The Dravidian parties that had a monopoly over the political discourse in Tamil Nadu are now in a state of turmoil. The changing perception against the regional parties in Tamil Nadu, amongst the general populace, has been spearheaded by three crucial events – the defection of Periyar’s grandson, Sathish Krishna, to the BJP, the recent row over Skanda Sashti Kavasam and the sacking of DMK MLA Ku Ku Selvam from the party after he praised PM Modi.
Grandson of Periyar joins BJP
On Wednesday, Satish Krishna deserted AIADMK and joined the BJP. His defection was hailed by the BJP as it would pave the way for other disenchanted politicians, from both the regional parties of Tamil Nadu, to follow suit. Earlier in August, several party leaders from the DMDK and DMK had joined the BJP.
DMK MLA ousted by party for praising PM Modi
On Thursday, the DMK broke all ties with one of its MLAs, Ku Ka Selvam, after his open praise for PM Modi did not go down well with the party supremo Stalin. As per reports, he is likely to join the BJP soon along with other MLAs and district presidents. Selvam had reportedly met BJP General Secretary (Tamil Nadu) Muralidhar Rao and State President L Murugan, besides party president (national) JP Nadda.
Although he was initially suspended, DMK ousted him on Thursday for ‘anti-party’ activities. In a statement, Stalin said that Selvam was working against party’s interests and had brought a ‘bad name’ to the party. While addressing the media, the rebel MLA had made several demands to MK Stalin which include internal party elections and dismantling of ties with the Congress party.
In his defence, Selvam argued that there was no rule which barred party members from meeting political leaders from other parties and that his dismissal from DMK was unjustified. Speculations are rife that Selvam will now join the BJP. He had reportedly claimed that several district presidents and MLAs will join the Bharatiya Janata Party soon.
Skanda Sashti Kavasam row
Earlier in July, a Youtube channel named ‘Karuppar Kootam’ had posted a derogatory version of a Tamil Hindu devotional song, Skanda Sashti Kavasam. The channel gave a ‘sexual interpretation’ to the song dedicated to Lord Muruga. In the aftermath of the incident, the DMK maintained silence over the issue while the BJP demanded the blocking of the Hinduphobic channel.
As a result, an entire village compromising of 70 families in Vadugapatti near Modakurichi joined the BJP on August 5. Reportedly, they chanted the sacred hymns of Skanda Sashti kavasam and performed puja at a temple. Impressed by the BJP’s efforts in safeguarding the Hindu religion, several DMK workers including Vice-President of Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency defected to the BJP.
While the DMK had earlier claimed that the BJP can never gain stronghold in Periyar’s land, the Dravidian party is now caught in a state of fix with its own shrinking voter base.
An FIR has been filed against former SP leader Shahzeb Rizvi, who had announced a bounty of Rs 51 lakh on Karnataka Congress MLA’s nephew Naveen’s head over an alleged ‘blasphemous’ Facebook post. Rizvi had also asked members of the Muslim community to contribute money for the bounty.
According to reports, after the video of the SP leader announcing the bounty, went viral on social media, Meerut SSP Ajay Sahni took cognizance of the video and ordered a probe into the matter.
A case was registered late night on August 13 by the Meerut police at Phalauda police station. Rizvi has been booked under IPC sections 153 (A) and 505 (2).
Copy of FIR filed against former SP leader Shahzeb Rizvi
Copy of FIR filed against former SP leader Shahzeb Rizvi
Video of Former SP leader Shahzeb Rizvi announcing the reward went viral on social media
In the video, Rizvi said, he condemns the comments made by the youth in his Facebook post. And whoever beheads Naveen for ‘insulting the Prophet’ and brings his head will be rewarded with Rs 51 lakh. He also asked members from his community to contribute money for this bounty. Rizvi said the comments of the youth have hurt the sentiments of Muslims, and that’s why he announced the bounty to behead him.
Rizvi is a resident of Rasulpur village under Phalauda police station in Meerut. He was earlier a member of the Samajwadi party but at present, he is not associated with the party, as per reports. He was the state secretary for the minority cell in the party in Uttar Pradesh. He is a resident of Rasulpur village under Phalauda police station in Meerut. After leaving the Samajwadi Party, at present he identifies himself as a ‘social worker’.
Islamists went on a rampage in Bengaluru on August 11
Earlier on August 11 (Tuesday) evening, violence erupted in Bengaluru over the allegedly derogatory post by Naveen. 60 police personnel were injured and dozens of vehicles were torched by the mob which had attacked the DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations, besides the residence of Naveen’s uncle and Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy.
An investigation by the US Justice Department has found Yale University to be violating the US civil rights by illegally discriminating against Whites and Asian Americans applicants in the application procedure.
The department’s investigation, which took about two years for its completion, concluded that the Ivy League university based in New Haven, Connecticut rejected “scores of Asian American and White applicants each year based on their race, whom it otherwise would admit”. The investigation was ordered after a complaint of discrimination was lodged against Yale, Brown and Dartmouth in 2016.
However, the University has denied these allegations, calling them “meritless” and “hasty”.
While the US Supreme Court has allowed universities to consider the race of an applicant in making admission decisions, with a caveat that it must be “in certain limited circumstances as one of a number of factors”, the Department of Justice found out that Yale’s use of race was anything but limited and was used at “multiple steps of its admissions process”.
“The Department of Justice found Yale discriminates based on race and national origin in its undergraduate admissions process, and that race is the determinative factor in hundreds of admissions decisions each year,” it said.
Whites and Asian Americans hold only one-tenth to one-fourth chances of securing admission as opposed to African Americans of comparable credentials
In a detailed letter to the college’s attorney, the department said that Yale’s race discrimination levied undue and unlawful penalties on racially-disfavored applicants, including in particular Asian American and White applicants. The investigation concluded that Asian American and White applicants had “only one-tenth to one-fourth of the chances of securing admission as opposed to African American applicants with comparable academic credentials”.
The findings mark the latest Trump administration action against rooting out discrimination in the admission procedure of prestigious colleges, following widespread complaints from students about the process at some of the Ivy League colleges. Earlier, the Justice Department had filed court papers and sided with Asian American groups who had accused the Harvard University of racial discrimination.
The department asked Yale to suspend considering race or national origins as a factor in its admissions process for one year, after which the university will have to seek permission from the government to begin using race as a factor again.
Yale calls the allegations against it as baseless
However, Yale pledged to fight the directive, saying it would continue to adhere to its admissions process. In a statement released by the University, it said that it looks at the applicant as a “whole person” while deciding whether to admit that person, not just on his/her academic qualifications but a variety of other factors such as leadership skills, interests and the likelihood of that person contributing to the Yale community and the world.
Yale’s President, Peter Salovey, repudiated the allegations levelled by the Justice Department. “The department’s allegations are baseless. At this unique moment in our history, when so much attention properly is being paid to issues of race, Yale will not waver in its commitment to admitting a student body whose diversity is a hallmark of his excellence,” he said.
On Thursday, the Delhi police had arrested an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader named Mukesh Tokas for raping a 25-year-old woman, reported Punjab Kesari. He is the organisation-in-charge of the party in the RK Puram constituency of Delhi.
As per the report, Mukesh had been sexually exploiting the victim for the past two years. The woman, who is a mother of two children, however, learnt that the accused AAP politician was already married. When she objected to the relationship, Mukesh threatened to murder the victim and her children. Reportedly, she then registered a complaint at the Kishangarh police station, following which a case was lodged. The police arrested the accused and initiated an investigation into the case.
Screenshot of Punjab Kesari report
Mukesh Tokas weaved a sob story to entrap victim
The victim who hails from Motihari district of Bihar informed the Kishangarh police that she had met the accused two years ago. As per the report, Mukesh told the woman that he had no children and that he had become lonely after his wife had passed away. He then vowed to marry the victim and raise her children as his own. Reportedly, the accused AAP leader had also married the woman at a local temple and promised to take her home. He then forced her to have a physical relationship with him. Under the pretext of marriage, he then continued to sexually exploit the victim.
Reportedly, the victim had recently learnt that the wife of Mukesh is alive and that he has children of his own. As per the victim’s complaint, when she confronted Mukesh, he threatened to murder her and her children if she did not go away. Dismayed by the fraud committed by Mukesh, she filed a case against him, post which the accused was arrested.
Accused Mukesh with AAP leaders
After the news of Mukhesh Tokas’ arrest, many social media posts highlighting his closeness with top AAP leaders have been doing the rounds. In the photos shared, Mukesh is seen attending AAP events and posing for photographs with AAP leader Sanjay Singh and CM Arvind Kejriwal.
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 suo moto contempt proceedings against Bhushan were initiated on the 22nd of July after his two tweets, dated 22nd and 29th of June.
#SupremeCourt holds adv Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for his tweets against CJIs & the court. Arguments on punishment, which can go up to 6 months in jail, to take place on Aug 20.
Order by a three-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra.
Justice B R Gavai, reading out the judgment in the case of contempt of court against advocate Prashant Bhushan, observed that Bhushan committed “serious contempt of the Court”. The judgement holding Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt was passed after hearing the elaborate arguments by the lawyer representing Bhushan in SC, Dushyant Dave.
in the Supreme Court, Prashant Bhushan had argued that the tweets were his bona fide criticism and since several things are wrong with the Judiciary, his criticism was valid and thus, cannot amount to contempt of court.
As regards his tweet about Chief Justice of India, S A Bobde, seated on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, Bhushan said in the a`davit that his comment was to underline his angusih at the non-physical functioning of the Supreme Court for the last more than three months, “as a result of which fundamental rights of citizens, such as those in detention, those destitute and poor, and others facing serious and urgent grievances were not being addressed or taken up for redressal”.
As regards the tweet about the role of SC in the destruction of democracy and the role of last 4 CJIs in that, Bhushan says that it was his “bona[de impression” about them and it is his considered opinion that SC allowed the destruction of democracy and such expression of opinion however “outspoken, disagreeable or unpalatable” can’t constitute contempt.
Contempt proceedings against Prashant Bhushan over defamatory tweets
Earlier, the Supreme Court of India took Suo Moto against Prashant Bhushan’s reckless behaviour on social media and initiated contempt of Court case against him and Twitter India. The apex court issued a show-cause notice to the senior advocate asking him to explain why actions should not be taken against him on contempt of court charges.
The court has also asked Attorney General KK Venugopal to assist the court, in the case, and a notice for the same has been issued to the AG. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra heard the suo moto case against Prashant Bhushan. The court stated that the case been filed against Prashant Bhushan for his tweet on last 4 CJIs, and another tweet on CJI riding a bike.
Tweets by Prashant Bhushan were withheld by Twitter India
The three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, comprising of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai, and Krishna Murari had noted that the said tweets brought ‘disrepute’ to the ‘administration of justice.’ The Court has further asked the advocate to explain whether the tweets are ‘contemptuous’ in nature. As per Twitter policies, a tweet is usually withheld in response to a legal action or an order from a competent court in any country.
Advocate Sajan Poovayya, representing Twitter Inc. in the apex court, had informed that a tweet is deleted only after a Court order and clarified that ‘withholding tweets’ did not imply ‘deletion of tweets’. Reportedly, when a Court takes suo motu cognizance of a subject as ‘contemptuous’, it is deemed that the matter is liable for contempt even if none is prosecuted by the end of the trial. As per Bar and Bench, by withholding the tweets, the social media giant has kept its options open – either to delete or restore them, post the final verdict in the case.
On the 11th of August, when Hindus of the country celebrated Janmashtami, a Muslim mob indulged in violence in Bengaluru after being offended by a Facebook post that was allegedly against the Prophet of Islam. The violence led to over 60 police officials being injured and left 3 dead. The Muslim mob hit the streets near DJ Halli and KG Halli police station areas on Tuesday evening and attacked a Congress MLA’s house after one of his relatives had allegedly made a derogatory Facebook post. Amidst chants of Allah hu Akbar and Nara e Taqbeer, the Muslim mob also set the police station on fire and attacked the police personnel. However, as per Wikipedia, there is not enough evidence to conclude that the violent mob was Muslim.
The Wikipedia page, in the introductory paragraph terms this unbridled and one-sided violence as a “clash”. A communal “clash” would essentially mean that two mobs, in most cases one would consist of people belonging to the Hindu community and the other, would consist of rioters belonging to the Muslim community. However, in this case, to term it a “clash” would only mean that the author of the post, editors, in the case of Wikipedia, are trying to water down the violence unleashed by the Muslim mob.
So far, there has been no report of any retaliation from the Hindu side. The violence was unleashed by the Muslim mob because they were offended, which they often are, after a Facebook post that allegedly insulted their Prophet. Even from the videos that were uploaded by media, one could hear chants of Allah Hu Akbar and Nara e Taqbeer while the mob pelted stones, burnt down the Congress leaders’ house and torched the police station.
Interestingly, the Wikipedia page on the Bengaluru violence also does not mention that one of the main accused of instigating the violence was Kaleem Pasha, who has now been arrested. Kaleem Pasha is the husband of Irshad Begum, a BBMP corporator from Nagavara ward. He was arrested by Bengaluru police on Thursday along with 60 others for instigating the August 11 violence in the city. So far, the Bengaluru police have arrested 206 accused of their involvement in the violence.
The Bengaluru police have named Kaleem Pasha as 7th accused in the FIR. According to the police, Kaleem Pasha is also one of the key conspirators behind the deadly violence that took place on Tuesday night.
Kaleem Pasha, who is a former corporator of Nagavara ward, reportedly has close links with the Congress leadership in the state and is known to be an associate of former Karnataka Home Minister and senior Congress leader KJ George. Pasha was booked by Bengaluru police along with local SDPI leader Muzammil Pasha for orchestrating the Bengaluru violence. While Muzammil Pasha was already arrested, Kaleem Pasha had escaped.
If all of this was not enough, the ‘Talk’ page of the Wikipedia article reveals the dangerous mindset of its editors even further.
Wikipedia Bengaluru violence Talk page
The ‘Talk’ page of the Wikipedia article essentially has the editors saying that while the Delhi Riots 2020 Wikipedia page can identify, wrongly, Hindus as going on a rampage, the Bengaluru violence page will not identify all rioters as Muslims since “multiple third parties” have not done so.
The individual taking exception to that says that most Media has a pronounced Left bias and hence, that is never likely to happen. However, it is a fact that Muslims indulged in violence because they were offended by a Facebook post allegedly about the Prophet of Islam. The person taking exception to the bias of the page also mentions that he will try to get references if anyone has reported it since the ones reporting it (OpIndia) have been blocked by Wikipedia.
It is pertinent to note here that in the Delhi Riots 2020 Wikipedia page, the Leftist editors have only mentioned Tahir Hussain once, to say that he has been arrested for his role in the murder of Ankit Sharma. None of the shocking revelations made by him in his disclosure statement have been added. In fact, even shocking details of his involvement, as made by the police, have not been added to the page.
Coming back to the Bengaluru violence page, after a user takes objection to their bias, the Editor, keeping true to form, warns him of violating Wikipedia norms.
The Bengaluru violence – when Muslim mob ran rampage
A Muslim mob went on a rampage and unleashed extreme violence in Bengaluru on Tuesday evening over a Facebook post that was allegedly derogatory to Prophet Mohammad.
According to the reports, the Muslim mob hit the streets near DJ Halli and KG Halli police station areas on Tuesday evening and attacked a Congress MLA’s house after one of his relatives had allegedly made a derogatory Facebook post.
Over a 100 people had gathered around the residence of Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivasamurthy around 7:00 PM on Tuesday. Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivasamurthy represents Pulikeshinagar constituency which is reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC). The Muslim mob, armed with sticks, iron rods, sharp metal objects and other weapons, went berserk and barged into the house of the MLA.
The angry Muslim pelted stones and began to torch vehicles, ATMs, shops near the locality while protesting against the alleged derogatory post made by one of the relatives of Dalit Congress MLA Akhanda Shrinivasamurthy. Social media posts of few people involved in the mob violence indicate that the riots could have been pre-planned as calls for the mobilisation of Muslims were allegedly made on social media platforms on Tuesday evening.
Soon, the situation took an ugly turn after two separate Muslim mobs gathered in front of KG Halli and DJ Halli police stations. The Muslim mobs locked the gates from outside and pelted stones at the police station. At least 10 vehicles, including Innovas of two DCPs, were damaged in front of the stations. The mob also set fire to the vehicles in front of the DJ Halli police station.
In what seems to be a pre-planned attack by the Muslim mob, the Muslim mob, carrying petrol and other weapons, also barged into the nearest police quarters and attack the premises.
The Muslim mob was seen raising Islamic slogans like ‘Allah-hu-Akbar’ and ‘Nara-e-Taqbeer’ outside the police station.
The bias of Wikipedia
Wikipedia has long shown their Left bias when it comes to important issues.
The Wikipedia article titled North East Delhi riots was created on 25th February by a senior Wikipedia editor that goes by the username DBigXray. When one visits the page, the first image one sees is the photo of BJP leader Kapil Mishra, not an image of the riots. Kapil Mishra gets a separate section titled ‘incitement’ in the article, where he has been blamed for starting the riots.
Interestingly, some people had reference to AAP leader Amanatullah Khan for his provocative speeches during anti-CAA riots earlier in Delhi and UP. But this was also removed by the moderators, claiming that although cases have been filed against Khan, those are not related to the North East Delhi riots. On the 24th, one anti-CAA protester had brandished a pistol and fired 8 shots towards pro-CAA protesters, who was identified as Mohammad Shahrukh. The Wiki page merely mentions him as a shooter and does not even mention that he is from an anti-CAA mob.
After the image of Shahrukh, the firing had gone viral, anti-CAA activists had claimed he is pro-CAA, despite journalists on the ground who had posted videos and images saying he was anti-CAA. Later, high-resolution images had shown he was part of a mob that had several persons in skull caps. When other users wanted to include this information in the Wikipedia article, they were shot down by the moderator. The senior editor, who is supposed to be politically neutral while editing and moderating content on Wikipedia, commented that if the man was a Hindu, media would not have focused on him, and there is no need to include more detail on the incident.
The article mentions the attack on a mosque in Ashok Nagar and shouting of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Hinduon ka Hindustan” slogans by the mobs, but have absolutely no reference to any attack by Muslims and anti-CAA mobs. On the other hand, while there are videos showing mob shouting “Nara e Taqbeer” and “Allahu Akbar”, they find no place on the page.
Although Wikipedia articles can be edited by anybody, the online encyclopedia has provisions for locking down specific articles to check vandalism, etc. The article on North East Delhi riots has been made semi-protected, which means only confirmed registered users can make edits to it. As a result, ordinary users are having to request user DBigXray for making changes, and user DBigXray, who has special privileges as a Master Editor III, decides what information is included and what is not on the page.
OpIndia detailed investigation about the bias of Wikipedia after the Delhi Riots can be read here and here.
There are several other cases where it was evident just how vulnerable Wikipedia is to peddling absolute lies which can be severely detrimental in the long run. An Islamist user had vandalised the RSS page to call it a terrorist organisation. The user who did so had a long history of anti-Hindu edits. Wikipedia had also deleted the article on Tablighi Jamaat after the spread of Coronavirus citing that it was “Islamophobic”. Further, though the edits were reverted later, an “editor” of Wikipedia had also replaced Hindus with Muslims to show that it was actually the Muslims who suffered at the hands of Hindus during the Naokhali Riots and not the other way around.
The bias of Wikipedia is further evidenced by the fact the co-founder of Wikipedia, Larry Senger, had quit Wikipedia citing that the Left bias of the platform is too strong to overcome and that the platform had lost its way.
2 days after violent riots engulfed the area of KG Halli and DJ Halli in Bengaluru, Kaleem Pasha, who is allegedly one of the masterminds behind the Bengaluru riots, has been nabbed by the Bengaluru police for his alleged involvement in the Bengaluru riots that occurred on Tuesday killing three people and injuring more than 60 police personnel.
According to the reports, Kaleem Pasha is the husband of Irshad Begum, a BBMP corporator from Nagavara ward. He was arrested by Bengaluru police on Thursday along with 60 others for instigating the August 11 violence in the city. So far, the Bengaluru police have arrested 206 accused for their involvement in the violence.
The Bengaluru police have named Kaleem Pasha as 7th accused in the FIR. According to the police, Kaleem Pasha is also one of the key conspirators behind the deadly violence that took place on Tuesday night.
Kaleem Pasha, who is a former corporator of Nagavara ward, reportedly has close links with the Congress leadership in the state and is known to be an associate of former Karnataka Home Minister and senior Congress leader KJ George. Pasha was booked by Bengaluru police along with local SDPI leader Muzammil Pasha for orchestrating the Bengaluru violence. While Muzammil Pasha was already arrested, Kaleem Pasha had escaped.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru police have formed four teams to investigate Bengaluru violence in which three people were killed and nearly 60 police personnel suffered injuries.
Bengaluru police files FIR against five for instigating riots
The Bengaluru Police have booked five people in connection with the riots in the city that was unleashed on Tuesday evening. Reportedly, the five people had led a mob of 200-300 Islamists during the Bengaluru riots, called for ‘hacking the cops to death’. The riots have caused extensive property damage and dozens of police vehicles have been torched.
The FIR states that these Islamists who were armed with machetes, stones, rods and other weapons allegedly raised slogans of “kill the cops and finish them” as they ransacked KG Halli and DJ Halli police stations on the night of August 11.
Muslim mob wanted to kill Naveen for his ‘blasphemous’ post, says FIR
The Muslim mobs that ran amok in the streets of Bengaluru on Tuesday night, while torching down the police stations and Congress MLA’s house, wanted to kill the MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy’s nephew Naveen for his alleged defamatory social media post, said an FIR lodged by the Bengaluru police.
According to the FIR, a mob of around 600 to 800 people had gathered with weapons outside the KG Halli police station on Tuesday evening. The mob has also attacked the MLA’s residence, breaking windows, damaging property and raising slogans of ‘Naara-e-Takbeer Allah Hu Akbar’.
Yesterday, the Karnataka government had declared that the damages to public property will be recovered from those found involved in the arson and rioting.
Even as Karnataka is recovering from the riots unleashed by Muslim mobs in Bengaluru, another attempt to flare up communal tension has been reported from Shringeri in Karnataka’s Chikamangaluru district. The town is home to the Daksinamnaya Sharada Peetham, one of the four centres of Advaita philosophy established by Adi Shankaracharya and is considered one of the most sacred places for Hindu faith.
On Wednesday, in an attempt to disturb communal harmony in the area, some miscreants had put up an Islamic flag with text written in Arabic on the statue of Adi Shankaracharya in the holy city of Sringeri.
According to the reports, the residents and the devotees of the city came to know about the incident on Thursday. The flag was immediately removed while the devotees of Sharada Peetha gathered at the spot and protested against the attempt to flare passions in the holy city.
2 Muslim youth arrested according to media reports
Following the incident, devotees of Shankaracharya led by former MLA DN Jeevaraj protested and demanded the immediate arrests of the culprits. Jeevaraj alleged that it is an attempt by the SDPI workers to disturb communal harmony in the city, considered one of the most sacred places of Hindus, by deliberately putting the flag on top of the statue. If the police do not act immediately, Hindu groups will intensify their protests, said BJP leader.
Meanwhile, the police had reportedly registered a case against in the issue. Two youth Rafiq and Sahil were detained on a complaint lodged by locals. Reportedly, Rafiq is also a town panchayat member.
Minister for Kannada and Culture and Tourism CT Ravi, who is also Minister in charge of the district, reacted on the incident, said he got to know that an SDPI flag was hoisted on the statue of Adi Shankaracharya and had directed the Superintendent of Police to investigate the issue.
ಶೃಂಗೇರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಶಂಕರಾಚಾರ್ಯರ ಪ್ರತಿಮೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಎಸ್ಡಿಪಿಐ ಧ್ವಜ ಹಾರಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ ಎಂಬ ವಿಷಯ ತಿಳಿದು ಬಂದಿದ್ದು ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ತನಿಖೆ ನಡೆಸಿ ತಪ್ಪಿತಸ್ಥರ ಮೇಲೆ ಕ್ರಮ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳುವಂತೆ ಸೂಚಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಕಾನೂನು ಸುವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ಕಾಪಾಡಲು ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಸಹಕರಿಸಿ?
Udupi-Chikkamagaluru BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje also took to Twitter to condemn the incident and demanded action against the culprits.
Hindu man arrested, was allegedly drunk and draped flag by mistake
Now, however, a drunk man called Milind has reportedly been arrested for draping Islamic flag on the Shankaracharya statue. Reportedly, the man was drunk and had draped the Islamic flag by mistake, said the cops.
Two months after he was suspended over a critical story on Chinese occupation of Rui village in Nepal, 50-year-old journalist Balram Baniya was reportedly found dead near the Mando Hydropower Project in Sisneri in Makawanpur, Nepal on Tuesday.
As per reports, Baniya was out of touch with his family since Monday. His last communication with his office was regarding a news article on Ram Chandra Poudel, a Nepali Congress leader. His dead body was found afloat in the Bagmati river adjoining the Balkhu bridge and was kept at Hetauda hospital. Although his corpse was recovered on Tuesday itself, it took a day for the police to confirm his identity.
Reportedly, Baniya was interrogated by a police team in Balkhu on Monday and he informed them that he was going home. As per reports, the veteran journalist was seen moving in the direction of the vegetable market near the Balkhu bridge, located on the banks of the Balkhu river. Baniya, who is now survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter, spent his journalistic career working at ‘Kantipur Daily’. He had extensively reported on politics, parliament, bureaucracy, governance, energy, hydropower, and infrastructure projects.
Nepalese journalist Balaram Baniya, who stoked a huge controversy following his story in June on Chinese encroachments, has been found dead under mysterious circumstances.
The critical story by Balaram Baniya: The Chinese occupation of Rui village
While the landlocked country of Nepal has been at loggerheads with India over the supposed encroachment of regions such as Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura, China has reportedly occupied the Rui village in Gorkha district of Nepal. This story was originally brought to the limelight by Balaram Baniya. As such, the village was annexed to Tibet, an autonomous region of China.
The President of Chumubari Rural Municipality ward number 1, Bir Bahadur Lama, conceded that even though the people of Rui had deposited their share of land revenue to the Nepal government, yet they had become Tibetans following the encroachment by China. Khabarhub reported that pillar number 35 was demarcated as the border between Samdo and Rui village. However, during the restoration work of the pillar no. 35, owing to negligence, the village came under Chinese occupation, Dhungal was quoted by News 24.
Nepal Journalists’ Union demands independent probe
Reportedly, the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Freedom Forum, and Nepal Press Union had demanded a free and fair probe into the death of the veteran journalist. “We demand that the government investigate and make public the truth about the mysterious death of the journalist,” the federation said in a statement.
According to the Nepal Press Union, the death of Balaram Baniya remained mysterious as deep cuts were found on his death. Ajay Babu Shuwakoti, General Secretary of Nepal Press Union, pointed out that his death could be connected to his critical and daring stories.
Colleagues remember veteran journalist
The deceased journalist is remembered by his colleagues as an amiable, honest and a soft-spoken personality who never compromised on journalistic ethics. Baniya, who served as the former secretary of the Federation of Nepali Journalists. According to the former editor of Kantipur, Hari Bahadur Thapura, Baniya was dedicated to journalism and had a comprehensive understanding of the governance, and bureaucratic system in Nepal.
“I always felt the need of Balram in the newsroom to keep an eye on the proceedings and to raise questions. He maintained the highest level of integrity and would spare none,” another editor of Kantipur, Narayan Wagle was quoted as saying.
A Muslim leader from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh has announced a bounty of Rs 51 lakh on the head of Naveen, the nephew of Karnataka Congress MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, for his Facebook post allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad. The social media post by Naveen had triggered riots in Bengaluru on 11th August, where a Muslim mob had attacked two police stations, injuring several policemen. 3 attackers from the mob were killed in police firing during the incident.
Shahzeb Rizvi from Meerut posted a video message announcing the bounty which has now gone viral on social media. In the video, Rizvi says, he condemns the comments made by the youth in his Facebook post. And whoever beheads Naveen for insulting the Prophet and brings his head will be rewarded with Rs 51 lakh. He also asked members from his community to contribute money for this bounty. Rizvi said the comments of the youth have hurt the sentiments of Muslims, and that’s why he announced the bounty to behead him.
बंगलुरु में कांग्रेस विधायक के भतीजे का सिर कलम करने वाले को 51 लाख का इनाम। उप्र में मेरठ के फलावदा कस्बा निवासी समाजसेवी शाहजेब रिजवी ने घोषणा की। pic.twitter.com/G960zDkN9l
— Sachin Gupta | सचिन गुप्ता (@sachingupta787) August 13, 2020
According to reports, Shahzeb Rizvi is former politician from Samajwadi Party, although at present he is not associated with the party. He was the state secretary for the minority cell in the party in Uttar Pradesh. He is a resident of Rasulpur village under Phalauda police station in Meerut. After leaving the Samajwadi Party, at present he identifies himself as a ‘social worker’.
After the video surfaced on social media, the SSP of Meerut has ordered a probe into the matter. On the orders of Meerut SSP Ajay Sahini, police have started an investigation, and is expected to register a case soon.
