Even as the protests against the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act is on the ebb, some of the attention-seeking CAA detractors took to Wankhede stadium in Mumbai to express their opposition to the Act that came into force last week.
The group of individuals sat in the formation of “No NPR, No NRC and No CAA” during the first ODI match in the 3-match series between India and Australia in Wankhede stadium, Mumbai. The individual letters of the message were written in large font on their white t-shirts. However, soon, individuals supporting CAA, NRC and NPR accosted the group as the crowds surrounding them started chanting pro-Modi slogans.
Group of individuals break into a ‘No NPR, No NCR, No CAA’ formation at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
As can be seen in the above video, when some individuals, confront the group of anti-CAA protestors, seemingly for their No CAA, No NRC and No NPR formation, crowds sitting around them enthusiastically start chanting “Modi! Modi!”.
Towards the end, one can also hear spectators shouting “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram” slogans, prompting the beleaguered group donning the “No CAA, No NPR and No NRC” t-shirts to also join in raising the nationalistic slogans.
The passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill has sparked off anti-CAA protests, mainly among left-liberals, who have staunchly opposed the act aimed at granting citizenship to the persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Several left-leaning universities saw violence, arson and acts of vandalism as anti-CAA protestors ran riot under the pretext of carrying out peaceful protest.
However, the protests have tend to fizzle out after extensive awareness campaign from PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, educating the people about the provisions of the Act and allaying their fears that were fanned by Congress and other opposition parties.
An Aligarh Civil Court advocate has sent a notice to Marxist historian Irfan Habib for allegedly taking a swipe at PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a speech at Aligarh Muslim University. The remarks came in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding the new Citizenship Amendment Act, that came into force last week.
Advocate Sandeep Kumar Gupta, who sent a notice to Habib has asserted that the speech delivered by the left-leaning historian at the Aligarh Muslim University on Monday was “against the unity and diversity of India and it also challenges the sovereignty of the country”.
Gupta accused Habib of asking Union Home Minister Amit Shah to get rid of his surname “Shah” in his speech citing the name’s alleged Persian origins. Kumar also stated in the notice that Habib said in Aligarh Muslim University that RSS was formed with the aim to attack Muslims and that the Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar was responsible for the partition of the country, extenuating Mohammad Ali Jinnah who propounded the two-nation theory. The notice also mentioned Habib criticising the use of Gandhi’s spectacles in government’s “Swwacchta Abhiyan”.
Habib had also said that there is strong circumstantial evidence that Savarkar was involved in murder of Mahatma Gandhi, and referred to PM Modi as ‘Jahil’.
#Breaking | SHOCKER: Eminent historian Irfan Habib takes a jibe at PM Modi and HM Amit Shah; calls PM a ‘jahil’ and says HM should change his name as Shah is a Persian name.
The advocate, in the notice, also took cognisance of Habib’s “poisonous statements” in various newspapers against the current dispensation. Demanding Habib’s apology within the next 7 days, the notice read that if he failed in doing so, the advocate will initiate strict legal action against him.
Ever since the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act, that grants citizenship to the persecuted minorities from the neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Marxist historian Irfan Habib is having a hard time coming to terms with the new reality.
Earlier, Habib had heckled Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and physically disrupted his speech while he was speaking in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act. The incident happened at the inaugural meeting of the 80th session of the Indian History Congress held at Kannur University in Kerala when Khan was dispelling the apprehensions surrounding the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The Delhi Police has initiated efforts to clear Shaheen Bagh of protesters after the Delhi High Court directed the Police to handle the protests as per their wisdom. The protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act by the Muslims in this area have caused anger among the ordinary citizens of Delhi who have had to endure traffic disruptions caused by the protests.
Now, the Delhi Police has decided to involve the local community leaders in order to persuade the protesters to leave the venue. They will take help from local traders and religious leaders to bring an end to the standoff.
Sources: Delhi Police has initiated efforts to clear Shaheen Bagh of protestors as per HC order. They will focus on persuasive methods rather than use force. Police in touch with local traders’ bodies, religious leaders and community elders to amicably resolve the matter
The order of the Delhi Court came after a PIL was filed by advocate Amit Sahni seeking a direction to the Police Commissioner of the national capital to lift restrictions on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and Okhla underpass. The roads were closed since the 15th of December after the protests began. The petitioner asserted that the restrictions were causing traffic jams and a great wastage of time and fuel.
Shaheen Bagh is the same place where slogans of ‘Jinnah wali Azadi‘ was chanted by the protesters, revealing the Radical Islamic nature of these protests. Later, a multi-faith prayer event was held at the same place in order to mask the hatred that festered beneath the surface.
It is peddled as a truth universally acknowledged that men on the ‘left’ are progressive by default. They often like to portray themselves as patron saints of feminism and like to talk about how they’d like to smash patriarchy, especially the Brahmin kinds.
They are the ones who say they believe in ‘consent’ and hence often times women stay quiet on sexual assault by ‘progressive’ men from Left. Sometimes because they can’t wrap their heads around the fact that a ‘progressive’ man just violated them and sometimes because they’d rather let the man get away so as to not damage the ‘bigger cause‘. Men from the Left also have women going out of their way to shield them from allegations of sexual assault.
Men from the Left are often believed to be progressive. They are perceived to be the ones who believe in equal rights for women and these days often like to identify themselves as LGBTQI allies. They will often use pronouns in their Twitter bios to come across as ‘liberals’.
Of the ‘Liberal’ and ‘progressive’ men, two are often hailed these days as ideals and men to look up to. One is Communist Party of India leader Kanhaiya Kumar, with questionable quality PhD, and other is senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.
आपको कन्हैया पसंद ना हो तो भी सुनिए। गलतियां निकालने के लिए सुनिए (जैसे हम कभी कभी PM जी की सुनते हैं।) मगर सुनिए।
Kanhaiya Kumar these days is hailed as the next best orator to come out of Bihar after Lalu Prasad Yadav. Kanhaiya is the ‘perfect’ orator.
The biggest myth that Indian media ever created was that Modi is a superb orator.
He never was. Modi is just a superb (SCRIPTED) orator.
Kanhaiya on the other hand, is the perfect orator, a street politician, who words can easily enter the hearts of the underprivileged & poor. https://t.co/Vs7oOh86Bs
It is a different thing that Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD didn’t give Kanhaiya a ticket to contest 2019 general elections because he was afraid Kanhaiya may outshine his offsprings who are yet to make any mark in mainstream politics.
Kanhaiya Kumar also often likes to demand ‘azadi’ from patriarchy. Except, last week, in a debate with BJP leader on Rajdeep Sardesai’s show on India Today, Kanhaiya asked the BJP leader whether he has worn chudiyan (bangles). ‘Haath mein chudiyan pehenna‘ is often used by people to refer to people who are not ‘strong enough’ to do work because they have worn bangles (like women).
The feminist youth icon likes to indulge in casual sexism.
Another icon of ‘progressive’ men is Shashi Tharoor. Last night, on a debate, he referred to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as ‘eunuch’ because he wants power without responsibility. Tharoor later apologised and said that he used a line from British politics said by British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin who had actually used the term ‘harlot’ (prostitute) in place of ‘eunuchs’.
His transphobic comment comes across as an insult to the trans community. Moreover, one could argue that calling eunuchs as people who have power without responsibility is far from truth since eunuchs in India are quite the opposite and are far too marginalised to be powerful, with or without responsibility. As someone who takes immense pride in his vocabulary, surely Tharoor knew his comments were misogynist and transphobic. He still chose to use the term to refer to a political rival as ‘unmanly’. Because if you’re not a ‘man enough’, you are weak, or as Tharoor put it, someone who likes ‘power without responsibility’.
This just goes out to show that every ‘progressive man’ is man first.
In a video that is going viral on social media, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav is seen losing his temper at a senior emergency medical officer at a hospital in Chhibramau town of Kannuaj in Uttar Pradesh.
Yadav who was in the hospital on Tuesday to meet the victims of the recent Chhibramau bus accident, in which at least 20 people were killed, is seen asking a government doctor in Kannuaj to “get out” of a hospital room and not interrupt his conversation with patients. Yadav is seen telling the senior doctor, “You can be a member of RSS of BJP ubt you cannot claim to represent the government’s side. You are too small a man, too junior an employee to do that”.
The former CM was speaking to the injured and enquiring whether they had received any compensation from the state government. The patient replied in the negative. To this, the on-duty emergency doctor, DS Mishra, intervened and tried to enlighten the Samajwadi party chief that the compensation had actually been paid to the victim in the form of cheques.
At this point, Yadav lashes out at the on-duty officer saying: “Tum sarkar ka paksh nahi le sakte, tum RSS, BJP ke ho sakte ho. Tum bahut chote admi ho…bahar bhaag jao”. (You are a government official. You can’t tell me what they (the patients) are saying. You are a very junior-level official. You are a government man. You can be from the BJP, the RSS. You don’t tell me about the compensation. Leave now. Get out.)
The doctor later told news agency ANI: “I was present there as I was treating patients. One of the patients said he didn’t get the compensation cheque. I tried to clarify that the cheque was given. At this, former CM Akhilesh ji got angry and asked me to leave the room.”
The Chhibramau accident took place on Friday (January 10). The private sleeper bus, run by Vimal Bus Service, was carrying at least 45 people and headed to Rajasthan’s Jaipur from Farrukhabad via Chhibramau.
At least 20 passengers were charred to death and 21 others injured after a bus burst into flames at the GT Road in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj. According to initial ground reports, the passengers were unable to escape when the bus caught fire as it was sleeper bus and passengers were asleep with doors and windows shut.
The Yogi government has announced to provide an ex-gratia of Rs 2 Lakh each to families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those injured.
An overwhelming number of reviewers on IMDb (Internet Movie Database) and Google have accorded Deepika Padukone starrer film Chhapaak with the low ratings, criticising the movie as a “drag”, “below average” and “failing to do justice to the sensitive topic of acid attack victims”.
The overall IMDb score of the Chhapaak movie is 4.6 with 11,144 users so far registered their rating. Most of the users provided the movie with the minimum allowed rating of 1 star out of available 10 stars and panned the movie for being “below-expectation” and Deepika Padukone’s “soul-less” acting.
Chhapaak is a movie based on the real-life story of Laxmi Agarwal, an acid attack survivor whose character is played by Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone. Born to a middle-class family, Laxmi aspired to become a singer one day. Naeem Khan, 32, had set his eyes on then 15-year-old Laxmi and accosts her with a marriage proposal. However, even after persistent refusal, Khan continued to stalk and follow Laxmi and eventually attacked her with acid in 2005. The movie includes in details Laxmi’s harrowing story and the formidable struggles she had to endure following the acid attack and get the perpetrators behind the bars.
However, despite being such a sensitive issue with profound social importance, the movie failed miserably in dazzling the viewers, leaving them with a feeling of betrayal that reflected in the torrent of disapproving reviews it garnered.
One of the reviewers called the movie unworthy of the hype and asked others to skip it as the movie, according to the reviewer, was well below the expectations. The reviewer also says that the movie is misleading as it does not depict the actual events accurately.
Another IMDb user bluntly called it “Avoidable” stating that the movie fails in doing justice to the character, plot and the sensitivity of the topic. The user was disappointed with the screenplay of the movie, saying that the makers could have simply made a documentary instead of making a commercial movie.
Criticising the movie as “drag”, one reviewer was genuinely befuddled that a role which could have gotten Deepika an academy award was rendered “soul-less” by her underwhelming performance.
Many reviewers were overtly critical of Deepika’s poor show in the movie. One of the users censured the movie saying that the movie pertains to a serious issue and rather than going in for a commercial film, the makers should have created a documentary projecting the realistic scenario around the condition of acid attacking survivors, which may not necessarily be comforting.
Not just IMDb, the movie has got poor ratings from Google users also. The movie got 2.7 out of 5 points, based on as many as 26623 user ratings. It seems that opinion about the movie is highly polarised, as most ratings for the movie in Google are either 5 or 1, with 1 outnumbering 5 by a substantial margin.
It is important to note that Deepika Padukone had pulled off a PR stunt for her upcoming movie Chhapaak by visiting the Jawaharlal Nehru University following the attack by masked assailants. Despite her desperate attempts to market her movie, she failed to enthuse people into visiting their nearest theatres and watching the movie. The movie’s ebbing box office collections and the withering reviews it is receiving testifies that no amount of PR stunts can salvage a flop product.
Raja Singh, BJP MLA from Goshamahal, Telangana, was placed under house arrest on Tuesday after he announced his decision to visit the Karyakartas of Hindu Vahini in Bhainsa town, where communal clashes had erupted on Sunday night. Soon after he made the announcement on Monday, a large number of policemen were deployed at his residence to prevent him from undertaking the visit.
The BJP leader, on Tuesday, accused the Police of political partisanship and claimed that the leaders of TRS and AIMIM were permitted to visit the area but not him. “I planned to go Bhainsa on Tuesday but before I could start, a police team placed me under house arrest and posted police picket outside my house to prevent me from stepping out,” he said.
Earlier, he had accused Asaduddin Owaisi’s party of being responsible for the mob violence against Hindus where houses were set on fire and looted.
Mob attacked Hindus, Burnt & looted houses in Bhansia in Telangana.
Eighteen houses were set on fire in the violence that ensued in Bhansia in Telangana. 11 people were injured, of which 10 of them have been treated and discharged. Senior policemen were injured as well. As a consequence of the violence, the Police imposed section 144 of the CrPC in the area and internet has been temporarily suspended in the district as well. Additional policemen from neighbouring districts were deployed to bring the situation under control. Meanwhile, the Police have assured that the guilty will be identified soon and brought to justice.
Recently, a black and white image of India’s first Prime Minister and Congress stalwart Jawaharlal Nehru, in a uniform, similar to that of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has resurfaced and is being circulated on social media. In the picture, which is being widely shared on Twitter, Nehru is seen wearing shorts and a cap, akin to RSS protocol.
This is, not the first time such pictures of Jawarharlal Nehru in an attire similar to that of the RSS has surfaced. Earlier while sharing the picture many on social media have opinioned that the first Prime Minister had then participated in RSS shakhas. In fact, such rumours have been around for a long time now.
In 2018, these pictures had resurfaced on Twitter, ahead of the former President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee’s valedictory address at the function of Third Year Sangha Shiksha Varga (SSV) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at Nagpur.
An image being circulated on social media claiming that Nehru attended RSS shakha
This picture, which was then shared widely was, in fact, of Pandit Nehru attending a session of the Seva Dal in the year 1939 in Naini, Uttar Pradesh and not the RSS. He was seen wearing a white forage cap. However, the uniform of the RSS introduced in 1925 has a black cap and not a white cap. Moreover, a caption in small type in Marathi at the bottom of the image also said: “At Uttar Pradesh’s Naini in 1939.”
Likewise, these black-and-white images linked to then-prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru also did the rounds on Twitter in the year 2013.
Seva Dal is a frontal, grassroots organisation of the Indian National Congress. It was set up in the year 1924 as the Hindustani Seva Dal and the purpose behind its establishment was to counter British rule. In 1931, it became the chief volunteer arm of the Congress. The uniform of the Seva Dal is similar to the former uniform of the RSS.
The RSS, whereas was established in 1925 and since then, despite several changes in the design of the RSS’ uniform, the colour of the Sangh cap has remained unchanged. In fact, all pictures of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat available on the internet are also with a black cap.
This makes it sufficiently clear that Nehru as seen in the viral photo, was not attending an RSS shakha but a session of the Congress Seva Dal.
The specialists at propaganda appear to be at it again. The latest bit of fake news is that people wearing black are being prevented from entering the Wankhede Stadium where a match between India and Australia is underway. One isn’t quite sure where it originated from but the fake news was spread by prominent people on social media.
Abhimanyu Sen, a journalist with News18dotcom, the digital platform of CNN News18, claimed that the colour black is being banned at the Wankhede as it is a symbol of protest.
Placards and message boards banned in the Guwahati T20 against SL, and now in Mumbai the colour Black is being banned at the Wankhede as it is a symbol of protest? #INDvsAUS
Another individual associated with The Hindu made the same claim on Twitter, accompanied by expletives. According to him, t-shirts, caps and ‘anything’ with the colour black was banned in the stadium.
I’m at the Wankhede stadium today. The colour Black is being banned (t-shirts, caps, anything) because it’s a “symbol of protest”.
The bit of fake news eventually found its way to the comedians on the social media platform who did their bit to amply the bit of fake news.
What is this I hear about no one in Wankhede Stadium being allowed to wear black because it’s a symbol of protest.
Wow! Lucky that we are not playing New Zealand. That would be quite one-sided.
However, it appears to completely false. In videos and photos shared by spectators and media coverage of the cricket match, people can be spotted in the stadium wearing black clothing. People wearing black t-shirts or shirts are visible inside the stadium, contrary to the claims being made that the colour black has been banned for fear of protests. There are other images and videos as well where the colour black can be spotted. On Facebook, there are people in black t-shirts posting selfies from the ground.
— North Stand Gang – Wankhede (@NorthStandGang) January 14, 2020
OpIndia also got in touch with a security official from BCCI at the stadium. He categorically denied all such claims. Furthermore, it is only to be expected that there will not be too much of Black clothing in the stadium anyway as Indian cricketers wear blue jerseys, and lot of spectators come wearing the jersey of the team they are supporting. Given the statement by the security official and images posted on social media combined with the view of the spectators on live television, it appears to be another fresh round of fake news designed to generate more interest in the protests against CAA at a moment when they are losing steam.
In November 2019, controversial journalist Rajdeep Sardesai had tendered an unconditional apology to an IPS officer for airing a fake news item on Sohrabuddin encounter case in 2007 after which the case against him and his other associates was dismissed by the court.
Rajdeep Sardesai had to apologise to Rajiv Trivedi for a program titled “30 minutes – Sohrabuddin, the inside story”, which was aired on CNN-IBN (now CNN-News18) channel on 13 May 2007. In the program, it was accused that Hyderabad Special Investigation Unit SP Rajiv Trivedi had helped the Gujarat police in nabbing Sohrabuddin. Rajdeep Sardesai had reported that Rajiv Trivedi had provided cars with fake number plates which were used to transport Sohrabuddin to Ahmedabad.
However, this was not the first time that Rajdeep Sardesai had apologised for peddling fake news. Rajdeep had a long and intimate association with apologies. Earlier, Rajdeep had made an apology for spreading falsehoods about BHU VC. Rajdeep had posted tweets alleging that BHU VC had joined PM Modi’s rally at Kashi Vishwanath temple and raising suspicions over the political autonomy of BHU.
The pics of BHU VC at Modi roadshow have turned out to be case of ‘mistaken identity’. Apologising to him and withdrawing tweet.
Rajdeep was not the only one to weave lies about the BHU VC joining PM Modi’s election rally. Soon, assorted liberals indulged in slandering BHU VC by claiming that he had indeed attended PM Modi’s rally.
Kavita Krishnan had joined in to slam BHU VC stating that the vice chancellor attends political rallies while asking women students of the University to sign affidavit prohibiting them from doing politics.
BHU VC joined Modi road show, makes women students sign affidavit they won’t do politics, cites ‘service rules’ to ban politics for faculty
The Wire, a portal known for flagrantly peddling distortions and lies, too joined the bandwagon in censuring BHU VC based on Rajdeep’s baseless assertion of the vice chancellor participating in PM Modi’s rally. It ran a conjectural story contemplating reasons as to why BHU VC attended PM Modi’s election rally without independently verifying Rajdeep’s unfounded claims.
The pics of BHU VC at Modi roadshow have turned out to be case of ‘mistaken identity’. Apologising to him and withdrawing tweet.
However, soon after it was manifestly established that BHU VC did not participate in PM Modi’s rally, Rajdeep Sardesai withdrew his tweets and apologised for his mistake. However, this did not sit well with the Legal Rights Observatory Convener Vinay Joshi who in an email to the News Broadcasters Association complained about Rajdeep Sardesai’s inveterate tendency of spreading lies and later issuing an apology when called out for his falsehoods.
Vinay Joshi’s email to NBAVinay Joshi’s email to NBA
In the email, Joshi asserted that though Rajdeep had pulled down his tweets after brazenly lying about the BHU vice chancellor and PM Modi, the issue should be ended there as Rajdeep has become “a habitual offender and careful fabricator of mischievous intent”.
In an excruciating details, Joshi laid bare Rajdeep Sardesai’s previous shenanigans where he was found pulling the wool over his viewers by manipulating interviews and abusing his followers on Twitter. Joshi alleged that Rajdeep had distorted Sri Sri Ravishankar’s interview. He also cited how the journalist came to blows with an onlooker at Madison square. In addition, Joshi also highlighted how Rajdeep had been abusive to a Twitter user and later claimed that his account was hacked but did not file any complaint for hacked account.
Vinay Joshi’s email to NBA
While filing a complaint against Rajdeep Sardesai for his lies on BHU VC, Joshi implored the NBA to direct the Headlines Today/India Today group to give out an exemplary punishment to the incorrigible journalist alleging that Rajdeep has “no respect for journalistic morality and editorial standards”. He warned that if any action is not taken against Rajdeep, he would be forced to file an FIR against him under IPC 420 and Section-66A of the Information Technology Act 2000.
The complaint prompted Rajdeep to call Vinay Joshi and apologise for spreading fake news. Rajdeep personally called up Joshi and tendered his apology for mistaking someone else for BHU VC and alleging that the BHU VC had come out in support of PM Modi and participated in his political rally. Transcripts of the call are below:-
Apologising for his mistake, Rajdeep admitted that it was the case of “mistaken identity” on his part to assume that BHU VC had participated in PM Modi’s rally. Rajdeep ensured Mr Joshi that such mistakes will not be repeated and stated that he has personally apologised to the BHU VC as well as issued an apology on Twitter after withdrawing the tweets. However, Mr Joshi retorted back saying that such errors have been occurring on regular intervals and that once the character is assassinated, it cannot be restored back to its full esteem.
Mortified by Mr Joshi’s sharp criticism, Rajdeep said that he will be very careful on Twitter henceforth and won’t post any tweets on politics altogether. “I will be very careful and I don’t want to tweet on any of these issues,” Sardesai had said.
Puneet Jain’s email to Vinay Joshi
Mr Joshi’s scathing email also drew a response from TV Today network official Puneet Jain who replied to Mr Joshi’s email confirming that the issue stands closed and he no longer chooses to pursue the case in the court of law following Rajdeep’s communique with him.
Earlier, regarding Sri Sri Ravishankar’s manipulated interview by Rajdeep, Mr Joshi had filed a complaint with NBA which elicited another apology from Rajdeep.
Rajdeep’s previous apology in November 2011
Rajdeep had then responded to Vinay Joshi, recognising his mistake and claiming that he had apologised on air as well to Sri Sri in person. In a feeble attempt to placate Joshi, Rajdeep had then stated that his channel has “put in place systems to ensure that pre recorded interviews do not run in live discussions at any stage”.
This has been a typical modus operandi espoused by Rajdeep where in he first blatantly lies to propagate his agenda and when confronted with facts and the prospect of being dragged to the court of law for his mendacity, he meekly apologises and ensures that “such mistakes” won’t be repeated, only to commit mistakes of similar nature in future.
