On 15th March, a horrific incident came to light in Bisawar, Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, where a Muslim man was arrested by the police for allegedly raping a 7-year-old minor girl. Following the incident, the locals became agitated and attacked a local mosque, breaking down its door. Police rushed to the spot and pacified the situation. A heavy police force has been deployed to maintain law and order.
Girl found unconscious near pond
According to media reports, the young girl had gone to the market with other children to buy goods when the accused abducted her. The accused, Aman, son of Chand Khan, took her approximately 200 metres away from the spot of abduction to a pond, where he brutally raped the child. The other children informed her family, prompting a frantic search by relatives and neighbours. After some time, the family members discovered the victim unconscious and bloodied near the pond’s boundary.
The family immediately alerted the police, and the child was rushed to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Sadabad. Considering her critical condition, doctors referred her to Hathras District Hospital and subsequently to JN Medical College at Aligarh Muslim University for further treatment. The child remained unconscious for a long time during medical care.
Police arrest suspect after overnight search
Considering the sensitivity of the matter, police immediately launched a manhunt for Aman. After an intensive search through the night, he was apprehended on Sunday morning. A case has been registered against him under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the POCSO Act.
थाना सादाबाद क्षेत्र मे नाबालिग बच्ची से दुष्कर्म की घटना मे थाना सादाबाद पर सुसंगत धाराओ मे अभियोग पंजीकृत कर पुलिस द्वारा आरोपी की शिनाख्त करते हुए आरोपी को गिरफ्तार किया गया तथा कुछ लोगो द्वारा मस्जिद के गेट को क्षतिग्रस्त करने के प्रयास आदि के संबंध मे #DMHts व #SPHts की बाइट pic.twitter.com/stEqT3SzPL
Speaking to the media, Superintendent of Police (SP) Chiranjivi Nath Sinha confirmed that Aman had been arrested. He said, “A minor girl was subjected to rape in the Bisawar outpost area. A case has been filed, and the accused, Aman, son of Chand Khan, has been taken into custody.”
Angry mob targets mosque
The sexual assault of the minor triggered widespread anger in the area. Enraged residents shut down the local market and gathered to protest. They surrounded the mosque in the area and damaged its door. Additional police forces were deployed to the scene to control the situation.
On 13th March, media reports suggested that a United States-based journalist, Raphael Satter, who held an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, had sued the Government of India because his OCI card was revoked. The OCI status was revoked in 2023 after he published a malicious report claiming that a prominent Indian businessman was providing hackers-for-hire services to the government.
Satter works for the Reuters news agency and covers cybersecurity. According to his LinkedIn profile, Satter is a writer with Reuters since September 2019. His website states that he has been in the field of journalism for over 20 years. He was granted an OCI card through his marriage. In early December 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs of India revoked his OCI status. According to The Guardian’s report, the Home Ministry, in a letter informing Satter about its decision, accused him of producing work that maliciously tarnished the reputation of the country.
The significance of the OCI card revocation
The OCI card is a privilege that some Non-Resident Indians and foreign nationals married to Indian nationals enjoy. It enables them to travel to India, residency, or employment restrictions without a visa. Essentially, it acts as a permanent visa and does not grant citizenship, as India does not permit dual citizenship. In recent times, the government has revoked the OCI status of several individuals for their involvement in anti-India activities, Satter being one of them. The Guardian’s report claimed that without an OCI card, Satter, who obtained it through marriage, could no longer travel to India.
Speaking to multiple media houses, Satter also claimed that his visits to India were not related to his journalistic work but were only family visits. However, both claims are either factually incorrect or misrepresentations of the facts.
Misinterpretation of OCI revocation
First, let’s discuss The Guardian’s claim that without an OCI card, Satter cannot visit India. The revocation of an OCI card, which was a privilege in the first place, does not mean that he cannot apply for a regular visa. He has the right to apply for a visa under relevant categories to visit his family in India after categorically declaring that he will follow all visa rules.
Secondly, based on available reports, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has accused him of two things. First, he has been accused of “practising journalism without proper permission” and secondly, “maliciously creating adverse and biased opinions against Indian institutions in the international arena.” He has written or co-authored multiple reports targeting India. Writing such reports cannot be done without engaging in journalistic practices, such as contacting people living in India.
If his argument is to be believed—that he did not indulge in journalistic practices in India while writing reports about India—it is even more unethical, as it would mean his reports were not based on any concrete evidence. A journalist has an obligation to contact concerned parties while writing an investigative report. By avoiding “journalistic practices” for such reports, Satter defied the basics of investigative journalism.
Connection to the Appin controversy
Interestingly, Satter’s lawyer has claimed that the OCI card was revoked at the same time that a defamation case was filed against him in India for his story against Indian cybersecurity company Appin and its co-founder Rajat Khare. The report, titled “How an Indian startup hacked the world,” claimed that Appin became a “hack-for-hire powerhouse that stole secrets from executives, politicians, military officials, and wealthy elites around the globe.”
The case against Satter, Reuters, and other authors is ongoing. For some time, the report was removed from Reuters as a district court in Delhi had passed an interim injunction. However, after almost a year, the injunction was lifted, and the report has been live again since then.
Source: Reuters
Satter’s past reports targeting India
One of the most interesting questions that needs to be addressed here is the claim made by Satter’s advocate that the OCI card was revoked solely due to Appin’s lawsuit and so-called exposé. Is this really the case? When OpIndia examined the history of reports published by Satter targeting Indian companies, the case appeared to be different.
In June 2020, Satter co-authored a report with the same set of authors, Jack Stubbs and Christopher Bing, titled “Exclusive: Obscure Indian cyber firm spied on politicians, investors worldwide.” The report claimed that New Delhi-based BellTroX InfoTech Services had been targeting government officials, businesses, short sellers, and others. The claims were based on a report published by Citizen Lab, which concluded the involvement of “BellTroX InfoTech Services” with “high confidence.”
Citizen Lab never stated in its report that they were 100% sure or had any concrete evidence that “Indian hackers” linked to BellTroX were involved in any of the wrongdoings listed in the report. However, Satter and his associates went ahead and published the report targeting India.
In another report, referencing a conversation with Sumit Gupta, co-founder of BellTroX, it was mentioned that while Gupta denied any wrongdoing, he admitted to providing IT services to private investigators, which might have included downloading mailboxes.
However, in 2021, Meta, in one of its reports, claimed to have blocked 400 accounts allegedly linked to the company, possibly used for sending “phishing links.” Details of the alleged targets were not provided. BellTroX was one of seven companies mentioned by Meta in its report. While there is some evidence that BellTroX was indeed involved in some hack-for-hire projects, Appin’s involvement in such activities remained vague.
Satter also published a report claiming the Indian government used Pegasus to spy on Indian journalists, a claim that has been dismissed not only by the Indian government but also by one of the leading journalists, N Ram of The Hindu group, who said that there is no proof of it in an interview with BBC.
The unimaginable ‘goof-up’ by Reuters
There is a notable aspect of the BellTroX story that emerged in June 2020. Reuters had credited a journalist from Delhi for additional inputs and a photograph of Sumit Gupta. However, the photograph was not of Gupta but of another business owner named Arvind Kumar, who had an office in the same building but occupied a different space.
According to The Print report, when they contacted Reuters to verify the identity of the person in the photograph, Reuters stated, “The person in this image was incorrectly identified as Sumit Gupta. We regret the error and have withdrawn the picture.” Reuters, a reputed news agency, “goofed up” and practically ruined Kumar’s life, as he was reportedly interrogated by the police after being misidentified by Reuters as a hacker.
Left: Photograph of Kumar used as Gupta’s. Right: Changed feature image of the report
Kumar told The Print that a foreigner had been persistently bothering him for a photograph, which was eventually used by Reuters. “This June 9 story corrects to remove reference to speaking with Gupta at his office” was a correction message posted by Reuters, which has now been removed.
While Reuters has taken down the image, a Google image search still identifies Kumar as Gupta, making this a grave error by the news agency. A detailed report on the incident was done by Marleny Huck. After the report got published, Reuters tried to get it removed but failed.
Allegations of threats and intimidation
The Guardian further claimed that Satter received threats from individuals linked to Appin. He made a bizarre allegation that if he did not stop investigating Appin, he would face potential “diplomatic” action, which, according to Satter, was the revocation of his OCI card.
Details of the court case
OpIndia accessed the court documents related to the case against Satter. The case was filed in 2022 by one Vinay Pandey and was first heard in November 2022. On 4th December 2023, the court noted that the article “How an Indian startup hacked the world,” co-authored by Satter, appeared prima facie defamatory. As an interim measure, the court directed Reuters to pull down the report until further proceedings.
The court further stated that allowing the content to remain online might have a “devastating effect” on the Indian student population linked to Appin. The court also directed Alphabet Inc. to deindex the URLs of the article. It further ruled that if the defendants suffered any loss due to the temporary removal of the content, they could be compensated monetarily.
However, in a 3rd October 2024 order, the court refused to grant an interim injunction against Satter and Reuters, allowing the reports to remain online until a final decision was made. The court observed that while the reports made allegations of hacking and unethical practices, the finer details could only be determined after a full trial. It recognised the importance of journalistic freedom and ruled that an interim ban on the articles was not justified at that stage.
Conclusion
Satter’s reporting on India raises serious concerns about fairness and accuracy. His use of weak evidence, misrepresentation of facts, and repeated targeting of Indian institutions show a clear bias rather than balanced journalism. The revocation of his OCI card was not random but a result of his actions. If he believes in ethical journalism, he should back his claims with solid facts instead of portraying himself as a victim.
Leftist propaganda outlet ‘The Wire’ which habitually downplays any historical or current atrocities against Hindus, is triggered by the portrayal of the brutal torture of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj of the Maratha dynasty by Mughal ruler Aurangzeb in the movie Chhaava. The Wire posted a video on YouTube condemning and criticising the movie and accused the makers of the movie of inciting hatred against Muslims through the movie.
In the video, a correspondent of The Wire claimed that people, in general, are ignorant about the ‘real history’ and that Chhaava is an attempt to mislead them about the history of India. Attributing malicious intent to the makers of the historical drama, the correspondent claimed that if a survey were conducted among people who watched Chhava, it would certainly show that they developed a deeper sense of hatred for Muslims after watching the movie. He further claimed that children were crying and screaming while watching the movie in cinemas.
The journalist was particularly disturbed by the portrayal of the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb in Chhaava as a merciless and cruel ruler, which, he believed, was not accurate. He alleged that the movie was full of scenes that were intentionally included to show that Mughal emperors were cruel, which, in his opinion, was not true. He claimed that the movie went against the spirit of the Constitution of India and that anyone believing in the Constitution would be ashamed of the movie.
He backed his opinion about the generosity of the Mughal rulers by pointing out that it would not have been possible for them to establish an empire and rule over a vast territory of India without respecting its diversity. He also quoted a few examples from school NCERT books about Rajput rulers marrying their women into Mughal families to back his claim. He admitted that Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, who killed his own brother to ascend to the throne, was not as generous as Akbar, but according to him, he was not as bad as the movie portrays him.
In his defence of Aurangzeb, the journalist said the Mughal ruler’s generosity is evident from the fact that even though Aurangzeb imposed Jizya (a religious tax) on Hindus, he exempted Brahmins, women and old people from it. He added that Aurangzeb did destroy some Hindu temples, but he also built some temples. In his review of the movie, though he seemed unhappy with the movie in general but he was particularly miffed by the fact that about 40 minutes of the movie were dedicated to depicting the brutal execution of Sambhaji Maharaj after days of inhuman torture by Aurangzeb.
The journalist claimed that the Marathas were no different from the Mughals and that the Peshwas in the Maratha administration committed caste atrocities against Dalits who revolted against Marathas with the support of the British.
Interestingly, the journalist in his attempt to prove that the movie promotes hatred against the Muslim community by portraying Aurangzeb as a merciless ruler, inadvertently insinuated that Aurangzeb represented the entire Muslim community of the present times. Therefore, if Aurangzeb is portrayed as cruel, it somehow means that the movie is trying to prove that the entire Muslim community is cruel.
The journalist also blamed the Modi government for ‘such movies’. He alleged that under the Modi government, ‘absurd’ movies like Article 370 and The Kerala Story are being made.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has sought an umbrella probe in the cases of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants staying in the country.
A senior officer informed that in a recent meeting, instructions have been passed to all states and UTs to investigate the cases of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants as umbrella cases and identify the persons who have helped the illegal immigrants in obtaining documents to generate Aadhar and other documents pertaining to the citizenship of India.
The officer added that in some cases, it has been found that the documents were prepared for the purpose of travel to European countries or the Middle East, and the persons didn’t stay for long in India. The investigation officers have been instructed to also identify the persons who have helped the illegal immigrant in generating documents and make them accused in the case.
During the investigation, it has been instructed to identify the loopholes used to generate documents. All suspicious aadhar cards have been sent for re-verification, which includes scrutiny of the documents submitted for aadhar generation. In a meeting with Aadhar officials, they have been asked to pass instructions to all aadhar centers to inform the police in case they find any person trying to modify or generate aadhar on suspicious documents.
In case of confirmation of illegal Bangladeshi nationals, the persons will be kept in the detention centre, and FRRO will be informed to facilitate their safe return as per protocols.
In a special operation, Delhi Police arrested more than 20 Bangladeshi nationals who were residing illegally in the national capital.
As per MHA, between Jan 2024 and Jan 2025, a total of 2601 Bangladeshi citizens were apprehended on the Indo-Bangladesh Border.
The Government has strengthened Indo-Bangladesh border security through advanced surveillance, enhanced manpower, and technological integration.
Measures include Surveillance equipment like Hand Held Thermal Imager (HHTI), Night Vision Device (NVD), UAVs, CCTV/PTZ cameras, IR sensors, and the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) pilot in Dhubri (Assam).
To keep check on the issue of illegal border crossing, Border Security Force (BSF) interacts with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) at various levels. Further, a Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) signed in 2011 between BSF and BGB exists for meeting of BSF-BGB Nodal Officers.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
In a significant development, the AAP government in Punjab has decided to revoke charges under NSA imposed on 7 associates of Khalistani terrorist Amritpal Singh. Moreover, the state government has decided to shift them back from Assam to Punjab, and initiate legal procedures against them.
At present, Amritpal Singh and his associates are lodged at Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam. They were taken to the high-security prison in eastern Assam following their arrest in April 2023 after a weeks-long chase.
As per reports, they will be shifted to prisons in Punjab starting tomorrow, and Punjab Police have geared up to increase security in view of the same. Officials have said that arrangements are being made for the transfer of the detainees, and further legal proceedings will follow once they are back in Punjab.
The NSA imposed against 7 of the associates are expiring on 19th March, and the Punjab govt has decided not to extend it further. They are Daljit Singh Kalsi, Bhagwant Singh (Prime Minister Bajeke), Papalpreet Singh, Kulwant Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Basant Singh, and Harjit Singh (Amritpal Singh’s uncle).
This means only Amritpal Singh, Papalpreet Singh, and Jeet Singh will remain detained under NSA, and will remain in the Assam jail. Their detention under NSA is expiring in June, and it is possible that they will be shifted back to Punjab after that. Amritpal Singh’s hearing is scheduled on 22 March, and the govt may take a decision after the hearing also.
The detention of Amritpal Singh and his nine associates were extended by the state govt in June last year. The NSA allows the government to detain people for up to 12 months without charging them.
Amritpal Singh is currently an MP from Khadoor Sahib seat, as he contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 from jail and won it.
Singh and his associates are accused in the Ajnala police station attack case. On 23 February 2023, a mob of about 200-250 people armed with deadly weapons led by Amritpal attacked Ajnala police station to free one of their associates from custody. The police had put up barricades to stop the mob, but Amritpal’s supporters broke it and entered inside and freed their companion. Six policemen were also injured in the attack. After which the police registered cases against Amritpal and some of his associates under serious sections.
SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov docked with International Space Station, Space X CEO Elon Musk announced on Sunday.
In a post on X, Musk posted, “SpaceX Dragon docks with Space Station.”
In a statement, NASA stated, “NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, as the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the orbiting complex at 12:04 a.m. EDT, while the station was roughly 260 statute miles over the Atlantic Ocean.”
After SpaceX Dragon’s link-up to the forward facing port of the station’s Harmony module, the crew members aboard Dragon and the space station will start conducting standard leak checks and pressurization between the spacecraft and the station in preparation for a hatch opening scheduled for approximately 1:45 am (US time) on Sunday.
Shortly after docking to the @Space_Station, Crew-10 was welcomed by an orbital sunrise.
— NASA's Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) March 16, 2025
Crew-10 will join the Expedition 72 crew of NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Don Petitt, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore and Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner, according to the statement released by NASA. The number of crew aboard the space station will rise to 11 people before Crew-9 members Hague, Williams, Wilmore, and Gorbunov return to Earth after the crew handover period.
On Friday, SpaceX and NASA launched a mission to bring back US astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the ISS, where they have been stranded for nine months. The lift-off took place at 7:03 ET on Friday, with a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon spacecraft on the Crew-10 mission.
All the hugs. ?
The hatch of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft opened March 16 at 1:35 a.m. ET and the members of Crew-10 entered the @Space_Station with the rest of their excited Expedition 72 crew. pic.twitter.com/mnUddqPqfr
— NASA's Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) March 16, 2025
The launch came after US President Donald Trump urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to rescue the stranded astronauts sooner than NASA had planned. He has repeatedly accused former US President Joe Biden of abandoning them in space.
On March 7, Trump said that he has authorised Elon Musk to bring back American astronauts- Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore who have been stranded at the International Space station since June last year.
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams have been stranded on the ISS for nine months after reaching there in June last year. They were supposed to stay there for about a week.
The astronauts were transported from Earth to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft However, the spacecraft came back to Earth unmanned in September. This came after Starliner faced “helium leaks” and “issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters” while docking with the ISS, Fox News reported.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
Days after Telangana Police detained 2 women journalists for interviewing a farmer who criticised the Telangana government, Telangana Chief Minister Anumula Revanth Reddy said that anyone using offensive language for him and his family would be stripped and paraded in public.
He said that his government would not hesitate to enact or amend legislation to control such language. Speaking in the state assembly during the motion of thanks to the Governor on Saturday (15th March), Reddy said he would not tolerate abusive language used against him and his family on social media in the name of journalism.
“Let the media organisations, their associations, I&PR and other authorised agencies define a journalist, list out their names and give them to the government. They can be exempted. Others will be treated as criminals and action will be taken as per law,” he said.
Reddy criticised the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party for condemning the detention of two women journalists. “My blood boils when I hear such abusive language directed at my family members. Why is KCR not disturbed when such language is used against my wife and daughter?” Reddy lashed out.
Alleging that the BRS was trying to mentally harass him for political gains, Reddy advised K Chandrashekar Rao, “Do not be under the impression that you can derive political mileage by hurting us psychologically. If you cross the line, the consequences will be dire. I am being tolerant and stopping the youth or else they will hit the roads, strip you all before beating you black and blue.”
Reddy warned the people posting on social media against him that his supporters would retaliate against abusive trolling. He said that he prevented his supporters from taking any action as he was committed to upholding the law. “If these trolls hide behind anonymity, we will expose them and thrash them,” he said.
“They (BRS) condemned the arrest of two women journalists recently, who had posted derogatory and abusive language against my family members and me. I have been patient, but how long should I be tolerant and when bad language has been used in social media posts against the women in my family?” a visibly angry Reddy questioned.
Two women journalists were arrested in Telangana
On Wednesday (11th March) Hyderabad Police detained senior journalist Revathi Pogadadanda and her colleague Tanvi Yadav in connection with the interview of a farmer who allegedly used derogatory language to show his dissatisfaction with the Anumula Revanth Reddy-led Congress government in Telangana.
The interview was posted by a digital news platform the Pulse News Break which is run by Revathi. A case was filed by the police against the journalists based on a complaint filed against them. The police alleged that the interview was shot inside the BRS office.
The Telangana government faced major backlash from the leaders of the BRS for arresting the journalists.
On Saturday (15th March), tension erupted in the Buniyadganj area near Joda Masjid in Gaya, Bihar, after a Muslim man became irked over Holi colour.
The altercation between Hindus celebrating the festival and the Muslim community in the area escalated quickly and turned violent.
There were reports of stone pelting as well. The police were informed about the incident, after which senior officials reached the location with a heavy police force to restore order.
आज दिनांक 15.03.2025 को बुनियादगंज थाना को सूचना प्राप्त हुई कि जोड़ा मस्जिद के पास दो पक्षों के बीच विवाद हो रहा है। प्राप्त सूचना से वरीय पुलिस पदाधिकारी अवगत कराते हुए थानाध्यक्ष, बुनियादगंज थाना के द्वारा थाना के अन्य पुलिस पदाधिकारी एवं सशस्त्र बल के साथ तत्क्षण
— GAYA POLICE (गया (बिहार) पुलिस ) (@GAYAPOLICEBIHAR) March 15, 2025
The clash reportedly started when a Muslim youth from the Khagdi locality stepped out and went onto the main road to purchase some essentials. At that time, some boys from Pandit Gali were celebrating Holi.
They accidentally threw colour on the Muslim man, leading to a heated argument between them. The Muslim man from Khagdi allegedly attempted to pull the Hindu boy who accidentally threw colour on him into his area.
His actions further intensified the scuffle, and the situation turned violent. Several individuals from both sides got involved.
Stone pelting and police intervention
According to eyewitnesses, within minutes of the altercation, groups gathered on both sides and resorted to stone pelting. Local residents immediately informed the police.
A heavy police force, led by senior officials, reached the location and controlled the situation. The mobsters managed to flee the scene as the police arrived.
वजीरगंज के द्वारा तत्क्षण घटनास्थल पर पहुंचकर मामले का जायजा लिया गया तथा दोनों पक्षों के गणमान्य व्यक्तियों के साथ बैठक की गई। प्रारंभिक जांच में पाया गया कि यह विवाद दो व्यक्तियों के बीच व्यक्तिगत मन-मुटाव के कारण हुआ है। घटनास्थल से किसी के घायल होने की सूचना नहीं है। pic.twitter.com/Zu3fPLLgUk
— GAYA POLICE (गया (बिहार) पुलिस ) (@GAYAPOLICEBIHAR) March 15, 2025
After the incident, officials from several police stations, including Wazirganj, Buniyadganj, and Mufassil, reached the spot to pacify the situation. The police attempted to mediate, but tensions prevailed in the area. Eventually, an additional police force was called to ensure no further incidents occurred in the region.
Prior warnings ignored, police downplay the incident
According to media reports, a peace committee meeting was held a few days ago. There were concerns over possible tensions between residents of Khagdi and Pandit Gali. Residents had requested the police to deploy an additional force on the main road. However, the residents alleged that no concrete action was taken by the police.
Buniyadganj police station in-charge, Pawan Kumar, called it a minor scuffle and assured that the situation was under control. He said, “It was a minor scuffle that has been brought under control. Both sides have been counselled, and the situation is now completely normal.”
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anand Kumar directed intervention by senior officials. The Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Wazirganj, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Sadar, and the Buniyadganj police station in-charge were asked to ensure law and order in the area.
Personal dispute, not communal, say officials
Sadar SDM Kisalaya Srivastava dismissed reports of communal tension. He said that the initial investigation into the matter revealed that it was a personal dispute between two individuals. He added that, although they were friends, the altercation happened when one of them smeared colour without taking permission.
वर्तमान में स्थिति सामान्य है, फिर भी निगरानी रखी जा रही है। सुरक्षा के दृष्टिकोण से पुलिस बल तथा मजिस्ट्रेट की प्रतिनियुक्ति की गई है। इस संबंध में बुनियादगंज थाना द्वारा कांड दर्ज कर अग्रतर कार्रवाई की जा रही है।@bihar_police@IPRDBihar@gaya_dmpic.twitter.com/BfxqACWn5t
— GAYA POLICE (गया (बिहार) पुलिस ) (@GAYAPOLICEBIHAR) March 15, 2025
Buniyadganj police station in-charge also dismissed reports of stone pelting and stated, “The situation is under control. No serious injuries have been reported, and the police are monitoring the area to prevent further disturbances.”
A heavy police presence was seen in the area, though the authorities assured that the situation had stabilised.
On Saturday (March 15th), the Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective (popularly known as HinduPACT) took to X (formerly Twitter) to highlight the far-reaching consequences of a recent US court verdict on Hindu Americans.
“We strongly disagree with the judgement of the 9th Circuit Court against the Hindu faculty of CSU,” it said in a tweet.
HinduPACT pointed out, “The Hinduphobic caste narrative in the US based on fictitious surveys and allegations is a weapon to destroy the professional success of American Hindus.”
HinduPACT was referring to the verdict [pdf] of the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which was delivered on Wednesday (12th March).
The case pertains to a legal challenge by two Hindu Professors, Sunil Kumar and Praveen Sinha, against a dubious ‘anti-discrimination and harassment policy’ of the California State University (CSU) that came into force in January 2023.
In an unprecedented move, CSU had included the word ‘caste’ in the protected class of ‘Race or Ethnicity.’ Needless to say, the varsity did not define ‘caste’ in its policy, leaving ample scope for its misuse.
CSU had even defended its position saying “the same analysis campus investigators use to determine other forms of discrimination will be applied to allegations of caste discrimination.”
This was despite having no working definition of caste and the broad possibilities of falsely labelling everything as ‘caste discrimination’, a concept alien to American society and politics.
The arguments made by the Hindu Professors
Professors Sunil Kumar and Praveen Sinha pointed out that the addition of ‘caste’ as a protected class in the ‘anti-discrimination and harassment policy’ of the California State University (CSU) falsely attributed the caste system to Hinduism.
They argued that the policy not only stigmatises Hinduism but also forces them to self-censor religious practices like celebrating holidays and discussing religious texts.
The Hindu Professors further pointed out that the ‘anti-discrimination and harassment policy’ was unconstitutionally vague and that even non-discriminatory religious practices could be misconstrued as discriminatory under the CSU policy.
Professors Sunil Kumar and Praveen Sinha also highlighted that the 2023 policy resulted in a spiritual injury, i.e. stigma from belonging to a religion (Hinduism) that has been disparaged.
They argued that Hinduism was being singled out in the policy after the addition of caste as a ‘protected class’, which was not the case with other provisions laid down by the California State University.
US Court turns down appeal
The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit rejected the appeal of the two Hindu Professors.
It claimed that ‘caste’ is not exclusively a religious concept and has previously been used to refer to ‘social class without reference to any particular religion’ by the country’s Supreme Court.
The court further stated that the ‘anti-discrimination and harassment policy’ of the California State University (CSU) and a Question & Answer document released by it did not make explicit reference to Hinduism.
“There are also documented incidents of caste discrimination in the United States and recent lawsuits in California, New Jersey, and New York have alleged caste discrimination,” Judge Richard C. Tallman claimed despite charges remaining unproven in all the mentioned cases.
He also claimed that Professors Sunil Kumar and Praveen Sinha failed to demonstrate ‘sufficient injury for a pre-enforcement challenge.’
The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit also said that the CSU policy did not stigmatise Hinduism and thus did not amount to ‘spiritual injury.’ It claimed that the two Hindu Professors had ‘no standing’ in the case.
The court further down the appeal by stating that Professors Sunil Kumar and Praveen Sinha failed to show how their non-discriminatory religious practice could be misconstrued as discriminatory.
It must be mentioned that the petition of the CSU Professors was earlier turned down in part by the United States district Court for the Central District of California.
The larger context behind the case and its implications
‘Caste’ is an alien concept to the Hindu American way of life. There is no concrete proof of any instance of caste discrimination in the United States. There also has not been a single conviction in any case where ‘caste discrimination’ was alleged.
In recent years, several bogus cases of alleged ‘caste discrimination’ were propped up to target Hindu Americans in positions of power. We saw it in action in the infamous CISCO case where two Indian-origin engineers (Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella) were accused of discriminating against a ‘self-identifying Dalit.’
This was despite the fact that the alleged victim was recruited by Iyer at a generous package with millions in stock grants. The Indian-origin engineer had also hired at least one more ‘self-identifying Dalit’ who held a leadership position at Cisco Sytems Inc.
Filed nearly three years ago, @CalDFEH’s legal action made global headlines, with false claims about the Hindu religion and xenophobic depictions of people of Indian origin, eliciting widespread outrage in the Indian and Hindu American communities. pic.twitter.com/CYkkdI0sIy
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) April 10, 2023
It also came to light that the ‘self-identifying Dalit’ was working in the American company for 8 long years at the time of filing the complaint.
The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) ignored the fact that Sundar Iyer publicly identified as ‘agnostic’ for over 20 years. CRD went on to falsely identify him as a ‘Hindu’ and relied upon malicious ‘reports’ published by Thenmozi Soundarajan-run-Equallity Labs.
CRD could not find any evidence against the two Cisco Systems engineers that constituted harassment and voluntarily dropped the case.
We also saw notorious lawsuits against the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan (BAPS) temple in New Jerey alleging forced ‘Dalit labour’ for the construction of the temple as well as human trafficking.
It later turned out that artisans were threatened to be part of the deep-rooted conspiracy to stall the construction of the grand Hindu Temple. Some were tempted with promises of American citizenship and huge amounts of money.
Remember the case against @BAPS Hindu temple in 2021 that alleged "caste discrimination"? #JUSTIN: A dozen artisans claim coercion, promise of US citizenship and large sums of money to testify against BAPS, are withdrawing the case. pic.twitter.com/0obQmSm9eL
— CoHNA (Coalition of Hindus of North America) (@CoHNAOfficial) July 15, 2023
The anti-Hindu lobby in the US, which experienced initial success by weaponising ‘caste’ against Hindu Americans, is willing to go to any length to tarnish the reputation of one of the most successful communities in the US.
The ecosystem has been coercing educational institutions, corporate houses and tech giants to include ‘caste’ in protected classes, despite it being a non-issue in the North American country.
The California State University (CSU) policy of 2023 is a step in that direction. The recent ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is thus a setback for the Hindu community in the US.
OpIndia speaks to HinduPACT
OpIndia spoke to Dr Ajay Shah, the convenor of HinduPACT, about the matter. The Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective aims to bring Hindu ethos and dharmic values of unity in diversity, plurality, compassion and, mutual respect amongst religions to policy and advocacy for human rights, environmental protection, gender equality, education, and interfaith dialog.
Dr Ajay Shah told us, “We are against all forms of discrimination. However, it needs to be pointed out that caste discrimination is nonexistent here in the States. No one knows or cares for so-called “caste” of another person. So, no question arises about discriminating against community members based on that attribute.”
“At the same time, they have not defined what constitutes a caste in the CSU policy. It is a sure-shot way to target Hindus simply because anyone can make any claim without limitations. Practioners of other Faiths can get away by claiming caste is not part of their religion, and then conflate jaati and varna into caste, assign it exclusively to Hindus and leave Hindu Americans exclusively vulnerable to false accusations of perpetuating discrimination,” Dr Shah emphasised.
He informed that the anti-Hindu lobby has been trying to bring ‘caste’ to the American mainstream since 2008 and has quadrupled its efforts in recent years. “HinduPACT will continue to fight for the interests of the Hindu community,” Dr Shah concluded.
In a landmark decision passed by the Supreme Court of India in the Hindustan National Glass (HNGIL) case on the 29th of January 2025, has reinforced the legislative intent behind Section 31(4) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), clarifying that prior approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is mandatory before a resolution plan involving a combination can be approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC).
This ruling, delivered by a Bench led by Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, overturns the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT)’s interpretation, which had treated prior CCI approval as a mere procedural requirement rather than a binding precondition.
Clarification on the legislative intent of Section 31(4) proviso
The Supreme Court unequivocally upheld the mandatory nature of the proviso to Section 31(4), rejecting arguments favouring a purposive interpretation that would have allowed CCI approval to be obtained post-CoC approval. The judgment emphasized that the use of the word ‘prior’ in the statutory language reflects the legislature’s intent to prevent anti-competitive outcomes before they materialize. This interpretation aligns with the Insolvency Law Committee’s 2018 recommendations, which stressed the need for competitive market conditions even in insolvency resolutions.
Justice A.K. Sikri, in his legal opinion, concurred with this interpretation, noting that a literal reading of the proviso to Section 31(4) is necessary to prevent combinations that may lead to market distortions. He highlighted that the amendment introducing this proviso was deliberate, aiming to ensure that no anti-competitive structures emerge under the guise of insolvency resolutions.
Errors in NCLAT’s judgment
The Supreme Court identified significant flaws in the NCLAT’s reasoning, particularly its reliance on the ArcelorMittalcase, which was factually and legally distinct. The NCLAT had erroneously concluded that obtaining prior approval was merely a directory, overlooking the express statutory mandate and the potential for market distortions caused by conditional approvals. Additionally, the NCLAT failed to recognize that CCI’s evaluation of the Appreciable Adverse Effect on Competition (AAEC) must precede any binding decision on the resolution plan.
Justice Sikri also noted that the NCLAT overlooked the importance of ensuring that modifications proposed by resolution applicants are subjected to rigorous scrutiny. He observed that voluntary modifications, such as AGI Greenpac’s proposed divestment of one plant, should not be treated as an automatic remedy for anti-competitive concerns without a full-fledged investigation.
Conditional CCI approvals under scrutiny
The judgment also scrutinized the shortcomings of conditional CCI approvals. The Supreme Court observed that such approvals, which permit transactions to proceed while compliance with remedial measures is pending, create enforcement gaps and regulatory uncertainties. The absence of robust monitoring mechanisms increases the risk of non-compliance, undermining the effectiveness of competition law safeguards. The ruling emphasized that allowing transactions to proceed without first ensuring full regulatory compliance could jeopardize fair market competition and investor confidence.
Justice Sikri, in his legal opinion, had raised concerns over the lack of transparency in conditional approvals. He noted that in cases where AAEC has been identified, the CCI must not only impose modifications but also ensure independent oversight to prevent abuse of dominant positions post-transaction.
Section 29 and due process violations
The ruling also addressed procedural lapses in the CCI’s handling of approvals under Section 29 of the Competition Act. The Supreme Court noted that CCI failed to issue mandatory show cause notices to all parties to the combination, particularly the target company, Hindustan National Glass & Industries Ltd. (HNGIL). The omission of key stakeholders from the approval process resulted in an incomplete assessment of the transaction’s impact, violating statutory due process. The Court reiterated that the procedures outlined in Section 29 must be followed in their entirety before an order under Section 31 can be issued.
Justice Sikri further emphasized that issuing a show cause notice to HNGIL was not just a procedural requirement but a substantive safeguard to ensure that market conditions are properly evaluated. He noted that unilateral submissions by acquiring entities should not be the sole basis for CCI’s decisions, especially when insolvency proceedings are involved.
Implications for future insolvency resolutions
This verdict sets a crucial precedent for corporate insolvency cases involving potential market combinations. It reinforces that regulatory approvals cannot be circumvented under the guise of procedural flexibility. By mandating strict adherence to competition law provisions, the judgment ensures that insolvency resolutions do not come at the cost of fair competition.
Legal experts, including Justice A.K. Sikri, have welcomed the decision, noting that it restores regulatory discipline and upholds the objectives of both the IBC and the Competition Act. Justice Sikri had previously highlighted the dangers of treating prior CCI approval as a formality, warning that doing so could lead to monopolistic market structures detrimental to consumers and industry stakeholders alike.
With this ruling, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining a balance between speedy insolvency resolutions and competition law compliance. The decision is expected to bring greater transparency and accountability to the insolvency resolution process, ensuring that market forces remain competitive even amid financial distress.
