Several Malayali nurses in Saudi Arabia have been reportedly quarantined following exposure to a patient infected with the coronavirus. As per reports, the nurses have now been kept in isolation in a separate ward.
The Virus attack was confirmed initially in a Filipino woman and then spread to the Malayali nurse, an Ettumanoor native when she attended her for treatment. The coronavirus case has been reported in the Al Hayat National Hospital in Saudi Arabia’s Baha.
#Breaking | 30 nurses from Kerala are under observation after being diagnosed with the Corona virus.
Fearing the spread of the virus, many employees are not reporting for duty at the hospital. There were also complaints raised that they were not provided with proper food and treatment. The Malayali nurses alleged that the hospital authorities are concealing the information on the disease. They have reportedly lodged a complaint with the Indian Embassy.
Samples of the fluids collected from the quarantined nurses have been sent for examination. The nurses have been shifted to a separate ward and being treated for the last 24 hours. As per reports, the preliminary test results confirmed the virus attack.
Later reports stated that 3 nurses are now quarantined.
It is being reported that the coronavirus outbreak began in the Chinese city of Wuhan with illegal wildlife transportation and sale. The Virus can spread among people through respiratory transmissions.
No people in #Wuhan, C China’s Hubei will be allowed to leave the city starting 10 a.m. of Jan. 23. Train stations and airport will shut down; the city bus, subway, ferry and long-distance shuttle bus will also be temporarily closed: local authority #WuhanPneumonia#coronaviruspic.twitter.com/8pohJ4Uixo
China has now put Wuhan, a city of over 11 million people, under lockdown following the outbreak. Hospitals in Wuhan have made separate quarantine and isolation zones to treat patients. Health authorities around the world are scrambling to prevent a global pandemic.
China has suspended all public transport, including flights in and out of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak. Australia and Britain are among the countries that have advised its citizens to avoid tours to Wuhan, China.
The passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act has exposed the deep faultlines within Indian society. The anti-Hindu bigotry and Islamic Supremacy that was evident in all the anti-CAA protests have opened a can of worms. Now, it appears that the anti-CAA crowd has progressed from chanting hateful slogans to targeting people in vulnerable locations for their support towards the CAA. Vyas Vishwanathan, a Doctor by profession, was doxxed, accused of being genocidal without any proper evidence and ultimately forced to resign from the hospital he worked in at Palakkad, Kerala.
On the 20th of January, he was given 24 hours within which to submit his resignation and vacate his room. And Dr Vishwanathan had to endure the entire ordeal only because he supported the CAA on social media and voiced his support for measures to throw out illegal immigrants out of the country.
It all began on the 19th of January when a Twitter handle @yehlog published personal details of Dr Vishwanathan online with the primary intention of damaging his reputation and his career prospects. She accused him of being a ‘religious fanatic’ who wants to ‘kick out Muslims’ from the country.
The Doxx Tweet
Soon, people started registering their complaints with the hospital. It was claimed that Dr Vishwanathan was calling for genocide against Muslims on social media. “Please confirm if you share the same views as this employee,” the hospital was told. It was also suggested that the doctor might have caused harm to Muslim patients under his care.
One of the complaints against Dr Vyas Vishwanathan
The Hospital did not make much of an effort to defend its employee. The brand new hospital appears to have been overly keen on avoiding any controversy. Thus, the hospital demanded that Dr Vishwanathan submit his resignation and pack his bags. Ironically, Palakkad is the doctor’s ancestral place of residency and there was significant excitement as the entire family looked forward to him returning to the place from where, several generations previously, their ancestors had moved out from. Unfortunately, his return to Palakkad was short-lived and he had to leave in a rather unceremonious manner.
Dr Vishwanathan says that he has no hatred for Muslims at all, he just doesn’t want illegal immigration into the country and wants them deported. On previous occasions, he has supported Muslims during controversies as is evident from its tweets. For instance, during the whole Zomato controversy, he said that it was wrong to discriminate against a delivery boy on the basis of his religion. However, that hasn’t stopped people from accusing him of being a genocidal maniac.
People of a particular political and religious are celebrating Dr Vishwanathan’s dismissal on social media and are overjoyed by the manner in which his career has been damaged. OpIndia got in touch with him over the matter. He told us that right now, he has not given much thought about how to proceed. He told us that legal processes in the country takes years to complete and it isn’t something he is looking forward to. So, as of now, he has no intentions of pursuing any legal options although he is receiving advice from well-wishers that he should.
With respect to his career, Dr Vishwanathan told us that he has an exam coming up in the first week of March and for now, he is choosing to focus entirely on getting through it. As for his job prospects, he told us that well-wishers have contacted him and offered to help him with his efforts in finding a new job. But for now, it’s only the exam that he is concerned about. Dr Vishwanathan also informed us that there was a possibility that some people were organizing themselves and targeting politically opinionated doctors. On social media, he said that he may not be the first victim and he may not be the last.
On the 15th of January, Dr Ranjit Vijayahari, an activist with Seva Bharati who runs a Gastro clinic at Trivandrum, again in Kerala, said on social media that certain radical elements were targeting his practice due to his support for the CAA.
I am Dr.Ranjit Vijayahari. I run a Gastro Clinic along with my wife at trivandrum.
As an activist of Seva Bharathi, I have done my utmost for the needy irrespective of religion.
But now, Jihadi elements are targeting my practice after I supported #CAA.@AmitShah@HMOIndia
In one of the screenshots that were shared by Dr Vijayahari, one Umarool Farooq can be seen saying that a ‘communal doctor’ will not be able to empathize with his patients. Another person from the same community, Ali Afsal, asks people to ‘take care’ when they visit his clinic.
A screenshot shared by Dr. Vijayahari
There appears to be a concerted attempt underway to target people for their support towards CAA and NRC. It appears that radical individuals of a particular religious and political orientation are targeting doctors now in an attempt to force people to submit to their will. The tactics they have resorted to could have terrible consequences for the social fabric of the country as such tactics would cause further deterioration of interfaith relationships.
During the anti-CAA protests, we have witnessed a constant barrage of propaganda and imagery that specifically targets Hindu religious sentiments. Considering the fact that these protests have failed spectacularly in swaying the mood of the public and the government, it appears that the more radical elements among them are moving on to more desperate measures.
“Chilling and brutal,” to borrow an expression that appeared in The Hindu while referring to some student union clash at JNU earlier this month. But, I don’t want to talk about JNU. I am talking about this. In Jharkhand, bodies of 7 anti-Pathalgarhi tribals were found. Decapitated.
Times of India headline
You might have noticed that this is not the top national news item on so-called mainstream media. You might have noticed that it is not even trending on social media.
But why? Were the 7 villagers who were kidnapped and decapitated in Jharkhand only yesterday any less citizens of India? Were they less of citizens than any student union troublemaker at JNU, or some A list Bollywood celebrity, or some frustrated yesteryear movie actor?
For friends who may not know, Pathalgarhi is an innocent tribal custom in the tribal belt of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Local folk heroes are honoured by putting up a headstone next to their grave and recounting their brave deeds. This innocent custom has been seized upon by Naxals as some kind of assertion of separatism from India. In June 2018, five innocent girls in Khunti in Jharkhand were performing a street play to raise awareness among tribals against such forces. These girls were lured into the deep forest, with the help of a missionary school principal, and then gang-raped as a punishment. So you can imagine the coalition of Break India forces arrayed against us.
The sheer scale and horror of left-wing violence in India is such that it beats every other challenge to us as a nation. Dr Manmohan Singh was right when he said that left-wing terror is the biggest internal security threat to India. The way the Congress party has reduced itself to an appendage of the radical left, I wonder whether he would stand by his statement today.
If there is one thing I have learned from the recent anti-CAA protests and the narrative around them, it is this: imagined fears, based on falsehood and prejudice, are everything. My real history doesn’t matter because it is just ‘whataboutism.’
But this massacre in West Singhbhum district is not from decades ago. I’m not talking about the bygone Communist era in Bengal when 28,000 political murders happened (by the Communist government’s own admission …. imagine what the real scale of the violence was). I’m not talking about the hundreds of lakhs of people left dead in the wake of terrorism across the world.
I’m talking about West Singhbhum district from yesterday. Still whataboutism? And we all know this horror is going to happen again, possibly even in the next week. It’s like left-wing terror is eating us alive. But we don’t notice it.
But how did we become so desensitized to the left-wing terror that we barely notice it at all? How have we handed over our minds to left-wing media and intellectuals that we barely acknowledge the violence that drives their ideological cousins?
What will it take for us to acknowledge the sheer horror of leftism?
What will it take for us to chant “Communism se Azaadi”? How many more decapitated bodies?
The 7 anti-Pathalgarhi activists who were massacred in Jharkhand yesterday were heroes of Indian democracy. They lost their heads defending it. We are the ones who have lost our minds. Unless we speak up. Now.
A day after Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe against the perpetrators behind the murder of seven tribals in Chaibasa town’s Gulikera village during the Pathalgadi movement, the Jharkhand Police have arrested three people in connection with the case.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the Jharkhand police have made these arrests on Thursday morning.
The incident took place on Sunday evening but the police, who reached Burugulikera village in Naxal-hit region in Chaibasa Tuesday, could retrieve the bodies only on Wednesday. All seven, police said, had been decapitated by their abductors.
In what transpired, some ‘Pathalgadi’ supporters had kidnapped seven villagers when a dispute had arisen during a meeting over ‘Pathalgadi’ movement at the village, informed West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police (SP) Indrajit Mahata.
The incident is suspected to be a fallout of rivalry between two factions of the village, one led by former Panchayat chief Ransi Budh who is believed to be pro-Pathalgadi while the other being led by the deputy chief James Budh who was allegedly anti-Pathalgadi.
The supporters of Pathalgadi led by former Panchayat chief Ransi Budh had allegedly perpetrated the crime in which lathis and axes were used, the police officer said.
The Pathalgadi movement is decades old and has resurfaced in recent years. This incident occurred days after Hemant Soren government in its first cabinet decision on December 29, 2019, dropped all sedition cases registered against the supporters of the Pathalgadi movement, an armed struggle which dismissed the authority of the state and central government and considered only the gram sabha as the real constitutional body.
Since 2017, in nearly 200 villages in Jharkhand’s four districts: Khunti, Gumla, Simdega and West Singhbum, huge stone plaques known as ‘pathalgadi’ in the local language were put up at the entry points. These stone structures, painted green, warned ‘outsiders’, especially government officials, and prohibited them from entering the villages. Essentially, they had announced that the law of the land does not apply there.
After the BJP-led government came to power in Jharkhand in 2014, Chief Minister Raghubar Das had tried to amend the land tenancy laws. Tribal groups and opposition parties opposed the move. In May 2017, Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu returned the bills for reconsideration and a few months later in August, they were withdrawn. Tribal groups believed that the new laws will undermine the rights of tribal people on forest resources and land.
A total of 19 cases of sedition were registered against over 150 people which stood withdrawn by the Jharkhand Mukti Morch (JMM) led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren. JMM is the ruling party of Jharkhand state with the alliance of Congress and Rashtriya Janta Dal.
A woman, Nazeeran Bano, was attacked by a mob in Brijdham area in Bharatpur, Kota, Rajasthan, over rumours that she was collecting data for NRC. However, she was later let go after proving that she was a Muslim. Bano, who was actually collecting data for the National Economics Census 2019- 2020, was attacked and only let off after she convinced the crowd that she, too, was a Muslim, like them.
The mob, allegedly, snatched Bano’s mobile phone and deleted all the data she collected on an app. She was later asked to recite a verse from the Quran to prove her identity. The crowd was only pacified and let her off after the woman showed them an “Ayat Al-Kursi (The Throne Verse) card” from her wallet, confirmed Borekheds SHO Mahesh Singh.
Bano later told the reporters that the residents in the Brijdham area initially provided all the required data for but later 4-5 families called her back and asked her to delete the data saying they did not want any information about the family to be shared.
“I explained to them that the data collected was related to the economic census and had been uploaded on the portal and that there was nothing wrong in it. But they were not convinced and started misbehaving with me”, confirmed Nazeeran Bano.
Similarly, one Chumki Khatun‘s house was set on fire by a mob in West Bengal’s Birbhum over rumours that she was collecting data for NRC. Chumki Khatun and her family are currently under police protection. The incident happened in Gourbazar village in Mallarpur police station area.
As per reports, Khatun worked with an NGO on a contract where it was training rural women to smartphones effectively. As part of her training, Khatun collected some general data. This fuelled the rumours that she was collecting data for NRC. However, the police have denied that the incident was linked to NRC.
Two days after JDU leader Pavan Varma stoked a controversy by writing a letter to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar asking him to reconsider his decision on CAA and NRC, the JDU chief said his colleague is free to leave the party and join any other party he likes.
Speaking to the media regarding the Pavan Verma’s letter to him on the issue of CAA and NRC, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said, “If anyone has any issues then the person can discuss it within the party or at party meetings, but such kind of public statements are surprising. He can go and join any party he likes, he has my best wishes.”
#WATCH Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on JDU leader Pawan Verma’s letter to him on CAA&NRC: If anyone has any issues then the person can discuss it within party or at party meetings, but such kind of public statements are surprising. He can go and join any party he likes, my best wishes. pic.twitter.com/qFXgVSWfKu
The strong response by Nitish Kumar to Pavan Verma comes after senior party leader Verma had stoked a controversy by writing a letter to party chief Nitish Kumar on the issue of CAA and also over tie-up in Delhi with the BJP while saying public actions need to match with personal views and that there is no room for double standards.
Pavan Varma had asked how did Nitish Kumar take a decision to extend the alliance with the BJP when his personal views are different.
In his letter, Pavan Varma had claimed that despite Nitish Kumar’s alliance with the BJP in 2017, his “private apprehensions” regarding the party and how it was leading India into a “dangerous space” did not change.
“I remember your confessing to me in private how the current leadership in the BJP party has humiliated you. You maintained, on more than one occasion, that the BJP is leading India into a ‘dangerous space’,” the former Rajya Sabha member and JD(U) general secretary wrote.
Further, Verma in his letter claimed that he had once told Nitish Kumar that in his party constitution, the word secular comes three times and Bihar CM needs to respect that and especially at a time when the entire country is against the CAA.
“If the party doesn’t stand by the principles of its own party, our position within the party becomes untenable,” the JD(U) leader added as he asked Nitish Kumar to reconsider the alliance with the BJP over the issue of CAA.
Varma had also claimed as long as Prashant Kishor and he was in the party, their attempt will be to get Nitish Kumar on the right path and had threatened by saying that all options were open, leaving Nitish Kumar red-faced.
Reacting to Nitish Kumar’s statements, Verma on Thursday claimed that hurting Nitish Kumar was never his intention. He said he just wanted the party to have ideological clarity. He added that he was awaiting a reply to his letter and will decide the future course of action after that.
Pawan Verma, JDU:Welcome Mr.Nitsh Kumar’s statement that there is space for discussion within party, as that is what I asked for.Was never my intention to hurt him. I want party to have ideological clarity.Awaiting reply to my letter,will decide future course of action after that https://t.co/IMJvNU0W01pic.twitter.com/KQdL9c8HGP
Ever since the historic Citizenship Amendment Act was passed in the parliament, senior leader Pavan Verma and JDU national vice-president Prashant Kishor have been acting like a loose cannon, which is often reflected in their contrarian position on the issue of the CAA with respect to that of the JDU and its chief Nitish Kumar.
Senior leaders like Prashant Kishor and Pavan Verma have been opposing the legislation, claiming that act is unconstitutional. The two JD (U) leaders had publicly urged Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to reconsider the decision to support the CAA keeping in mind the public sentiments.
Unhappy over the comments made by Prashant Kishor and Pavan Verma over the issue of party’s support to CAA, the JDU had also sent notices to both leaders for opposing party’s decision to support the act.
Initially, the JDU was hesitant to support the NDA over the Citizenship Amendment Bill but Nitish Kumar-led JDU had decided to support the bill just a day before it was tabled in the Parliament by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
A Delhi University student, Deepika Sharma, was heckled and shouted down by leftist goons as she tried to speak up on the atrocities on the 30th anniversary of the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley.
This is what they shout to suppress the voices of a small number of people who speak for Kashmiri Pandits! They talk about Islamophobia whenever we tell our truth!
Shame! pic.twitter.com/lGf4pfiQmM
The remembrance meet was held in Hindu College, Delhi University. As soon as Sharma started speaking, the mob of leftist students started shouting her down. Sharma then breaks down as she is bullied by the goons who tried to suppress her voice.
19th January, 2019 was the 30th anniversary of the Kashmiri exodus when radical Islamists in the Kashmir valley forced the Kashmiri Pandits to leave their homes or face death or religious conversion. Sharma, a third year student at Delhi University, while giving a talk on the atrocities faced by Kashmiri Hindus was shouted down and bullied. She could be seen breaking down while delivering her speech.
Swarajya quoted Sharma saying that many other students supported the talk in principle but could not speak out openly for fear of being labelled ‘Bhakt’ or ‘Sanghi’, terms used to refer to Modi supporters or essentially to anyone who does not toe the ‘liberal’ line.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump yet again repeated his offer to “help” on the Kashmir issue despite Indian authorities repeatedly snubbing his request by asserting that Kashmir is an internal matter.
Addressing the media with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan ahead of their talks on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, President Trump said, “We are talking about Kashmir and with relation to what’s going on with Pakistan and India. If we can help, we certainly will be helping. We have been watching it and following it very, very closely”.
India has yet again reiterated that Kashmir is an internal issue and any discussions with Pakistan will only be bilateral. However, since Trump’s mention of Kashmir was not specific and did not mention mediation explicitly, it is being speculated that India may not react strongly. The US president may visit India on February 24.
Senior government sources speaking to Times of India said, “Our position on the Kashmir issue has been clear and consistent. There is no role for any third party in this matter. There is nothing further to add.” They also pointed out that Trump did not himself mention either “mediation” or “facilitation” in his remarks when he addressed the media in Davos.
When asked about visiting Pakistan, Trump had stated during the meeting with Khan that they are visiting now and there is no need for another visit. Though Pakistan had tried to push ‘Kashmir’ into the discussions, the US readout over the meeting had not mentioned Kashmir at all.
Donald Trump, the US President often becomes enthusiastic to meddle in India’s affairs had previously spoken of his willingness to mediate. In July this year, US President Trump had stirred up a storm when he claimed that PM Modi had requested him to meditate on the Kashmir issue. However, India had clarified that no such request was made.
Later, India had again categorically rejected the offer of mediation saying that any discussion with Pakistan will only be bilateral. In August, too, he had offered to mediate saying it is a “very complicated place”.
In September 2019, Trump yet again presented himself to be an expert “arbitrator” to resolve the dispute between India and Pakistan. Trump stated that he is “ready, willing and able” to intervene if both countries wanted it.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has finally revealed reasons behind is deafening silence over the plight of Uyghur Muslims in China. As per reports, on Wednesday, at the World Economic Forum, at Davos, Switzerland, Khan was asked about his lack of criticism over the plight of Uyghur Muslims in China. While at first Khan said he did not “know much” about the mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims in China, he later said that “China is a great friend” and has helped Pakistan when it reached rock bottom and hence Pakistan government is grateful to Chinese government.
As reported by news agency ANI, in an exclusive interview with Germany-based DW, on 16th January Khan had avoided speaking on Uyghur Muslim issue in China as it is a ‘sensitive’ issue while speaking at length on Kashmir, which is an internal matter of India. Khan had said that the “scale of what is happening in India” is nowhere comparable to what is happening in China. He further said that Islamabad talks to Beijing over such ‘sensitive’ topics privately and not publicly.
China has been on the receiving end of criticism over its alleged treatment to Uyghur Muslims and sending them to mass detention centres. China has also been accused of oppressing and interfering Uyghur Muslims in their religious activities.
Chinese oppression of Uyghur Muslims has been known for a long time. Earlier the Chinese police had imposed a dress code for Uyghur women, under which the Muslim women are not allowed to wear long dresses. Last year photos had appeared on social media showing police cutting dresses of Uyghur women for being “too long”. It was also reported that Han Males are sleeping on the same bed as Uyghur Muslim women in China whose male family members, often husbands, are locked up in ‘reeducation camps’ in conformity with a diktat by the Chinese regime.
Despite such atrocities, China has not faced any repercussions for its ongoing totalitarian policies which are most heinously affecting the Uyghurs. They have been abandoned by the Muslim world as well. Imran Khan, who cannot stop engaging in delirious rhetoric against India regarding Kashmir, has refused to condemn China’s actions against Uyghurs.
He continues to call China the best friend of Pakistan and has maintained a carefully crafted mask of ignorance over the entire issue. The OIC, while issuing statements on India, has refrained from issuing any statement on the Uyghurs.
A complaint has been registered against former Indian cricket team captain Mohammed Azharuddin in Aurangabad, Maharashtra for allegedly duping a travel agent off Rs 21 lakh.
According to the reports, the complaint was made by Shahab Y Mohammed, a former executive of Jet Airways, and the owner of Danish Tours & Travel.
Aurangabad: FIR registered against three people including former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin (file pic) for allegedly duping a travel agent, Mohammad Shadab, of more than Rs 20 lakh. Investigation underway. #Maharashtrapic.twitter.com/u4O2dB7sdh
AD Nagre, the Investigating Officer of the City Chowk police in Aurangabad said that the first information report mentioned two others, Mujeeb Khan from Aurangabad and one Sudheesh Avikkal from Kerala as suspects and that no arrests have been made yet.
According to FIR, several tickers were booked by Avikkal for himself and Azharuddin between November 9 and November 12, 2019, to travel to and from various international destinations such as Dubai, Paris, Turin, Amsterdam, Munich, Copenhagen, Manchester, Zagreb, on top airlines.
Though Avikkal did not have money, he insisted it was an emergency and he would pay the ticket charges to Mohammed. Mohammed relented only after Khan, who is the personal secretary to Azharuddin gave an assurance on Avikkal’s behalf.
The report noted that Avikkal promised a part-payment of 13,500 euro (or Rs 10,60,000), through his bank account with the Croatian National Bank and furnished an email dated November 12, 2019, to the travel company owner.
When Mohammed contacted the bank, they reportedly stated that no payment was made. He then tried contacting Azharuddin and Khan, but to no avail. However, Avikkal continued to promise payment when contacted on November 24. He even sent Mohammed a copy of the cheque made in favour of Danish Tours & Travels on WhatsApp, but no payments were actually received.
As per reports, even after the police complaint, Khan and the others have stated to the police numerous time that all dues will be cleared, but the travel agency has allegedly received no payments so far. Finally, the police were compelled to file an FIR based on Mohammad’s complaint.
As per reports, Azharuddin has stated that the FIR is baseless and he will take legal action against Mohammad for levelling those allegations.
Mohammed Azharuddin was banned for life from Cricket by BCCI in 2000 after he was named by disgraced South African Captain Hansie Cronje as the man who introduced Cronje to bookies. High Court quashed the ban in 2012 but BCCI never officially lifted the ban. However, they did allow him to contest the Hyderabad Cricket Association elections.
Azharuddin had contested the 2009 general elections on a Congress ticket from the Moradabad seat and had won. In the 2014 elections, he was the Congress candidate from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur seat but had lost. Named working president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee in 2018, he was disappointed in the 2019 general elections as the party denied him tickets, from both Secunderabad and Hyderabad constituencies.
