September 10.
#NEWS: Amnesty International India Halts Its Work On Upholding Human Rights In India Due To Reprisal From Government Of Indiahttps://t.co/W7IbP4CKDq
In the Twitter thread the organization posted, it has alleged that they have halted the operations in India “due to reprisal from Government of India.” On 10th September 2020, the Government of India froze all accounts of the organization. It had to let go of all the employees who were working on different projects. The organization said more than four million people had supported their organization, and over 100,000 people have donated to them for their “good work”.
Amnesty never registered under FCRA
However, the government has stated that Amnesty International was never registered in India under the FCRA which is needed for receiving foreign donations. Amnesty, however, has been claiming that all the foreign fundings were their ‘legal fundraising efforts’ that are being termed as money laundering by the government because they had been critical of the government.
Amnesty claims ‘witch hunt’ because they were critical of the govt
Amnesty had participated in a US Congressional hearing on the alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, an issue that the US Democrats have been raking to appease radical Islamists and criticise India’s Modi government. Amnesty has also been constantly trying to bring international attention to the anti-Hindu Delhi Riots, peddling the leftist narrative that the riots were a ‘progrom’ against Muslims. Despite the many Hindu casualties, targeted attack on Hindu businesses and lynching of police officials, Amnesty in its reports had claimed that the Muslim rioters were the ‘victims’. The organization has claimed that its reports are the reason why the government froze its accounts.
Amensty’s history of anti-India activities
In a report published in India in 2019, we explored the connections between Amnesty International India, the British government, and radical Islamists. The organization has a history of meddling with the internal affairs of India. It has constantly been trying to falsely project India as a violator of human rights and ‘oppressor’ of Muslims.
Amnesty’s anti-India campaign on the Kashmir issue
On several occasions, Amnesty India and its former head Aakar Patel kept peddling blatant lies and fake news to portray India negatively. It also campaigned for the arrested Urban Naxals in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
Amnesty International received funding from governments though they had refused any such donations. As reported by NGO Monitor, in 2009, Amnesty received €2.5 million (approximately 1% of its donations) from governments that they used for its operations in India. You can check out the 2019 report here.
In 2018, the organization’s offices were raided by ED over FCRA violations. A few days ago, former Amnesty India head Aakar Patel was arrested for his defamatory tweets on PM Modi, BJP-RSS, and Ghanchi caste. Earlier Patel’s Twitter account was withheld due to tweets instigating caste and communal violence in India.
YouTuber and model Saahil Choudhary, a vlogger from Haryana, was allegedly picked up by Mumbai Police on Monday. As per his now-deleted Instagram post, he wrote that Mumbai Police arrested him on 28th September without any notice or warrant for making videos on the Sushant Singh Rajput case. He alleged if there is no post from him by evening, that means his game is “over.”
As per his post, three officers from Crime Branch came to pick him up, but only one accompanied him on the flight. “Don’t stop here and [I] have to make this sacrifice if we want to correct the system,” he added.
Since Rajput’s death, Choudhary made several videos on the case and blamed politicians and Bollywood celebrities for his death. A complaint was filed against him for making such videos. In one of his videos, he even alleged that Shiv Sena was behind Rajput’s death.
Reaction on Social media
The hashtag #ReleaseSaahilChoudhary started trending on Twitter on 29th September. Several netizens have asked Home Minister to intervene to ensure his release.
OpIndia could not independently verify Choudhary’s claims.
Saahil and MeToo movement
When the Me Too movement was at its peak in 2018, Saahil accused designers Sadan Pande and Rohit Verma of sexual harassment. He alleged that Pande asked him to remove his boxers at his flat in Shahpur Jat while Verma tried to kiss him forcibly. Both designers denied the allegations.
The news item in the screenshot cited 26/11 Mumbai terror attack conspirator David Headley’s confession in US in March 2016 wherein he had said that he was trying to raise funds for the Shiv Sena, ruling party in Maharashtra. Since the Twitter handle was earlier found demanding that Congress leader Udit Raj be made party president and the news was published by an outlet known to be pro-AAP blog that has published fake news many times, many people were not sure if this is true.
However, turns out the pro-AAP blog had indeed reported the news in March 2016.
As per the report, during a cross examination in the Mumbai court via video conferencing from the US, Headley had confessed to organising a fund raising programme for Shiv Sena. He had even planned on inviting Shiv Sena leader the late Bala Saheb Thackeray for the fundraiser. Many Congress leaders had then attacked Shiv Sena over the confessions.
If we take David Headley seriously wrt late Ishrat we must also accept that he raised funds for Shiv Sena &declare SS a terror outfit .
— Tehseen Poonawalla Official (@tehseenp) March 25, 2016
Arranged fund-raiser for Shiv Sena: David Headley https://t.co/0OFBknwGw8 See, Headley admits helping his friends in Shiv Sena, RSS, BJP. 🙂
In fact, as per a 2013 report, Headley had tried to forge friendship with Shiv Sena leader Rajaram Rege to get access to Shiv Sena. The two had exchanged emails where Headley had given business proposals. Shiv Sena leader Rege had also reportedly tried to lure Headley into business deals in 2008. Copy of the emails was produced by federal prosecutors in the court. Rege had even met Headley outside the Sena building reportedly for ‘2 minutes’ and denied him access to the building.
While Headley had made the allegations, Shiv Sena had back then refuted the same.
David Headley wanted to recruit filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s son Rahul Bhatt to ISI
A close aide of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s son Rahul Bhatt, David Headley had wanted to recruit the latter into Pakistan’s intelligence service ISI. As per reports, a day prior to the deadly Mumbai attack in 2008, Headley had warned Bhatt and asked him not to go to South Mumbai on 26th November, 2008, the day of the attack.
Yesterday was a moment of truth for the Kerala model, hailed worldwide as the one true model of healthcare. For the last several days, Kerala’s coronavirus numbers had been skyrocketing at close to 7000 per day. But a particularly significant milestone was reached yesterday.
As on date, Kerala has 1,79,923 confirmed cases of Corona virus. The state of Bihar has 1,80,032 confirmed cases. The difference between Kerala model of healthcare and the poorest most backward state in the country? Just 109 cases!
In fact, Kerala would have crossed Bihar yesterday, going by its recent trajectory. But Kerala aggressively reduced testing, doing just 33600 tests yesterday, resulting in 4538 confirmed cases. The test positive rate in Kerala is an alarming 13.5%.
Meanwhile, Bihar carried out some 1.2 lakh tests and reported 1150 cases, a positive rate of 0.9%.
Sadly, the media hasn’t followed up on what happened since they praised Kerala model to high heaven all the way from April to July. So a lot of people might be taken aback by the comparison between Bihar and Kerala.
Kerala and Bihar: Propaganda Vs reality
Let me update you on the facts. Bihar has been testing much more than Kerala, doing well over 1 lakh tests a day. Kerala has been lagging very far behind at just 50,000 or so per day. So far, Bihar has done 70 lakh tests and Kerala only 28 lakh. The test positive rate in Kerala is now among the highest in the country. And the test positive rate in Bihar is possibly the lowest.
What about number of deaths? Bihar has seen around 900 deaths and Kerala around 700. This is not a big gap. And remember that Bihar is testing much more than Kerala, with a much lower test positive rate. This means that Kerala is likely missing many more cases than Bihar is. So the small gap in number of deaths is easily explained by that.
That’s the Kerala model: global PR, global fame, international awards. But when it comes to delivery on the ground, Kerala’s healthcare stands at the same level as Bihar.
Let’s not forget: we are comparing Kerala and Bihar here. The poorest state in India versus the alleged global champion in healthcare. The Health Minister of Bihar never went to BBC mocking the rest of India for not having hospitals. Bihar didn’t win any awards for healthcare or HDI. Bihar didn’t mock anyone. But when it came to delivering on the ground, it did just as well as Kerala. Minus international awards, of course.
Side note on Uttar Pradesh. As of now, UP has some 54,000 active cases versus 58,000 active cases in Kerala. Congratulations to Kerala’s star Health Minister Shailaja Teacher for surpassing Uttar Pradesh, a state with 7 times the population of Kerala, in total number of active cases. Oh, and UP’s test positive rate is only around 2.5%.
An award from the UN might not be enough for the great ‘Teacher.’ Some special inter-galactic award might be in order for the best healthcare system in the universe.
There are many points to note here and I will make them one by one.
First, the intellectual cheerleaders of Kerala model have fallen completely silent. When the going was good, we heard so much about it. Now that Kerala has collapsed to the level of Bihar, these experts have simply gone silent, hidden under their desks or slipped out through the backdoor. This proves they were never experts, but simply politicians with a partisan operative mentality. What use do we have for experts who hide their faces and refuse to admit their mistakes when the facts go against their political bias? Can we ever trust them again?
Communist hold over media
Second, the stranglehold of the Communists over the media is scary. When the going was good, the Communists had the media eating out of their hands. When things went bad, they simply stopped the media coverage, like turning off a tap or clicking a switch. No apologies were offered for the publicity around Kerala model. The media just went dark. This is terrifying. The CPIM can get away with literally anything because their media network will not shine a light on their misdeeds no matter what.
The third point is that the people of Kerala are now in serious danger. There is a reason the media is called one of the pillars of democracy: it is supposed to highlight the failings of the government. But the media observes a mafia-like code of silence over the unfolding disaster of Kerala healthcare. For decades, the Communists have unleashed political massacres all across Kerala (ask a Bengali like me about what Communist rule is like). The political murders went unreported. The mafia-like code of silence in the media around Communist crimes makes people of Kerala less safe, not more. But this time, the stakes are much higher. This is a virus. It is capable of unleashing death and destruction on a scale that even Communists cannot match. And nobody will know what is happening in Kerala because the media will not talk about it.
Fourth, one should realize that the Communists have been fooling the masses of Kerala for a long time with a curious form of regional sub-nationalism. I’m sorry to break the facts, but Kerala just isn’t the star performer that Communist propaganda says that it is. In fact, it’s economy is a basket case and has always been so. The grip of political malaise in the state has been such that most enterprising folks have left. They had to use their talents to built businesses and wealth in the Gulf, instead of India. The genius of Kerala is making UAE richer, not Kerala and the rest of India. The state is reduced to operating a remittance economy.
The many disasters of the Kerala model have been swept under the rug by propaganda about regional pride. The regional pride plank rose to a crescendo when liberal ecosystem arranged all sorts of awards and interviews with BBC for Kerala’s Communist ministers. Now that Kerala’s healthcare system has proved no better than Bihar, the scales should fall away from everyone’s eyes. Those experts with connections at BBC and Al Jazeera were never friends of Kerala. They used Kerala as a marketing tool to push their political agenda. Now that Kerala is in peril, they are not willing to discuss the fate of real people.
Fifth, with the collapse of the Kerala healthcare model, the Communists are going back to the frightening basics of Stalinism. The Chief Minister and his star Health Minister have refused to take all responsibility. Instead, they say the surge of cases is because of the opposition protesting against the government in the gold scam. You get that? The cornered Communists know only one language: repression. They are not blaming themselves. They are blaming democratic expression for the failure of the Kerala model. They are coming for your liberties.
Finally, we have to note the story of Bihar and Kerala has many life lessons in it. This is like one of those Panchatantra stories we learned as kids. This is a tweet back in March from someone who has written in The Wire and Newsclick.
I will not speculate on what he wanted to say or what his tone was. You be the judge of that. I will just make some general observations, which may or may not be related to his tweet. Or the tweets of so many other liberals in the last several months.
Arrogance is wrong. Never look down on anyone. Especially, never look down on anyone because they are poor or underprivileged. They might have lessons for you. Be humble. Pride always comes before a fall. Life is a great leveler. Life is a great teacher. Even greater than Shailaja ‘Teacher.’
The Modi government has introduced major reforms in the agriculture sector with the passing of three crucial farm bills in the Parliament. The Centre has addressed the primary concerns of the farmers regarding market availability and fair pricing of their produce through the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.
However, the Congress party and several other opposition parties have been opposed to the farm reforms. With organised protests in Punjab and Harayana, the grand old party is trying to create an impression of mass agitation against the farm bills. As a part of its political agenda, Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi has directed the Congress-ruled States to find ways to override the Central reforms in the farming sector under Article 254(2) of the Indian Constitution.
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal informed, “Hon’ble Congress President has asked Congress-ruled states to explore the possibilities to pass laws in their states under Article 254(2) of the Constitution, which allows the state legislatures to pass a law to override a Central law.”
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi (in file pic) has appealed to all Congress-ruled states to explore possibilities of bypassing these tyrannical legislations by passing laws so that farmers could be spared from grave injustice done by the Centre: Congress https://t.co/zJFBxRwYAhpic.twitter.com/UIan4WsIMH
The Article 254(2) of the Constitution states, “Where a law made by the Legislature of a State with respect to one of the matters enumerated in the concurrent List contains any provision repugnant to the provisions of an earlier law made by Parliament or any existing law with respect to that matter, then, the law so made by the Legislature of such State shall, if it has been reserved for the consideration of the President and has received his assent, prevail in that State.”
Congress party to observe ‘Kisan-Mazdoor Bachao Divas’
The Congress party has planned to observe Kisan-Mazdoor Bachao Divas on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary (Gandhi Jayanthi) on October 2. The party will hold demonstrations and marches at legislative assemblies and district headquarters in the country.
Congress will observe ‘Kisan-Mazdoor Bachao Divas’ on October 2 by holding dharnas and marches at every assembly and district headquarters across the country, the party says
Meanwhile, TN Prathapan, a Congress MP from Kerala, has moved the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of the farm bills. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh stated that the party would protest and explore legal options against the farm bill. While Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has submitted a memorandum to Governor Kalraj Mishra and President Ram Nath Kovind, Chattisgarh CM Bhupesh Bhagel is planning to pass a resolution in the legislative assembly.
On Tuesday, Google Doodle paid a tribute to iconic Bollywood actress Zohra Sehgal.
Google Doodle celebrates Zohra Sehgal
The doodle had a picture of hers in a classical dance pose. However, the search word had a typo. Google spelt it as ‘Zohra Segal’.
Zohra ‘Segal’ in place of ‘Sehgal’
Google Doodle usually celebrates notable individuals on their birth or death anniversary. Sehgal was born on 27th April, 1912 and passed away on 10th July 2014. Hence, netizens were quite bewildered to see the Google Doodle.
Not that I am complaining but it’s mysterious that why is @Google celebrating #ZohraSehgal today, when it is neither her birth or death anniversary. Also, spells her name wrong! ? https://t.co/660Cxi9lAl
Born as Sahibzadi Zohra Mumtazullah Khan Begum in what is now Uttar Pradesh, she studied in Lahore, now Pakistan. She later studied modern dance for three years in Mary Wigman’s ballet school in Germany, first Indian to do so. When teaching at Uday Shankar India Culture Centre in Almora, Zohra met her future husband, Kameshwar Sehgal.
Few years later, the couple moved to Lahore and set up a dance institute, Zohresh. However, due to communal tension in wake of India-Pakistan partition, they moved back to India and settled in Bombay, now Mumbai. She then joined Prithvi Theatre and eventually films.
On this day in 1946, her film Neecha Nagar was released at Cannes where it won the Palme d’Or, the highest prize awarded at Cannes Film Festival.
