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The full story behind the murder of a minor Hindu boy in Gopalganj

OpIndia Staff
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The full story behind the murder of a minor Hindu boy in Gopalganj

Update: An investigation by Bihar DGP says that there is no communal angle in Rohit Jaiswal’s death. The victim’s father has changed his statements quite a few times. The father had alleged that his son was sacrificed to make the mosque powerful by Muslims, which police investigation has found untrue. Eventually, father has also disowned the allegations.

As reported on May 10, in a horrific incident a minor Hindu boy named Rohit Jaiswal, a resident of Bela Dih village of Kateya in Gopalganj, Bihar, was allegedly taken to a mosque and killed as a sacrifice to make the mosque ‘powerful’. His body was then thrown into a nearby river. The family of the boy had alleged that when they reached the police station with a complaint, they were brutally beaten up by the police. According to the family member’s claims, the conditions became so hostile that the family was compelled to leave the village and relocate to somewhere in Uttar Pradesh.

Rohit’s father, Rajesh Jaiswal had lodged an FIR at the Gopalganj police station, in which three locals of the village namely, Meraj Ansari, Nizam Ansari and Bashir Ansari were charged for Rohit’s murder. Three minors were also named in the FIR for their alleged involvement in Rohit Jaiswal’s brutal murder.

When OpIndia earlier contacted the father of the deceased 15-year-old, Rajesh Jaiswal, he made several allegations against the local Muslims, the police and the administration. He had also produced several videos to substantiate his claims. Rajesh and his daughter had then pleaded for help. Now, OpIndia once again got in touch with Rohit’s family to ascertain the details of what exactly transpired.

What exactly transpired

Rohit Jaiswal had allegedly gone missing on March 28, 2020. His dead body was recovered the next day, on March 29, from a river, about 3-4 km away from Bela Dih village of Kateya in Gopalganj, Bihar. A huge crowd had assembled near the river when Rohit’s dead body was pulled out of the river. The police also reached the spot after receiving the news of the incident. The deceased’s body was taken out from the river in the presence of the police.

What does the video evidence recorded by father of Rohit Jaiswal reveal

Rajesh Jaiswal had substantiated his claims with few video recordings. In one of the video shot by Rajesh, the police station in-charge, Ashwini Tiwari could be seen abusing Rajesh. The police station in-charge could be also seen abusing the deceased boy’s mother and sister and asking them to leave the police station.

Allegations made by Rohit’s father Rajesh Jaiswal

Rajesh Jaiswal, the father of the victim, claimed that when he had gone to the police station with his wife to plead for justice, they were ill-treated by the police station in-charge, Ashwini Tiwari. A woman’s appeal was also not enough to melt the heart of Ashwini Tiwari, who drove them away from the police station, claimed Rajesh. The father further alleged that Tiwari stripped in front of Rajesh and his wife and made lewd gestures at them. He confessed that he had got Rohit’s autopsy report changed. Tiwari threw an open challenge in front of the bereaved family that they could apply all their resources if they want but they would not be able to do him any harm. Rajesh claimed that he kept receiving constant threats from the accused, but did not receive any help from the police or the administration.

When OpIndia had earlier spoken to Rajesh, he had confirmed that the neighbours who took his 15-year-old son, Rohit, with them, who were all Muslims. Rohit was first taken to the mosque, where he was ‘sacrificed’, claimed Rajesh while speaking to OpIndia. A new mosque had been built in the village and it is being alleged that there is a belief that if a Hindu was ‘sacrificed’, the mosque would become powerful and its influence would increase. This is the reason his son was taken to the mosque secretly, the family claimed.

The guardians of those Muslim children, who were sent to call Rohit, were waiting for all the children in that new mosque. When they reached there along with Rohit, he was captured and allegedly strangulated to death, family alleges. There are allegations that six people were involved in the heinous act.

The police is constantly trying to suppress this incident, said Rajesh. Every time he and his wife went back to the police station hoping to get justice, they went there they were abused and humiliated and sent back. When Rajesh approached police inspector Tiwari and informed him about the threats he and his family were receiving, Tiwari advised him to leave the village and settle elsewhere. Fed up with the atrocities of the police and the Muslims in the village, Rajesh and his family decided to leave the village and went an settled in Uttar Pradesh.

Rajesh Jaiswal’s gravest allegation was that in order to suppress the incident, the police has altered Rohit’s autopsy report according to their whims.

OpIndia also spoke to a local villager who confirmed the incident. Rajesh had further alleged that when he went to the police for the first time with his complaint, the Station President Ashwini Tiwari was reluctant to write the FIR. He even offered to arrange a compensation of Rs 8 lakh and coaxed Rajesh not to lodge an FIR.

Some reports had said that Rohit died due to drowning in the river. But the victim’s family had confirmed that no one from the village even goes near the river from which Rohit’s corpse was recovered. They claimed that a heavy object was tied to the dead body of Rohit to make sure that the body gets fully drowned and does not reappear once it’s dumped in the river. Despite the police being aware of the entire incident, they allegedly kept telling Rajesh that only if he accepts that the death of the child was due to an accident, will he will get the compensation money.

These serious allegations meted out at the police and administration by the deceased’s family are, however, completely different from the police’s version.

Police’s take on the murder of Rohit Jaiswal

OpIndia tried to get in touch with the police station in-charge Ashwini Tiwari several times. On most occasions, he disconnected the call saying he was busy, At last when Tiwari spoke he refuted the allegations and instead confirmed that the police took prompt action in this case and arrested 5 accused and sent them to jail.

SP Manoj Kumar Tiwari also confirmed that the investigation has been handed over to the SDPO and appropriate action has been taken. Hathua DSP also said that action has been taken.

According to some reports, SP Manoj Tiwari has said that according to the postmortem report, Rohit died due to drowning. He had denied the allegations meted out by the victim’s family that Rohit had been sacrificed in a mosque. He had said that the investigation in the case is still going on so at this point of the time nothing could be said conclusively.

The OpIndia effect

After OpIndia reported the incident on May 10, Uttar Pradesh CM, Yogi Adityanath took cognisance of the incident and ordered the DM of Deoria to get in touch with the deceased’s family and offer help. The DM of Deoria, in turn, spoke to Rajesh and assured him security. The DM of Deoria also got in touch with the DM of Gopalganj to apprise him of the matter. UP BJP leader Shalabh Mani Tripathi also sent BJYM workers to meet Rajesh Jaiswal and offered support.

Local BJYM leader Abhishek Mishra, along with other leaders, visited the victim’s family and assured them that they will not face any problem in Deoria. He consoled the family and said that the family can contact them whenever they are in problem.

Update: An investigation by Bihar DGP says that there is no communal angle in Rohit Jaiswal’s death. The victim’s father has changed his statements quite a few times. The father had alleged that his son was sacrificed to make the mosque powerful by Muslims, which police investigation has found untrue. Eventually, father has also disowned the allegations.

Here is how The Print turns every Muslim who doesn’t toe the Islamist line into a ‘Murtad’

Editorial Desk
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Here is how The Print turns every Muslim who doesn’t toe the Islamist line into a ‘Murtad’

Shekhar Gupta’s The Print is known to be a master of clickbait, publishing all kinds of articles to get traffic, however, they now seem to be stepping into a dangerous zone where they are aligning themselves with hardcore Islamists. The Print has now turned itself into an authority that brands Muslims as Murtads when they dare to not toe the Islamist line. The Print today published an article by one Dilip Mandal, who was accused of spreading caste divide and discrimination by the students of Makhanlal Chaturvedi University not so long ago, that essentially says that a ‘Muslim’ who criticises Muslims and doesn’t toe the Islamist line is a Murtad, an apostate.

The Print, run by Editors Guild of India’s Chief Shekhar Gupta has often had a complicated relationship with the truth. For the most part, the portal tries to cater to “all opinions” and that comes as no surprise because Shekhar Gupta is nothing if not a good businessman. He knows that memories are short-lived and the 10 articles worth of propaganda spread by him is going to be forgotten as soon as he publishes one article that is remotely pro-India. However, no amount of ‘neutrality’ can truly hide the venom that is spewed from behind that carefully crafted veil.

Article in The Print, written by Dilip Mandal, headlined “Hindi news anchors such as Rubika Liyaquat and Sayeed Ansari are like Muslim leaders of BJP” makes the following assumptions:

  1. Those who criticise the shameful conduct of a section of Muslims, like the Tablighi Jamaat during the Coronavirus pandemic, are betraying Islam.
  2. Those Muslims who criticise fellow Muslims for their shameful conduct and don’t toe the Hinduphobic, Islamist line on issues like the CAA and NRC are doing so under some sort of pressure from the ruling dispensation.
  3. Those Muslims who do all of the above and then quote the Quran are somehow conflicted about their faith.
  4. The views aired by Muslim anchors on news channels, that don’t toe the Islamist line are merely a performance that they are bound to give due to the largely “majoritarian media”.
  5. The casteist author says that Muslim anchors tweak their identity on camera because they are catering to a “Hindu audience” and they might be completely different from their relatives. However, Hindu anchors don’t have that burden and can be “equally communal or secular” in their private lives as well.

Firstly, let us address the elephant in the room – here we have a “Dilip Mandal” pronouncing verdicts on what being Muslim is for “Rubika Liyaquat and Sayeed Ansari”. This is precisely what the pro-Muslim activists from the Left stand against. Which is pontification from those who aren’t Muslims themselves about how Muslims should interact with their own faith. As is evident from the article by Dilip Mandal and the reception it has got from several Muslims themselves, those rules only seem to apply to extremists. Only Islamists have the right to choose how they practise their faith, but for those who choose not to toe the hardline stance of the Islamists, that choice seems to be taken away.

On Rubika Liyaquat, Dilip Mandal writes:

“The Twitter timeline of Rubika Liyaquat reads like a paradox. While tweeting about her shows and expressing her views on various topics, she also regularly posts verses from the Quran. In one of her tweets, she says – “Jihad primarily refers to the inner struggle of being a person of virtue and submission to God in all aspects of life….One of the Muslim clergy challenged ABP News anchors over their communal coverage of Tablighi Jamaat. She has publicly announced that she had contributed to the PM Cares Fund after BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra nominated her. She retweeted a tweet in which she has been praised – “It’s commendable how being a Muslim she’s bashing those #NizamuddinIdiots who are supporting & defending their Maulana Sahab & the Markaj.””

Here, Dilip Mandal is essentially saying that,

a) Anyone who criticises Islamists should not cite verses of the Quran since they lose the license to be called true Muslims

b) Anyone who criticises the shameful conduct of Tablighi Jamaat is not a true Muslim. Being Muslim demands that one leaves their brain in a container and locks it away, indulging in blind, blanket praise of anything Muslim.

c) Anyone who contributes to the PM Cares Fund is not a true Muslim.

This habit of certifying who is a “true Muslim” and who is a “Murtad” is classic Islamist propaganda and a tool which is not only intrinsic to the religion but also one used to ensure that Muslims adhere to the Ummah and not go wayward. In Kashmir, which is one of the areas of India that is riddled with terrorism and radical Islamism, it is common practice to brand anyone who doesn’t toe the line of the terrorists and Islamists as ‘Mukhbir’. Even if the concerned Muslim is not an “informant”, they are branded such and often executed if they dare to not overtly support the Islamists.

Essentially, the terrorists of Kashmir may brand the concerned person as a “Mukhbir”, but what they really mean is that they strayed from the path of Jihad and are thus to be punished with death for apostasy. In the Quran, the punishment for being a ‘Murtad’ is death and the Islamic practice of Takfiri is used widely to brand anyone not toeing the Islamist line as an apostate.

What Dilip Mandal is doing in his article is essentially branding the anchors as “Murtad” because they refuse to toe the line set by hardline Islamists. They criticise what hardliners like Tablighi Jamaat members did, endangering public health. They criticise their chief Maulana Saad for saying Allah will save Muslims and thus, social distancing is not required. They do not demonise Prime Minister Modi simply because the Islamists would like Muslims to believe that he is against Muslims. And because they oppose the use of loudspeakers for the use of Azaan (Dilip Mandal criticises anchor Romana Isar Khan of ABP News for tweeting on these lines).

This is, of course, not the first time that The Print has published such blatant Islamist propaganda branding those who do not follow hardline Islamists as Murtads. Earlier, they had demonised Muslims associated with the BJP such as Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and others who criticise radical Islam such as Arif Muhammad Khan for their refusal to toe the Islamist stance on issues.

The Print article on Mukhhtar Abbas Naqvi
The Print article on Aruf Mohammad Khan

Essentially, while The Print tries to play the centrist by publishing one logical article every once in a while, behind that veneer, they peddle a dangerous agenda that not only demonises Hindus but demonises those Muslims who don’t hate Hindus and believe that all Kaffirs ought to be punished for not being “true believers”. What is interesting is that this blatant hate speech by Dilip Mandal and The Print is not even called out by the so-called “secular” lobby that aims to shield all Muslims. It is evident that the “secular” and “liberal” lobby that tries so hard to shield terrorists and Islamists have absolutely no love for those Muslims who break ranks and don’t cow down to the diktats of the radicals.

Quite clearly, mainstream media outlets such as The Print are working in tandem with the Islamic hardliners aiding the latter’s efforts to maintain strict control over their flock. They are effectively engaging in propaganda on behalf of Islamists, legitimising the worst of their beliefs. Such conduct, of course, threatens communal harmony gravely and has the capacity of plunging India into chaos. The Print, however, does not appear to be least bothered by it and is willing to sacrifice the peace and prosperity of the country for its own narrow benefits.

There is a unanimous consensus among supporters of Donald Trump and those of Bernie Sanders, although they are poles apart on almost every political issue, that the mainstream media in the United States is an enemy of the people. And they are right of course. The situation in India does not appear to be too different either.

San Francisco church sues Zoom app after porn clips appear during online Bible class, says the company refused to take any action

OpIndia Staff
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San Francisco church sues Zoom app after porn clips appear during online Bible class, says the company refused to take any action

Criticism against the video conferencing Zoom app, the usage of which has increased multifold in the wake of coronavirus lockdown in most part of the world, has been on the rise. The latest to join the chorus of complaints is one of the oldest church in San Francisco- Saint Paulus Lutheran Church. The church has sued Zoom for “Zoombombing” a bible lesson class with pornography.

According to the complaint filed by the church in federal court, the incident happened on May 6 when a bible lesson was hijacked by attackers. The screens of the participants and their and buttons were disabled, after which porn clips appeared on the screens. This happened twice during the lesson, after which the class was suspended.

The complaint filed read: “The footages were sick and sickening — portraying adults engaging in sex acts with each other and performing sex acts on infants and children, in addition to physically abusing them.” The lawsuit accuses the San Jose-based video conferencing tech giant of violating “the sanctity of the church”.

The complaint further read that immediately after shutting down the virtual class, the participants of which were mostly senior citizens, the Saint Paulus Lutheran Church got on touch with Zoom Video Communications Inc for assistance, “but Zoom did nothing”, read the complaint. According to the church, the company told them the culprit was a “known criminal”, and that he had been blocked, but they “refused to take any further action to remedy the situation or to improve the security of its videoconferences.”

Zoom’s popularity in educational institutions, government and private sectors surged during lockdowns in many countries. However, numerous security concerns related to the app have emerged. From “zoombombing” or hackers entering private chat rooms to selling of user data, the app has faced several criticisms.

India shuns Zoom, turn to Vidyo app

A host of privacy concerns related to virtual meetings of top government officials during the coronavirus pandemic has compelled India also to turn to Vidyo, a video conferencing application vetted by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Last month, the union home ministry had issued an advisory against using the Zoom app, terming it “not safe.” After the advisory, various govt departments and organisations, schools and colleges, as well as the private sector had also stopped using the app.

Singapore, Google and others bans using the services provided by Zoom

Prior to this Singapore had banned the use of the app after hackers hijacked a lesson and showed obscene images to students. 

Before this, there were reports that Google has barred employees from using Zoom on company computers. The company had alerted employees last week that it would disable the service, citing security vulnerabilities.

The Taiwan cabinet had also asked its government agencies to stop using Zoom Video Communications Inc’s conferencing app and other video software “associated security or privacy concerns”. An advisory was issued by the Taiwan government on Tuesday proscribing the country’s government agencies from using Zoom while urging the usage of alternative apps from Google and Microsoft.

Besides, the governments of other countries have also forbidden their agencies from using Zoom. The New York City officials have restricted the usage of Zoom by schools for remote teaching and Australia’s Defence forces and its MPs are barred from using the services provided by Zoom.

Acknowledging the security concerns with his services, Zoom founder and CEO Eric Yuan had apologised for the company’s privacy and security flaws and assured that they are looking into each and every one of them and addressing them as expeditiously as they can.

Soon after the usage of Zoom increased multifold in the wake of coronavirus lockdown in most part of the world, “ZoomBombing” became an issue as people started using the software’s screen-sharing feature to interrupt meeting with inappropriate content, including violent images and pornography. According to The Intercept, Zoom video calls are not end-to-end encrypted as the company claimed and are linked to China. A few days ago, Citizen Lab researchers discovered that some of the calls through the service were routed through China.

Indian Army considering a proposal to allow 3-year tenure for civilians

OpIndia Staff
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Indian Army considering a proposal to allow 3-year tenure for civilians

In a game-changing move, the Indian Army is considering a proposal to allow civilians including young working professionals to join the force for a three-year tenure as officers and in other ranks for a variety of roles, including front-line fighters.

On Wednesday, Army Chief General M M Naravane said that the idea to open up Army for civilians came up after they learnt from visits to colleges and universities that the youth were eager to experience army life. “When our officers addressed youths in colleges, we came across the feeling that they want to experience army life, but not as a career. Taking a cue from this, this idea was born of why not give them an opportunity to serve for two to three years,” Army Chief General M M Naravane said.

The Army Chief added that the country will benefit by getting younger manpower and the society will benefit by getting people who are disciplined and have imbibed the ethos of the army.

Will be implemented on a trial basis and model is cost-effective: Army officials

According to senior officials in the Army, the proposed model of Tour of Duty (ToD) will be implemented on a trial basis for officers and other ranks in the army for a limited number of vacancies. The vacancies will be increased if the model is successful. The proposal is a shift from the concept of permanent service in the armed forces towards an “internship” for three years.

The ToD scheme, if and when approved, will initially be launched with around 100 vacancies for officers and 1,000 for jawans. This move, as per officials, could save huge cost for the Indian Armed Forces as training, pay and allowances, incurred on people joining under the new model would be Rs 80-85 lakhs, as compared to over Rs 6 crore for an officer under the Short Service Commission, who serve up to 14 years.

The proposed model is expected to help save on pensions and other allowances paid out to short-service commissioned officers released after 10 and 14 years of service.

The officials also said that the corporates can benefit from individuals who would serve in the army for three years. The army is also examining a proposal of giving a “token” lum sum amount to officers and jawans exiting from the ToD scheme, to make it more attractive. With this proposed scheme, the army is trying to atract youth from top academic institutes such as IITs.

Voluntary, not compulsory service

The “tour of duty” model will not be similar to ‘conscription’ or compulsory military services like in Israel or some other countries. However, it will be completely voluntary and no relaxations will be allowed in the selection criteria for those wishing to join.

Reportedly, the Army currently has around 43,000 officers, with almost 80% of them in the permanent commission (PC) cadre, and 11.8 lakh other ranks. The minimum service tenure for a short-service commission (SSC) officer is 10 years and 50-60% of them will be granted permanent commission to serve till at least 54 years of age and thereafter to avail benefits of a pension.

One of the rationales behind pushing temporary commission is increasing defence pensions during the last five years. The salary and pension bill of the 14-lakh armed forces and 4-lakh defence civilians, addition to the 31-lakh pensioners, amounts to 56% of the overall annual defence budget, which leaves little for military modernization.

Handwara encounter martyr Colonel Ashutosh Sharma’s wife scatters his ashes at South West Army command War Memorial

OpIndia Staff
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Handwara encounter martyr Colonel Ashutosh Sharma’s wife scatters his ashes at South West Army command War Memorial

Wife of Colonel Ashutosh Sharma who was martyred while fighting terrorists in Handwara of Jammu and Kashmir last week scattered his ashes at the South West Army command in Jaipur on Friday morning. Pallavi Sharma, had earlier said that she will not shed tears for her fallen husband as she was a proud wife whose husband died while protecting the country. “I will not shed tears on his martyrdom. It is an honour to be sacrificed for the country,” she had said.

Colonel Sharma was a Commanding Officer of the Indian Army’s 21 Rashtriya Rifles. He laid down his life in an encounter operation to eliminate Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists reported to be hidden in a cattle shed. Along with him, four more security personnel were martyred in the Chanjmulla area of Handwara in North Kashmir’s Kupwara District.

The state of Rajasthan honored the fallen jawan who died during a counter-terrorism operation in Handwara. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and family members of the martyr performed a wreath-laying ceremony and paid their last respects to him at 61 Cavalry location, Jaipur Military station here.

Handwara encounter

On 2nd May 2020, at around 3:30 PM, an encounter started between the Forces and terrorists in the Chanjumullah area of Handwara in Kupwara, North Kashmir. Towards evening, reports started pouring in that two senior Army personnel including a Colonel-rank officer and a Major were trapped in a house with two Pakistani terrorists. The senior officers soon lost contact with the team. Soon, they lost contact with the unit.

As per reports, the terrorists were found hiding in a cowshed. The Forces were reportedly acting on a tipoff that terrorists were present in the Rajwar forests area. The special operations group of police surrounded the house the terrorists were hiding in and an encounter followed. As of now, the reports are that five security personnel have lost their lives while two terrorists were killed. All 5 members of the original team including Commanding Officer 21 RR Col Ashutosh Sharma, Maj Anuj Sood, Police Sub Inspector Shakeel Qazi, one Lc Naik, and one rifleman have been martyred.

As per reports, when no radio contact could be established with the team, the unit called Colonel Sharma’s mobile phone. The call was answered by a terrorist who responded with an ‘Assalamalaikum’.

Two terrorists, including top Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Haider were killed by the security forces. The identify of other terrorist is yet to be ascertained.

Petition filed in Rajasthan HC against Minister Vishvendra Singh for not wearing mask in public

OpIndia Staff
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Petition filed in Rajasthan HC against Minister Vishvendra Singh for not wearing mask in public

A petition has been filed in Rajasthan High Court against Rajasthan Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh for appearing in public without wearing a mask.

Reportedly, the petition was filed in the Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday by lawyer Poonam Chand Bhandari. In the plea, Bhandari has accused Vishvendra Singh of visiting a public place in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district without wearing a mask.

In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, Rajasthan High Court had earlier issued a diktat making it mandatory to wear a mask in public. The guidelines issued by union home ministry has also made wearing a mask or face-covering in public places mandatory.

In his petition, Bhandari has stated that, on April 25, Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh was instructing policemen outside the Kumher police station in Bharatpur. The petition mentioned that Vishvendra Singh was asking the local police to enforce rules in the city after a woman from the city was tested positive for the coronavirus.

The lawyer accused that Rajasthan Tourism minister was seen without a mask even as all the policemen were wearing masks. Bhandari said that Vishvendra Singh violated Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act. 

Senior police officers made respondent in the case

Reportedly, apart from minister Vishvendra Singh, DGP Bhupendra Yadav, Bharatpur DIG Laxman Gaur and Bharatpur SP Hyder Ali Jaidi have also been made respondents in the case.

Advocate Bhandari also accused the Rajasthan police of not registering an FIR, which led him to file a criminal petition under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He also alleged that he has been receiving threat calls for registering a complaint against Congress minister.

Speaking to India Today, Rajasthan Tourism minister Vishvendra Singh said that he was aware of the petition filed against him in the Rajasthan High Court.

Vishvendra Singh had caught spreading misinformation in the past

Rajasthan Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh had taken to Twitter in early April to claim that a pregnant Muslim woman was refused admission in a hospital by one Dr Muneet Valia in Bharatpur “because she was a Muslim”. Singh had claimed that the doctor had asked the patient to go to Jaipur to get her checkup done since she is Muslim.

However, the transfer slip issued by the said doctor to the patient was soon shared by netizens exposing the false propaganda of the Rajasthan minister. Later, it became known that the Muslim woman was pregnant for the 7th time and was suffering from anaemia due to which she was referred to a different hospital.

“You people are terrible terrorist of India. You all have to be killed,” Marriott International employee’s Hinduphobic tweets go viral

OpIndia Staff
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“You people are terrible terrorist of India. You all have to be killed,” Marriott International employee’s Hinduphobic tweets go viral

In a shocking act of Hinduphobia, one person named Vinny Bailam has been caught spreading vile hatred against Hindus on social media, to the extent of threatening to kill Hindus of the country.

On Thursday, social media users flagged Vinny Bailam, who, as per his facebook profile, works for hospitality chain Marriott International, for spreading not only hatred against Hindus of the country but inciting Muslims and Christians of the country to commit genocide against Hindus.

Calling Indians, especially Hindus as ‘racist’, Vinny Bailam threatened Hindus of dangerous consequences if Muslims and Christians of the country unite against them. Mocking Hindus, who are being thrown out of jobs from gulf countries following the anti-India propaganda by Islamists, Bailam said Hindus will not have food to eat anymore and they all need to beg for food in the country.

Image Source: Vedic Revival @Vedic_Revival

Vinny Bailam, just like other Islamist bigots and terrorists, mocked Hindus by resorting to ‘cow urine’ jibe. Indulging in derogatory words to attack PM Modi and Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami, Bailam said that Hindus loved to drink ‘cow urine’.

Image Source: Vedic Revival @Vedic_Revival

Calling nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a terrorist organisation, Vinny Bailam expressed his urge to kill them all.

Image Source: Vedic Revival @Vedic_Revival

Shockingly, Bailam also referred to Mumbai Police as a ‘Hindu police terrorist’.

Image Source: Vedic Revival @Vedic_Revival

He also said that when the Ram Mandir is built at Ayodhya, the Muslims shall destroy it this time.

His other Hinduphobic rants also included the ‘cow urine’ jibe.

As we looked carefully into Vinny Bailam’s social media accounts, it was revealed that he has a history of peddling abusive anti-Hindu propaganda across social media platforms. His Twitter profile, created in April 2020, is full of abusive, derogatory and crude posts on PM Modi, several journalists and Hindus organisations.

A Facebook profile corresponding to his name mentions that he is working with Marriott International.

Vinny Baliam’s Facebook page

According to Vinny Bailam’s Facebook details, he hails from Mumbai and currently resides in London, United Kingdom.

Soon netizens demanded whether Marriott International endorses the views by its employee.

Marriott International is yet to respond to the allegations.

After the social media backlash, Bailam seems to have removed his employment details in his Facebook profile where he had earlier claimed that he works for Marriott International.

Update: Responding the allegations on social media, Marriott Hotels have said that proper action will be taken.

Marriott has informed that any conduct that does not comply with the internal policies and service standards will not be tolaterd. “Be advised that the proper actions will be taken along with management team and all involved departments,” it said in a tweet.

Update 2: Responding to this report, Marriott has now said that Vinny Bailam is not employed at any of their managed hotels in Europe and has no employment relationship with Marriott International. In an email sent to OpIndia on 14th May, Area Director of Marketing for South Asia of the hotel chain issued the following statement- “We are aware and troubled by recent reports and online discussions about an individual allegedly claiming to be an employee of Marriott International spreading inappropriate racial and religious messages. The views of this person does not reflect the position and stance of Marriott International. We take this matter seriously and our initial investigations have shown that this person is not employed at any of our managed hotels in Europe and has no employment relationship with Marriott International. We are also working closely with our franchisees who employ staff directly and will work to ensure that the appropriate actions are taken. As a hospitality company, Marriott celebrates and values different cultures and people from all walks of life. Marriott strives to create a safe, secure and hospitable environment for our guests. We are committed to following local laws and regulations to ensure the safety and well-being of our guests and associates as the utmost priority. Especially in today’s current climate, it is more important than ever that we stand in solidarity and maintain respect for all”.

Although Marriott International has asserted that the person is not directly employed by them, they have indicated that they are working with their franchisee partners to see if he works for some of them. They have ensured that appropriate action will be taken if he is found to be working with such a franchisee.

Poet Munawwar Rana displays Hinduphobia, says there are 100 crore ‘animals’ and 35 crore ‘humans’ in India

OpIndia Staff
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Poet Munawwar Rana displays Hinduphobia, says there are 100 crore ‘animals’ and 35 crore ‘humans’ in India

In a Hinduphobic tweet, Sahitya Akademi Award winning poet Munawwar Rana referred to Hindus as ‘animals’ who only come in handy while voting and Muslims as ‘humans’.

Addressing BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, Munawwar Rana was criticising government of India’s measures to combat coronavirus. He said, “After seeing government’s failure on coronavirus, it has been proven that there are 35 crore humans and 100 crore animals,”. As per 2011 census, Muslim population was estimated at about 17.22 crore which would have grown over the years. And while he did not explicitly mention that he meant Hindus and Muslims as ‘animals’ and ‘humans’ in his tweet, netizens objected to this tweet of Rana and pointed out the Hinduphobic nature of his tweet.

After the outrage, he again took to Twitter to ‘clarify’ that his words were being twisted.

He claimed the 35 crore mentioned in his original tweet were not Muslims but those who are healthy and happy and 100 crore ‘animals’ are those who are deprived of basic things like food, water and shelter. But netizens were not buying it.

Amusingly, soon after clarifying that he did not mean to divide Indians on religion as ‘animals’ and ‘humans’, Rana defended the Tablighi Jamaat, which emerged as one of the major hotspots for coronavirus in India.

Many of the Tablighi Jamaat members were accused of pelting stones and misbehaving with the healthcare workers and frontline staff. UP Police recently arrested few attendees who had allegedly molested a nurse at quarantine centre.

Munawwar Rana

Munawwar Rana was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2014 by the same ‘fascist’ Modi government he keeps whining against. He was awarded for “Shehdaba”, a collection of ghazals and nazms (long poems). One of the poems in Shehdaba, was on Sonia Gandhi, which was written when Sonia Gandhi, despite winning with a thumping majority, refused the chair of the prime ministership. He returned the award in 2015 to protest against the ‘rising intolerance’.

In December 2019, his daughter, while protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the Act which sought to fast-track Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities in three neighbouring Islamic countries, Pakistani, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, had said that Muslims are Muslims first, then anything else. “Do not lose your identity to become secular,” she said.

Coronavirus may never go away, may become another endemic, says WHO

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus may never go away, may become another endemic, says WHO

The UN specialized agency – the World Health Organisation has now warned that coronavirus “may never go away” and stated that the disease could become endemic like HIV, reports BBC.

Speaking at a virtual briefing on Wednesday, WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan cautioned against predicting how long the coronavirus be active as he urged countries to put a “massive effort” to counter the pandemic.

“It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away,” WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan said.

Mike Ryan added, “I think it is important we are realistic and I don’t think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear. I think there are no promises in this and there are no dates. This disease may settle into a long problem, or it may not be.”

Ryan added, “It is a vicious cycle of public health disasters followed by economic disasters. This virus may never go away. HIV has not gone away. But we have come to terms with the virus. We have developed therapies, prevention methods. People are not as afraid of HIV as they used to be earlier. We are offering long, healthy lives to people with HIV. I am not comparing the two diseases. But it is important to be realistic”.

Noting that there are currently more than 100 potential vaccines in development, Dr Ryan said there are other illnesses, such as measles, that still have not been eliminated despite having vaccines for them.

He added, “We do have a one-way shot, of developing a highly effective vaccine. But we have to make that vaccine available to everyone, then only we will have a shot at eliminating this disease.”

It is possible to control the virus: WHO DG Tedros

Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is facing heat for his failure to contain the Chinese pandemic and is accused of misleading the world, stressed it was still possible to control the virus, with effort.

“The trajectory is in our hands, and it’s everybody’s business, and we should all contribute to stop this pandemic,” he said.

Dr Tedros warned that there was no guaranteed way of easing restrictions without triggering a second wave of infections.

Tamil Nadu: Chennai’s Koyambedu market cluster emerges as the new hotspot with over 3000 cases traced, CM blames vendors

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Chennai’s Koyambedu market cluster emerges as the new hotspot with over 3000 cases traced, CM blames vendors

The Koyambedu market in Chennai has emerged as the new coronavirus hotspot in Tamil Nadu. So far nearly 3,000 cases have been reported from the market. Over 35% of the total cases reported in Tamil Nadu till now has been traced to the Koyambedu market.

According to a senior health official, the Koyambedu market cluster has emerged as a new cluster as it has impacted not only Chennai but several other districts such as Ariyalur and Perambalur. Two neighbouring districts of Chennai city region, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur, have also seen a jump in the coronavirus cases.

As per a report in Indian Express, the state’s total tally was 9,227, out of which 4,089 were linked to arrivals from other countries and states. Nearly 1,365 positive cases were linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi in March while other cases have been traced to the Koyambedu market cluster. Out of the 509 new cases reported across the state in the last 24 hours, 380 were from Chennai.

Reportedly, most of the infected have been traced to have links to the Koyambedu market. Vendors, drivers, workers and those who visited the market on a daily basis, and their secondary contacts have been tested positive.

Koyambedu market opened in 1996 in Chennai. It is one of Asia’s biggest markets and attracts people from across Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states, who come here to sell their products or seeking work. The administration had shut the market and shifted it to the outskirts of Chennai after several people working at the market were tested positive for coronavirus.

Some districts in Andhra Pradesh have also reported cases linked to Koyambedu cluster as many migrants, traders had visited the market in the last few days and had returned their home state in the last week of April. At least four districts in Andhra Pradesh has been impacted from the cluster and about 20 persons from the state who visited the market contracted coronavirus.

Chief Minister blames traders for the outbreak

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday blamed wholesale vegetable and fruit traders at Koyambedu market cluster for the violating the lockdown rules and aggravating the pandemic. He stated that that the traders “stiffly opposed” the government’s move to close down the market earlier.

“Attempts were made several times to shift the market out of Koyambedu, but the traders refused to cooperate, fearing loss of business. So, reports in sections of the media that the government’s inaction led to the spread of the disease from Koyambedu are not true,” the Chief Minister said.

The TN government is facing criticism over failure to maintain lockdown orders and implement social distancing norms despite several media reports pointing out the potential threat of infection from the market.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India has jumped to 74,281 while the death toll has risen to 2,415, according to the data released by the Health Ministry. In past 24 hours, 3,525 fresh coronavirus cases have been detected while 122 deaths were registered due to coronavirus.

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