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Politics being played over our daughter’s death, AAP govt responsible for delay in hanging the convicts: Nirbhaya’s parents

OpIndia Staff
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Politics being played over our daughter’s death, AAP govt responsible for delay in hanging the convicts: Nirbhaya’s parents

Nirbhaya’s father had said that the Delhi government was sleeping for two years in taking initiatives to hang the convicts in the case. He said that while the Supreme Court had rejected the review petitions of the convicts, Delhi govt didn’t move further and sought death warrant from the court only when elections were near.


Badri Nath Singh, the father of the 2012 Delhi gangrape and mother victim, said that the AAP government in Delhi came to power using the Nirbhaya case, and now they are again using the case for politics. Accusing the AAP of playing a game over the case, he said that the govt moved only after Nirbhaya’s parents approached the court to expedite the hanging of the convicts. He said that the central government had no role in the case, and it was state government’s responsibility, and Kejriwal was playing game.

Earlier today, Asha Devi, mother Nirbhaya, broke down over the delay in the execution of her daughter’s rapists. She urged people not to play politics over the death of Nirbhaya. She urged Prime Minister Modi to hang the four rapists by January 22nd.


Asha Debi said that people who had protested demanding justice for her justice were now playing politics over the case. She said that while she had not talked about politics earlier, now the hanging of the convicts was delayed for political benefits, and her family was made a pawn in this game of politics.

She said that while someone is blaming others for delay in hanging, the other side was saying give us police we will do it in two days. Ashe Devi was refering to BJP and AAP exchanging allegations over the issue. She also urged the PM Modi to bring a change in the law, like he made law on triple talaq, so that convicts on death row are executed immediately.

Her statement comes a day after a Delhi Court put a stay on the execution. The Court made it clear that the stay wasn’t a review of its earlier decision. On Wednesday, Rahul Mehra, the lawyer representing Delhi Government had informed the Court that the convicts could not be hanged on January 22nd since Mukesh Singh, one of the rapists, had filed a mercy petition to the President of India.

Read- Not interested: Nirbhaya’s mother snubs Congress after party’s election in-charge in Delhi, Kirti Azad Tweets ‘welcome’ message

Prakash Javedkar, a Minister in the Central government, squarely blamed AAP for the delay in ensuring justice to Nirbhaya. He asked as to why did the Delhi Government not send notices to the convicts for filing mercy petitions for 2.5 years.


In 2017, the Supreme Court had upheld the death penalty for the convicted men in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case. The Tihar jail administration did not bother to issue a notice to the convicts, asking them to file review petitions.

Eventually, 3 convicts filed a review petition in the Supreme Court. The 4th convict did not. The jail authorities did not ask the 4th convict if he wanted to file a review petition. After the review petition was trashed for the other three convicts, the Tihar jail stayed unmoved. Again, it did not send any notice, a mandatory rule under the Jail Manual. Moreover, jail rules also state that if more than one convicts are on death row for the same crime and one of them files a mercy plea, then, the execution for others too will be stayed until the plea is decided.

However, sources suggest that jail authorities have verbally corresponded with the convicts but not in writing. Following an intervention by the trial court in September 2019, the notice was finally issued to the convicts in October.  Another notice was issued in December 2019.

Finding itself in a state of fix, Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia came to the government’s rescue. He challenged the BJP to hand over Delhi police to the State government and in return would hang Nirbhaya’s rapist in two days. He also accused the BJP Minister of “lying” to the people.

It is true that the Delhi Police runs under the supervision of the Central Ministry of Home Affairs. Having said that, it is crucial to point out that the Department of Tihar Prisons works under the Delhi government and its additional Inspector general reports directly to the state government. As such, the Tihar administration and the AAP government cannot pass the blame to the Central Government.

The Delhi government has however recommended the Death penalty for the convicts to the Lieutenant Governor. The same was forwarded to the Union Home Ministry. It recommended the “death penalty” for the convicts as well to the President.

On 17th January 2020, the President rejected the mercy plea of Mukesh Singh. After President rejected the petition, Tihar jail approached the court for reissue of the death warrant. Accordingly, a Delhi court has issued fresh death warrants for the four convicts and ordered that they will be hanged at 6 AM on February 1.

Media and assorted fools screamed ‘rape’ of children in Madarsa by UP Police during anti-CAA riots, now an FIR has been filed for false info: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Media and assorted fools screamed ‘rape’ of children in Madarsa by UP Police during anti-CAA riots, now an FIR has been filed for false info: Read details

During the ravaging anti-CAA riots in the state of Uttar Pradesh, media reports and several noted personalities levelled a sensational accusation of alleged sexual assault on minor children in a Madarsa against the police. The case pertained to Saadat hostel-cum-orphanage in Muzaffarnagar town of western Uttar Pradesh.

However, a police investigation into the accusation has concluded it to be false. Thereafter, an FIR has been filed for “publishing false report” under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, a report published on Swarajya by Swati Goel Sharma said.

In the aftermath of the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act, protests erupted in several places across Uttar Pradesh, in opposition to the legislation. The protests, which were carried out under the pretext of ‘peaceful’ opposition to the passage of the Citizenship Law saw widespread violence, allegedly carried out by the protestors. The Yogi Adityanath government gave a free hand to the UP police to quell the protests that were becoming increasingly violent, involving cases of arson, stone-pelting and vandalism.

Read: Uttar Pradesh: Saadat madarsa children deny media reports of police assault, say they did not suffer from rectal bleeding

As the Uttar Pradesh initiated action against the rampaging protestors, a report published in Telegraph quoted a “Congress politician” as saying that some of the Saadat hostel’s students “suffered rectal bleeding” due to police action. The report was shared by prominent Twitter users to assert that UP police had committed “rape” of the minors at the hostel. Actor Swara Bhaskar, political activist Kavita Krishnan, journalist Faye D’Souza and two other personalities were amongst those who had speculated that the UP police cops had sexually assaulted the children.

On December 29, 2019, the Telegraph published a report with a byline “UP police accused of stripping cleric“. Attributing local people, the report alleged that the police “detained and assaulted almost all of the maulana’s 100-odd students from the Saadat hostel-cum-orphanage in Muzaffarnagar town, many of them minors and most of them orphans”.

The report, furthermore, cited Salman Saeed, claimed as a “local Congress politician and son of former MP Saiduzzman Saeed who lived in the vicinity” stating that “the boys were denied access to a toilet at times, and some of them suffered rectal bleeding from the torture”. The report also quoted Saeed claiming that the students were forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram”.

Read: Muslim Cleric from Udupi says videos uploaded by UP police that shows anti-CAA Muslim mobs running riots is making ‘Muslims insecure’

Soon, several noted personalities lapped up the Telegraph report to slam Uttar Pradesh police for the alleged sexual assault against the minors.

Actor Swara Bhaskar, who commands a significant following on Twitter, lend credence to the report by soliciting support on the Social Media website and demanding an investigation into the “alleged rape of children in Muzaffarnagar by UP Police”.

Left-liberal political activist, Kavita Krishnan, too joined the bandwagon as she went on to assert that India is no longer angry at rapes of the Muzaffarnagar children at the hands of UP Police.

Another verified account, Zainab Sikander, who has a modest following on Twitter, and claims herself to be associated with ‘The Print’, asked the government to give 20 years of imprisonment to any of the cops found out to be guilty of raping the Saadat children.

Controversial journalist, Faye D’Souza, also lapped up the Telegraph report suggesting the apex court to take suo moto cognisance of the Muzaffarnagar incident under POCSO and commission a court-monitored investigation into the crime against children.

Then, a portal known as ‘The Caravan Daily’ published a report on January 2, using the aforementioned social media posts to accord legitimacy to the unfounded claim of “rectal bleeding” and “rape” as asserted by these prominent personalities against the UP police.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) took suo-moto cognisance of the Caravandaily.com report and Swara’s post under section 13 (1) (j) of the CPCP Act, 2003. It sought a detailed report on the matter from the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Muzaffarnagar. The police submitted the report on January 13, 2020.

The police report stated that on December 20, 2019, about 50,000 people had swarmed at the Madani Chowk, Kachchi Sadat, Fakkarshah Chowk and Meenakshi Chowk for the ant-CAA, anti-NRC protests following the Friday prayers.

As the crowd turned violent and resorted to vandalising public property and pelting stones, police force came into action to disperse the swelling mob. Some of the protestors then entered the Saadat hostel-cum-orphanage building, the report says. Stones were pelted and shots fired from inside the building. The police then the building and detained some of the protestors.

According to the police, the hostel management did not immediately identify on the spot any of the detainees as their inmates.

Read: The Battle from CAA to JNU: Khilafat 2.0, Communist Fantasies, Petty Politics and the conspiracy of Hong Kong style protests

Slamming the Telegraph report on the police excesses against the Saadat children, the police stated that the report is “opposite to the reality, and is highly shameful and irresponsible”. It categorically mentioned that any information published in the media on sexual assault of children by UP police in Saadat is completely misleading and false. The police report also cited the press release by the hostel management on January 5 that termed the reports of assault and unnatural acts by police on its children as blatantly false.

Based on the statement issued by Naeem Alam, a teacher at the Madarsa, the report informed the child commission that an FIR (number 16/2020) has been lodged against unidentified persons for making a false complaint or providing false information against a child, thereby victimising the child, under Section 22 of POCSO Act at Civil Lines police station.

Besides, a special investigation team (SIT) has been formed under the Superintendent of Traffic (SP), Muzaffarnagar, is investigating this case. The report states that 25 cops including senior officers were injured during the protests in Muzaffarnagar on 20 December. Several FIRs have been lodged against the rioters and 80 people were arrested in the case.

The NCPCR has reportedly informed the Home Ministry that the UP police has registered an FIR “for publishing a false report of misbehaving with the students which were found to be baseless and is also against the dignity of the hostel”.

Not interested: Nirbhaya’s mother snubs Congress after party’s election in-charge in Delhi, Kirti Azad Tweets ‘welcome’ message

OpIndia Staff
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Not interested: Nirbhaya’s mother snubs Congress after party’s election in-charge in Delhi, Kirti Azad Tweets ‘welcome’ message

Recently, the mainstream media has been flooded with reports claiming that Congress could field Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi against Delhi CM Kejriwal for the New Delhi seat in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Asha Devi, the mother of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim, has categorically denied such reports of her joining politics. “I have no interest in politics and have not spoken to anyone in the Congress party. I only want justice for my daughter and the execution of the convicts,” said Nirbhaya’s mother, waiting to see her daughter’s murderers hang after 7 years.


This news of Asha Devi joining the Congress party gained traction after Congress’ election in-charge in Delhi, Kirti Azad, took to Twitter to ‘welcome her’: “Asha Deviji apka swaagat hain” (Welcome Asha Devi), read Kirti Azad’s Tweet, which led people to believe that he was inviting her to join the party.

Kirti Azad’s Tweet welcoming Asha Devi into the party

Moreover, Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra too welcomed her to the party but said that talks of granting her a ticket has not been discussed yet.

Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra also welcomed Asha Devi into the party

It is surprising though, how a senior Congress member like Kirti Azad instead of verifying from his party sources merely fell for a report by News18 network that speculated Asha Devi being offered Congress ticket against incumbent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He not only shared it through his Twitter handle but also added a caption welcoming her into the party.

Earlier on Friday, soon after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected one of the convicts Mukesh Singh’s mercy plea, Asha Devi broke down blaming the Aam Aadmi Party government for delay in the hanging of the convicts. She said: “Those who protested against the horrific gangrape in 2012 are now playing politics over it”, blaming AAP for ignoring their plea.

Slamming Delhi minister Manish Sisodia, she said, “Manish Sisodia Ji is saying they will hang the convicts if they get Delhi Police for two days. It feels like they are only making statements to get their demand for having the Delhi Police force.”

“Stop using us and my daughter for your political gains. I am stuck between the two parties in this struggle for justice, I feel used,” she said.

Asha Devi then went on to appeal to PM Modi and said, “You came to power in 2014 saying ‘bohot hua naari pe atyachar, abki baar Modi sarkaar’, so please hang these rapists on January 22. I appeal to you with folded hands.”

After Kerala, Congress-ruled Punjab assembly passes resolution against CAA

OpIndia Staff
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After Kerala, Congress-ruled Punjab assembly passes resolution against CAA

After Kerala, the Congress-led Punjab government on Friday passed a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state assembly.

Reportedly, the resolution was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra during the second day of the special session of the House. Moving the resolution, Mohindra claimed that the new citizenship law passed by the Parliament in December has “caused countrywide anguish and social unrest in the country including Punjab”.

Aam Aadmi Party, which is the principal Opposition party in the state, supported the resolution, while Shiromani Akali Dal opposed the resolution. Lok Insaf Party (LIP) MLAs Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjit Singh Bains also supported the resolution.

After Kerala, Punjab is the second state to pass a resolution against the CAA. On December 31st, the Pinarayi Vijayan headed Kerala government had passed a resolution demanding the scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

In addition to passing a resolution, the Kerala government has also moved to the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019. The Kerala government had filed a petition in the apex court even without informing the Governor of the state stoking a controversy.

The resolution also called for the inclusion of Muslims in the CAA for granting citizenship. The Congress party legislators stated that they were against the implementation of a National Register of Citizens (NRC).

“It is divisive and stands for everything as opposed to a free and fair democracy, which must enshrine equality for all. Alongside the religion-based discrimination in granting citizenship, it is apprehended that the CAA is also likely to endanger the linguistic and cultural identity of some sections of our people. CAA also envisages cancellation of the registration of Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders, if they violate any law,” the resolution said.

Read: The Citizenship Amendment Act is constitutional: Here is how the anti-CAA propaganda has no legal basis

The historic Citizenship Amendment Act provides for granting citizenship for six persecuted minorities – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from three neighbouring Islamic countries Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It is applicable for those refugees who have migrated to India before December 31, 2014.

Contrary to what the opposition political parties and propagandist have been outraging about, there have been no changes in the normal process for a citizenship application for persons of any faith or country of origin.

Mumbai blast convicted terrorist Jalees Ansari, who had gone missing while on parole, arrested by UP STF in Kanpur

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai blast convicted terrorist Jalees Ansari, who had gone missing while on parole, arrested by UP STF in Kanpur

Jalees Ansari, also known as Dr Bomb, a convicted terrorist of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case who had tried to run away while being on parole has been arrested from Kanpur by Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force, reports News18.

According to the reports, Ansari, a resident of Mominpura in Agripada, Mumbai is serving a life term and had gone missing from Thursday while being on parole. He was earlier granted 21 days parole from Ajmer prison in Rajasthan and was expected to surrender before prison authorities on Friday.

During the parole period, he was ordered to visit the Agripada Police Station, Mumbai every day between 10.30 am and 12 pm to mark his attendance. However, Jalees Ansari did not visit the police station on Thursday during the designated time, the official said.

Reportedly, his son Jaid Ansari had approached the police station with a complaint about his “missing” father. According to the complaint, Jalees Ansari woke up in the early hours and told family members he is going to offer namaz, but did not return home.

After arresting Jalees Ansari, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police OP Singh said that he was arrested while he was coming out of a mosque in Kanpur. A missing person complaint had been filed by Ansari’s family on Thursday in Mumbai.

He had been out on parole, the DGP said. “It’s a big achievement of UP Police,” said Singh.

Jalees Ansari, a former doctor by profession, has been convicted for over 50 serial bomb blasts and was serving a life sentence in jail. He was one of the terrorists who had undergone training in Pakistan in the early 90s.

Nicknamed Dr Bomb for his expertise in TNT and timer bombs, Ansari had finally been convicted in the Ajmer blast case of 1993 and was serving a life term in Ajmer. He was earlier employed in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) but was recruited by terrorist Abdul Karim Tunda to carry out bomb blasts across the country.

Ansari was connected with terror outfits like SIMI and Indian Mujahideen and taught terror groups how to make bombs. The IM and SIMI are responsible for carrying out bomb blasts in Hyderabad, Malegaon, Pune, Ajmer, Rajdhani Express and several other places.

Posters stating ‘BHU VC Hindi Virodhi’ come up after his alleged refusal to hold interview in Hindi language

OpIndia Staff
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Posters stating ‘BHU VC Hindi Virodhi’ come up after his alleged refusal to hold interview in Hindi language

Posters against Banaras Hindu University Vice-Chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar has surfaced in various parts of Varanasi on Friday, demanding his resignation. It is being alleged that the VC is against the Hindi language. Posters stating BHU-VC Hindi Virodhi’ (anti-Hindi BHU VC) with Rakesh Bhatnagar’s caricature have been pasted at Maldahiya in Varanasi and certain other locations.


This came a day after it was alleged that the BHU administration refused to interview candidates for the post of Assistant Professor, who had opted for Hindi as their preferred language for communication.

The Banaras Hindu University is currently in the process of appointing 200 teachers.

According to a report by Dainik Jagran, one such candidate appearing for the interview for the post of Assistant Professor, who also happens to be an ex-student of the university was denied an interview when he had insisted to speak in Hindi language and had refused to answer questions in English.

On January 3, Dr Karn Singh was interviewed for the post of Assistant Professor in the Department of Ancient History of the Faculty of Arts. Singh alleged that the Vice-Chancellor pressurised him to answer in English only during the interview.

Singh stated that while he remained adamant to communicate in Hindi and also cited that freedom of expression is the right of every individual, the Vice-Chancellor was equally hell-bent that he cannot allow him to communicate in Hindi. The VC asked Singh to leave if he was not willing to speak in English, alleged Singh.

The aspirants, miffed with this discrimination also staged a protest at Swatantrata Bhavan, BHU, on Friday. At the venue of Swatantrata Bhavan, where the two-day BHU International Alumni meet began today, aspirants were seen raising slogans and displaying posters that read Hindi ke samman me (in respect to the Hindi language), BHU maidan me, Hindi is our mother tongue, discrimination with Hindi-speaking students will not be tolerated.

Meanwhile, BHU public relation officer Dr Rajesh Singh rejected all the allegations calling them baseless. “All allegations are baseless. All rules and regulations have been followed during the interview for the post of assistant professors,” Dr Singh said, adding that a transparent process has been followed in the interview and appointment. There has been no discrimination with anyone.

The university administration has clarified that since they have been granted the ‘Institute of Eminence’ status, and aspire to place BHU in the global ranking of best institutions, they expect that their faculty are able to communicate well in the global language (English).

Prior to this, the BHU administration had faced criticism for flouting rules and appointing a non-Hindu person as an assistant professor in the SVDV faculty to teach the Vedic rituals and practices of Hinduism to students.

Read: BHU protest: Prof Vashisht Tripathi blames VC, said chaos could have been avoided if management had followed rules

Then too, the Vice-Chancellor came under fire for not handling the situation well. Students had alleged that the faculty head had favoured his own pupil over several other aspirants for a post which was reserved for the OBC candidates.

Fake Degree case: Delhi HC sets aside election of AAP leader and ex-Delhi Law minister Jitendra Singh Tomar for false declaration

OpIndia Staff
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Fake Degree case: Delhi HC sets aside election of AAP leader and ex-Delhi Law minister Jitendra Singh Tomar for false declaration

The Delhi High Court today set aside the election of ex-Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar for providing a false declaration regarding his educational qualifications in his nomination papers for the 2015 assembly elections in Delhi. Tomar was sacked from his post of law minister from the Arvind Kejriwal led AAP govt in Delhi after he was arrested by Delhi police for procuring fake degrees.


BJP leader Nand Kishore Garg had filed the case against Tomar, demanding that his election should be cancelled as he had submitted fake degree in his election nomination papers.

“The petition is allowed,” Justice Rajeev Sahai Endlaw said.

The development comes ahead of the Delhi assembly polls scheduled to be held on February 8 for which Tomar is likely to fill the nominations on Saturday from the Tri Nagar constituency. According to the list of candidates released by AAP on January 14, Tomar was fielded from the Tri Nagar constituency. In 2015, Tomar had won the election by beating the BJP’s Nand Kishore Garg.

Garg had alleged in his plea that Tomar’s election had been “materially affected by deliberate concealment, misrepresentation, wrong declaration and wilful suppression of the educational qualification in the affidavit filed along with the nomination form”.

Read- The low-down on which of Tomar’s degrees are fake

“The respondent No 1 (Tomar), at the time of filing the nomination, and thereafter, has continued to misrepresent himself to be a law graduate and advocate and has thus been successful in exercising undue influence over the voters, which amounts to corrupt practice within the meaning of the Representation of the Peoples Act,” the plea said.

Earlier, Jitendra Singh Tomar, who had been the Law Minister in Delhi government, had to resign from the post after allegations of furnishing fake degree surfaced against him. In 2017, the TM Bhagalpur University in Bihar had cancelled the law degree awarded to him, after it was found that Tomar had fraudulently obtained the degree with the connivance of some employees of the university. The University had taken the decision after a Delhi police probe had found that Tomar’s law and BSc degrees were fake. Police had found that he had not appeared any exam to get the degrees. Along with Tomar, 16 other people involved in issuing the fake certificates, including a former principal and several staffs of the university were named in the case.

AAP leader Jitendra Singh Tomar contested from Tri Nagar seat in 2013 and 2015. In 2013, he lost by around 2800 votes, while in 2015 he won by about 22 thousand votes. Tomar was made Law Minister in the Delhi government in 2015. But in July 2015, he was arrested by Delhi Police in the fake degree case. However, he subsequently managed to secure bail.

The drama continues: Before his bail restriction kicks in, Chandrashekhar Azad appears in Jama Masjid

OpIndia Staff
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The drama continues: Before his bail restriction kicks in, Chandrashekhar Azad appears in Jama Masjid

After spending almost a month in Tihar jail for defying prohibitory orders and allegedly instigating the crowd which turned violent near Delhi Gate on December 20, the Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad had been granted bail yesterday. This bail, however, came with several restrictions.

Since the court restrictions would come into effect only after 24 hours, Chandrashekhar Azad has probably thought of continuing with his drama until then. Immediately after being released from Tihar jail, Azad headed towards Jama Masjid to continue the farce which was probably left incomplete after his arrest last month.

He was seen sitting with a copy of India’s constitution outside the Jama Masjid in Delhi. After spending an hour there, Azad plans to visit Ravidas temple, a gurudwara and a church before addressing a press conference at around 4 pm. He will have to, however, wind up the theatricals by 6-6.30 pm as he will have to leave for his hometown Saharanpur by then, as ordered by the additional sessions court in Delhi.


While hearing the case, Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau yesterday ordered Uttar Pradesh police to escort him back to Saharanpur, his hometown in UP, as he will not be allowed to enter Delhi for the next four weeks. Expressing her concern regarding security in Delhi, Lau strictly ordered Azad to appear before an SHO in Saharanpur, his hometown, every Saturday for the next four weeks, and then every last Saturday of every month until the chargesheet is filed in the matter.

The court has not only ordered Azad to stay away from Delhi until elections but also prohibited him from taking part in dharnas for next one month. Azad has also been banned from joining the protest at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, as he had planned.

Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad had been arrested in connection with the violence in Old Delhi’s Daryagan on December 21, a day after his outfit defied a Police ban and organised a march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar against the new citizenship law.

The Delhi Police had denied permission to Chandrashekhar Azad’s protest march against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar. Reports say that thousands of Muslims gathered at Jama Masjid after the Friday prayers, joined by Bhim Army members.

On the day of the march, Azad had given a slip to the Delhi Police after the security personnel tried to detain him. He came outside Jama Masjid early Saturday (December 21) and was detained. He was arrested later, police said. After being detained, Azad was kept at the Crime Branch office in Chanakyapuri since he said he was unwell. He was later handed over to the central district police.

Police had suspected Azad instigated the crowd which turned violent near Delhi Gate and burnt a car.

US court charges five Pakistani men illegally exporting nuclear material for Pakistan’s nuclear program

OpIndia Staff
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US court charges five Pakistani men illegally exporting nuclear material for Pakistan’s nuclear program

Five businessmen from Pakistan have been indicted in the United States for operating an international network of front companies to export US origin products to the terrorist state of Pakistan for use in that country’s nuclear program.

According to reports, the five Pakistani men transported the goods to Pakistan’s Advanced Engineering Research Organization and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission without export licenses, according to the indictment of a federal court in New Hampshire.

The indictment identified a total of 38 illegal nuclear-related exports from 29 US companies to Pakistan between September 2014 and October 2019, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday.

The five indicted men are identified as 41-year-old Muhammad Kamran Wali living in Pakistan, 48-year-old Muhammad Ahsan Wali and 82-year-old Haji Wali Muhammad Sheikh, a father-son duo from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Ashraf Khan Muhammad of Hong Kong and Ahmed Waheed of Ilford, Essex, United Kingdom have also been indicted.

However, none of them has been arrested and arrest warrants are pending.

Reportedly, the defendants attempted to hide the destinations of the exports in Pakistan by using their network of front companies as importers and end-users.

The accused Pakistani men, who lived in Pakistan, Canada, Hong Kong and England, were charged in federal court in New Hampshire, where three of the US companies are based, with conspiracy to violate US export control laws. None of the US companies were found to be complicit in unlawful exports.

The two Pakistani entities, AERO and PAEC are on the US Commerce Department’s list of companies required to hold export licenses because their activities are deemed contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests.

The Pakistan Aerospace Council (PAEC) is an organisation for enterprises active in the aerospace, defence and high tech electronics market. PAEC was added to the list in 1998 after Pakistan carried out a series of underground nuclear tests in response to Indian nuclear tests.

Advanced Engineering Research Organisation (AERO) was included in 2014 after the US found that it had used intermediaries and front companies to acquire goods for Pakistan’s cruise missile and strategic unmanned aerial vehicle programs, the Justice Department said.

“The defendants smuggled US-origin goods to entities that have been designated for years as threats to US national security for their ties to Pakistan’s weapons programs,” John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement.

“This indictment puts the world on notice not to do business with these defendants and demonstrates our commitment to holding them accountable,” Demers said.

“It also stands as an example of the kind of deceptive behaviour US businesses need to watch out for in designing appropriate export control and sanctions compliance programs,” he added in his statement.

The indictment stemmed from counter nuclear proliferation efforts by investigative agencies within the departments of Justice, Commerce, Homeland Security and Defense. Jason Molina, acting special agent in charge, Homeland Security Investigations, said the agency’s counterproliferation group proactively conducts investigations into violations of US export-import licensing because of the threat they can pose to US national security.

The accused persons allegedly received over $140,000 in wire transfers from a Pakistani bank account controlled by AERO and held in the name of the alleged front company Business World, in a Rawalpindi branch. Those funds were then allegedly used to pay American companies to export the goods from an account in Canada held in the name of the same front company.

Kerala BJP leader K Rajasekharan files pro-CAA petition in Supreme Court after Kerala govt moved the apex court against the CAA

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala BJP leader K Rajasekharan files pro-CAA petition in Supreme Court after Kerala govt moved the apex court against the CAA

After Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government passed a resolution in the assembly against the Citizenship Amendment Act and subsequently filed a petition against it the Supreme Court, Kerala BJP leader K Rajasekharan has moved the apex court to file  a plea in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).


Coming on the heels of the Kerala government’s petition challenging the validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act, senior BJP leader and the former Mizoram governor Kummanam Rajasekharan has approached the Supreme Court against the government plea alleging that the Kerala government has not explained in its plea how the Citizenship Amendment Act discriminates against the Indian Muslims as alleged by them and how Muslims in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are facing prosecution.

Terming the Kerala government’s petition as “Political Gimmick”, Rajasekharan stated in his plea that there were no provisions in the Citizenship Amendment Act that would affect the social and fundamental rights of the inhabitants of Kerala. He also mentioned in his plea that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan wasn’t even consulted before the state government decided to move the Supreme Court.

Read- Not Abul Kalam Azad, quote Godse: Leftist historian Irfan Habib tries to physically heckle Kerala Guv Arif Mohammad Khan over CAA

“It is contended by the plaintiff in this case that the CAA is discriminatory as it has excluded migrants from Srilanka, Myanmar and Bhutan which share an International border with India. The primary religion in these countries is Buddhism and the Hindus, Muslims and Christians are in minority. The case of the plaintiff is that the aforesaid minorities are excluded from the Act. Though such a contention is made, it is not explained how the minorities are facing religious persecution there. It is further contended that the exclusion of Ahmadiyas, Shias and Hazaras living in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan is discriminatory but the plaintiff is not explaining how these groups who are themselves Muslims facing religious persecution,” the plea filed by Rajasekharan read.

Earlier, after the resolution was passed in the Kerala State Assembly against the Citizenship Amendment Act, Pinarayi Vijayan government moved Supreme Court challenging the Act. This also elicited criticism from the Kerala Governor who was visibly furious for not being informed of the same by the Kerala government.

“I am not going to remain a rubber stamp. The state government has filed a petition against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the Supreme Court. But I came to know about it only by the media reports. As the head of the state, the government should have informed me before approaching the apex court,” a visibly livid Khan said.

After Kerala, today Punjab assembly also moved a resoluiton against the CAA, demanding to scrap the amendment.

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