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Facebook removes hundreds of pro-Trump QAnon groups ahead of US elections, limits their reach

OpIndia Staff
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Facebook removes hundreds of pro-Trump QAnon groups ahead of US elections, limits their reach

On Wednesday, the social media giant Facebook in a controversial decision removed around 800 QAnon groups for posts that allegedly ‘celebrated violence’ and showed ‘intent to use weapons’ or try to attract followers with ‘patterns of violent behaviour’.

According to the reports, Facebook has also imposed restrictions on 1,950 more public and private QAnon accounts. These accounts will not be recommended to users and will be harder to find in Facebook searches as well. 

QAnon is a collective term for groups of activists and right-wing conspiracy theorists, who are often known for supporting United States President Donald Trump ever since he announced to contest for the US presidential elections of 2016. The internet activists have made serious allegations stating that key Democrats are part of a child-sex racketing and ran a paedophile ring out of a restaurant basement in Washington DC.

The movement centres on posting anonymous information using the nickname Q, who claims to be a high-ranking official in the Trump administration. The movement began in secret corners of the internet, has now entered mainstream politics recently.

The conspiracy theorists had once asserted that Democratic and Hollywood elites worship the devil, eat children, and they have already been executed after secret military tribunals and replaced by actors. 

New QAnon groups have been created

Removing these accounts, Facebook said that some of these followers have formed new groups with code words, hence tracking them down would be an ongoing task. Facebook said that thousands of its users belong to one or more QAnon group, but declined to give more information. 

Facebook has been under increasing pressure to check the spread of fake news and conspiracy theories, leading to the 2020 presidential elections.

Previously, Twitter had also removed thousands of QAnon accounts from its network. Even Google had blocked QAnon-related videos from YouTube for violating its guidelines. Earlier, the FBI has identified QAnon as a potential domestic terror threat, and that some of its followers have been charged with murder and kidnapping.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump reacted to banning of QAnon accounts on Facebook, said that he did not know much about the QAnon groups, but said that they held a favourable view of him. “I don’t know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much,” he said.

Trump ‘cancels’ Goodyear, calls for boycott of its tyres after company policy banning MAGA attire goes viral, the company distances itself from the policy

OpIndia Staff
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Trump ‘cancels’ Goodyear, calls for boycott of its tyres after company policy banning MAGA attire goes viral, the company distances itself from the policy

In the politically charged environment in the USA ahead of the Presidential elections, US-based Tyre maker Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company had to face major embarrassment after President Donald Trump called for its boycott. “Don’t buy GOODYEAR TIRES”, tweeted President Trump after a slide from the company went viral banning MAGA branded attire. MAGA, or Make America Great Again, is a slogan popularized by Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Sharply criticising the Ohio headquartered company for allegedly banning merchandise carrying the MAGA slogan, he justified the call for boycotting Goodyear tyres and buying better tyres for far less as the Radical Left Democrats do the same. “Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now”, the POTUS declared.

President Trump’s tweet came after an employee of the company posted a slide displayed at a plant of the company, which listed MAGA hats under the unacceptable category. According to the employee, the slide was displayed by an area manager kiat the Topeka plant of the company, who had said that the slide came from the corporate office in Akron, Ohio. The slide displayed items under two categories, acceptable and unacceptable.

Under acceptable, it listed Black Lives Matter (BLM), and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride. While under unacceptable, the slide listed: Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, MAGA Attire, Political Affiliated Slogans or Material. The employee took a photo of the slide and posted the same on social media, after which it went viral.

After the tweet of President Trump, the company went into damage control mode and issued a statement distancing itself from the slide. The company claimed that the visual in question was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate, nor was its part of a diversity training class. The company said, “a widely circulated image sparked a strong reaction, and we wanted to take the opportunity to provide some context to the visual and our policies”.

“To be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any forms of harassment or discrimination. To enable a work environment free of those, we ask that associates refrain from workplace expressions in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party, as well as similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equity issues,” the statement added. Goodyear also clarified that it is not anti-police, as some were claiming after seeing the slide.

In the current election campaign, President Trump is speaking against what he calls the left-wing “cancel culture”, the practice of the left-liberals to punish people for not allying with their political ideology. “One of their political weapons is ‘cancel culture’ — driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees. This is the very definition of totalitarianism, and it is completely alien to our culture and our values, and it has absolutely no place in the United States of America,” Donald Trump had said during a speech a few weeks ago. Therefore, by calling for the boycott, Trump sought to pay back the left in their own coin.

President Trump in the Beast

It is interesting to note that the Presidential Limousine used by the US President, known as the Beast, uses custom-made tyres made by Goodyear.

AMU organises webinar to discuss Khilafat movement, BJP calls it a threat to country’s internal security, seeks action against varsity

OpIndia Staff
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AMU organises webinar to discuss Khilafat movement, BJP calls it a threat to country’s internal security, seeks action against varsity

The leaders of the Aligarh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has written to the Ministry of Education demanding inquiry and action against the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) after the varsity organised a webinar to discuss the Khilafat movement.

The Aligarh Muslim University had conducted the webinar on August 13 and a Turkish professor also took part in the discussion on the movement. It was presided over by AMU’s Vice-Chancellor (VC) and the keynote speaker was a Turkish professor named H Hilal Sahin.

BJP criticised AMU for conducting the webinar on Khilafat movement calling it a threat to the country’s “internal security”

Terming the matter a threat to the country’s “internal security”, the BJP’s former media spokesperson Nishit Sharma said that strict action should be taken against the AMU V-C and organisers of the event.

“The webinar details should be looked into by an Inquiry Committee as the matter is related to internal security. AMU invited Sahin to express her views on the Khilafat movement despite knowing that Turkey supports Pakistan and opposes India in every decision, including the revocation of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status in August last year,” Sharma said.

BJP’s District Vice-President Gaurav Sharma also claimed that the Khilafat movement was responsible for the division of the country and “massacre across the world”.

“There is now some network which is working to revive this movement and organising such webinars in the AMU signal that preparation is being made for Khilafat 2.0 movement,” he added.

Manvendra Pratap Singh, member of National Monitoring Committee for minority educational institutes and also the BJP’s Vice-President for Braj region, said, “It is unfortunate that a Turkish professor was invited for the webinar in AMU despite the fact that Turkey has opposed India multiple times. The initiative is aimed at restarting the Khilafat movement which amounts to treason.”

Khilafat movement which fuelled the 1921 Hindu genocide

Khilafat movement was an uprising of Indian Muslims in 1920 in support of the Islamic caliphate, in the wake of World War 1. It was aimed at Islamic dominion over India, by destroying the British empire, with support of the Ottoman Empire (which was eventually exterminated in late 1922). The Indian National Congress, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, had thrown its weight behind the movement and promised the support of Hindus as well to the Ali brothers, Jauhar and Abul Kalam Azad, the four who had led the movement in 1920.

Due to Gandhi’s patronage, the Khilafat movement gained force in Malabar as well, which ultimately fuelled the 1921 Hindu genocide in Malabar also known as the Moppalah riots 1921, one of the worst pogroms against Hindus recorded in the annals of Indian history.

AMU proctor defends decision

Meanwhile, defending the varsity, AMU Proctor Prof Wasim Ali said: “The Turkish professor was a speaker because she is an expert on Khilafat movement. It was purely an academic programme and there was no politics involved in it. The varsity always organises such events in which international speakers participate.”

“There is no advisory from the government over inviting speakers in webinars. We invite well-known academicians for discussions and the Turkish professor’s invite was routine,” he added.

“We will send the webinar proceedings to the University Grants Commission (UGC) and MoE which is the usual process,” he said.

Retired judges, bureaucrats, lawyers write to CJI demanding action against those opposing Prashant Bhushan’s conviction in contempt of court case

OpIndia Staff
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Retired judges, bureaucrats, lawyers write to CJI demanding action against those opposing Prashant Bhushan’s conviction in contempt of court case

A group of citizens, including retired judges, bureaucrats and others, has railed against naysayers who have been criticising the Supreme Court over the conviction of senior advocate Prashant Bhushan in contempt of court case, raising concern over the recent trend of browbeating and intimidating the judiciary.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of India, the group said, “India has witnessed a series of attacks by institutional disruptors against judges who are unwilling to agree with them and toe the line drawn by them.”

“It is unfortunate that when political ends of lawyers are not served by a decision of the court, they vilify the court by making scandalising remarks,” the statement read, adding “The Supreme Court of India as well as the judges are subject to both scurrilous language, malicious attack and scandalising remarks.”

More than 100 retired judges, bureaucrats, lawyers and others have signed the letter. Some of those who had been signatories to the letter include–former Mumbai High Court chief justice K R Vyas, former Sikkim HC chief justice Permod Kohli, former petroleum secretary Saurabh Chandra and former Punjab DGP P C Dogra.

The statement also pointed out that while legitimate criticism of both judgments and the functioning of the courts had existed since a long time, however, recently the court’s authority is undermined by criticism that is designed and motivated by malice.

The argued that for the courts to perform their duties and carry out their functions effectively, it is sine qua non to protect their dignity and the authority. It stated that usage of malicious phrases such as ‘Supreme Court has destroyed democracy’, ‘The Supreme Court is killing the Constitution’ and several such vitriolic descriptions erode the public faith in the judiciary.

“We urge you to uphold the edifice of the judicial system and protect the third pillar of our democracy from those who peddle falsehood to destroy the institution. We sincerely hope that the Supreme Court of India ensures that such persons are dealt with in an exemplary manner,” the letter to the CJI read while asking for punitive action against those who indulge in sharing lies about the courts and tarnish their image.

Following Supreme Court’s conviction, several lawyers and bodies come up in support of Prashant Bhushan

The letter has come in the wake of criticism directed at the Supreme Court for the conviction of senior advocate Prashant Bhushan for his tweets maligning the apex court. In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court held advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court. The case pertained to two tweets where Prashant Bhushan had cast aspersions against the Supreme Court and specifically, CJI Bobde. The order has been passed by a three-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra and the arguments on sentencing, that can go up to 6 months, will be heard by the bench on the 20th of August.

The apex court observed that the insinuation by Bhushan is not an attack against an individual but on the institution itself and that the CJIs who presided over the court in the last 6 years, and particularly last 4, had a particular role in destroying the Indian democracy.

Around 41 lawyers have appealed against his conviction to the apex Court on Monday. On August 14, the Supreme Court found Prashant Bhushan guilty for two tweets where he had raised aspersions on the apex court, and specifically against the Chief Justice of India.

Several bodies, including the Bar Association of India (BAI), had come out in support of Bhushan after his conviction, defending him by asserting that at the time when the citizenry is facing huge challenges, the stature of the top court would stand enhanced by allowing criticism rather than taking offence at his remarks.

Besides, a bevvy of left-leaning liberals, including prominent public personalities, who harbour animosity towards the current regime, has sided with the beleaguered lawyer, raising aspersions over the Supreme Court’s decision of holding him guilty of contempt of court. 

D-Company aide Chhota Shakeel’s gang member apprehended by Gujarat ATS, was plotting to kill BJP leader

OpIndia Staff
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D-Company aide Chhota Shakeel’s gang member apprehended by Gujarat ATS, was plotting to kill BJP leader

Gujarat’s Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) apprehended one alleged sharpshooter belonging to the gang of Dawood aide and dreaded underworld gangster Chhota Shakeel. Illiyas Sheikh was nabbed after an exchange of fire in the wee hours of August 19 (Wednesday).

According to reports, the sharpshooter was plotting the assassination of BJP leader Gordhan Zadafia. Zadafia, a Leuva Patel leader from Saurashtra was Gujarat MoS Home in 2002 and is the co-in charge for BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking to media, Gujarat MoS Home Pradipsinh Jadeja informed that Illiyas Sheikh’s mobile contained pictures and videos of the BJP leader. Jadeja had got in touch with Zadafia, who is currently accompanying Gujarat BJP President CR Patil in his four-day tour to Saurashtra. and arranged to enhance his security.

As per reports, the Gujarat ATS and crime branch had received intel regarding two contract killers hiding in Hotel Vinus in Ahmedabad’s Relief Road. Based on the information, a team raided the hotel in the wee hours of Wednesday. They were fired upon by the men who were hiding in the hotel. Luckily no one was injured and the ATS apprehended one of the two contract killers.

Two pistols were recovered from the possession of Illiyas Sheikh, who had come from Mumbai to Ahmedabad with the intention to kill the BJP leader.

Delhi police registered an FIR against Chhota Shakeel after his plan to kill influential politicians and judges was unearthed

On February 7, 2020, the Delhi Police’s Special Cell had registered an FIR against Chhota Shakeel after it received inputs that underworld don is plotting to kill influential political and judicial figures in Delhi and neighbouring states.

“The underworld operatives of D-gang have managed to arrange high-grade weapons. The delivery of weapons was also arranged by Shakeel and the communication for delivery was done through ”end-to-end” encrypted messaging applications,” read the FIR which was registered against the underworld gangster on January 27 on the complaint of a police officer, who had received information from a source about the “planned killings”, the Delhi police said.

Though no specific target had been named in the FIR, on the basis of technical analysis, the police said that this plan was made to “infuse terror in the minds of the people and create instability in the country.” 

Senior leaders from parties like the Shiv Sena and the RSS have remained on the hit list of the D-Company and international criminal organization had earlier plotted to assassinate BJP and RSS leaders in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Posters come up in Aligarh threatening to burn Muslim women alive, banish from Islam, for worshipping Ram Lalla

OpIndia Staff
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Posters come up in Aligarh threatening to burn Muslim women alive, banish from Islam, for worshipping Ram Lalla

Posters have been put by Islamists in Aligarh threatening to burn alive two Muslim women for performing pooja of Raam Lalla during the Bhoomi Pujan for Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Rubi Asif Khan, a BJP leader in the area, and another woman Nargis Mehboob, lodged a complaint with the police after receiving the threats.

The threat to burn Rubi and Nargis alive, and also to banish them from Islam, came after they had performed aarti of Ram Lalla on 5th August, and also for sending a Rakhi for the Hindu God. Rubi Asif Khan is the president of the Mahavir Ganj BJP Mahila Morcha.

Rubi had sent the ‘rakhi’ to Ram Lalla on 30th July, and on 5th August when the Bhoomi Pujan for Ram Mandir was conducted by PM Modi, she had organised a pooja at her home along with some other women including Nargis Mehboob. She had also donated Rs 5,100 via cheque to Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust as a contribution towards the construction of the Ram Temple.

The posters with image of Rubi, Nargis and others performing the pooja has been put up in entire Aligarh. The poster says that Rubi and her friends worshiped Hindu God at her home, and such people should be banished from Islam under Sharia law. The poster also threatens to burn them alive along with their family members in her house.

After receiving the threats, Rubi and Nargis accompanied by local BJP workers went to the Delhi Gate police station in Aligarh and submitted a written complaint. They also requested the to the district administration to provide them security as they fear for their life.

The police have registered the complaint and started a probe. Delhi Gate police station in-charge Ashish Kumar said an investigation has been launched after receiving the complaint.

Congress leader Pankaj Punia insults women, mocks the Re 1 sanitary napkin scheme announced by PM Modi

OpIndia Staff
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Congress leader Pankaj Punia insults women, mocks the Re 1 sanitary napkin scheme announced by PM Modi

Modi government, under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushdhi Pariyojna (PMBJP), has managed to provide affordable sanitary napkins to poor women through Jan Aushadhi centres for just one rupee each. During his independence day speech, PM Narendra Modi had mentioned about this initiative by his government. This step taken by the central government to make menstrual hygiene accessible and available to girls and women in rural areas received plaudits from social media users who hailed PM Modi for taking a step forward in breaking pre-defined taboos against menstruation.

This gratitude and admiration extended towards PM Modi, seemed to have rattled Haryana Congress leader Pankaj Punia, who took to Twitter to write: “Santre (a term used to refer to RSS supporters), are you’ll asleep? just a reminder, don’t forget to wear the Re 1 sanitary pad someday”.

Congress leader Pankaj Punia’s now deleted Tweet

Displaying his mediocre mindset, the Congress leader mocked the RSS supporters with his crass, sexist jibe asking them to use the Re 1 sanitary napkin made available to poor women by the Modi government.

For the uninitiated, many use ‘santre’ to refer to people associated with RSS, because the RSS headquarter is in Nagpur which is famous for oranges.

Through his highly misogynistic and insensitive Tweet, Pankaj Punia not only mocked BJP and its supporters but also insulted women in general.

Disgusted by Punia’s misogynistic remark, social media users tore into the Congress leader. Some called him “disgusting” and a “mentally sick person”, who deserves applause from his boss Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

While some urged Twitter India to take cognisance and suspend the Congress leader’s account for passing such an obscene remark on women.

The social media users in their fit of rage lashed out at the Congress leader saying that if he cannot respect women, he should not be calling his mother “maa”.

Congress leader Pankaj Punia insults BJP and its supporters

This is, however, not the first time social media users have expressed resentment against the Congress leader. In the past also thousands of social media users had condemned the Congress leader for his hateful, vile and blatant Hinduphobic Tweet. Expressing his hate for BJP and its supporters, the Congress leader in May Tweeted: “These people, (BJP and its supporters) are the ones who exhume corpses and rape them. They get naked in front of their daughters and masturbate while chanting Jai Shri Ram slogans.” This blatantly anti-Hindu, and hateful tweet of Punia had created a huge controversy.

However, the Congress leader had remained unaffected. He went on a twitter spree of liking and retweeting the tweets of Congress supporters. He had even shared tweets where his supporters had shared that he has stated nothing wrong and the allegations are absolutely correct.

This hateful Tweet had, however, led to the Congress leader’s arrest. Police in Karnal had arrested Punia on May 21, for allegedly “hurting religious feelings” and “promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion” through his tweet.

Balochistan: It has been 11 years since Dr Deen Mohammad was kidnapped in 2009. All you need to know

OpIndia Staff
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Balochistan: It has been 11 years since Dr Deen Mohammad was kidnapped in 2009. All you need to know

Grant Shapps, UK Minister and Secretary of State has raised the issue of Dr Deen Mohammad’s kidnapping with Foreign & Commonwealth Office of UK last month. The Foreign Office in a reply said that the UK Government is concerned about the reports of forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in Pakistan.

In the response letter to Shapps, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth said that the situation of human rights is being monitored by the UK and concerns are being raised regularly about the need to respect human rights and the rule of law at the highest levels within the Government of Pakistan. “We advocate greater tolerance and action against human rights violations and abuses,” he added in the letter.

Shapps raised the concern with Lord Tariq Ahmed’s office after Hakeem Wadhela, president of Baloch National Movement UK Branch contacted him about the issue. He assured Wadhela that he would contact the foreign and commonwealth office about the multiple cases of human rights violations and abductions taking place in Balochistan and will find out what actions are being made by the British government in regards to these issues.

Lord Ahmad, in his letter to Shapps, confirmed that he had raised concerns about human rights with Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK multiple times including on 23rd June 2020.

Letter to Grant Shapps by Lord Tariq Ahmed (Credit: The Balochistan Post

The disappearance of Dr. Deen Mohammad Baloch

Though the story of Dr Deen Mohammad’s abduction appears in mainstream media every once in a while since 2009, the details of the incident are still obscure, partly due to the fact that the Pakistani government has been conducting large-scale human rights abuse against the Baloch people. Pakistani security forces abducted Baloch on the night of 28th June 2009 from Ornach area of Khuzdar Balochistan.

Dr Dee Mohammad was a member of the Baloch National Movement. Till date, no one knows where he is or what had happened to him after the alleged abduction. His daughters, Sammi and Mehlab Baloch are struggling to find information about their father.

Speech of Sammi Baloch, Daughter of Missing Dr Deen Mohammad Baloch

The family still believes that he is alive and they have knocked every court’s doors in Pakistan. Even after countless protests, press conferences and hunger strike camps, they have got no response from the Pakistani government about their father. They have approached the United Nations as well for the safe return of their father.

In 2013, daughters of Dr Baloch marched from Quetta to Karachi, and then to Islamabad covering 3000 KM in 116 days but got no information about their father. In an interview in 2017, elder daughter of Dr Bloch, Sammi Baloch said that they had used all possible democratic and peaceful channels to find out information about their father and possible safe recovery. However, no one had listened to their plea for help. She said if her father had committed any crime, he should have been presented to a court of law and punished as per the requirement.

Baloch’s daughters are associated with a group named Voice of Baloch Missing Persons to gather support in their quest to find their father, but till date, there do not have any information from any forum regarding their missing father. In a recent interview, Sammi said, “Only my family can understand the pain that we have been going through after the enforced disappearance of my father. We have knocked all the doors for justice, but I have to say with regret that 11 years have passed, but we are still to get justice. Once again, I am sitting in this (VBMP) camp. I appeal to Human Rights Organizations to play their role in providing me with justice.” She demanded that they should be treated as a citizen of the country and provided justice.

Role of Baloch National Movement UK Branch

Niaz Zehri, General Secretary of BNM UK Branch, in an interview with The Balochistan Post said that it is a part of BNM’s policy to contact the Parliamentarians and raise awareness about the issues of Balochistan. They are working on making people aware of the situation regularly. He said that their goal is to inform the world about the problems people of the Baloch face on a daily basis. “Our goal is to tell them why all these human rights violations are taking place in Balochistan,” he added.

Kerala: Poachers kill pregnant wild buffalo, cut open the mother for the meat of the foetus

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Poachers kill pregnant wild buffalo, cut open the mother for the meat of the foetus

In a yet another barbaric incident in Kerala, a group of poachers brutally shot dead a pregnant wild buffalo near Puncha forest areas of Pookottumpadam village in Malappuram District of Kerala.

According to the reports, the Kerala forest department has arrested six people in connection with the poaching of a fully pregnant wild buffalo at Nilambur Pookottupadam.

The arrested accused are identified as Pullara Nanippa alias Abu (47), Parothodika Mohammad Bustan (30), Talakottupuram Mohammad Ansif (23), Chemmala Aashiq (27) and Pilakkal Suhail (28) from Puncha. Earlier, the officials had arrested another person named Suresh Babu for slaughtering the wild buffalo.

Reportedly, the heinous crime took place at the Puncha forest near Nilambur. According to the Forest Department, the raid was carried out on the night of August 10. The accused had killed the pregnant wild buffalo, then cut open the mother to share the meat of the full-grown foetus.

Accused killed pregnant wild animal for the meat of the foetus

The forest officials had seized 25 kg of meat from one of the accused’s house. Abu, the accused in the case, had reportedly shot the wild buffalo with his own gun. The accused then pulled out the full-grown embryo as they butchered the mother and shared among other team members. The remaining parts including the skull were then dumped in various places in the forest.

The accused were produced before the court on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Kerala forest department has launched an investigation to know if more people were involved in the crime.

The recent heinous crime of killing wild-buffalo comes just a few months after a similar incident had occurred in Kerala after villagers in Pallakad had killed a pregnant elephant by feeding it firecracker-filled pineapple. The firecrackers exploded in her mouth that eventually led to her death. The incident had created a big uproar in the country and even abroad.

Women groove to the ‘Nagin Nagin’ song at Independence Day event organised by Trinamool Congress in West Bengal: Watch video

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Women groove to the ‘Nagin Nagin’ song at Independence Day event organised by Trinamool Congress in West Bengal: Watch video

In a viral video, women were seen grooving to the tunes of the ‘Nagin Nagin’ Bollywood song, amidst hooting and whistling noise coming from the audience, at the Independence day celebration event organised on August 15, by the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress in West Bengal’s Deganga, North 24 Pargana district. The stage where the women were gyrating displayed a huge banner of Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and party MP Abhishek Banerjee’s image wishing the audience ‘Happy Independence Day’.

The event was organised by the local TMC committee in Sohai-Swetpur area of Deganga in North 24 Parganas district.

India Today journalist took to Twitter to share the viral video.

In the video, a local Trinamool leader says, “Sohai-Swetpur Trinamool Congress Committee has organised this event to celebrate 74th Independence Day. Our panchayat samity leader will be addressing us soon.” This was announced even as the women continued to do the ‘Nagin dance’ on stage.

TMC received severe criticisms after the video of the event went viral on social media. TMC District Spokesperson, Sunil Mukherjee, said: “Our CM has repeatedly asked party workers to not organise any such events during the pandemic. I have seen the video on WhatsApp. It is undoubtedly wrong.”

Similar events organised by Trinamool Congress in Kolkata

This is, however, not the first time such an event has been organised by the Trinamool Congress to celebrate Independence Day. In 2016, the Trinamool Congress trade union had drawn flak for organising a ‘vulgar’ dance programme during an Independence Day celebration in the Esplanade area in Kolkata, West Bengal.

In the video available on YouTube, the skimpily dressed woman dancer performs on a Bhojpuri song. And as she dances she is seen collecting money thrown at her by the audience.

This is not all, during the Republic day celebration the same year, the TMC workers and allegedly organised a similar program in Kolkata’s Dharamtala area.

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