Months after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court asked the Medical Council of India (MCI) and external affairs ministry to review its stand to see if students who study medicine in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (PoJKL) could be allowed to practice in India, the country’s top medical education regulator has refused for the same.
In a public notice (pdf) issued on August 10, MCI has barred doctors with degrees from colleges situated in the “illegally occupied parts of India” to practise modern medicine in India.
In the notice, the board of governors (BoG) in supersession of the Medical Council of India (MCI) said that the entire territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh is an integral part of India and that Pakistan is in illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the territory.
The notice issued by Dr R K Vats, the Secretary-General of the BoG, read: “Accordingly, any medical institution in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (PoJKL) requires permission and recognition under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. Such permission has not been granted to any medical college in PoJKL”.
“Therefore any qualification obtained from medical colleges located within these illegally occupied areas of India shall not entitle a person for grant of registration under Indian Medical Council Act 1956 to practice modern medicine in India”, the notice said.
J and K HC asks MEA and Medical Council of India to clear its stance
In December 2019, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had asked the Ministry of External Affairs and Medical Council of India (MCI) to decide and inform the citizens of India about the status of educational institutions “operating in the territories of India under occupation and the administrative control of Pakistan.” The decision would help students and citizens understand the legal standing of qualifications and degrees from such institutions, said the HC while hearing a petition filed by one Hadiya Chisti who had completed her MBBS from Benazir Bhutto Medical College from Mirpur area of PoK.
“The Home Ministry, Ministry of External Affairs and Health Ministry then examined the matter and informed the high court that medical institutions in areas of PoJKL have not been granted permission and recognition under the Indian Medical Council Act,” a senior official with knowledge into the matter said.
“The high court had asked Government of India to publicise this fact so that students are not misled in obtaining medical qualifications from institutions in PoJKL,” the official explained.
While many leftist Indian media houses like India Today have shamefully parroted Pakistan’s stance on Pok, the government of India has repeatedly conveyed in plain-spoken terms that the entire Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, have been, are, and will be an integral and inalienable part of India.
Ram Janmabhoomi trust chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das tested positive for Chinese coronavirus. On 5th August, 2020, the day Bhoomi Pujan of Bhavya Ram Mandir took place he had shared the stage with PM Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwant.
He was in Mathura for Krishna Janamashtami celebrations when he developed breathing difficulties. He is now being moved to Medanta hospital, Gurugram for further treatment. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Anandiben Patel were also on stage with him on 5th August 2020.
On 5th August after Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan, people celebrated the day like Diwali across the country. Hindus celebrated the day by lighting diyas and candles in their houses to mark the celebration of the much-awaited occasion. Sadly, there were some areas where violence erupted because of the celebrations. A similar incident that happened in Street Number 4 of Madanpur Khadar area near Kalindi Kunj, Delhi has come to light.
According to a report published in Amar Ujala, the incident was related to some fights between children that went out of control. Adults were involved and both sides hurled stones, bricks, iron rods and swords. The reports said that police had arrested three people named Gagan, Mukesh and Deepak. It was also reported that Minnatullah Khan came to settle the case, but he was stabbed with swords by the people from the other side. He reportedly fainted and had to be hospitalized as a result of injures. This led to an FIR.
When OpIndia came to know about the incident, we tried to learn more about the case. We accessed a copy of the FIR lodged by Minnatullah Khan at the Kalindi Kunj police station. We also got a copy of the complaint from the other party.
Both sides have their own versions of the story. What is surprising in the case was that prompt action has already been taken on the FIR lodged by Minnatullah Khan, but the other side is still struggling for their FIR. No one is bothered about their request even a week after the incident.
Taking notice of the matter, we approached the other party and spoke the family who had been in the fight with some people of the particular community living in their area on the day of 5th August.
Jeetendra, a member of the family, said, “On 5th August, on the occasion of Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan, the children of our family were celebrating the occasion by lighting diyas outside the house. Some people came from Minnatullah Khan alias Buchi’s place and threatened the children. Minnatullah lives close to our house. They kicked the lamps as well. When women of our house noticed what was happening, they came to the rescue. But those men started arguing with them as well. Two men of the house (Mukesh and Gagan) also went there, and those people attacked them. When the matter escalated, they went away only to come back with 30-40 people in a few minutes.”
Jeetendra said, “The mob came back and attacked our house. They picked up bricks from the adjacent house and threw at us. They also threw the lamps placed outside our house and tried to burn the bike. When we contacted police in this matter, they came and took Mukesh and Gagan with them to the station. When we questioned, they informed us that a complaint had been lodged from the other side.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQVtziBMl1A (Video removed by YouTube)
OpIndia asked Jeetendra the reason behind the arrest of Mukesh and Gagan. He said, “ Actually, that day those men were misbehaving with the women of our family. Minnatullah Khan was going to kill our daughter Varsha using the handle of handpump, but she saved herself by placing her hand on the head. Gagan witnessed all this and got furious. He brought the old sword from his wedding and hit Khan with its handle.”
Jeetendra provided us with a video of the whole incident. He said that the other side specifically drew the attention of the police towards sword incident and got Gagan and Mukesh arrested. He alleged that the police did not even bother to talk to the family. Also, they arrested Deepak, who was not even present at the time of the fight. He came to the spot later, but police also took him and threw him in Tihar along with Mukesh and Gagan.
According to Jeetendra, Minnatullah Khan is a close aide of Aam Aadmi Party leader and MLA of the area Amanatullah Khan. There are several criminal cases registered against him. However, no action has been taken till date. According to him, when they asked the police, they told him that action is being taken based on the FIR of the other side.
Till the time OpIndia talked to the family, police had not registered any FIR based on their complaint. However, it has come to our notice that FIR has been finally registered on 11th August after six days of the incident.
OpIndia was informed that the Hindu family had to struggle a lot to get the FIR registered by the police. A copy of the FIR by Hindus is attached here. Only time will tell when and if any action is taken based on this FIR.
Opindia was told that after much struggle their complaint was finally registered by the police on 11 August 2020 as an FIR. A copy of the FIR lodged by Hindus is attached here. Now whatever action is taken on this will be known in the coming time.
FIR by Hindu Side Page 1FIR by Hindu Side Page 2FIR by Hindu Side Page 3
What do the women of the house say?
Babita, wife of Gagan, said that on 5th August, the children of their house were celebrating Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan by lighting a diya. Then they went out to take laddus. But the children of the Muslims told them not to chant Ram-Ram but say Allah-Allah. According to Babita, “Our children refused to say Allah-Allah. Muslim children started beating them. Our children complained to us. By that time, they came from behind and attacked us. Meanwhile, our niece was also attacked. We went to save her, but they started beating us. They also threw stones at our house.”
According to Babita, the crowd from the other side caught her hand and tried to grope her too. They told Babita’s family that they would ruin their lives, and no one will be able to do anything.
Deepak’s mother also blamed Minnatullah Khan for the whole incident. Varsha, who was attacked with the handle of a handpump, said that she went out when they misbehaved with her brothers. But Minnatullah Khan’s men misbehaved with her, trying to touch her inappropriately.
She said that they only demand that action should be taken against Minnatullah Khan in this case at the earliest. If something happened to the children of their family, then he should be held responsible.
Role of Sagar Malik, Vice President, Sudarshan Vahini Organization, Delhi
Sagar Malik, Delhi State Vice President of Sudarshan Vahini Organization, is also demanding action from the police on this issue. He said that this incident took place to incite communal violence. Whatever the Hindu side did, it was done to protect the women of their house. Gagan attacked Minnatullah with a non-sharp sword only in self-defence.
Therefore, according to him, the case should have been filed on both sides. However, the police are taking action only on the complaint of the other side. Also, Gagan, Mukesh and Deepak were called to the station and thrown in jail.
Sagar alleged that due to the political pressure in this case, the police were not taking any action on the complaint of the Hindu side and threw people from their side in jail.
OpIndia’s effort to reach out to the police for comment
When OpIndia contacted police to get their view in the case, they asked us to contact DSP. When we tried getting in touch with DSP, he was not available. If we get any further statement from the police, we will update this report accordingly.
What is in the complaint FIR lodged by Minnatullah Khan?
In the FIR registered by MInnatullah Khan, he described himself as a social worker. He said that some people were lighting a lamp after Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan on 5th August. Then his elder son gets a call that Gagan slapped his younger son. He rushed to save, but he was also attacked with a hammer.
According to Minnatullah Khan, after learning about the incident, he went to ask Gagan why he attacked his elder son while the fight was between children.
But then Mukesh attacked him with the handle of a handpump. He protected his head using his left hand that got injured. After that, Gagan also brought a sword from his home and attacked him with an intention to kill him. Then many people, including Deepak and Sushil, came and started attacking them with bricks and stones, said Minntullah Khan.
Minnatullah said that he became unconscious as a brick hit his head. When he regained consciousness, he found himself in Apollo hospital. He has demanded in the FIR that there should be strict action against those who attacked his children.
FIR by Minnatullah Khan
The police have registered a case under section 307 and 34 on the Hindu side based on the complaint filed by Minnatullah Khan.
Who is named in the complaint registered by Hindu side?
In the complaint registered by the Hindu side, Minnatullah Khan alias Buchchi, Zoya, Saddam, Irfan, Chunna wife of Buchi, Kaushar and his wife, Usman Ali Mansuri, Salman, Sameer, Shah Rukh, Raja, Aman, Abdullah, Samuel Massey and others were named. They have asked for strict action against them.
In the complaint, they have alleged that Minnatullah Khan and others had beaten them up, pelted stones at their house, misbehaved with the women in the house, threw away the diyas and tried to set their bike on fire.
Complaint by Hindu side
It is clearly written in the complaint that amid such a crowd, they felt helpless and tried to stop them from attacking and molesting women and young girls of the house. They also got injured while saving women.
The family also alleged in the complaint that the people from the other side are of criminal nature. They have several cases filed against them. They post photos with guns on Facebook. If something happens to the Hindu family, they should be held responsible for it.
What is in the video Opindia received?
OpIndia has received videos of the incident. We can see a large crowd of people hurdling stones at the house of the man who was making the video. The crowd was throwing big bricks and stones at their house. They also carried stones from an adjacent house and used them for the attack.
Videos of the incident on August 5
In another video, a young man was seen vandalizing a bike. Then diyas lit in the house were thrown, and the bike parked there was also vandalized. One person tried to explain, “Buchi Bhai bike meri hai (Buchi bhai this bike belongs to me),” but the rowdy crowd did not listen and continued to hurdle stones and abuses.
In one video, it was clearly seen that Gagn attacks Minnatullah Khan with a sword that he brought from his house and after that people started to run from the scene. Later, the other side pelted stones. Some women tried to pace down the situation, but the atmosphere did not calm down. Finally, a person from the house makes a video of the area, and someone asks him to put it on Facebook.
Congress supporters and ‘liberals’ attacked BJP leader Sambit Patra after Congress spokesperson Rajiv Tyagi suffered major cardiac arrest and passed away soon after he was on a television debate. The unfortunate death of Tyagi was used by Congress supporters and ‘liberals’ to score political points and abuse Patra accusing him of being the reason for Tyagi’s heart trouble.
After abusing Rajiv Tyagi ji minutes before his death, Sambit Patra went on to the next TV debate to spread more poison.
Breaks my heart to think that Rajiv Tyagi ji’s last words probably were “Pls allow me to speak”.
Congress supporter Saket Gokhale was the flag-bearer of the Twitter movement demanding arrest of Patra just because Tyagi’s last debate before he breathed his last was with him.
Tyagi was 52 and regularly represented Congress on television debates. As per reports, after the debate concluded, he asked his domestic help to make tea for himself and lied down to rest. However, he was unresponsive when the domestic help got him tea few minutes later. He was rushed to hospital where he was declared ‘brought dead’. To correlate his unfortunate demise with one particular debate stinks of dirty politics.
Politics, deaths and blame-game
What is even more unfortunate is that this is not the first time dirty politics is played on someone’s death. Two years back when Kashmir-based journalist Shujaat Bukhari was gunned down by terrorists, ‘liberals’ attacked scientist and columnist Anand Ranganathan for indulging in a debate with the deceased just days before terrorists killed him. Because prior to his assassination, Anand Ranganathan had pointed out that Bukhari himself had religious beliefs that can be called anything but moderate. However, a similar set of ‘liberals’ had then put the blame squarely on Anand Ranganathan that Bukhari was killed because the former thought his views were not moderate enough.
Patra and Tyagi were debating on the Bengaluru riots which broke out on 11th August after an allegedly ‘offensive’ post on Prophet Muhammad offended Muslims who went on a rampaging riot and burned the city. In the debate, even Tyagi got agitated and watered down barbarism of Islamic invaders and said that despite so many invasions by Islamist rulers, Hindus have survived in India, then why is the narrative of ‘Hinduism in danger’ being built. Tyagi also said that P Naveen who wrote the allegedly ‘blasphemous’ remark on Prophet Muhammad should also be behind bars and indirectly justified riots since there was a ‘delay’ in filing police complaint.
‘Liberals’, by blaming Patra for death of an individual where he was a willing and equal participant, just show how hollow their ‘sympathies’ for the deceased. Tyagi’s unfortunate death is just an excuse to attack Patra and shift the attention from riots unleashed by Islamist mob.
PM Narendra Modi will today launch ‘Transparent Taxation’, a drive intended to bring benefits for the taxpayers and ease the process of compliance for honest taxpayers. MoS finance G Kishan Reddy took to Twitter to inform about the initiative.
Following several major tax reforms, Hon’ble PM @narendramodi will be launching ‘Transparent Taxation’ #HonoringTheHonest today, with a focus on simplifying direct tax laws and bringing efficiency and transparency in the functioning of the IT Department. pic.twitter.com/eFgb4bK3mY
The reforms include various relief measures on account of the coronavirus pandemic, extension of tax payments, refund filing dates, and a number of other steps that seek to ease the payment and compliance process.
PM Modi is to launch the initiative at 11 am on August 13.
On the morning of August 13, there was some buzz on social media that Pranab Mukherjee, former President of India and Bharat Ratna, has expired. Jounrnalist Rajdeep Sardesai was one of the very first persons to tweet about the former president’s demise.
Rajdeep’s tweet at 8.59
AICC secretary and former MLA from Telangana Vamsi Chand Reddy also tweeted condolences for the former president, declaring that he is dead.
Congress leader tweeting fake news about Pranab Mukherjee’s death
With a prominent journalist and a senior congress leader tweeting about the death of the former president, the ‘news’ caught up and many social media users started tweeting about Mukherjee’s so-called death.
However. Abhijit Mukherjee, the former president’s son and Sharmistha, his daughter, tweeted saying that he is alive and is thermodynamically stable. They condemned the behaviour of certain media persons, declaring a person dead even before confirmation from reliable sources. Abhijit stated, “Speculations & fake news being circulated by reputed Journalists on social media clearly reflects that Media in India has become a factory of Fake News .”
My Father Shri Pranab Mukherjee is still alive & haemodynamically stable ! Speculations & fake news being circulated by reputed Journalists on social media clearly reflects that Media in India has become a factory of Fake News .
Though Abhijit did not mention Rajdeep’s name, it was clear from his tweet that he was deeply anguished to see a senior journalist like Rajdeep tweeting about his father’s death without confirmation.
Sharmistha Mukherjee, the former president’s daughter also slammed the fake claims and even requested media persons to not disturb her by calling her, as she needs to keep her phone free for updates from the hospital about her father’s health and treatment.
Rumours about my father is false. Request, esp’ly to media, NOT to call me as I need to keep my phone free for any updates from the hospital?
Following the clarifications by the former president’s children, Rajdeep deleted his previous tweet and apologised. He stated that he should not have fallen for fake news and should have confirmed before tweeting.
Rajdeep apologises
Pranab Mukherjee remains critical and is comatose
The former president has undergone brain surgery recently and was later also diagnosed with coronavirus. As shared by journalist Shiv Aroor, sources from the Army RR Hospital, were the former president is being treated, have informed that Pranab Mukherjee remains critical following his surgery and infection.
“The condition of Hon’ble Shri Pranab Mukherjee remains unchanged this morning. He is deeply comatose with stable vital parameters and he continues to be on ventilatory support,” informed Aroor.
He had tested coronavirus positive on 10 August
Former President Pranab Mukherjee had informed via a tweet on 10th August that on a visit to a hospital for a separate procedure, he was tested positive for COVID-19. He had requested everyone who came in his contact to self-isolate and got tested for the infection.
It was reported later that he had undergone brain surgery and while in the hospital, was diagnosed coronavirus positive too. Pranab Mukherjee is 84 years old.
In February, it was Delhi. In August, it was Bengaluru. India’s secularists fiddled, regaling each other with tales of some Urdu poet. Meanwhile, on the night of August 11, Bengaluru burned.
Incidentally, the target was a Congress MLA. All the relationships that the party has supposedly cultivated with the ‘secular’ community were forgotten in an instant. Not even for something he had done. But something a relative of his had done. For the mob, perhaps one non-believer was as good as any other.
How far does this go? How many degrees of separation are needed before one non-believer is spared the guilt for the actions of another? Incidentally, Bengaluru knows. But I am not sure Bengaluru remembers.
It was January 2007, shortly after Saddam Hussein was hanged in Iraq. Saddam Hussein, the brutal dictator, executed for crimes against humanity. But hey, there are so many brutal dictators in that region (wonder why?).
Anyway. However you feel about the Iraq war and the hanging of Saddam Hussein, I think we can all agree that India was not responsible for the actions of any side in that conflict. Least of all, the common people of Bengaluru.
But Bengaluru still burned. A group of people turned out on the streets to protest the hanging of Saddam Hussein. The rally was led by prominent Congress leader and former Cabinet Minister C K Jaffar Sharief. Soon, the rally turned violent, clashing with police, burning shops and cars.
Sound familiar?
Now, here is something curious. Before writing this article, I did a google search to jog my memory about the details of this old incident. That shouldn’t be hard, right? Should be easy enough to dig up old media reports about a riot in a big metropolitan city.
Right?
Wrong!
Imagine my surprise when a google search threw up media headlines such as this.
Headlines on violence protesting Saddam Hussein’s hanging
What! The Reuters report is from Jan 21, 2007 and gives all sorts of details: “The violence occurred as activists moved through the city to join a rally organised by the right-wing Hindu fundamentalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh” The report goes on and on about how Muslim owned businesses were targeted and adds that Karnataka is ruled by the “Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and a regional party.”
Indeed, the tone of the coverage and the narrative behind it has not changed in a decade and half. Deep within the Reuters report was this sentence on what had happened earlier than the Jan 21 violence:
“On Friday, thousands of Muslim demonstrators protesting against last month’s execution of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, clashed with police and destroyed shops and cars in the city.”
My effort to find a Reuters report with a headline blaming “Muslim activists” for the Jan 19 violence failed completely. In fact, I could find no direct coverage of the Jan 19 incident at all from Reuters. I also could not locate any such coverage of the Jan 19 incident from any of the major Indian media outlets. Even though the name of a former Cabinet minister from Congress had come up in connection to the protests.
I was beginning to doubt both my memory and my sanity, but I kept up my search on google. And finally, from the much lesser known news website Daijiworld, I finally discovered the report dated Jan 19, 2007.
Daijiworld report on Bengaluru violence from 2007
That’s all, folks. This perfunctory report from a small news website, that ends with “more details are awaited.” That’s all that remains on the internet on who started the violence in Bengaluru in Jan 2007. If you can find more, let me know.
The pattern is exactly the same. The coverage of the Jan 2007 Bengaluru violence seems to show up in major outlets only once “Hindu activists” could be blamed for something.
As with the Reuters report, who started the violence is always kind of a disclaimer, buried somewhere within. This piece from Frontline goes in detail blaming the BJP and RSS, even including a picture of VHP workers holding saffron flags.
VHP blamed for violence by Muslim groups protesting against Saddam Hussein’s hanging
Buried deep within the same article is the sentence:
“The first round of clashes took place on January 19 during a day of protests called by former Congress leader Jaffer Sharief’s newly formed Peoples Front against the execution of Saddam Hussein.”
The Telegraph, of course, is a work of secular art.
The Telegraph’s report
Note the hyphenation of Saddam Hussein with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Again, the question is : where is the direct coverage of the Jan 19 violence? If you can find it, I would love to see it. Did Indian media wait for a few days for a “Hindu angle” to emerge before they could cover it?
This is how secularism works. Blame Hindus loudly. If some member of the Muslim community has done something wrong, blame both sides. And keep polishing the reporting. Ultimately, it often happens that people will simply forget one side of an incident.
This didn’t just happen with a relatively small (by Indian standards) communal incident in Bangalore in 2007. See this tweet from Ellen Barry of the New York Times.
2002 Gujarat riots are ‘whitewashed’
So NCERT choice of terminology had simply left out 59 Hindus burned to death in Godhra. Their term for what happened in Gujarat 2002 was simply “anti-Muslim riots.” The propaganda is so effective that a New York Times journalist accused Modi govt of “whitewashing” the incident when NCERT changed the term to the obviously more accurate “Gujarat riots.”
Think such tricks can no longer be played today in the era of social media? Think again. Remember Delhi riots? While the right wing outraged on social media yesterday, I assure you some left winger was planning a Wikipedia article in their mind on how Hindus were to blame for everything. Ten years from now, the social media outrage of yesterday will be forgotten. And people will struggle to put together what really happened on Aug 11, 2020 in Bengaluru, just like I was struggling to dig up what happened in Bengaluru in 2007.
It’s already begun: the finessing of the reporting around Bengaluru riots. In fact, it started the moment the media gave over the top coverage to a dozen people protecting a temple instead of a thousand people rioting in the streets. Now, here is a report about attacks on journalists by “rioters and police.” Here is another, which sneaks in a line about public anger against the Congress MLA apparently not helping people in times of Coronavirus.
The narrative is already changing. It hasn’t even been two days.
Guess what Aug 11, 2020 Bengaluru riots will seem like, when seen through the kaleidoscope of secularism, ten years from now.
Violent Muslim mobs ran amok, resorting to arson, stone-pelting vandalism on the streets of Bengaluru on Tuesday evening. We reported how the Muslim mob which had entered the basement area of the DJ Halli police station during the violence and reportedly set some 200-250 vehicles on fire. Now, in a video which has surfaced on social media, the helpless police personnel of the KG Halli police station are heard seeking permission from senior cops to fire at the irate Islamist mob in self-defence.
In the video, while the helpless police officers cry and request their senior officers to grant them permission to fire at the approaching bloodthirsty Islamist mobs in self-defence, the senior officer tells his juniors that they could do whatever it needs to take to protect oneself. “Do it. Nobody is in a situation to protect you. You protect yourself first”, the senior officer tells his subordinates.
Police inside station: We are stuck, no one is there to protect us, we will have to fire
The video aired by TV9 Karnataka shows how the police station was stormed by the rioting Muslims, who turned the city of Bengaluru into a battle zone yesterday.
The Muslim mob, which ransacked the Congress MLA residence on Tuesday later torched down the two police station and damaged vehicles believing that the police had kept the accused detained there.
KG Halli and DJ Halli police stations torched by Islamist mobs in Bengaluru
Several policemen were injured while police vehicles were torched and vehicles of senior police officers were damaged. As the KSRP platoons, which were called in to contain the situation, advanced towards the rioters, they were pelted with stones from rooftops. At this juncture, the police had to lob tear gas shells trying to quell the violence that engulfed the country’s IT capital. Three people had reportedly died in the ensuing scuffle.
Heavy police deployment has been made in KG Halli and DJ Halli following the incident. 145 people have been arrested and section 144 has been imposed in the state.
In a swift crackdown against dissenting voices, the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha showed unusual alacrity in arresting two persons for bringing up the coronavirus crisis mismanagement in an audio conversation that has now gone viral on the Internet.
While one of the arrested persons is identified as Biswajit Mohanty (47), a businessman of Palasuni area in Bhubaneswar, the other one is Laxmikanta Behera (46) is stated to be a resident of Rasulgarh area and an employee of ORTEL Communications, a sister organisation of Odisha TV. The two persons were arrested on Monday by the Commissionerate Police for allegedly highlighting the state’s mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis. The audio clip was aired on Odisha TV, following which the state govt took action against the TV channel too.
Though SC has quashed Sec 66A pronouncing that police & govt officials can’t restrict anyone from social media postings, CP y’day arrested 2 persons citing that their telephonic conversation was shared with malafide intention.
A case is registered against the duo under Section 269, 270, 505 (B), 120 B of IPC, along with Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act and Sec 452 of the Disaster Management Act. They have taken on a three-day remand after producing them in court on Monday.
In the 9.36 minutes long audiotape that has gone viral, two friends can be heard conversing about the mismanagement of the Naveen Patnaik’s government in handling the coronavirus outbreak in the state. One of the two friends, who had recently returned home after being treated for coronavirus, is heard narrating his experience during the stay at the hospital. What follows is a brutal takedown of the government’s lofty claims of acing the COVID-19 response. The seemingly innocuous conversation between two friends corroborates the numerous ground reports about the bungling up of the coronavirus crisis by the state government.
FIR filed against OTV for spreading ‘false and misleading’ information
Even before the police established the authenticity of the audiotape, the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack twin City police commissioner rushed to file an FIR against the Odisha TV channel for what it called spreading ‘false and misleading’ information about the Covid pandemic with ‘mala fide and mischievous’ intention.
In response to the action initiated against OTV, the authorities of the Odia news channel had a meeting with Bhubaneswar DCP and asked him to file a complaint against Capital PS IIC, Girija Chakrabarty, under Sections 166, 167, 193, 218 of the IPC. The news channel informed the DCP that the IIC of Capital Police station served a notice to the channel late at night without providing sufficient time to respond, citing the violations of the directions issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Courts.
Netizens speculate political rivalry between Naveen Patnaik and Baijayant Panda as a reason for action against OTV
The unhealthy zeal shown by the Naveen Patnaik’s government to initiate action against OTV has the social media users speculate the real motive behind the action. Social Media websites are awash with speculations that the action against OTV may be rooted in the old political rivalry between Naveen Patnaik and Baijayant Panda, given that Panda’s family owns the OTV network. Besides, before joining the BJP, Panda was a member of Naveen Patnaik’s BJD but was unceremoniously suspended from the party for ‘anti-party’ activities.
The capital of Karnataka, Bengaluru, was in the throes of violent communal riots yesterday as the rampaging Muslim mob took to the streets, baying for the blood of a relative of the Congress MLA for uploading a post on Facebook that seemingly insulted Islam’s divine personage Prophet Muhammad.
A legion of violent protesters hit the roads of Bengaluru, indulging in arson and vandalism, to mark their protest against the allegedly derogatory post on Prophet Muhammad. Chants of “Allahu Akbar” and “Naara e Taqbeer” reverberated across the neighbourhoods that found themselves in the grips of violence let loose by the Islamists.
However, the carnage that was unleashed in Bengaluru is neither an aberration, nor any novelty is attached to the protests carried out by the Islamists. Across the world, Islamists resort to violence and barbarity when they deem their religion and its propagator Prophet Muhammad is referred to in an unfavourable manner.
An unflattering reference to Prophet Muhammad or what is considered as ‘Blasphemy’ is often a rallying cry for the Islamists to unleash their primordial instinct of indulging in brute violence and communal riots against the ‘non-believers’. The critical viewpoint on Prophet Muhammad or Islam acts as a trigger to let out the cathartic release of the pent-up hatred harboured by these Islamists against those who dare to speak up uncomfortable facts.
Here are the 5 incidents when comments, caricature or critical views on Prophet Muhammad has touched off a wave of violence and communal riots:-
Charlie Hebdo killings
The incident that has come to symbolise the intolerance and violence attached with the unfavourable portrayal of Prophet Muhammad is none other than the brazen shooting of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists.
Armed with rifles, Islamists barged into the office of Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, and opened indiscriminate firing at the employees working at the weekly satirical magazine. The massacre had evidently taken place in retaliation to Charlie Hebdo’s satirical and critical depictions of Prophet Muhammad and other Islamic leaders that had attracted considerable worldwide attention. 17 people were killed in the shooting and 11 others were injured.
The assassination of Kamlesh Tiwari
Former Hindu Mahasabha leader and the founder of Hindu Samaj Party Kamlesh Tiwari was killed by Islamists last year at his residence in Lucknow. Two assailants had sneaked in weapons inside a packet of sweets and entered his house. They attacked him and slit his throat and hurried away from his house.
The attack was primarily carried out in response to Kamlesh Tiwari’s comments on Prophet Muhammad’s sexuality back in 2015. Tiwari’s snarky remarks, raising questions on Prophet Muhammad’s sexuality attracted the wrath of thousands of Muslims. He was subsequently arrested by the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh and lodged in jail for years.
However, after he was freed from the jail, two highly-motivated Islamists, with the assistance from a number of other colleagues, assassinated Kamlesh Tiwari in broad daylight at his Lucknow residence in October 2019. Tiwari was reportedly stabbed 15 times and the murderers tried to slit his throat twice.
Danish cartoons on Prophet Muhammad
A representation of Muhammad’s turban as a fused bomb precipitated global outrage when it was published in Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten. The newspaper published not one but 12 such editorial cartoons on September 30, 2005, attracting the fury of the Muslim groups in Denmark.
The paper announced that it was its earnest attempt to contribute to the debate surrounding the criticism of Islam and self-censorship. However, such clarification fell on deaf ears as Muslim protesters went about demonstrating against the newspaper, calling the depiction of Prophet Muhammad by the daily as “inflammatory”. The issue eventually led to protests around the world, including violent demonstrations and riots in some Muslim countries, killing more than 200 people.
Innocence of Muslims-an American film that sparked violence in several Muslim countries
‘Innocence of Muslims’ was a short anti-Islamic short film that depicted the life of Prophet Muhammad. Predictably, the YouTube videos of the movie uploaded in July 2012, sparked outrage across the Muslim world, with many calling for the ban on the movie.
The attempt to portray the life of Prophet Muhammad was deemed as the denigration of the Islamic prophet and resulted in the large-scale demonstrations and violent protests. The demonstrations first erupted in Egypt and soon spread to different parts of the Arab world. The protests led to hundreds of injuries, and more than 50 people died in the violence that accompanied those protests. Fatwas were called to harm the actors of the movie, and the Pakistan government minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour offered a bounty for the killing of the producer of the movie.
Rangeela Rasool– a book on Prophet Muhammad led to killing of the publisher
Rangeela Rasool (Colourful Prophet) was a book written by Arya Samaj during its confrontation with Muslims in India during the 1920s. The controversial book concerned the marriages of Prophet Muhammad. It was written in retaliation to a pamphlet issued by a Muslim, depicting the Hindu Goddess Sita as a prostitute.
The book Rangeela Rasool irked Muslims with its sacrilegious commentary on the life of Prophet Muhammad. While the writer of the book was not revealed until later, the published of the book, Mahashay Rajpal, was targeted by the Muslims for publishing a blasphemous book to Prophet Muhammad. After he was acquitted by a court in 1929, a young Muslim carpenter Ilm-Deen brutally stabbed and killed Rajpal.
Deen was subsequently arrested and convicted for killing Rajpal in October 1929. However, his act of brutality turned him into a hero for the Muslims and he was accorded with honorifics Ghazi and Shaheed. His funeral was reportedly attended by 600,000 people and he still remains famous in Pakistan even almost a century later, partly because of a movie that celebrated the incident.
