Home Blog Page 5093

From ‘haramkhor ladki’ to ‘we respect women’: Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut does a backflip

OpIndia Staff
-
0
From ‘haramkhor ladki’ to ‘we respect women’: Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut does a backflip

Days after Sanjay Raut addressed actor Kangana Ranaut as “haramkhor ladki”, triggering widespread outrage over the crass remarks made by him against a woman with dissenting opinions, the foulmouthed Shiv Sena spokesperson appears to be in a damage control mode as he posted a tweet alleging that his remarks for the actor have been misconstrued by “some with malicious intent” as an insult to women.

Raut, who finds himself in a soup after patently making abusive remark against actor Kangana, had to resort to citing the great legacies of Hindutva icons such as Shivaji Maharaj and Maharana Pratap to salvage the spiralling situation and convince the critiques that his party, Shiv Sena, respects women. Sanjay Raut and Shiv Sena has been at the receiving end of criticism after the Shiv Sena spokesperson used unparliamentary language against a fellow citizen.

In a bid to whip up regional chauvinism, the Shiv Sena spokesperson further added that those who have been alleging that Shiv Sena has insulted women have themselves insulted Mumbai and the city’s deity Mumbai Devi. “But one should not forget the fact that those making these allegations have themselves insulted Mumbai and our Mumbai Devi,” Raut said in the tweet.

“Shiv Sena will continue to fight for the pride of women, this is what our great Shivsena supremo taught us…,” Raut said.

Sanjay Raut had called Kangana Ranaut “haramkhor ladki”

Raut’s response claiming that Shiv Sena stands for the pride of women do not jibe with the abusive remarks he made against actor Kangana Ranaut after she voiced her concerns about Mumbai resembling Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in the wake of a series of ‘Azaadi slogan’ graffiti that had come up in Mumbai. Kangana had raised objections over the Aazadi graffitis on the streets of Mumbai. But, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut had allegedly threatened her to not return to Mumbai.

Kangana had then claimed that no big daddy can stop her from coming to Mumbai. Responding to Kangana’s comment, the Shiv Sena leader said, “Maharashtra ka baap Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj hai... Mujhe lagata hai asa vakti ke baap ko idhaar la kar dikahan padega.. aapka ki baap dikhaya agar hai toh (The father of Maharashtra is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj… We need to bring Kangana’s daddy here and show him around… You (reporter) too show your father, if you have any).”

On being asked by the News Nation reporter whether he will take unlawful steps to prevent Kangana Ranaut from entering Mumbai, Sanjay Raut replied, “What is law? Did that girl respect the law in the manner in which she spoke? Why are you acting as the lawyer of that ‘haramkhor’ girl?”

Actress Kangana Ranaut granted Y-category security ahead of Mumbai visit by Union Home Ministry, thanks Amit Shah

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Actress Kangana Ranaut granted Y-category security ahead of Mumbai visit by Union Home Ministry, thanks Amit Shah

A week after actress Kangana Ranaut expressed her lack of faith in the Mumbai police and urged the Centre and the Himachal Pradesh government to provide her personal security, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has granted her Y-category security. The actress will be provided with 11 security personnel, including commandos.

Taking to Twitter, the ‘Manikarnika’ actress thanked Home Minister Amit Shah for ensuring her personal safety. In response to a tweet by Times of India journalist Bharti Jain, Kangana Ranaut wrote, “This is a testimony to the fact that no nationalist voice can be suppressed by any fascist. I am grateful to Amit Shah ji. If he wanted, then he would have instead advised me to fly to Mumbai on a later date. But, he had the grace to protect the daughter of India and safeguard her pride and respect. Jai Hind. “

Kangana had earlier stated that she will reach Mumbai on September 9.

Himachal Pradesh CM assures security for Kangana Ranaut

Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur had assured Kangana Ranaut of providing security on Sunday. While speaking to reporters, he said, “Kangana is the daughter of Himachal Pradesh and a celebrity too. It’s our duty to give her security. I have told the Director-General of police Sanjay Kundu to take steps accordingly.” He further informed, “Kangana has a travel plan to Mumbai on September 9, we are examining possibilities to give her security within the state and elsewhere too if needed.”

Kangana Ranaut had expressed fear for life

On August 31, the actress stated that she was scared of the Mumbai police more than she feared the movie mafia goons. She had urged the Centre and the State government to provide her security, prior to her promise of exposing the Bollywood drug-mafia nexus. She wrote, “I am actually more scared of Mumbai police now than movie mafia goons, in Mumbai I would need security either from HP government or directly from the Centre, No Mumbai police please.”

Shiv Sena’s attack on Kangana

Earlier, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, in an article in Sena mouthpiece Saamana, had asked actress Kangana Ranaut to not to travel back to Mumbai after she had expressed fear stating that that the city police force was more threatening to her than the ‘movie mafia.’ Kangana Ranaut’s statements against Mumbai Police had come in the backdrop of a recent controversy after Commissioner of Mumbai Police Param Bir Singh had ‘liked’ a tweet which had asked for public shaming of the actress.

Shiv Sena leaders, already facing public criticism over their handling of the Sushant Singh death case, had been very vocal against Kangana, to the extent to issuing direct threats and using derogatory words. Sanjay Raut had called Kangana has “Haramkhor ladki“. Earlier, Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik had stated that if Kangana sets foot in Mumbai, Sena ‘warriors’ will break her mouth. Sena workers have been taking processions against the actress, falsely accusing her of ‘defaming’ Mumbai, and were even seen hitting Kangana’s posters with slippers.

Agency tasked with providing staff to special Covid-19 hospital in Pune pulls out due to threats and abuse by political groups

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Agency tasked with providing staff to special Covid-19 hospital in Pune pulls out due to threats and abuse by political groups

After the mass resignation of doctors and nurses, and lack of facilities, Lifeline, the agency handling the mega COVID facility at College of Engineering Pune (COEP), has announced it is withdrawing from the task of managing it. The agency said that they have to face ‘intense political pressure and drama’, making it difficult for them to function. The facility had started to function on 24th August.

Indian Express quoted Sujit Patker, director of Lifeline, saying, “We cannot run the hospital in a situation like this. The atmosphere has been vitiated by undue political pressure… we have conveyed our inability to run the jumbo facility to the divisional commissioner. They will have to take a decision on this.”

The agency withdrew its name after the district administration appointed two more agencies to provide medical professionals for the facility. Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao said on Saturday that as Lifeline cannot provide staff in adequate numbers, the administration has appointed two more agencies.

Patient overload, politicians abusing, threatening medical staff

Patker stated to Indian Express that it is not possible to work in a three-party system. It will confuse and create problems while trying to coordinate and manage the facility. “These are medico-legal cases. Someone has to be held responsible. A single party cannot be held responsible. And, therefore, I think it would be better if we opt out of the contract and allow those appointed to run the show,” he added. He denied that Lifeline was unable to provide adequate staff.

In his statement, Parker said that the problem arose when political leaders started to interfere. He alleged that they gate-crashed the facility and abused and threatened the medical staff. Some of the doctors and nurses resigned just a day after joining, while many refused to join. “Nobody wanted to work under intense political pressure,” he added.

According to the contract signed by Lifeline, they had to manage 25% of the facility’s capacity for the first week and the number of patients was supposed to increase slowly. However, as per the Indian Express report, Patker stated that they were asked to handle 350 to 400 critical patients within three to four days of opening the facility. Last week, television journalist Pandurang Raikar had died at the jumbo facility and the state government initiated a probe to see if there was mismanagement at the facility. However, the management said that the relatives of the patient wanted to move him to a private hospital.

COVID facility at COEP was shut down temporarily after staff shortage

The jumbo facility at the College of Engineering Pune grounds was shut down temporarily on September 4 by orders of the PMC due to staff shortage and allegations of mismanagement. The municipal commissioner had stated that the administration is trying to hire more medical staffers to run the facility and the facility will open once adequate staff are available.

It is notable here that the private organisation Lifeline is also running 4 jumbo COVID facilities in Mumbai.

Pune became the worst-hit district by Covid-19 in India

Pune emerges as worst affected city for Chinese coronavirus, image via COVID19India.org

Pune, Maharashtra, has become the worst-hit district for the Chinese coronavirus. It has registered a total of 1,99,403 cases so far, with 4,744 new cases reported on 6th September. There are 61,383 active cases in Pune at the moment. BJP MLA Siddharth Shirole, who represents Shivajinagar constituency in Pune, had accused the Maha Vikas Aghadi led Uddhav Thackeray government for ignoring Pune. He said that CM Thackeray had not made any visit to Pune despite a sharp increase in the number of cases.

Delhi anti-Hindu riots: Mustaqeem, the killer of Rahul Solanki, confesses to firing shots, weapon seized by police

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Delhi anti-Hindu riots: Mustaqeem, the killer of Rahul Solanki, confesses to firing shots, weapon seized by police

Hours after the arrest of the Mustaqeem aka Sameer Saifi on Sunday for his involvement in the brutal murder of 27-year-old Rahul Solanki during the Delhi Anti-Hindu riots, the Delhi Police Crime Branch has reportedly secured a confession from the accused.

Saifi confesses to killing Rahul Solanki

Speaking on the development, the additional spokesperson of the Delhi Police Anit Mittal stated, “While analysing the video footage of the violence, a man was spotted shooting Solanki dead…On September 3, we received information that Saifi has been spotted.” He informed that the accused was apprehended from Bhajanpura, following a tip-off and added that the description of the assailant seen in the CCTV footage matched that of Saifi.

“Initially, he had denied his involvement in the murder but later when confronted with evidence, he confessed to having opened fire at Solanki,” Anit Mittal was quoted as saying.

Delhi Police seized weapon and belongings of the accused

The Delhi police had also recovered a country-made pistol from Saifi. The accused is a carpenter by profession and had a bounty of ₹1 lac on his head. They had also seized his mobile phone, a pair of jeans and shoes and the helmet he was wearing while firing shots at Rahul Solanki. The Delhi Police spokesperson stated that Saifi had actively participated in Anti-CAA protests near Farukia Masjid. He is a class 10 dropout.

Earlier, a case was registered under IPC Sections 34 (criminal act committed in furtherance of a common intention), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 436 (mischief by fire or explosives), and 427 (causing damage above ₹50) at the Dayalpur police station. The case was then transferred to the Delhi Police Crime Branch. The Special Investigative Team (SIT) had earlier arrested Arif, Anis, Sirajuddin, Salman, Irshad, and Sonu Saifi in connection to the case.

The murder of Rahul Solanki

In June, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet in the murder of 27-year-old Rahul Solanki, who was killed by the Muslim mob during the Anti-Hindu riots that broke out in Shiv Vihar in Delhi in February. The charge-sheet had stated that Solanki was murdered near his house in Dayal Pur area around 5 pm on February 24 during the communal riots that took place near Shiv Vihar.

Rahul Solanki, a resident of Shiv Vihar, was pursuing his LLB from a private college in Ghaziabad. He had stepped out from his residence to buy milk when he was shot in the right shoulder near his neck by rioters in Shiv Vihar. He was shot dead when he was standing near Pal dairy street adjoining Rajdhani school. Rahul was murdered very close to the spot where another boy, Dilbar Negi was brutally dismembered and burned alive by the violent Muslim mob.

Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh raises Durand Line issue with Pakistan, says Peshawar used to belong to Afghanistan

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh raises Durand Line issue with Pakistan, says Peshawar used to belong to Afghanistan

During an interview with Tolo News on 7th September, Amrullah Saleh, the Vice President Afghanistan, raised the Durand Line issue with Pakistan. He said that no Afghan politician of national stature could overlook the issue of the Durand Line. It will condemn him or her forever. He added, “It is an issue which needs discussions & resolution. Expecting us to gift it for free is un-realistic. Peshawar used to be the winter capital of Afghanistan.”

Saleh further added that Pakistan has come out of denial. It is openly saying that they are harbouring the Taliban. “This clarity despite being bitter is a development which can be utilized in benefit of peace process. I had candid discussions with Gen. Bajwa & ISI director when they visited Afghanistan. Keep Pakistan engaged 4 peace,” he said.

The issue between Pakistan and Afghanistan over the Durand line

In 1893, the Durand Line was drawn between then British-ruled India and Afghanistan’s Amir Abdur Rahman Khan as an attempt to improve relations and exchange between the two countries. Though the British controlled several issues related to Afghanistan, it was considered a free state. The 2,600 KM long line was in a way imposed upon Afghanistan by the British and after Pakistan’s formation, the same line was treated as the international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Since the departure of the British from the Area, Afghanistan has been trying to reassess the border with Pakistan, but the two nations have failed to come to any conclusion. Though Pakistan claims that Durand Line is a well established international border, Afghanistan has never accepted it. Afghanistan claims a significant portion of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces in Pakistan based on the fact that though they were claimed by Pakistan at the time of its formation, however, they used to be a part of Afghanistan and the ethnic groups of Balochs and Pashtuns have been partitioned.

Afghanistan had also demanded in 1947 that the Pashtuns should be given the right of self-determination. The demand was ignored by both the British and Pakistan at that time.

One claim that Afghanistan often uses to assert its position over the Durand Line is that the border drawn by the British was valid for 100 years, and its validity has expired. Another claim that Afghanistan makes is that the legitimacy of the border ended with Pakistan’s formation as the agreement was between India and Afghanistan and not with Pakistan.

In recent years, the tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan has increased due to Pakistan’s continued support of the Taliban.

Activist points out over 25 incidents of fake news spread by AltNews co-founder Zubair, who was hailed as ‘fact-checker’ after being booked under POCSO

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Activist points out over 25 incidents of fake news spread by AltNews co-founder Zubair, who was hailed as ‘fact-checker’ after being booked under POCSO

Days after AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair was booked under POCSO for online harassment of girl child, the online portal had come out in his support and stood by him claiming the complaint against him for targeting a minor girl in a Twitter fight was ‘misuse of legal apparatus’. AltNews co-founder Pratik Sinha further claimed that Zubair is at the ‘forefront of fighting fake narratives’ and hence his ‘work’ hurts those who have ‘weaponised misinformation to subvert Indian democracy’.

Pratik Sinha’s statement

After Sinha delivered the full-toss, activist Ankur Singh in a series of tweets took it upon himself to show how Zubair is more of a weapon himself to spread misinformation which could not only subvert Indian democracy but also pose a threat to it.

In a thread that runs over 25 tweets, Singh meticulously exposed Mohammed Zubair’s dangerous games of spreading misinformation and many times deleting those tweets once they go viral without quite issuing clarification. That way, many a times, the screenshots of fake or misleading news goes viral but the fact that he deleted the same after being called out for his lies does not.

Mohammed Zubair through his parody account of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy where he initially portrayed himself as an anonymous troll, regularly indulges is sharing old, unrelated information as if it is a current incident. He has regularly targeted OpIndia, perhaps out of spite, for calling out AltNews’ propaganda.

In fact, so dangerous are his games that he even spread misinformation in middle of Chinese coronavirus pandemic that could have led to chaos and thereby a law and order situation. He has also regularly come to the defence of Islamists during Sri Lanka terror attack.

In fact, AltNews has often worked as an Islamic propaganda website using shield of fact-check which is more palatable to their already gullible readers. You can read more about the lies of Mohammed Zubair here where he goes from shielding Islamists to politicising rapes.

Centre cracks down on foreign funding of Christian evangelical organisations, suspends FCRA licences of four

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Centre cracks down on foreign funding of Christian evangelical organisations, suspends FCRA licences of four

In a fresh crackdown on Christian evangelical organisations, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has suspended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of four Christian associations this year. It is mandatory to have FCRA clearance from the Home Ministry for any organisation to receive foreign funds.

As per a report in The Hindu, the four organisations whose licences were suspended are Ecreosoculis North Western Gossner Evangelical (Jharkhand), Evangelical Churches Association (Manipur), Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church (Jharkhand), and New Life Fellowship Association (Mumbai). Besides, two Christian donors, namely, Seventh Day Adventist Church and Baptist Church are also under the watch of the Ministry. Both of them are US-based.

Christian evangelical organisations have been operating in India for a long time

The New Life Fellowship Association came into existence in India in 1964, following the arrival of missionaries from New Life Churches in New Zealand. The government had suspended its licence on February 10, 2020. Earlier, the Bajrang Dal had disrupted ‘prayer meetings’ by the association in April and September 2019 and registered a complaint with the police for using the platform to convert people.

Similarly, the origin of the Evangelical Churches Association can be traced to a Welsh Presbyterian missionary who came to India in 1910. It became a full-fledged association in 1952 and operated from Manipur. Ecreosoculis North-Western Gossner Evangelical, whose FCRA licence was recently suspended, can be traced to the Gossner mission of Germany in Chotanagpur, Jharkhand the Hindu report stated. The 4th association, Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church, was established in India in 1987 and has an estimated 7.7 crore Christians connected to it in 99 countries.

Centre has banned over 20000 NGOs from receiving foreign funds

Other than the above-mentioned four Christian evangelical associations, the government had also cancelled the FCRA licences of two other organisations, namely, Rajnandgaon Leprosy Hospital and Clinics, and the Don Bosco Tribal Development Society. The Home Ministry has cancelled 20,674 licences till date. While 22,457 NGOs continue to have FCRA clearance, around 6,702 organisations have expired licences.

In the first five years of the Modi government, over 14,800 NGOs were deregistered over violations of FCRA rules.

Religious conversion halts in Kerala after crackdown

Last year, it was reported that several Pentecostals in South India have stopped their religious campaigns due to the look of financial aid. Pastors were no longer receiving the salary for their gospel work. They were now unable to repay loans that were taken for their houses and purchase of vehicles. In Kerala alone, there are more than 100s of Pentecostal Missions that preach in public places and on the roadside.

Pentecostal missions mainly depend on foreign funds. Modi government’s economic reforms including the stringent Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act norms had brought about a massive reduction in these foreign funds. Kerala received more than Rs 100 crores per year inflow of funds until 2014, which stopped abruptly after the Central government demanded details and source of funds. As reported by Organiser, the FCRA crackdown has resulted in an abrupt decline of 40% of foreign inflow of funds.

Congress leader Kavitha Reddy apologises for moral policing Kannada actress Samyuktha Hegde, claims she is against moral policing

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Congress leader Kavitha Reddy apologises for moral policing Kannada actress Samyuktha Hegde, claims she is against moral policing

Karnataka Congress leader Kavitha Reddy on Sunday apologised to Samyuktha Hegde for leading a mob against her for ‘indecent behaviour’ and wearing sports bra in public.

Taking to social media, Reddy tweeted a statement wherein she claimed that she is against moral policing and apologised for moral policing Hegde.

In her letter, she claimed that she unconditionally apologises for her behaviour towards Hegde and her friends as well as to everyone else for whatever happened on 4th September, 2020. According to Kannada actress Samyuktha Hegde, she and her two friends had visited the Agara lake on Friday evening to practice Hula hoops. As she was working out, a lady approached and began to hurl abuses at them for alleged ‘indecent behaviour’.

“Are you cabaret dancers? What sort of clothes are you wearing? A@&&&@s! If you wear such clothes and something happens to you the next time, don’t come crying to anyone,” the Congress leader Kavitha Reddy abused them according to Hegde.

Kavitha said that she agrees her behaviour was not proper and that no woman should have to face what Hegde did. She claimed that in hindsight, she regrets her social media post and that she has taken them down. However, this is not the first time Reddy created public nuisance.

In January this year, Reddy had joined hands with far-left activist Amulya Leona to publicly heckle Kannada journalist Mahesh Hegde at Mangaluru airport. Reddy, along with anti-CAA ‘protestors’ Najma Nazeer and Amulya Leona, had confronted Mahesh Hegde and coerced him to sing “Vande Mataram” to prove his patriotism for the country. 

India becomes the country with the second-highest number of Coronavirus cases in the world, overtakes Brazil

OpIndia Staff
-
0
India becomes the country with the second-highest number of Coronavirus cases in the world, overtakes Brazil

With the Coronavirus pandemic showing no sign of slowing down in the Country, India has become the country with the second-highest number of COVID-19 patients in the world. India today overtook Brazil to occupy the second spot, while the United States remains in the top spot.

According to latest data in worldometers, India now has 41.60 lakh total cases of Coronavirus, while Brazil has 41.23 lakh. The USA leads the chart with 64.35 lakh total cases. India occupies second spot in active cases too, with around 8.7 lakh total active cases, more than 7 lakh for Brazil. The number of active cases in the USA is much more, at 25.35 lakh.

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/

India is at present adding around 90,000 new infections per day, and the number of new infections is also going up every day. Although India’s recovery rate is good and fatality rate is relatively low, the number of active cases is also on an increasing trend.

More than 70,000 people have died due to the Wuhan Coronavirus infection in India, making it the country with third highest deaths, after USA and Brazil.

In India, Maharashtra state has the highest number of Coronavirus cases, at around 9 lakh, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

‘Postpone JEE-NEET, conduct RRB exams,’ how the postpone exams bandwagon revealed their hypocrisy by demanding railway exams be conducted

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘Postpone JEE-NEET, conduct RRB exams,’ how the postpone exams bandwagon revealed their hypocrisy by demanding railway exams be conducted

There was significant outrage on social media recently about the JEE and NEET entrance exams that are to be conducted for students across India amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. Politicians, ‘intellectuals’ and their assorted friends in the media jumped to the occasion to foment discord in the country over the entrance exams to be conducted for admission into medical and engineering colleges.

While the speed with which the admit cards were downloaded betrayed the acceptance among students regarding the exams, sections of the political class were unwilling to abandon what they perceived to be an opportunity to corner the central government. Petitions were filed in the Court to delay the exams but the Judiciary was unwilling to consider their unjustified demands.

The interesting thing to note here is the fact that the same people who wanted the central government to delay the JEE and NEET exams were targeting the same for apparently not conducting the Railway Recruitment Boards (RRB) exams. The central government, of course, never said that the RRB exams would not be conducted but a dedicated campaign was launched to give people the impression that the BJP government at the centre was denying employment opportunities to the youth.

At the forefront of it was Priyanka Gandhi, senior leader of the Congress party. She does not want the government to conduct NEET at the decided time but at the same time, she expressed anger towards the government for not conducting the RRB exams yet.

Priyanka Gandhi engages in emotional blackmail over NEET
Priyanka Gandhi targets the central government over RRB exams

Following in the path forged by Priyanka Gandhi, the national general secretary of NSUI, Nagesh Kariyappa, engaged in similar rhetoric. He targeted ‘Godi Media’ over its apparent silence on the NEET-JEE issue and at the same time, he remarked that the youth need jobs and not Narendra Modi’s speeches.

Nagesh Kariyappa’s stance on the JEE-NEET issue
Nagesh Kariyappa’s stance on RRB exams

The National Students’ Union of India displayed the same remarkable hypocrisy, which made it amply clear that their demands to postpone the JEE-NEET was predicated solely on the electoral benefits they could reap from it.

NSUI on JEE-NEET
NSUI on RRB exams

The students’ wing of the Indian National Lokdal demonstrated the same hypocrisy. On one hand, they swore their loyalty to students of JEET-NEEt and demanded that the exams be postponed. At the same time, they wanted to know when will the dates for the RRB exams be announced.

INLD on JEE-NEET exams
INLD on RRB exams

Bhagirath Nain, vice-president of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, acted in similar fashion. On one hand, he demanded that the JEE-NEET exams should be postponed in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, he declared that students demand timely examination in case of RRB exams.

Bhagirath Nain on NEET-JEE exams
Bhagirath Nain on RRB exams

Thus, there is clear discordance in the stance adopted by the political class with regards to the conductance of exams in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. While they demand that exams for admission into engineering and medical colleges be postponed, simultaneously, they want the RRB exam dates to be announced.

The central government has been clear regarding its position that the JEE-NEET exams could not be delayed any further. And as it so happens, dates for RRB NTPC exams have been announced. The government has announced that exams for the vacant posts will be conducted from the 15th of December. According to the Railway Ministry, the delay was due to the process of selecting a new exam conducting agency.

The JEE Mains, meanwhile, has been conducted smoothly. The JEE Advanced has been delayed only slightly and will be conducted on the 27th of September. The NEET is scheduled for the 13th of September. Through their hypocritical stand on the matter, the political class and their band of intellectuals and friends in the media have only revealed that they care very little about the welfare of students and the only thing they do care about is their electoral prospects.

1...5,0925,0935,094...7,677Page 5,093 of 7,677