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Middle-aged ‘comedian’ extends support to film on acid attack victims by mocking an acid attack victim

OpIndia Staff
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Middle-aged ‘comedian’ extends support to film on acid attack victims by mocking an acid attack victim

The tragedy of Indian comedy scene is that not only are most of these ‘comedians’ unfunny, they think they are disliked because they make fun of PM Modi. Those who find them unfunny are labelled ‘bhakts’ because they’re rather blame the prime minister than question their own lack of talent.

One such ‘comedian’ is middle-aged man Atul Khatri. In his attempt at humour today, he mocked an acid attack survivor while ironically he was extending support to a film based on life of another acid attack survivor.

Atul Khatri’s tweet mocking Rangoli Chandel

Here, Khatri is mocking Twitter user and BJP supporter Ankit Jain by saying how the ‘aukaat’ (worth) of ABVP workers is that of garnering sympathy from ‘Rangoli Chandaal’ when Jain had pointed out that if Padukone really wanted to show solidarity with students, she could have met ABVP students as well, who were injured in JNU violence.

Khatri is referring to Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut’s sister Rangoli Chandel as Rangoli Chandaal. Rangoli herself has been a victim of acid attack. Moreover, Chandaal is also a casteist slur.

Deepika was in JNU on Tuesday evening for the promotion of her upcoming film, Chhapaak, which is based on life of an acid attack survivor.

Rangoli Chandel was attacked with acid after she rejected proposal of a man who wanted to marry her. She underwent 54 surgeries. Despite that, doctors could not reconstruct her ear.


She had also lost one eye and her one breast was severely damaged because of which she faced problems while breastfeeding her new born child. “Even now I can’t stretch my neck sometime itching in grafted skin is so bad that I wish I was dead… shockingly acid victims numbers are very high in India, the culprit was out on bail within few weeks, it was too painful to see him roam around freely,” Chandel had tweeted in October last year.

‘Comedian’ Atul Khatri mocked her while supporting a movie based on acid attack survivors.

Ahead of release of Deepika Padukone starrer Chhapaak, Laxmi Agarwal’s Wikipedia page vandalised, culprit Naeem changed to ‘Rajesh’

OpIndia Staff
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Ahead of release of Deepika Padukone starrer Chhapaak, Laxmi Agarwal’s Wikipedia page vandalised, culprit Naeem changed to ‘Rajesh’

As Bollywood entertainer Deepika Padukone tried to pull off a PR stunt by expressing her solidarity with anti-Indian elements and ultra-left wing students ahead of her movie Chhapaak – a movie based on the real-life story of an acid attack, a new controversy has erupted.  Ahead of release of the film, some elements are vandalising Laxmi Agarwal’s Wikipedia page and changing the name of the culprit from Naeem Khan to ‘Rajesh’.

The movie ‘Chhapaak’ is based on the real-life story of Laxmi Agarwal. In 2005, Lakshmi Agarwal, then a 15-year-old student in Delhi, was travelling to a bookstore in Khan Market when a 32-year-old Naeem Khan attacked her with acid.

However, some miscreants have now vandalised Agarwal’s Wikipedia page and changed hte name of the culprit from Naeem to ‘Rajesh’.

Screenshot of vandalised version of Wikipedia page of Laxmi Agarwal

However, the archived image of the same page reveals that the name of the perpetrator was ‘Nadeem Khan alias Guddu’ and not ‘Rajesh’.

Actual version of the incident

According to the IndianKanoon, the person who had attacked Laxmi Agarwal in 2005 can be identified as Naeem Khan and not Rajesh.

High Court judgement on Laxmi’s case

At the time of this report, Laxmi Agarwal’s Wikipedia correctly states the name of the perpetrator as ‘Naeem Khan’

Read how President Ramnath Kovind made this couple’s wedding memorable

OpIndia Staff
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Read how President Ramnath Kovind made this couple’s wedding memorable

A meticulously planned wedding stood the risk of being ruined when the the marrying couple were asked to look for a different location for their wedding just 48 hours ago  because of the President of India Ramnath Kovind’s visit to the hotel where the marriage was scheduled.


An anxious bride, Ashley Hall, took to Twitter to express her trepidations about her marriage. Hall tagged the official Twitter handle of the President @Rashtrapatibhvn asking for their intervention from their security team so that they don’t have to shift their marriage from Taj Malabar Cochin to some other location.

Hall was obviously perturbed that despite planning her destination wedding well in advance for over 8 months in a luxury hotel in India, she got a 48 hours notice to plan an entirely new setup somewhere else just because President of India was an impromptu trip to the same hotel where her wedding was planned.

Taking cognisance of the couple’s anxieties, President Kovind intervened to allay their misgivings and ensure that the couple had an extremely memorable wedding at their chosen destination. While there is no official word on how the security arrangements were managed, Hall’s tweet suggests that things were well taken care of.


Hall posted a tweet expressing her gratitude to the President of India for his generosity and kindness and making her wedding an absolutely unforgettable one.


Responding to Hall’s approbatory tweet, President Kovind, through his official Twitter handle, replied that he is glad that the issues were resolved and extended his blessings to the couple on their joyous occasion.

BJP was in opposition for 60 years, but never got support from Pakistan

Abhishek Banerjee
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BJP was in opposition for 60 years, but never got support from Pakistan

Here is a note of appreciation for Indian liberals from Pakistan.

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Pakistan’s Army spokesperson Asif Ghafoor endorsing ‘Free Kashmir’ placard at Gateway of India protests

This is from the Twitter account of Asif Ghafoor, the official spokesperson of Pakistan’s Armed Forces.

Perhaps the people shown in this picture would insist that they cannot be held accountable for whatever propaganda Pakistan puts out.

But there are some obvious questions here:

First, how did a protest that was supposed to be about violence between student groups at JNU turn into something about Kashmir? How did a protest about a campus in Delhi become a demand for a second partition of India?

Second, why is it that liberal propaganda in India receives so much praise from Pakistan? Why does Pakistan feel that Indian liberals are doing their work for them?

The BJP and its predecessors have been in the opposition for nearly 60 years. Has it ever happened that Pakistan Armed forces were cheering for BJP?

No, the stance of Pakistan towards Indian political movements has been clearly partisan. While left liberal parties and left liberal protests have received endorsements from Pakistan, the Hindu right never got any love from our neighbor to the west.

Last night, Deepika Padukone was congratulated by the same Asif Ghafoor.

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Pakistani Army spokesperson congratulating Deepika Padukone for visiting JNU

Again, while Deepika is in no way accountable for Pakistan’s actions, surely we can ask the nation what it is about the JNU comrades that Pakistan loves them so much.

Read: Deepika Padukone’s PR stunt at JNU gets endorsement from Pakistan. Here is how it unfolded

Pakistan has always been our enemy. The Congress Party has run the Indian government for decades. Hindu right wingers have always been critical of the Congress.

But in all these decades, the Hindu right never found itself on the same side as Pakistan.

But take the surgical strikes. Or the air strike in Balakot. Or the abrogation of Article 370. Every single time, Indian liberals just happen to have the exact same stance as Pakistan.

Read: Pakistan takes a cue from Congress yet again, asks ‘what happened to Rafale investigation’

Should this not bother them?

Why does it look like Pakistan and Indian liberals have the same enemy: Modi!

Even on 26/11! It was Congress that was running the government when Mumbai was attacked by Pakistan backed terrorists. And yet, senior Congress leaders like Digvijay Singh went to release books titled “26/11 : An RSS conspiracy?”

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Congress veteran leader Digvijaya Singh at launch of book ‘RSS Ki Sazish 26/11’

Again in 2013, the Congress Party said that the RSS and BJP were running terrorist camps!

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Congress leader claiming BJP and RSS conducting ‘terror training camps’

The words came directly from Sushil Shinde, who was then the Home Minister of India.

In other words, whether BJP is in power or in the opposition, Pakistan and Indian liberals find themselves saying the same thing.

Why is that?

Perhaps because the Hindu right has always said ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai‘ and not ‘Bharat ke tukde?‘

Give it a try, dear liberals : try saying “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and see if Pakistan is still supporting you.

And no, don’t give the excuse that “Bharat Mata ki Jai” contains Hindu imagery that is unacceptable to certain communities. Thanks to your intellectual labour defending Faiz’s  poem, we now know that we must all submit uncritically to religious metaphors in political life. Our slogan of Bharat Mata ki Jai doesn’t even insult anyone else’s culture or identity.

So give it a try and say Bharat Mata ki Jai. We will call you ‘culturally illiterate’ if you won’t. I am borrowing that expression from an alleged journalist of very high liberal credentials, so I hope you won’t mind.

Today, students and teachers in Lahore are rallying in support of JNU comrades.

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Lahore students come out in support of JNU

Another feather in the cap of Indian liberals.

It is noteworthy that the theme of the rally is the same Faiz poem which talks of breaking idols and how only Allah’s name shall remain.

What a wonderful coming together of cultures on two sides of the border. Is this Akhand Bharat in the making? The question is whether there is a place for Hindus in this common dream of Indian liberals and Pakistan. Or is it going to be more like Ghazwa-i-Hind? Because words matter.

West Bengal: CM Mamata Banerjee says ‘Gundagardi’ and ‘Dadagiri’ is not movement, calls Left’s Bharat Bandh as ‘cheap politics’

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: CM Mamata Banerjee says ‘Gundagardi’ and ‘Dadagiri’ is not movement, calls Left’s Bharat Bandh as ‘cheap politics’

Attacking the Left parties and the Congress over violence and vandalism during the ‘Bharat Bandh’ protests, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that those who do not have any political existence in the state are trying to ruin its economy by pursuing “cheap politics” of strikes.

According to the reports, extending her support to the cause of the strike, Mamata Banerjee warned the left and the Congress party that her party and government is against any sort of shutdown.

“We will not allow any strike in Bengal. Those who do not have any political existence in the state are trying to ruin its economy by pursuing cheap politics such as strikes,” she said.


West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also said CPIM has no ideology. “Planting bombs on railway tracks is ‘Gundagardi’. In the name of the movement, commuters are being beaten up and stones are being pelted. This is ‘Dadagiri’, not a movement,” she said.

Mamata Banerjee also launched an attack against the left parties by claiming that they have not engaged in any mass movement against CAA or NRC, neither in Bengal nor across the country, but wanted to take a short cut by calling a strike.

During the Bharat Bandh protests, incidents of violence were reported from various parts of West Bengal on Wednesday as trade union activists backed by Left and Congress members had tried to enforce the 24-hour strike against the Centre’s “anti-people” policies.

A clash had broken out between workers of the Trinamool Congress and Students Federation of India (SFI) in Burdwan. A bus was also vandalised in Cooch Behar during the protest called by trade unions against the government.

Trade unions across the country had called for a nationwide strike on Wednesday against alleged ‘anti-working class policies’ of the Modi-led government. Banking, transport and other services were hit by the strike, especially in non-BJP ruled states. However, large parts of the country remained unaffected.

NCP goons attack and vandalise ABVP Pune’s office to show ‘solidarity’ with JNU students

Shriya Gune
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NCP goons attack and vandalise ABVP Pune’s office to show ‘solidarity’ with JNU students

Delhi’s infamous Jawaharlal Nehru University is in the news for last few days for all the wrong reasons. The violence that errupted in the university shocked many. The left organisations used this violence to mobilise the youth and carry out protests across various cities in the country.

While the left organisations are claiming that Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists were behind this JNU violence, news reports suggest that the violence was initiated by the left goons.

Left organisations, INC and other opposition parties are using this JNU incidence to attack the ABVP. On Tuesday, 7th of January, ABVP’s office in Pune was attacked. The attackers smeared ink on the name board outside ABVP Pune’s office. It was later revealed that the attackers were leaders of Nationalist Students’ Congress which is student wing of Sharad Pawar’s NCP.

In a Facebook post, Vishal More who claims to be the City President of NSC and president of NCP Pune took responsibility for the attack. He in that post shared their photos attacking the ABVP office.

NCP is currently in the coalition government in Maharashtra along with Shiv Sena and INC. Such vandalism and violence resorted to by the leaders of a political party in power shows is condemnable. We have no hopes that the Maharashtra government will take any action against these goons as they are their own. But we hope that the nation stands in support of ABVP and against these goons who resort to violence while taking a moral high ground.

Iran will welcome measures by India to de-escalate tensions with the US: Iranian envoy to India

OpIndia Staff
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Iran will welcome measures by India to de-escalate tensions with the US: Iranian envoy to India

The Iranian Envoy to India, Ali Chegeni, has said that Iran will welcome measures taken by India to achieve peace between the middle-east nation with the United States. Earlier, in an audacious move, the United States had assassinated Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, spiking tensions between the two nations.


After the condolence meeting for Soleimani held at the Iranian embassy, Chegeni said, “India usually plays a very good role in (maintaining) peace in the world. At the same time, India belongs to this region. We welcome all initiatives from all countries, especially India as a good friend for us, to not allow escalation (of tensions).”

Justifying his country’s recent strikes on the US installations in Iraq, Chegeni said that his nation was exercising its right to defend itself.

He further added, “We are not for war, we are looking for peace and prosperity for everybody in this region. We welcome any Indian initiative or any project that can help peace and prosperity in this world.”

The recent statements from the Iranian convoy amidst the spiralling tensions between the United States and Iran came after India’s External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar raised concerns with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the security situation in the region over the rising escalation.

Read: Tension escalates: Iran fires 15 ballistic missiles at US bases in Iraq, says will back off if the US keeps silent

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has issued a travel advisory for Indians staying in Baghdad after the Iranian missile attacks on US bases in the country. MEA has asked Indian nationals to avoid non-essential travel to the country and has also asked Indians currently living in Iraq to avoid travel within the country.

In retaliation against the US drone strikes that killed that Iranian military commander, Iran launched short and medium-range ballistic missiles on the US military bases in the wee hours on Wednesday. The top leaders of Iran had called for retribution following the slaying of the Iranian general. Meanwhile, the US President, Donald Trump has unilaterally declared to withdraw America out of the Iran nuclear deal signed with the world powers.

“Media Houses that have amplified a report by so called ‘Fact-Checker’ AltNews may take note”: Prasar Bharti debunks fake narrative on JNU violence

OpIndia Staff
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“Media Houses that have amplified a report by so called ‘Fact-Checker’ AltNews may take note”: Prasar Bharti debunks fake narrative on JNU violence

Public broadcaster Prasar Bharti today hit out on the self proclaimed ‘fact-checker’ AltNews for building up a wrong narrative using a video and tweet shared by it to allege that it was spreading fake news.

On January 6, Prasar Bharti tweeted a video of violence breaking out on Jawaharlal Nehru campus.


In a series of tweets, Prasar Bharti quoted JNU Registrar and said that on 3rd January, a group of students opposing registration process entered Communication and Information Services (CIS) premises covering their faces with masks and forcibly evicted technical staff. A police complaint was lodged regarding the same. On 4th January, the technical staff made the CIS functional again and students started paying the revised room rent.


A group of students again created violence and another police complaint was registered. “On Jan 5, students who wanted to enter the School buildings were physically prevented from doing so,” the JNU Registrar told the Prasar Bharti. “Around 4.30 (On 5th January) a group of students against the registration process moved aggressively from admin block to hostels,” the Registrar told the Prasar Bharti.

Throughout, the Prasar Bharti maintained that the violence broke out after agitating students opposed registration process. However, ‘AltNews‘, the dubious platform which likes to plant false narratives when it is not busy ‘fact-checking’ memes, alleged that Prasar Bharti was wrongly blaming the Left goons for violence while the ones involved in violence were associated with ABVP. AltNews conveniently skipped mentioning that the left goons including JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh and others had taken over server rooms against whom an FIR was also lodged.

Instead of focusing on the fact presents by Prasar Bharti that the violence broke out over registration process, AltNews focussed its energy on identifying the ones who are fighting to show that ABVP students indulged in violence.

This falsehood of AltNews was then spread far and wide by the usual suspects.


Please note here that State controlled Prasar Bharti never mentioned or identified students belonged to a particular party were involved in violence. They had simply stated that violence was initiated by students opposing registration process.

Read: AltNews’ Pratik Sinha helps New Yorker water down Pulwama attack, cast aspersions that Balakot airstrike was fabricated

Today, Prasar Bharti released a video recording of two faculty members of JNU who were witness to the above violence.


In the above video, faculty members Dr Yogesh Kumar Rai and Dr Nagendra Srinivas are narrating their eye-witness account. “This video which is viral on social media is from 4th January. We were frustrated that the school has been shut since so many days and we have not been able to go to office. So when some of us were trying to enter office, we were stopped. We were also manhandled. Some made human chain and stopped us and put up obstacles. Someone, we’re not sure if he is a current student or a former one, snatched mobile phone of one of our colleagues. The video you are seeing on social media is outside school of languages,” said a professor.

Another professor said, “I was there present there with other teachers and were were trying to help those students who wanted to register and focus on their education. We also had other meetings. But some students had locked it down. We still entered. But as soon as we entered, we heard some noise outside and came out and saw that one of our colleagues was being manhandled as you can see in this video.”

Karnataka: Two men, Anwar and Niyaz, arrested by police for issuing death threats to PM Modi and Amit Shah over CAA, NRC

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: Two men, Anwar and Niyaz, arrested by police for issuing death threats to PM Modi and Amit Shah over CAA, NRC

Two men, Anwar and Niyaz, have been arrested on Tuesday for issuing death threats to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the implementation of CAA and NRC.

According to the reports, the main accused has been identified as Anwar, a resident of Peruvai, south Karnataka. The accused, who worked in Qatar, has been accused of posting messages online against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), police said.

Anwar was allegedly spreading audio messages which had gone viral on WhatsApp groups provoking people to indulge in communal violence. About 10 days ago, Anwar and another person identified as Niyaz, also from Peruvai, had allegedly sent such messages and had even contacted RSS workers in Vamanjoor and youths from Vamanjoor working abroad to ask them to oppose CAA and NRC by putting out messages on WhatsApp.

A complaint was registered in this regard at the Vittal police station by a man named Yathish. As per the complaint, Anwar in his messages allegedly threatened to kill Modi and Amit Shah if Muslims were affected by the CAA and NRC.

The police, who were tipped off about Anwar’s visit to his hometown on January 6, arrested him. A case has also been registered against Niyaz in Vittal police station in this regard.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray to extend support to CAA-NRC after an hour long meeting with Devendra Fadnavis: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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MNS chief Raj Thackeray to extend support to CAA-NRC after an hour long meeting with Devendra Fadnavis: Reports

With the Shiv Sena party aligning with the ideological rivals-Congress and NCP to form a government in the state of Maharashtra, the party’s erstwhile coalition partner-BJP met with the firebrand politician Raj Thackeray to canvass support for the recently legislated Citizenship Amendment Act.


Quoting sources, Republic says, the MNS chief Raj Thackeray is looking to fill the pro-Hindutva void ceded by the Shiv Sena party after stitching up an alliance with Congress and the NCP. The Shiv Sena has been ambivalent about its support to the CAA-NRC, fearing backlash from its alliance partners and a possible fallout in the precarious Maharashtra state assembly.

As per the report, on Tuesday evening, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met with the MNS chief Raj Thackeray at an undisclosed location and the meeting went for almost an hour and a half. Sources as reported by the Republic TV claim that Raj Thackeray will launch a major offensive on the Bangladeshis living in Mumbai on January 23 and might also make public his stand on the same day as the birth anniversary of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

Read: Sanjay Raut defends ‘free Kashmir’ posters in Mumbai protests, says they did not mean that

Earlier, Thackeray had been critical of the government’s move to enact the Citizenship Amendment Act, terming it as an action to distract the attention from the looming economic crisis in the country. Raj also mounted a searing attack on PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah before the 2019 General elections.

However, of late, Raj’s political party-MNS has been losing political ground as it struggles to maintain irrelevance in the political landscape of Maharashtra. In the recently concluded Maharashtra state assembly elections, the MNS won only one seat in the 288-member Vidhan Sabha. The decision to align with the BJP is seen by many as a lifeline to the party to redeem itself and arrest its declining political fortunes.

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