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Meet Neeta Sodha: Granted Indian citizenship 18 years after she came from Pakistan, contesting Panchayat elections in Rajasthan

Gram Panchayat elections were held yesterday in Rajasthan’s Tonk district. Neeta Sodha, a Pakistani immigrant, contested the polls for the post of the Sarpanch. Her father-in-law, Thakur Laxman Karan, has been the Sarpanch thrice. She cites him as the mentor and source of her inspiration behind the decision.


Neeta studied till Class 12th in Sindh before migrating to India in 2001. She was accompanied by her sister Anjana Sodha and her mother. However, her brother and father had stayed back in Pakistan. Her family hails from Mirpur Khas in Sindh, Pakistan.

Neeta Sodha came to India to pursue higher education and studied at Ajmer’s Sophia College. She graduated with a BA degree in 2005. As reported by Gulf News, Neeta got married in 2011 and has two children. After having lived in India for 18 years, Neeta was finally granted citizenship in September 2019.

Neeta is now contesting elections for the Sarpanch post in the Natwara Gram Panchayat. She wants to work towards achieving better healthcare, education, and women empowerment. She says she will work towards the economic empowerment of women in her village.

Read: Muslim student in Pakistan confesses he cooked up blasphemy charges against Hindu principal which led to violence on Hindus

When asked about her experience, she said that educational facilities and living conditions for women are better in India than Pakistan. She also acknowledged the overwhelming support that she has received in India.

This story comes to light at a time when the nation is embroiled in a heated debate surrounding the National Register of Citizens (NRC), National Population Register (NPR) and the Citizenship Act.

Viral video: Rajasthan SDM yells, calls on-duty doctor ‘mentally unstable’ for refusing to vacate his own seat for her

In a video that has gone viral on social media, a visiting SDM was seen yelling at an on-duty doctor and calling him ‘mentally unstable’ while he kept on insisting that he is seeing patients and cannot vacate his seat for her.


In the viral video, the visiting RAS officer, who is reportedly one Priyanka Talania, the SDM of Pilibanga in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district, was seen yelling at an on-duty doctor as he tried to explain politely that he is seeing patients and hence cannot vacate his seat for her.

In the video, patients are seen standing as the SDM, supported by other officials surrounding her, goes on yelling, threatening and calling the doctor ‘mentally unstable’, just because he did not immediately offer her his own seat.

The doctor in the video is reportedly Dr Narendra Bishnoi. Dr Bishnoi was reportedly on-duty in the CHC, Goluwala, in the Hanumangarh district. Dr Bishnoi was seen calm and composed throughout the argument and answered to the yelling SDM that he had offered her a seat but since he is seeing patients who are waiting for him, he will not be able to vacate his own seat for her.

The video went viral on social media and generated thousands of reactions from the public. While a majority of the people hailed the doctor for not being intimidated by a yelling, threatening, senior officer who was clearly out of line, there were also some people who also stated that since the SDM is senior to the doctor in the administrative hierarchy, he should have vacated his own seat for her.


In another video that surfaced later, a CCTV clip from the same CHC showed that when the SDM entered the doctor’s office, (after 5 pm, not before it, as she had claimed), the doctor was seen attending to some patients. Upon the SDM’s entry, the doctor is seen getting up from his seat to greet her and offer her another seat across the table, after which the argument ensues.


The said SDM has now filed a complaint with the District Magistrate against the doctor, stating that she was misbehaved by the doctor when she had gone for an inspection after a complaint. She had added that upon inspecting the registers and files of the hospital, several lapses were found and added that she suspects the doctor has been selling the medicines provided for the patients for his personal gain.


As per reports, the incident has now not only sparked debate and reactions on social media, but after the SDM’s complaint against the doctor, had made doctors react against the SDM’s behaviour too. The Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors has condemned the SDM’s behaviour and has sought an apology.

As per reports, even the Indian Medical Association has condemned the SDM’s behaviour and has sought an apology to the doctor. Local news reports have stated that all medical stores in Goluwala were closed from 11 am to 1 pm on Thursday in protest of the SDM’s behaviour.

Rajdeep Sardesai calls Arif Mohammad Khan a ‘BJP agent’ and ‘rubber stamp’, the Kerala governor shuts him up and how

As the anti-CAA ‘protests’ begins to fizzle out, the “liberal-secular” media seems to be desperate as they are now indulging in bullying and attacking people, especially constitutional heads for not subscribing to their views on the Citizenship Amendment Act. On Thursday, Rajdeep Sardesai, arguably India’s greatest fake news peddler, found an avenue to express his frustration against the Narendra Modi government by inviting Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan to his show to discuss the issue of CAA and the subsequent controversies that have erupted in the state of Kerala.

Kerala is in the middle of a controversy after the Communist-ruled state government bypassed the Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to move to Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act. As Kerala government had failed to consult him before taking such decision, Governor Khan had slammed the state government for not seeking his advice before filing a petition in the apex court challenging CAA.

Rajdeep Sardesai, premising his show on the Kerala controversy, went on to disrespect Arif Mohammad Khan, who is a constitutional head of the state, by calling him a ‘rubber stamp’. Sardesai then claimed that Khan was angry against the Kerala government for bypassing him to file a petition in the SC.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgkveEl1Ryc]
However, an erudite Arif Mohammad Khan respectfully corrected Rajdeep Sardesai by stating that he was never angry as he only expressed his disappointment towards Kerala government’s decision. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan said that he is a constitutional head and it is his right to advise the state government. If the state government moves to the SC without informing me, how do I exercise my constitutional right? asked Arif Mohammad Khan

Khan also slammed the Kerala government for passing a resolution against the CAA, a law passed by the parliament of the country. He also said that the Kerala government was trespassing their jurisdiction to pass such resolutions against the law that falls under the purview of the Central government.

Read: Congress MP threatens Governor Arif Mohammad Khan after he denounced anti-CAA resolution passed in Kerala: Read what he said

“They are using time and money to take a stand against the law, which otherwise should be spent on the welfare of the state and not to fight their political battle,” said Khan while attacking the Kerala government.

A visibly irritated Rajdeep Sardesai then insinuated that the Arif Mohammed Khan was objecting against Kerala government exercising its right to file a petition in Supreme Court against the CAA. Khan responded to the accusations by saying that it was his constitutional right to advise the state government on an important issue and the state government cannot hide information from the governor.

Rajdeep Sardesai continued to attack and disrespect Khan by calling a ‘rubber stamp’ governor. Sardesai then subtly advised Governor Khan to toe the line of the Kerala government by merely agreeing to all the decisions of the state government.

As Khan objected to Rajdeep Sardesai’s ‘rubber stamp’ jibe, Sardesai referred Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan as a ‘BJP agent’ and attacked him for taking a different stand on the issue of CAA, which was opposite to that of the left-government.

Read: After Marxist Irfan Habib heckled Arif Mohammad Khan, Aligarh Society plays victim, claims ‘democratic dissent’ being stifled

Responding to Rajdeep Sardesai’s disrespectful comments, Arif Mohammad Khan stated that the language used by the journalist was deeply problematic. Slamming Rajdeep for calling him a BJP agent, Khan stated that he was appointed by the President of India and not BJP.

In the garb of asking questions, Sardesai crossed all the limits by expressing his personal hatred towards Arif Mohammad Khan on a live show by calling him a party agent after the latter sought answers from the Kerala government.

Arif Mohammad Khan said that people like Rajdeep Sardesai has not learnt any lessons even after witnessing violent protests during Mandal and Shah Bano years and the after-effects the country had to face due to such protests as the then government had succumbed to the pressure of street protestors. Khan held Rajdeep Sardesai responsible for polarising and creating hatred in the societies.

Read: Deliberately spread fake news, grovel and apologise when caught: Here are 3 instances when Rajdeep Sardesai tendered ‘unconditional apologies’

Later in the show, Rajdeep Sardesai lamented over the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act and claimed that the law has polarised the country. Rajdeep Sardesai also claimed that the CAA was ‘unconstitutional’ as it discriminates people on the basis of religion and also shockingly defended the violent protests that are taking place on streets.

Khan argued with Rajdeep Sardesai by questioning whether Rajdeep Sardesai wanted people to hit to the streets to protest against the constitutionality of the law and asked people to challenge the constitutionality of the law in the court and not on the streets if they felt that the law was constitutional. To which, Rajdeep Sardesai resorted to false propaganda and claimed that people have been on the streets to ‘peacefully’ protest against the CAA.

Read: As Islamist mobs set buses on fire and attack temples to oppose CAA, Rajdeep Sardesai paints them all as peaceful and patriotic

In a hurry to discredit Arif Mohammad Khan and his support for the CAA, Sardesai made false claims stating the protests against the CAA were ‘peaceful’. In fact, the Muslims, who are protesting against the CAA has gone on a rampage ever since the law was passed by the parliament. The Muslim mobs have burnt cities and indulged in large scale violence and had unleashed violence across the country to ‘protest’ against the CAA. Unsurprisingly, Rajdeep Sardesai tried to absolve the crimes of these Muslim mobs by calling them peaceful.

On the live show, Khan also schooled Rajdeep Sardesai for creating a religious divide among the masses of the country by using making it a Hindu-Muslim issue.

Rajdeep Sardesai later claimed that he had visited Shaheen Bagh ‘protests’ in Delhi and claimed that their grievances were ‘genuine’. However, Rajdeep Sardesai did not utter a word regarding how Shaheen Bagh protests are a staged protest and causing huge inconvenience to the residents of Sarita Vihar as the Muslim mobs have occupied highways, bus stops and streets. Rajdeep, however, stated that the protestors had the right to be heard and hinted that the Modi government should listen to the Shaheen Bagh protestors regarding their views on CAA.

Read: Journalists lay the groundwork for ‘tactical retreat’ of Shaheen Bagh protests: Here are the possible reasons

In fact, Rajdeep Sardesai also deliberately ignored Muslim mobs shouting peaceful slogans of “Jinnah Wali Azadi” during the protestors at Shaheen Bagh.

To which, Khan said that he had only one advice for the protestors at Shaheen Bagh that they should avoid getting mislead by people and asked them to study the CAA law which has nothing to do with the Indian Muslims. As Arif Mohammad Khan tried explaining facts, an angry Rajdeep Sardesai resorted to fear-mongering by speculating on NRC. He claimed that CAA and NRC is a deadly combination which could cause divisions in society.

Khan held Rajdeep Sardesai responsible for the Hindu-Muslim polarization in the country and blamed him for spreading false rumours on NRC. He advised Rajdeep Sardesai not to use Hindu-Muslim terminology to create false community consciousness among the masses of the country.

Journalists lay the groundwork for ‘tactical retreat’ of Shaheen Bagh protests: Here are the possible reasons

The anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh have been largely touted as ‘Gandhian’ style ‘satyagrah’ by Muslims against giving citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighbouring Islamic nations and also the yet-to-be-implemented NRC. The protest at Shaheen Bagh has been ongoing for the past 33-days but now, journalists who have been so far peddling the virtues of this protest, have started laying the groundwork for a ‘tactical retreat’.

Veteran propagandist, who has so far been hailing Shaheen Bagh protestors and has even managed to keep quiet at the blatant Islamist nature of these “protests” and the riots the preceded it, took to Twitter to rue the ‘political nature’ the protests have taken.


He said that a month ago, he was impressed by the so-called ‘spontaneity’ of the Shaheen Bagh protests, however, now he is afraid that with Delhi elections approaching, politicals are taking the protest over.

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

Another propagandist, co-founder of Leftist rag The Wire too took to Twitter to talk about a tactical retreat.


MK Venu said that the Shaheen Bagh protests are ‘hugely successful’ Gandhian satyagraha-type protest, however, another essential Gandhian method is to tactically withdraw and then relaunch at another opportune time.

After weeks of shielding even Islamist mobs running riots, one has to wonder why Rajdeep Sardrsai and MK Venu are, in almost a coordinated manner, laying the groundwork for a tactical retreat of Shaheen Bagh protests by Muslims.

Blatantly Islamist, the anti-Hindu constitution of protests exposed

One of the possible reasons for a tactical retreat being planned is the manner in which the Islamist nature of the protests have been thoroughly exposed, even if the Islamist mobs running riots was not enough.

When Islamist mobs ran riots in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal and other parts of the country after CAA was passed by the parliament, the journalists simply chose to look away and hope that the their silence would keep people uninformed about the deeply communal violence being unleashed by Muslims.

Read: Islamist Rana Ayyub lies blatantly, says Muslims protested ‘peacefully’ wearing religious symbols during anti-CAA riots

Then, when police took action against these rioters from various places in the country, including colleges like Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia, the narrative shifted to blaming the police for doing their job. The riots were brushed under the carpet and violence given the colour of ‘peaceful protests and dissent by oppressed Muslims’.

After all of that failed to build the narrative in their favour, the Shaheen Bagh protests were launched and nurtured. However, even the Shaheen Bagh protests could not keep up the pretence of ‘secularism’ for too long.

Read: Anti-CAA riots: ‘Liberals’ brought back the ‘urban riot’, but Yogi Adityanath might have a solution

Soon, we heard slogans like ‘Jinnah Wali Azadi’ resonating from Shaheen Bagh. The call for the division of India and a separate land for Muslims (what ‘Jinnah wali Azadi’ would mean) had many scampering to redeem the legitimacy of the protests. Thereafter, Indian flags were raised and multi-religion ‘pooja’ was conducted where images of Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus praying were made viral.

The charade would have been believable, but alas, the Hinduphobia could not be hidden for too long. Soon, a deeply Islamist poster emerged from Shaheen Bagh where the Hindu Swastika lay shattered and Hindu women were seen wearing the Burkha.

Read: ‘Jinnah wali Azadi’ slogans raised at Shaheen Bagh: The true face of anti-CAA protests and what these slogans mean

The desperation to redeem the protests were such, that self-proclaimed fact-checking website, AltNews, even did a shoddy hit job proclaiming that the Swastika in the poster was indeed the Nazi hooked cross. They were wrong, of course, but they did try to water down the Islamist nature of the protest.

Amidst chants of La Illaha Illallah, it has become increasingly difficult to convince the average population that these “protests” that started with rioting Muslim mobs and ended with the Swastika being smashed are not the groundwork for Khilafat 2.0 and deeply anti-Hindu in nature.

Read: Latest poster from Shaheen Bagh confirms that CAA ‘protests’ is about Islamist supremacy and Hinduphobia: Here is why

Given how the deeply Hinduphobic and Islamist nature of these protests have been exposed, it would only make sense for propagandists to suggest that these protestors ‘tactfully’ withdraw, for now, hoping, that once the memory of these Islamist images and slogans fade away, they can relaunch later, to target the government and lay the groundwork for Khilafat 2.0 again.

Delhi elections

The Delhi elections are upon us. The Delhi Legislative Elections are to be held on 8th February and the counting is to be done on 11th February 2020. Historically, we have seen how such violent and lie-ridden campaigns have born and died with the electoral cycle. We saw the pattern repeat over and over again, whether it was the Rafale saga pre-2019 or the propaganda about Church attacks, Lynchistan, Not In My Name protests, Beef eating or even the Jai Shree Ram fake lynchings.

Read: Viral video claims Shaheen Bagh protestors are paid Rs 500-700 to ‘protest’ in shifts, BJP alleges Congress support

Perhaps the anti-CAA riots by Muslim mobs and the subsequent protests at Shaheen Bagh have done their job and once the Delhi elections conclude, the utility of chaos would be over temporarily only to be relaunched at a later date, right before another electoral cycle.

It must be remembered here that several Congress and AAP functionaries have been booked for the anti-CAA riots.

In fact, AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan was one of the people booked for inciting violence in Delhi.

Read: AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan spotted leading the protests which turned violent in Delhi: Reports

It is also pertinent to note that Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday gave a ticket to Abdul Rehman to contest from New Delhi’s Seelampur constituency in upcoming elections. Rehman, along with ex-Congress MLA Mateen Ahmed, has been named in an FIR by Delhi Police for ‘provoking the crowd’ to join the protests.

According to the FIR, a crowd had gathered at Seelampur T-point and had started pelting stones and throwing petrol bottles at police. At around 2:30 PM, an uncontrolled mob marched toward Jafrabad Police Station and Rahman had allegedly provoked people from nearby streets to join the mob. Rehman is currently East Delhi Councillor.

Read: Delhi elections: AAP leader Abdul Rehman, an accused in anti-CAA riots, to contest from Seelampur

In December 2019, a rioting crowd in Delhi’s Seelampur set a school bus on fire and also resorted to beating up policemen. A Police post was also set on fire by the mob along with police and private motorcycles. Drone cameras were brought in to assess the rioters. The mob reportedly taunted the policemen to run after them following which they pelted stones at them.

One has to wonder if the electoral cycle coming to an end is one of the reasons why the ideological backbones of Islamists are now trying to lay the groundwork for a tactical retreat.

Considering Citizenship Amendment Act has already come into effect with the Modi-Shah duo disregarding the rioting mobs, the aim of the protests were clearly far more than just the legislation and one of the key ingredients was to ensure that the protests come off as ‘secular’. With that mask slipping off, one can expect the protests to die down for now, and resurface, with a different packaging.

Jalees Ansari aka Dr Bomb, serial bomb blasts convict, goes ‘missing’ while on parole

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Jalees Ansari, a former doctor by profession who has been convicted of serial bomb blasts and was serving a life sentence in jail, has gone missing while on court-ordered parole.

As per reports, Ansari, a convict in several bomb blast cases and responsible for over 50 bomb blasts across the country, has been reported missing while he was enjoying parole with his family in Mumbai.

Ansari was lodged in the Ajmer jail, serving a life term. The Supreme Court had ordered the jail authority to release him on 21-day parole after his parole application was approved. Ansari was then brought to Mumbai by Ajmer jail officials and on December 28, he was presented at the Agripada police station. He had been ordered by the court to mark his attendance in the Agripada station every day.

The Agripada Police Station officials reportedly informed that Ansari used to come everyday between 10 am to 12 pm from his family residence at Mominpada to mark his attendance. His last attendance had been marked on Wednesday, January 15. On Thursday evening, Ansari’s son had reported at the station that his father has been missing for several hours. He had reportedly left home for the early morning Namaz and had not returned.

The absconding was reported by the family after several hours and only after his phone was found switched off. The Agripada police station had alerted Mumbai ATS. Ansari’s parole was ending on the very same day and he was to report at the Ajmer jail on Friday, 17 January.

Jalees Ansari, a medical doctor by profession, has been associated in over 50 bomb blast cases since the 1990s. 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 there. 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.

The module created by Ansai and his associated within the banned outfit SIMI and other terrorists organisations like HuJi and Indian Mujahideen (IM) has been responsible for carrying out bomb blasts in Hyderabad, Malegaon, Pune, Ajmer, Rajdhani Express and several other places.

The Mumbai crime branch and the Mumbai ATS have now launched a massive manhunt for Ansari.

Altnews, co-founded by two Muslims, spreads misinformation about Hindu Swastika

As the ongoing anti-CAA protests have turned into openly anti-Hindu, pro-Islamic demonstrations, today a poster from the protests at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi created a huge controversy. The poster featured Hindu women with Bindis in Burkha, and the bottom of the poster had a shattered Swastika, the sacred Hindu symbol.

Soon after the poster was widely criticised for such open depiction of Hinduphobia, including by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, the left-liberal camp started claiming that the poster depicts the Nazi Swastik, and not the Hindu Swastika.


Self-styled fact-checking site Alt News did a fact check on the issue, and arrived at the conclusion that the symbol in the poster is not the sacred Hindu symbol. To justify their claim, they said that the symbol in the poster does not have the four dots between the arms of the symbol, which are mandatory present in the Hindu Swastikas.


They also said that as the symbol is tilted, it is the Nazi symbol and not the Hindu Swastika.

Alt News Swastika
Screenshot from Alt News article

The claims made by the so-called fact-check site is completely false and baseless, and evidently aimed at brushing aside the apparent Hinduphobia seen in the anti-CAA protests. Contrary to the claims of Alt News, the four dots not an integral part of the Swastika, and it is often drawn without them, although sometimes the dots are added.

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

The Swastika has been made part of the design of many Hindu temples, and a cursory glance will show that the dots are not always present in them. For example, the following image is of Laxminarayan Mandir in Delhi, also known as Birla Mandir, where the Om symbol and two Swastikas are engraved on its front, but the Swastikas don’t have any dot.

swastika on Birla temple
Birla temple, Delhi

Similarly, Swastika seals found in Harappa from Indus Valley civilisation also does not have any dots between the arms. In fact, it is very common to find the symbol on Hindu temples, old and new, without any dot. Therefore, the claim that Hindu Swastika must have the four dots is a false claim made by Alt News.

Indus Valley Swastika Seals

Similarly, although the Swastika is mostly depicted straight on most places, it is not unusual to see 45-degree tilted symbols in some Hindu places. The following image of a Shiv Mandir has three Swastika, all without dots, and one of them is tilted.

Shiv Mandir swastika

swastika
Another temple with tilted swastika

It is important to note that the Swastika is not a corporate logo to have a precise shape and form, it is a very ancient symbol associated with several civilisations. Therefore, its form is always not the same. Moreover, just like Hinduism is not a religion of one book, one god, it is also not a religion of one symbol. As a consequence, the Swastika can be depicted differently in Hindu culture, with or without dots, straight or tilted, with or without decorative serifs at the end of the arms. Such variances in its appearance do not mean that they are not Hindu symbol. It is ironic that people who have shown hatred for Hindus in the past now want to define what is Hindu and what is not.

Therefore, the claim made by Alt News and others that the symbol seen in the poster can’t be a Hindu Swastika is not correct, and they are spreading misinformation about the Hindu holy symbol. Moreover, it can also be mentioned that the Nazi Swastik, the hooked cross, is always drawn in black inside a white circle.

Senior advocate Harish Salve appointed into Queen Elizabeth II’s counsel for courts of England and Wales, official appointment on March 16

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Senior advocate Harish Salve has been appointed into Queen Elizabeth II’s counsel of senior advocate. He has been appointed as Queen’s Counsel (QC) for the courts of England and Wales.

Salve’s name appeared on the list of silk appointments released by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Justice Department on January 13. According to the sources, the appointment of the counsel will officially take place on March 16, 2020, where the Lord Chancellor will preside over the appointment ceremony at Westminster Hall.

This title is awarded to those who have demonstrated particular skill and expertise in the conduct of advocacy.

Harish Salve began his legal career in 1980 at JB Dadachandji & Co., first as an intern, and later as a full-time lawyer. He was designated as Senior Advocate by the Delhi High Court in 1992. He went on to serve as Solicitor General for India from 1999-2002. Salve was called to Blackstone Chambers in 2013.

He has bagged many high profile cases in his career. Salve appeared for Bilkis Bano, a victim of the Gujarat Riots, at the behest of the National Huma Rights Commission in 2003.

In 2015 he took up the high-profile 2002 hit-and-run and the drunk-and-drive case of actor Salman Khan. The Bombay High Court on December 10, 2015, acquitted Salman Khan of all charges in the hit and run case.

Since 2017, he has been representing India before the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav extradition case. He was able to get a stay order on his death sentence pronounced by a military court in Pakistan.

He was also applauded by many people when he stated that for representing India in the Kulbhushan Jadhav extradition case, he will charge the Indian Government an amount of Re. 1 as his legal fees for the proceedings.

Besides, Salve has openly come out in support of the government’s decision to amend the Citizenship Act as well as repeal Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. He had asserted that Article 370 was a ‘mistake’ and the Modi government’s decision to abrogate it was the means to correct the mistake.

He had also stated that the Citizenship Amendment Bill (now an Act) is not anti-Muslim and it does not violate the Articles 14, 15 and 21 of Indian constitution as was claimed by naysayers.

Salve’s appointment as Queen’s Counsel is however not the only appointment of an Indian into the Counsel, along with him, UK based lawyer Shantanu Majumdar has also been appointed into the Counsel. A total of 114 advocates have been named in this year’s appointment into the Queen’s Counsel.

Suhasini Haidar of The Hindu caught lying on social media about MEA Jaishankar’s address at Raisina Dialogues

National Editor and Diplomatic Affairs Editor at The Hindu, Suhasini Haidar, was caught lying on Twitter about Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar’s address at the Raisina Dialogues organized by the Observers Research Foundation. She claimed on the social media platform Twitter that the MEA had said that all foreign policy achievements had begun in India only five years ago.

However, an individual on the platform, quickly rebutted that he too had heard MEA Jaishankar in full and asserted that the Minister had nowhere said such a thing. He told Haidar in his reply that her bias had taken over her professionalism.


Suhasini Haidar, realizing that her lie had been caught, attempted to deflect the issue by pointing out that S. Jaishankar had been a minister in Narendra Modi’s cabinet only since June, 2019. Prior to that, he had been a foreign diplomat.


The implication of her remark was that the first term of the NDA government was not Jaishankar’s government. But Chakradhar Mahapatra again pointed out that the MEA was talking about his government and not himself.


This isn’t the first time Suhasini Haidar has spread lies about the current government or its ministers. In an article earlier this month, headlined “The new worry of depleting diplomatic capital”, she had spread several canards about foreign policy concerns for India. In the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370, she had spread misleading information about a Supreme Court order that permitted CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury to visit the erstwhile state.

By filing suit against CAA, Communists in Kerala have ensured that they will be remembered for opposing justice for persecuted minorities

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Govt of the state of Kerala has filed a suit against the Union of India challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA), Passport (Entry to India) Amendment Rules 2015 and Foreigner order 2015. The suit is filed under Article 131 of the constitution which provides for original jurisdiction of the Supreme court. Under this Article, the Supreme Court is empowered to decide disputes between the Union govt and state govts or between two or more states. Both the impugned Act and Rules are challenged on the ground that they violate article 14,21 and 25 of Indian constitution and are violative of the principle of secularism which is a basic feature of the constitution.

Such an original suit can be filed by a state against the Union if there is a dispute between the two which involves any question of fact or law on which existence or extent of a legal right depends.

Kerala is the first state to have filed a suit against the CAA. No other state has challenged the said Act in any court of law yet. Kerala state assembly had earlier passed a resolution against the CAA. Such resolution has no force as the state assembly has no right to deny enforcement of a law passed by parliament. Citizenship being a subject in the Union list, the parliament of India is absolutely competent to make laws on the same. All states are bound by any laws made by parliament and have to take all necessary steps for enforcement of such law. There are reports that Kerala CM Pinarayee Vijayan has written to all the non-BJP chief ministers urging them to take similar steps against the CAA.

The arguments against the constitutionality of the CAA are not convincing enough. However, it is going to be interesting to see what the Supreme Court decided in this Kerala v. Union dispute.

Pinarayee Vijayan hails from the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Communists have had a bloody history all over the world. From Stalin to Mao and to Naxalites in India, the followers of this ideology have always tried to seize power using violence and persecuting those who have different opinions. Even today, several RSS karyakartas have had to lose their lives only because they did not believe in communism and they had their own ideology. So, it is naïve of us to expect that a Communist govt would ever support a law doing justice to persecuted minorities. By filing this suit challenging CAA and by painting this law as anti-Muslim, the Kerala govt has resorted to Muslim appeasement and divisive politics. Whatever the outcome of this litigation may be, Pinarayee Vijayan needs to know that the whole nation is watching and is going to remember how the Communist party did not stand in solidarity with the nation in doing justice to the persecuted minorities from our neighbouring countries.

Acclaimed filmmaker Priyadarshan says people like Anurag Kashyap use social media to get noticed, asks them to “shut their mouth”

After the Citizenship Amendment Act came into effect, left-liberals and the so-called ‘secular’ Bollywood entertainers continued peddling lies about it. Unhappy with how certain Bollywood personalities have been negatively reacting to the Government decision to amend the Citizenship Act, without even knowing the nitty-grittys of the Act, acclaimed filmmaker Priyadarshan has now come out to openly condemn their irrationality.

Though there are many such in the film fraternity who have been vociferously spreading false propaganda and indulging in fear-mongering after the centre announced that the CAA came into force, Priyadarshan particularly spoke about filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who he thinks uses social media to merely get noticed.

The filmmaker feels that the trend of lashing out at PM Modi and his most trusted aide is no more than an attention-seeking device and according to Priyadarshan, none are more prone to this habit than Anurag Kashyap.

“What does he get by making it a habit to lash out at the Prime Minister? He has one of the world’s most powerful medium to change the country’s mindset. Instead of expressing his criticism through the cinema of what he sees as the wrongdoings of the Governments, he uses social media to get noticed. And the cinema he makes, many think they are realistic. But according to me, they are nothing but excuses for sex and violence,” said the miffed filmmaker.

Explaining that cinema is a very powerful medium to communicate, the filmmaker says that it should be used responsibly. “Use the cinema to express what you want to. Make films that will reflect the country’s political reality. Do not jump into the prevalent practice of criticizing Narendra Modi and Amit Shah just to get written about. It’s sad, but all one has to do to hit the headlines is to hit out at these two,” said Priyadarshan, advising people like Anurag Kashyap to “shut their mouth”.

“I think people like Anurag Kashyap should just shut their mouth. Of course, it is everyone’s fundamental right to protest. But just lashing out at PM Modi and Amit Shah is not constructive criticism but a misuse of the freedom of expression that democracy offers us.”

A day after the Union home ministry said in a gazette notification that the Act under which persecuted minorities belonging to six non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship, will come into force from January 10, Bollywood entertainer Anurag Kashyap, who has a history of arrogant behaviour and peddling fake news, took to social media to abuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi and spread misinformation regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act.

A desperate and abusive Anurag Kashyap resorted to attacking PM Modi personally by dragging his family. Kashyap asked not only asked PM Modi to show his paper and degree certificate but asked the Prime Minister to show documents related to his father and other members of the family.

Read- Anurag Kashyap shares fake video to prove Modi’s ‘hate me, not India’ remark same as Hitler’s: Here is the truth

Shockingly, Anurag Kashyap, in a hurry to foul mouth PM Modi and the BJP, resorted to a misinformation campaign against the CAA. Through his tweet, Kashyap went on to imply that citizens of the country needed to submit documents to prove their citizenship after the CAA is notified, which is completely untrue. In fact, CAA does not even apply to Indian citizens, so there nothing in the act that requires citizens to show any document.

Moving ahead with the interview, Priyadarshan also talked about the much-spoken Deepika Padukone’s JNU visit, which was seen by many as PR stunt merely before the release of her movie Chhapaak. Priyadarshan said: “What have film people got to do with political issues? Do they even understand the nitty-gritty? How much did Deepika Padukone study the situation at JNU before visiting ?”

The angry filmmaker felt that film people should express their opinion, political or otherwise, only through cinema.