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From ‘where is BJP’ to Kejriwal panicking – How Amit Shah changed Delhi assembly elections in a week

OpIndia Staff
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From ‘where is BJP’ to Kejriwal panicking – How Amit Shah changed Delhi assembly elections in a week

With Delhi elections round the corner, a visible panic has set in within Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), especially AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. On 25th January, he had ‘challenged’ Home Minister Amit Shah to visit any of the Delhi government school to show how his government has brought about a ‘positive change’.

Responding to his challenge, HM Shah today tweeted a video where 8 BJP MPs had visited Delhi schools to check up on the tall claims made by Delhi government.


In the video the BJP MPs visit different schools in Delhi to show the reality of dirty toilets, muddy gutter water near drinking water installation and broken roofs where students are studying out in the open. In one instance, a student could be heard saying that there are no classes conducted as some days the teacher comes to school some days he doesn’t. A school visited by BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi showed an extremely dirty water drinking space which had brooms lying next it and dirty muddy water flowing underneath. In her video she says that as many as 61% schools do not have a principle and 45% teachers are not there.

Read: Delhi schools woes: Despite tall promises by Delhi govt, school in Kalkaji does not have drinking water, clean toilets

With Shah taking on Kejriwal heads on it is clear that the BJP is fighting to win elections in Delhi as Congress continues to struggle to find its relevance. The entire narration has been changed in last one week when Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a rally in Delhi. That BJP is fighting this election on the name of central government achievements seems to have shaken up AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal.

Read: All Advertisement Party – How Delhi schools are ridden with problems but Delhi govt paints a rosy picture

Till few days back, many of hardcore BJP supporters had also kind of given up hopes that the BJP will come to power in Delhi. Most opinion polls had been showing clean sweep by the AAP with BJP managing to improve its 2015 tally. However, in last week, things changed after Amit Shah got into campaign mode in Delhi.

Till few days back while Kejriwal had not yet given any opinion on the anti-CAA riots that took place in Delhi in December or even the protests which have followed, he and his deputy have been monkey-balancing about their support to Shaheen Bagh. So much that after AAP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said he stands by Shaheen Bagh protestors, Kejriwal had to come out and blame the BJP for the road block created by the protestors.

The national capital goes to polls on 8th February and the results for the same will be declared on 11th February.

Fearmongering beyond CAA: Now The Wire employee Arfa and Bollywood entertainer Swara Bhaskar paint Bollywood as threat

OpIndia Staff
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Fearmongering beyond CAA: Now The Wire employee Arfa and Bollywood entertainer Swara Bhaskar paint Bollywood as threat

Referring to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register for Citizens (NRC) as unconstitutional, Bollywood entertainer Swara Bhaskar in a conversation with The Wire employee Arfa Khanum Sherwani indulged in fear-mongering and said that not only is the new law ‘unconstitutional’ but also ‘lays foundation of Hindu Rashtra’. In the conversation, Bhaskar lies about the implementation of CAA and NRC and states how those Hindus who are left behind in NRC will get ‘back door entry’ through the CAA. While in reality, the CAA does not affect Indian citizens and it is a law which fast tracks Indian citizenship of persecuted religious minorities of three neighbouring Islamic countries, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Hailing the other Bollywood entertainers who are speaking against the law, Swara said that the film industry cannot be leading any movement. “Despite many in Bollywood speaking against the law, there are many who are supporting. When government calls them to take a selfie, they will go,” she said.

Read: Picture of Bollywood artists with Modi ruin the carefully crafted narrative of the Left-Liberal cabal, and they can’t handle it

Speaking on influence of politics in the films, Sherwani questioned Bhaskar on how the “agenda of ruling party is being mixed with films like Tanhaji” and the films are pitted against each other like Tanhaji vs Deepika Padukone’s Chhapaak, is “building perception” against a particular community. “Is film industry a part of political agenda?” Sherwani questioned. To this, Swara said that knowingly or unknowingly Bollywood has let itself used for propagating ‘Hindutva’ project. “I’m not sure if Bollywood understood it or not but BJP has used the film industry very smartly. I think the Nagpur headquarters of the RSS is writing some of the scripts of films. Some Bollywood people are working as a horn to further the ‘Hindutva’ narrative. If you see any of the historical made in past five years, look at how the Muslim king is represented in Bollywood and see how Hindu kings are portrayed,” she said.

“Muslims will always be shown in black clothes, dark lighting while Hindu kings would be shown in bright lights, colourful clothes. This is extremely shameful and dangerous,” she said. She then alleges that these films are way too far from the historical facts. She alleges that the portrayal of barbaric invaders like Mughals is deliberately done to paint the Muslims in bad light.

Read: Glorifying Aurangzeb and forgetting Guru Tegh Bahadur: The dangers of losing our identity

“It is a strange Hindutva fantasy of a Muslim villain which the Bollywood is propagating through the historical films which are factually incorrect,” she said. Furthering her hate against historical films which showcase the barbaric behaviour of Mughals and other Muslim invaders, Swara said that through the “propaganda historical films”, we are making our kids ‘jaahil’ (uninformed) and ill-informed.

Bihar police detain the brother of Shaheen Bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam for questioning

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar police detain the brother of Shaheen Bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam for questioning

A day after the police raided Shaheen bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam’s ancestral home in Bihar’s Kako and detained three of his relatives for questioning, Imam’s brother has now been detained. As per reports, the Jehanabad police have detained Imam’s brother, and two more family members for interrogation.

The detained individuals are reportedly being questioned in the Kako police station.


Reports also say that the Delhi police, who have been haunting for Imam have conducted raids at Mumbai, Patna, and Delhi in search of him.

Imam’s mother reportedly lives in Patna. As per a BBC report, the family has political links and Imam’s father was a JDU leader in the Kako region and had also contested elections on a JDU ticket in 2005. After his demise, Imam’s brother Mujameel has been active in politics in the are and is also a JDU leader. Imam’s uncle Ashrad Imam is also a district-level leader of JDU.

Imam’s mother Afshan Raheem had stated to the media that the family is being ‘harassed’ by police. She had also defended her son, claiming that his statements were misrepresented.

A video clip had gone viral where Imam was heard making secessionist threats against the integrity and sovereignty of India. He had incited Muslims to rise and ‘cut off’ Assam and the North East from the rest of India.

Delhi Police had filed an FIR on Sunday against Imam, who is also a columnist with leftist propaganda website The Wire, under IPC section 153 for giving provocative statements with intent to cause riots.

Earlier, Assam Police had registered a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Sharjeel Imam, said to be one of the organisers of the anti-citizenship law protest at Shaheen Bagh after videos of him calling for the state to be cut off from the rest of India surfaced online.

Read: From The Wire to everything else, the Anatomy of an Islamist: Into the mind of Sharjeel Imam, the mastermind of Shaheen Bagh

The UP police are also hunting for Imam for a speech made in Aligarh Muslim Univerisity. Currently, two teams of the Aligarh police are hunting for Imam.

Manipur police had also filed an FIR against Imam under sections 121/121-A/124-A/ 120-B /153 IPC. Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu had also informed that Imam has been booked under 124(A), 153 (A) and 153 (B) of the IPC.

Rajasthan: Colleges arrange for buses of students, cancel classes to help NSUI in arranging ‘crowd’ for Rahul Gandhi’s rally

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Colleges arrange for buses of students, cancel classes to help NSUI in arranging ‘crowd’ for Rahul Gandhi’s rally

Rajasthan government seems to have gone full throttle ahead of ex-Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s relaunch as party leadership. Government colleges in Rajasthan have issued notices to students informing them that their classes are cancelled for today as they are required to be present at Rahul Gandhi’s rally.

Gyandeep P G University in Delhi has informed its students that the classes for 28th January stand cancelled for Rahul Gandhi’s rally (image: @iabhi_sinha on Twitter)

In fact, the university has also arranged for transportation of students to the rally venue. The rally is organised by NSUI, the students’ arm of Congress.

Ex-Congress President who is readying himself for yet another launch as party leadership, will be addressing ‘Yuva Akrosh Rally’ at Albert Hall in Jaipur. While Congress-led Rajasthan government has not officially issued any circular through education department, the principals of colleges have reportedly asked students to be present at the rally by Wayanad MP. In a bid to pump up Rahul Gandhi’s image as ‘youth leader’, young students will be brought by college administration to the rally. As per reports, the crowd will be brought in from colleges of neighbouring districts like Sikar, Ajmer and Tonk as well to fill up the space.

Read: Brace yourself: Rahul Gandhi will ‘come of age’ yet again as Congress plans his ‘one more return’

As per reports, this rally will be used as a platform to relaunch Rahul Gandhi for the third time as face of Congress leadership. There have been reports that temple tours and other such things are planned for an image makeover of the fifth generation dynast of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Chennai mall justifies azaan calls, 5 times a day, on mall speakers, because they also celebrate Diwali once a year

OpIndia Staff
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Chennai mall justifies azaan calls, 5 times a day, on mall speakers, because they also celebrate Diwali once a year

A day after OpIndia reported about a mall in Chennai, Marina Mall, played azaan calls five times a day every day, the mall has now justified the same by saying that the call to pray is being played every day as they also celebrate Christmas and Pongal, the festivals which fall once a year.


In a tweet to journalist Suraj Pandey, Marina Mall said “Hello, everyone. We wanted to step in and clarify that what is being heard here is a call to pray. We do this, as do we celebrate Christmas, Diwali and Pongal. We respect the secularity of this beautiful place we call home and request you to be mindful of the same. Jai Hind!”

Sanjay Pandey, a journalist who has been associated with FirstPost and Reuters in the past, on Sunday shared a short video on Twitter where the Azaan can be heard playing in the background. He said that the Azaan was being played through the internal sound system of the Marina Mall where the video was recorded. He noted that the mall’s usual music resumed after the Azaan was completed.

Read: ‘This is how the Christoislamist lobby behaves’, says journalist abused on social media for speaking out against Azaan in Chennai’s Marina Mall

While the festivals Marina Mall claims it celebrates, Christmas, Diwali and Pongal occur once a year, azaan, which is a call to pray and not a festival, is called five times a day every day. A logical equivalent to the azaan call would be hymns or even bhajans.

10 Chairs in Universities in the names of noteworthy women approved by MWCD, Devi Ahilyabai Holkar and M.S. Subbulakshmi among them

OpIndia Staff
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10 Chairs in Universities in the names of noteworthy women approved by MWCD, Devi Ahilyabai Holkar and M.S. Subbulakshmi among them

The Ministry of Women and Child Development. under Smriti Irani, has entrusted the Universities Grants Commission (UGC) to establish ten chairs in the names of noteworthy women academicians, administrators, artists, scientists, social reformers and women who have made a name for themselves in other areas. The initiative is called the ‘Establishment of Chairs in the University in the Name of Eminent Women Administrators/Artists/Scientists/Social Reformers’.

Devi Ahilyabai Holkar in the subject of Administration, Mahadevi Varma in Literature, Rani Gaidinliu in Freedom Fighter (North East) Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakhsmi in Performing Art, Lilavati in Mathematics and Kamala Sohonie in Science are some of the Chairs proposed by the UGC and approved by the Ministry.

Proposed chairs

Each Chair would receive Rs. 50 lakhs per year, that is, the expenditure in the said initiative would be Rs. 5 crores per annum. The Chairs are expected to be established for five years initially. Therefore, the total expenditure would be Rs. 25 crores.

The objectives for the establishment of the Chairs include a “hope to draw from the experience from these women while at the same time conduct research and archive their struggles and achievements”. It is also believed that women will be inspired to “pursue higher education and to achieve excellence in their area of work” besides motivating the “spirits of young girls and women towards higher studies”.

The Ministry is also of the opinion that “Beyond the spectrum of existing Gender Study Cells in some Universities, not much attention has been paid to the contributions of women.” Additionally, a need was felt to “highlight and collate the achievements of women in the selected fields as well as others”.

AAP says they are with Shaheen Bagh, does Arvind Kejriwal support Sharjeel Imam: Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi rally

OpIndia Staff
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AAP says they are with Shaheen Bagh, does Arvind Kejriwal support Sharjeel Imam: Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi rally

Union Home Minister Amit Shah today called out Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s ambiguity over the ongoing Shaheen Bagh protests in Delhi. Shah said that Kejriwal should clearly express if he is against or in favour of the Shaheen Bagh protests.


Speaking at an election rally in Rithala,Delhi, Shah invoked Shaheen Bagh protest mastermind and the Wire columnist, Sharjeel Imam’s profoundly seditious argument against the territorial integrity of India.

“Imam talked about cutting-off Assam and the North-East from the rest of India. Modi government asked Delhi police to file a case of sedition against him. I want to ask Arvind Kejriwal, does he support action against Sharjeel Imam or not? Are you in support of those at Shaheen Bagh or not? Make it clear to the people of Delhi,” Shah thundered.

Read: Is Arvind Kejriwal beginning to panic about Shaheen Bagh?

“You (the AAP leaders) people say that you are with Shaheen Bagh. If you have the guts then go and sit with them. And let Delhi decide,” Shah said.

The remark from Shah comes after Arvind Kejriwal posted a tweet alleging that the BJP is responsible for the ongoing protests in Shaheen Bagh and does not want to resolve it. He also asked the BJP leaders to visit the venue and negotiate with the protesters who have been shouting anti-India slogans and promoting secessionist agenda.

Shortly afterwards, Kejriwal retorted back diplomatically stating that the remarks made by Sharjeel regarding Assam were of highly objectionable nature and being a Home Minister, Shah should have gotten arrested him immediately. Questioning Shah’s intentions, Kejriwal asked why Sharjeel was not arrested yet.


On Saturday January 25, 2020, a video of one of the co-organisers of Shaheen Bagh protest, Sharjeel Imam, had gone viral in which the Wire columnist made a clarion call to Muslims to organise and unite to cut-off Assam and the North-East from the rest of India. Sharjeel also unapologetically admitted in the video communal nature of the Shaheen Bagh protest.

Read: From The Wire to everything else, the Anatomy of an Islamist: Into the mind of Sharjeel Imam, mastermind of Shaheen Bagh

Soon after Sharjeel’s video went viral, arrest warrant was issued against Sharjeel for making seditious and inflammatory speech. He is currently on the run even as the UP police is on the lookout.

Earlier, Deputy chief minister and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia declared his support for the protesters demonstrating at Shaheen Bagh. Speaking to the CNN News18 ahead of the 2020 Delhi elections, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia categorically stated that the Aam Aadmi Party stands with the protestors of Shaheen Bagh, Delhi.

The assembly elections in Delhi are scheduled to happen on February 8, 2020 while the election results are going to be declared on February 11, 2020.

Asansol, West Bengal: One Gaurav Thakur sent to jail after communal tension following him and a Muslim girl eloping

OpIndia Staff
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Asansol, West Bengal: One Gaurav Thakur sent to jail after communal tension following him and a Muslim girl eloping

The communal tensions between two communities in Asansol district of West Bengal soared after a Hindu boy eloped away with a Muslim girl, says a report published in Jagran. The lovers ran away to the boy’s maternal uncle’s house in Jharia district of neighbouring Jharkhand after their families came to know about their love affair.

On January 21, the father of the girl filed a complaint in the Asansol South police station that his juvenile daughter has been kidnapped by a 19-year-old Hindu boy named Gaurav Thakur. He alleged that his daughter is just 17-years-old and was a ninth student when she was abducted by Thakur.

According to Swaroop Mukherjee, a police officer of Asansol South police station, the father alleged that his daughter went missing on January 20 when she had gone out to fetch some goods from a nearby shop but did not return. He stated in his complaint that Gaurav and his brothers, resident of Nurruddin Road, Named Pada, Asansol, abducted his daughter with false motives. He also stated that when he went to Gaurav’s residence to inquire about his daughter’s whereabouts, he was abused and threatened with dire consequences.

Gaurav and his alleged girlfriend belong to two different religions. Hostility between the two communities increased after it was found that the couple is absconding. Realising that the situation is tensed, the police sprung into action and vigorously commenced its search operation to nab the lovers.

As soon as police caught wind of their whereabouts, it raided the house of Suresh Sharma and Sunil Sharma, the maternal uncles of Gaurav Thakur, in Jharia on the night of 25 January. Both, Gaurav and his alleged girlfriend were caught from the house. The police hoped that the heightened communal tension in Asansol will ease off as the alleged lovers had been caught.

Legal action has been taken against Gaurav, based on the complaint filed by the girl’s father. Gaurav has been sent to jail on kidnapping charges. While being a minor, the girl has been handed over to her family.

On the other hand, Gaurav’s mother, Jyoti Devi has alleged that this is not a case of kidnapping but that of a love affair. She has accused police of acting under the duress of the girl’s family and relatives.

Kapil Sibal threatens media, warns against linking him to revelations regarding PFI funding anti-CAA riots and payments made to him

OpIndia Staff
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Kapil Sibal threatens media, warns against linking him to revelations regarding PFI funding anti-CAA riots and payments made to him

The Enforcement Directorate has claimed in a report that the PFI spent about 120 crores in a month to orchestrate the violent riots in the country after the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act, naming eminent lawyers Kapil Sibal, Indira Jaising and Dushyant Dave also as the beneficiaries of PFI’s funding. The report, as is to be expected, has triggered a massive political row.

The senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal has now issued a clarification claiming that the payments made by PFI were the lawyer fees owed to him in the Hadiya case. He has also questioned the conduct of the media in the entire controversy. He said, “Media has put up a story that ED told them that CAA protests are funded by PFI and part of that funding has come to some advocates, including me. I wish both the media and those who leaked these stories did a bit of homework because they wouldn’t have leaked it otherwise.”

“But I think there is a motive behind it. The motive is very simple and that is to destroy people’s reputation by spreading lies, lies and more lies. This seems to be a part of their propaganda machine, supported by this government and taken over by media ‘bhakts’ on social media,” Sibal added. Sibal did not stop there and went on to threaten the media with defamation suits if they linked his name in the controversy after his clarification or if their posts targeting him on the matter still remained on social media.

Read: Nexus between Congress and Islamists in stoking anti-CAA riots? PFI spent over 120 crores, transferred huge sums to Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising: Read details

Sibal said, “If you run this story again and link my name to this, I will consider this defamation and if any media runs this news, if a journalist who had done this story during the day if the tweets remain in their account, I will take them to Court. I will take them to Court as soon as possible and in the Criminal Court as well. It is my warning to them that this should be over by this evening.”

The BJP, however, does not appear to be buying Sibal’s defence. Party spokesman Sambit Patra said on Twitter, “Kapil Sibal says that money received from PFI was for the Hadia case. But wasn’t the Hadia case a case between a husband and wife and how did PFI get involved? He also says that he doesn’t check the source of money received. Is this statement even real, coming from a lawyer?”

Kapil Sibal appears to have a habit of sorts of threatening people to question his dubious or inappropriate conduct. In the past, he had threatened to sue OpIndia as well for raising pertinent questions about his financial dealings. Prior to the Lok Sabha elections of 2019, he had issued a thinly veiled threat to bureaucrats that the Congress party is keeping a close watch on officers showing loyalty to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mumbai: News Nation video journalist attacked by ‘Shaheen Bagh’ inspired anti-CAA protest in Nagpada, camera broken

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai: News Nation video journalist attacked by ‘Shaheen Bagh’ inspired anti-CAA protest in Nagpada, camera broken

On Monday, a video journalist associated with news channel News Nation was reportedly attacked and beaten up by unidentified assailants when she had gone to cover the Anti-CAA protests in South Mumbai’s Nagpada area at around 4:15 AM.

Reportedly, the camera was broken and the cameraman assaulted. A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against 3 unidentified men at Nagpada police station.

As per News Nation, their journalists had gone to cover the anti-CAA protests where attacked the media crew without even understanding them. The protestors had gathered at “Mumbai Bagh” on lines of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi where the media crew had gone to cover them. On wee hours of Monday morning, the ‘protestors’ in Mumbai’s Nagpada attacked the crew and broke their camera.

This is not the first time that a journalist has been manhandled while reporting on Anti-CAA protests. On January 24, the Senior Consulting Editor of News Nation, Deepak Chaurasia. was heckled by a mob protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Shaheen Bagh, Delhi.

Read: Deepak Chaurasia, who was assaulted at Shaheen Bagh, gives befitting reply to The Wire employee who downplayed attack

The mob interrupted the reporting by physically assaulting Chaurasia and the video journalist accompanying him. The camera was also destroyed. The violent attack on Deepak Chaurasia was condemned by many, including the President of News Broadcasters Federation, Arnab Goswami. Many left-wing propagandists masquerading as journalists, however, tried to downplay the incident and resorted to victim-blaming.

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