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Left-liberal celebration over Satya Nadella’s CAA comment short-lived as he clarifies that nations have right to define immigration policy

OpIndia Staff
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Left-liberal celebration over Satya Nadella’s CAA comment short-lived as he clarifies that nations have right to define immigration policy

Yesterday US-based online media portal Buzzfeed created a quite a sensation in India when it published a report saying that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella “harshly criticized the Indian law that discriminates against Muslim immigrants”, referring to the Citizenship Amendment Act.

This was first tweeted by Buzzfeed editor in chief Ben Smith, quoting Nadella as saying “I think what is happening is sad… It’s just bad”, telling that the Indian origin CEO was criticising the CAA.


This tweet immediately gave ammunition to Indian liberals who are opposing the CAA on completely baseless allegations. Several prominent names from the left-liberal ecosystem in India, like historian Ramchandra Guha, journalist Barkha Dutta etc hailed Nadella for his ‘anti-CAA’ comments. Barkha Dutt went a step a further and said that Nadella was talking about NRC also.

Soon after Nadella’s comments were published by Buzzfeed, Microsoft India posted a statement from Nadella, which seeks clarify his position on immigration laws. The statement says that every country will and should define its borders, protect national security and define immigration policy. He added that in democracies, people and governments will debate and define these aspects.


Nadella added, “My hope is for an India where an immigrant can aspire to found a prosperous start-up or lead a multinational corporation benefitting Indian society and the economy at large”.

The statement by Nadella saying that countries have the right to define immigration policy completely contradicts the liberals who were celebrating the Buzzfeed report on his comment. The left-liberals actually advocate an open border policy, saying that all illegal immigrants should be granted citizenship in India. They have even approached the Supreme Court requesting that Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, who are a security risk to India, should be sheltered in India. But Satya Nadella disagrees with them and says that there should be an immigration policy and nations should protect their borders.

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

Moreover, although Buzzfeed reported that Nedalla had criticised CAA, that is a questionable comment they are making. When some people demanded to know the full statement of Nadella, Smith posted that on Twitter, and it gives a completely different picture. It seems that Buzzfeed misinterpreted the answer given by Nadella and presented in a distorted form. The text of the full answer is given below.

Q: There’s been a lot of pressure on companies like yours around healing with governments, I wonder if you had a view on the citizenship act in India and broadly if you have concerns about working with that government in terms of how they’re using data?

A: To me, in fact I obviously grew up in India and I’m very proud of where I get my heritage, culturally in that place, and I grew up in a city, I always felt it was a great place to grow up, we celebrated [united], we celebrated Christmas, Diwali, all three festivals that are big for us. I think what is happening is sad, primarily as sort of someone who grew up there. I feel, and in fact quite frankly, now being informed shaped by the two amazing American things that I’ve observed which is both, it’s technology reaching me where I was growing up and its immigration policy and even a story like mine being possible in a country like this,

I think it’s just, bad if anything I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India, or becomes the CEO of Infosys, that should be the aspiration, if I had to sort of mirror what happened to me in the US, I hope that’s what happens in India.

I’m not saying that any country doesn’t and should not care about its own national security, borders do exist and they’re real and people will think about it, I mean after all immigration is an issue in this country, it’s an issue in Europe and it’s an issue in India, but the approach that one takes to deal with what is immigration, who are immigrants and minority groups, that sensibility.

That’s where I hope these liberal values that we’ve kind of come to– It’s capitalism, quite frankly, has only thrived because of market forces and liberal values, both acting and I hope India figures it out, the good news at least as I see it is it’s a messy democracy and people are debating it, it’s not something that is hidden, it’s something that is being debated actively but I’m definitely clear on what we stand for and what I stand for.

 

As can be seen in the full reply, although Satya Nadella was asked bout CAA, he seemed to have evaded the question and gave a generic reply about immigration. Nowhere in the answer there is any mention of the recent amendment to the Citizenship Act, which is not a new citizenship law as Buzzfeed is claiming.

Nadella did say, “what is happening is sad”, but it is not sure what was he referring to. It may be the CAA, or it may the tensed situation prevailing in India at present, or the politics being played on it.

Moreover, everything that the Microsoft CEO said about immigrants, actually have no relation with CAA. The amendment does not apply to Indian citizens so people in India can still celebrate Diwali and Christmas together. He talked about a Bangladeshi immigrant coming to India and creating the next unicorn (a term used to mean a startup) in India. The CAA does not prevent any Bangladeshi, or any foreigner, from coming to India and work here. The law actually fast-tracks the process of granting of citizenship to people from six communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, while there is absolutely no change in the law to grant citizenship for others, including Muslims.

Read- Journalists use Nankana Sahib attack to claim CAA does not help persecuted minorities entering India after 2014, here is how they are wrong

Most importantly, the clarification that Microsoft India published later was already present in Nadella’s reply, but the Buzzfeed report chose to completely ignore it. He had said that countries can’t ignore national security, borders do exist, and immigration is an issue everywhere, in the USA, in Europe, in India. He had said that it is important to sensibly approach the issue while dealing with immigration, who are immigrants and minority groups. It is important to note that in the 3 countries for which the CAA is applicable, Muslims are not minority groups, in fact, they are Muslim countries.

Therefore, it can be concluded that Nadella gave a balanced reply to the question, although he advocated for liberal values, he acknowledged the need for national security and immigration policy. But Buzzfeed focused only one part of his answer and ignored the other part. Moreover, even if we assume that he was opposing CAA, the concerns he has raised have nothing to do with CAA, and there is nothing to celebrate in a comment when it is based on a wrong reading of the law.

The CAA does not prevent immigrants from coming to India legally and seek employment or start a business. Indian operations of several multinational companies are headed by persons from outside India, there was never a bar on that, and CAA does not bring any restriction on the same. CAA expedites the process of granting citizenship for some immigrants, while keeping it the same for others, so Nadella should be satisfied with an amendment that helps immigrants, not “harshly criticise” it.

Delhi: 7 Afghan drug peddlers arrested at IGI airport, fed 120 bananas to help excrete 177 insoluble capsules of heroin worth Rs 10 crore

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi: 7 Afghan drug peddlers arrested at IGI airport, fed 120 bananas to help excrete 177 insoluble capsules of heroin worth Rs 10 crore

The Indian Narcotics Department has arrested seven Afghan drug traffickers over the past few days, from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and recovered heroin worth Rs 10 crore from them.

According to reports, these ‘carriers’, possibly linked to an international cartel led by a Taliban leader in Kandahar reached Delhi from Kabul with 177 insoluble capsules of heroin ingested into their stomach.


As per reports, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) received a tip-off on the basis of which the investigation was carried out. The NCB team led by zonal director KPS Malhotra arrested 7 smugglers namely, Yusufzai Rahmatullah, Faiz Muhammad, Nabizada Habibullah, Ahmadi Abdul Wadood, Fazal Ahmed, Noorzai Kabir and Turkman Abdul Hamid. Along with them the team also arrested two ‘receivers’ namely, Hayatullah and Masood Mohammad.


In terms of weight, Faiz had swallowed 38 capsules weighing 304 grams maximum while Turkman had swallowed 18 capsules of 142 grams minimum. Yousafzai had swallowed 28 capsules of 215 grams. Habibullah and Ahmadi had swallowed 15 of 225 grams each. Kabir had ingested 26 capsules weighing 250 grams while Fazal had swallowed 37 capsules of 262 grams.

Officials had to feed these men with almost 10 dozen bananas, aiding in the process of recovery of these insoluble capsules from their stomach in the past few days. These capsules were ultimately recovered from the seven detainees’ excreta. After taking them into custody, the police had done an x-ray examination which revealed that they had hidden the drugs in their stomach. The Narcotics Control Bureau has seized all drugs.

On interrogation, these Afghan citizens revealed that they had swallowed these heroin-filled capsules with the help of honey and special oil. They said they were not supposed to eat or drink anything on the flight from Afghanistan to Delhi. They had planned to excrete these capsules after checking into a hotel in Delhi, revealed the arrested ‘carriers’.

Apart from them, 2 more Afghan nationals who arrived at Delhi airport were taken into custody, taking the total count of people arrested to nine. A narcotics official with knowledge in the case revealed that these two who were arrested apart from the seven ‘carriers’ were ‘receivers’ based in Delhi. Both of them used to procure the consignment of heroin capsules from smugglers and sell it in the Indian market, said the to media. At present, all the accused are under police custody.

According to reports, the Narcotics Control Bureau has been running a major campaign against the narco-terror network and the narcotics traffickers operating in the country and has constituted a three-member team to investigate such cases.

Such crimes have been categorised as terrorism since most of its operators are terrorists sitting in foreign Islamic countries. The officials fear that all the arrested 9 people have also been working for the Taliban terrorist leader sitting in Kandahar.

According to reports, a ‘carrier’ gets Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh per trip to smuggle these drugs from Afghanistan to India. All these Afghan smugglers work closely with Nigerian smugglers. The money that African ‘receivers’ give in exchange for these drugs is used to carry out terrorist acts in the Indian subcontinent.

Mumbai: Ajmal Hussain Lashkar becomes Ashish Dubey, befriends then rapes minor girl and her aunt

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai: Ajmal Hussain Lashkar becomes Ashish Dubey, befriends then rapes minor girl and her aunt

A 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped multiple times by one Ajmal Hussain Lashkar (26) as he blackmailed her with a sex-tape of her aunt. The accused also threatened to make the video public if the teenager did not give in to his demands. Mumbai Police have now arrested Ajmal from suburban Khar in Mumbai after the minor victim allegedly became pregnant.

According to the Police, Ajmal Hussain, who originally hails from Assam and was currently living in Mumbai, got acquainted with a 23-year-old woman and her niece at a party by posing himself as ‘Ashish Dubey’ after which they became close.

“The accused gave the woman and her niece an alias name. He later raped the woman after promising to marry her and made obscene videos of her without her knowledge,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Mohan Dahikar.

Ajmal, thereafter, allegedly used this recording to blackmail and rape the teenage niece multiple times until she got pregnant.

The Police started investigating the matter soon after the teenage girl’s parents lodged a complaint at Bangur Police station. Azmal Lashkar has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for rape and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

In another incident, a 15-year-old minor Dalit girl was allegedly gang-raped and filmed by three men in Ghosia village of Kaushambi district that falls under Saray Akil police station, near Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh in September last year. In a video of the gang-rape that had gone viral, the girl could be reportedly heard begging for mercy. However, the brutes refused to spare her.

All the three accused in the horrific Kaushambi rape case, namely the main accused Adil and others Nazik and Mohammad Akib aka ‘Badka’ were caught by the Uttar Pradesh Police.

As India Today defends its shoddy journalism, we look at their 5 other ‘pathbreaking investigations’

OpIndia Staff
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As India Today defends its shoddy journalism, we look at their 5 other ‘pathbreaking investigations’

The India Today Group has decided to double down on its ‘sting’ that turned out to be a massive farce. Furthermore, one of their journalists was revealed to have held a hush-hush conversation with the Vice President of the JNU Students’ Union off the record. She also discussed the matter of servers on the campus with the Leftist student leader, an issue on which she has spread fake news. All of this, however, doesn’t seem to bother India Today too much and they have continued to stand by the dubious conduct of its reporters.

India Today, in its efforts to defend the indefensible, asked its readers to not pay any attention to the criticism of news network’s ‘pathbreaking investigation’. Well, this is not the first time that the news network has engaged in some ‘pathbreaking investigation’. As we understand, it is unlikely they will answer the pertinent questions we raised in our reports. Therefore, in this report, we look at some ‘pathbreaking’ bits of journalism that India Today has done in the past.

1. The Krishna Goyal Conundrum

India Today’s Fact-Check team published an extensive fact-check of a meme revolving around Chris Gayle. It became a meme on the internet that Yogi Adityanath had changed the cricketer’s name to Krishna Goyal. Not too long after, it was memed that Chris Gayle aka Krishna Goyal had joined the BJP. It was all an elaborate joke and everyone knew that. However, India Today took it upon themselves to prove comprehensively that Chris Gayle was, in fact, not Krishna Goyal and he had not joined the BJP. That is indeed some ‘pathbreaking fact-check’.

2. Fact-Checking a meme. Again.

India Today’s ‘Anti Fake-News War Room’ went to war against a watermarked meme that joked about former US President Barack Obama watching Narendra Modi’s oath taking ceremony following his reelection as Prime Minister. The meme had a watermark, therefore, it should have been sufficient indication that it was a joke for everyone to have laugh about but when you have a ‘war room’, you have to go to war against something even if it’s a meme.

3. Fake News about Yediyurappa and NRC

In a report by India Today, it has been claimed that the BS Yediyurappa led government has decided not to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Karnataka. The report further stated that the BJP government intended to create a database of immigrants who have been living in Karnataka instead of implementing NRC.

However, in reality, the Karnataka Chief Minister reiterated that the state government welcomes the Citizenship Amendment Act and asserted that NRC will be implemented in the state. Any decision of the centre including NRC is our decision as well, Yediyurappa had reiterated after a thumping win in the by-elections.

As India Today realised that they had reported false news regarding the NRC implementation in Karnataka, the media group promptly deleted the report without even apologising for their error.

4. India Today’s Lallantop fact-checks a 9-month-old work of satire

TheLallantop.com, Hindi news and opinion website owned by the India Today group, which asserts to be a fake-news buster, recently fact-checked a 9-month-old satirical article and passed off the claim as ‘authentic’. The sarcastic article was first posted on Fauxy website, a satire site, in September 2018 wherein the author took a humorous dig at the abundance of food bloggers that seek free meals from restaurants in return for rave reviews.

The satirical piece was widely shared by people, creating ripples on the internet, and forcing many news media outlets like india.com, Firstpost to cover it without verifying its authenticity or paying heed to the sarcastic nature of the website, the Fauxy. The Lallantop posted a Fact-checking analysis of the hilarious article on May 15 on its website to declare the incident had indeed happened in New Delhi.

In line with their duty to fact-check, the Lallantop called the Fauxy a foreign website that covered the arrest of a food blogger in Delhi on their website. It fallaciously declared the arrest of the food blogger ‘authentic’ by citing the Hindustan Times report that clearly stated the news as fake. It later expressed regret for its incompetence.

5. The hit-job on Gorakhnath Temple

Rahul Kanwal, one of the main protagonists in the latest scandal to hit India Today, shared fake news on the 26th of December 2018 that claimed his channel, India Today, was going to run an episode that exposed the “ugly reality of India”. He claimed that their report showed that Dalits are not allowed in several of the biggest temples in India, including Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur, whose head priest is Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

In the end, it turned out to be a massive hit job against the Warrior Priest of Gorakhnath to portray him and the Nath Sampradaya in poor light. Numerous people from the Dalit community came forward to assert that they are always welcome at the Temple and caste has never been an issue at the Temple.

Makar Sankranti Parv, Khichadi Mela of Shri Gorakhnath Mandir: Yogi Adityanath explains

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Makar Sankranti Parv, Khichadi Mela of Shri Gorakhnath Mandir: Yogi Adityanath explains

Since ancient times, fasts, auspicious days and festivals have held special meaning in India’s proud dharmic and cultural tradition. Therefore, be it Rishi tarpana related Rakshabandhan festival, which denotes respecting eternal gyana; be it pride filled Vijayadashami festival, which denotes definite victory of sat over asat or victory of dharma over adharma; be it the illuminating festival of Deepawali, which denotes the journey from tamas towards light; be it  colourful festival of Holi, denoting waves of exhilaration of a free heart and getting rid of vikaar – in all our national and community living, faith, belief and happiness and not doubts or sadness have stayed prominent.

In the long ritualistic tradition of vrat and festivals, Makar Sankranti has special place and significance. Pointing to the mighty truth of this materialistic world, Rigvedic Rishi say that Sun itself is the soul of this visible and jangam/wandering world. According to Jyotish acharyas the orbital path of Sun is called Kantivritta and it is equally divided into 12 zodiacs like Mesha, Vrishabha, Mithun etc. The soul of this world i.e. the Sun year-round keeps moving in these 12 zodiacs.  The movement of Sun from one Rashi to another is known as Sankranti. Thus this way when Sun enters Makar Rashi from Dhanu rashi, Makar Sankranti festival occurs. Therefore Sankranti basically is the festival to venerate the Jagatpita Surya. There are 2 ayana – uttarayana and dakshinayana. When Sankranti happens in Makar Rashi, from then onwards to Mithuna rashi Sun remains uttarayana. This period is considered auspicious for many types of dharmic samskars and celebrations. Sun becoming uttarayana makes days become bigger and nights become smaller.

In Magha month when Sun enters Makar rashi, then the auspicious period is important for bathing as well as daana. Nationwide different areas celebrate this day in different names and celebrations. Hindi speaking areas call this Khichadi (the mixture of rice, dal) and relate Sankranti to dining and donation of khichadi.  While in Maharashta til and jaggery is used profusely on this day. In Bengal it is called Tilwa Sankranti and in south India festival spans over 3 days and is called Pongal and is celebrated as Mahotsav.

According to the dharmashastras, on the day of Sankranti, with a Sankalp in mind, lay red cloth on vedi/ chowki and make an ashtadal of akshat (rice), place golden vigraha of Sun god and do panchopachaar with proper process. This day Ganga snana and donation of dal or rice or black sesame seed etc. is considered very liberating. Shastra also mention donation of wood as well as warm clothes. Because of cold weather this daana is also considered important, so that needy gain necessary warm clothes and blankets. In Sankranti time, bathing in ocean, Gangasagar, Kashi and Teerthraj Prayag is considered very special. But those who cannot go to such pilgrimages due to some reason, for them there is procedure to mentally evoke 7 pious rivers and have a ceremonial bath at any river or water body so that the vrati gets the punya of pilgrimage and gets Suryalok as blessing.

On one hand where Makar Sankranti holds importance as giver of good gati in different lokas, and so it is celebrated with fanfare and festivity, on other hand this auspicious day is special for Gorakhpur as it is related to Shivavtar Mahayogi Gorakhnath ji. In this context, according to the known history in Treta yug Mahayogi Gorakhnath on one of his excursions, reached the place of Jwala Devi in Kangra District (Himachal Pradesh.) Upon seeing Mahayogi, Devi manifested herself to welcome him and requested him to receive alms in the dhaam itself. At Devi’s place, Vaamachar path being followed, the food was tamasic and Gorakhnath ji did not want to have that. He requested Devi that he eats khichadi and that too in the way of madhukari (it is a way of collecting alms like bees, food is obtained from different places in small amounts by the sadhus). The Devi replied, ok I will get the cooking area set up, you may go get the khichadi as alms. It is said that for alms Gorakhnath ji walked towards that part of Ayodhya area, which is now known as Gorakhpur. He took samadhi at this peaceful and quiet area in the foothills of Himalayas at this pious land. The begging bowl which was kept to collect khichdi never got full even when the devotees kept donating khichadi and he never returned to Kangra, where the water kept boiling by the blessing of Jwala Devi. Devotees have been donating khichadi to that very akshay patra begging bowl of Gorakhnath ji since then.  As shraddha and bhakti increased, number of devotees have thronged the temple and lately since many centuries fairs have been organized in which many lakhs of devotees take part.

Mahayogi Gorakhnath ji’s personality is beyond generations and eternal. Due to his calm spiritual impact, the importance of sadachar (good behavior), sanyam (self-control) and naitikta (morality) in yoga-sadhana became more prominent, and also the yoga-sadhana became more easily available for all jatis and varnas. Social and cultural unity icon and flagbearer Sant Guru Gorakhnath ji, his disciples  and other related Nath Sidhhas through socially unifying works, created dhunas and mathas at various places. Their manifestations and impact are mentioned in various historical accounts.

Neighbouring Hindu nation Nepal’s Shah dynasty, due to Guru Gorakhnath Ji’s blessings, could unite the small kingdoms named Baaisi and Chaubisi and could consolidate them under current Nepal. In remembrance of Shri Gorakhnath ji’s blessings Nepal’s national currency has Gorakhnath Ji’s name and his charan padukas inscribed. Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath presented blessed khadag (weapon) to Veer Bappa Rawal who established a great Mewar royal kingdom in 8th century. The credit of making Vir Vikramaditya’s elder brother Bhratihari mahayogi by giving yoga diksha also goes to Guru Gorakhnath. The credit of respect to Rani Mainavati and Raja Gopichand by giving Yoga diksha also goes to Guru Gorakhnath. Not just in India, Guru Gorakhnath is respected figure in Burma, SriLanka, Tibet, China and Mongolia. When such a mahayogi came to Gorakhpur, due to his sadhana, the glory of current temple increased itself. People started coming to witness the compassion of Mahayogi. Eventually later people settled and in its current form the place is called Gorakhpur Nagar and District.

On Makar Sankranti since time immemorial the annual fair of devotees takes place. After bathing in Bhim Sarovar people do Nath ji’s darshan, offer khichadi and get their wishes fulfilled. Although when did the fair started is difficult to tell, still in Brahmleen Gorakshpeethadheeshwar Yugpurush Mahant Digvijaynath ji Maharaj’s time the place had earned international repute and also the Khichadi Mela had become famous. Except Shaktipeeth Devipaatan, any other dharmic fair in eastern Uttar Pradesh is not this big.

On Makar Sankranti, to facilitate devotees, temple and administrators and self-help organizations do proper arrangements beforehand. In all North Indian temples, Shri Gorakhnath temple has its special place. Temple has Mahayogi Gorakhnath ignited akhand jyoti which is still burning unchecked despite disruptive attacks and calamities. There are Devi murtis consecrated in the chambers. There is a Nataraj mangal Murti of Bhagwan Shiv in the Southern entrance and before it is Bhagwan Ganesha Murti consecrated. Bhagwan Ganesha is considered as destroyer of obstacles in Indian culture and is also the provider of worldly luxuries, peace and material and spiritual life attainments. The North western area of Temple has consecrated murti of Mata Kali dancing on the chest of Bhagwan Shiv. It is she who is known as Mahamaya Kali. Temple’s Northern direction has Kaal Bhairav’s murti consecrated and is worshipped as kotwal (policeman) and dwarapala (guard) of Bhagwan Shiva. Besides these Mata Shitala, Trishul Bhairav, Bhagwan Shankar, Mata Durga and Shri Ram’s messenger Mahabali Hanuman Ji and Radha Krishna temples are also worth visiting.

Near the temple itself is akhand dhuna ignited by Mahayogi Shri Gorakshnath Ji. Alongside temple premise has a pond and Mahabali Bhimsen temple beside the pond. Nearby itself are Mahant Baba Brahmnath Ji, Yogiran Gambhirnath Ji, Yogpurush Brahmleen Mahant Digvijay Nath Ji Maharaj samadhi temples and spacious hall in remembrance of latter which is definitely worth seeing. It has many murtis of our aaradhya Devi Devatas, Maharshis and mahapurush inside. Navgraha Temples, Bhagwan Shri Ram Temple, Vishnu Bhagwan, Mata Santoshi, Baal Devi, Hatthi Mata and grand yagyashala is also situated in Temple premises itself.

Sadhana bhawan for those who come for the purpose of sadhana, Sant Niwas for visiting sant and mahatmas, Yoga  Prashikshan Kendra for those interested in learning and practicing yoga, health centre with modern equipments for physical exercise and dharmashalas and travel houses for visitors are also present. The Temple complex has religious / charitable hospital and dispensary with latest medical equipments and 300 bed facility. There is Samskrit Mahavidyalaya for studying and teaching Devavaani Samskrit. Withing Gorakhnath Temple, there is huge library on Hindu dharma, darshan, yoga and nationalism related literature and a research center. To propagate and encourage yoga, temple as a special edition of Yoga literature called “Yogvaani” which is published as monthly magazine.

In this manner, Shri Gorakhnath Temple is diligently and methodically working to propagate Yoga, Dharma, Spirituality, Hindutva, Nationalism and social cooperation and is earning good repute for itself.

(The above essay is translation of one of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s articles found at his official website named ‘मकर संक्रान्ति पर्व  और श्री गोरखनाथ मंदिर, गोरखपुर का  खिचड़ी मेला’ [pdf])

‘Can’t recall source of fund, saw land only on Google Map’: Robert Vadra to ED on Bikaner land scam

OpIndia Staff
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‘Can’t recall source of fund, saw land only on Google Map’: Robert Vadra to ED on Bikaner land scam

Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, can’t recollect the source of funds used to buy land in Bikaner, and he had seen the plots of land only on Google Maps. This is what Vadra has told Enforcement Directorate during his interrogation, according to reports.

Robert Vadra is accused of illegally purchasing land at a cheap price which was allotted to non-existent individuals by some corrupt officials, and later the same was sold at an extremely high premium. The translations were done by Sky Light Hospitality, owned by Robert Vadra.

Both the ED and the CBI are probing the Bikaner land scam, where Vadra’s company had purchased land in two villages in Bikaner for a few lakhs. According to ED, lands in Gajner and Goyalri in Bikaner were purchased by Sky Light Hospitality for Rs 72 lakhs, and later they were sold for Rs 5.15 crore to Allegency Finlease. The windfall gain of Rs 4.43 crore made from this transaction was used by Vadra to purchase a house in New Delhi. This property has been attached by the ED in relation to the case.

When ED asked Vadra the source of fund used to purchase the land in Rajasthan, Vadra said that he could not recall the same. He said that the funds may have been arranged from the company’s income and it was done through banking channels. He also said that he didn’t visit the site of the plots, and only saw them on Google Map, which was shown to him by Mahesh Nagar, an authorised representative of the company. Vadra said that he didn’t visit Bikaner before purchase and later sale of the plots, and he also didn’t go through the paperwork for the same which was handled by a person named Rajesh Khurana.

Read- Robert Vadra bought benami lands in other persons’ names, Vadra’s right hand man reveals in Republic TV sting

Vadra told ED that “it appears” that money received from the sale of land in Bikaner was used to buy a house at 268, Sukhdev Nagar, New Delhi, when he was shown bank statements of his company and the sale deed.

Mahesh Nagar, a Congress leader, was given power of attorney by Sky Light Hospitality to deal in properties on behalf of the company. He had said that as Vadra can’t visit everywhere to buy and sell land, he was given that responsibility by the company. Earlier OpIndia had accessed land sale deeds which were executed by Mahesh Nagar on behalf of Robert Vadra.

The money that Allegeny Finlease Pvt Ltd paid Vadra’s company for purchasing the land in Bikaner had come as a loan from Bhushan Power and Steel.  At the same period, Bhushan power was granted an exemption of Rs 500 crore in a tax demand by the Income Tax Settlement Commission. Earlier the I-T department had issued notices to the company for income over several years totalling over Rs 800 crore, but ITSC had brought it down to Rs 317 crore.

Republic Day 2020: Beating Retreat ceremony to include Vande Mataram, Christian hymn ‘Abide With Me’ likely to be dropped

OpIndia Staff
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Republic Day 2020: Beating Retreat ceremony to include Vande Mataram, Christian hymn ‘Abide With Me’ likely to be dropped

Some changes have been made in the Beating Retreat ceremony held at the Vijay Chowk on January 29 after the Republic Day. The much popular ceremony’s famous band is likely to conclude the ceremony with the ‘Vande Mataram’.

Earlier, the ceremony used to end with the Christian hymn ‘Abide With Me’, said to be a favourite of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, and written by a Scottish Anglican preacher named Henry Francis Lyte.

A Deccan Herald report quoted MoD officials as saying that they are including with new tunes and this is a routine change.

It is notable here that the Beating Retreat ceremony, held every year at Vijay Chowk in Raisina Hill complex to mark the conclusion of the Republic Day celebrations, is a popular event where brass bands from all the three forces play tunes and signal a formal end to the festivities in the presence of the President of India.

Last year, ‘Abide With Me’ was the only western tune played by the brass bands. Traditionally, at the playing of its last note, the lights of the Raisina Hill turn on, signalling the end of the ceremony.

After the lights are turned on, the principal conductor of the ceremony seeks the President’s permission to close the ceremony. The bands then collectively retreat to Saare ‘Jahan Se Achchha’ and conclude the event.

The Beating Retreat is an old military tradition. Soldiers used to march back to their barracks to beating tunes after a day’s work. To mark the return of the soldiers, arms, tanks and other weapon systems to their respective barracks after participating in the Republic Day parade, the event is conducted at the Raisina Hill Complex three days after the Republic Day.

The Raisina Hill Complex houses India’s power centre. It has the Rashtrapati Bhavan, The Parliament House, The North Block and South Block, besides other buildings.

As per reports, last year, 18 military bands, and 15 pipe and drum bands had participated in the Beating Retreat ceremony. There were 25 tunes composed by Indian musicians, including ‘Indian Soldiers’, ‘Herana Heran’, ‘Mushkoh Valley’ etc.

This year, the Inter-services guard will be commanded by Wing Commander Vipul Goyal. The Air Force march will be led by Flight Lieutenant Shrikant Sharma and three other officers. The Air Force band is to have 72 musicians and 3 drum majors.

Reports have mentioned from government sources that it was decided that ‘Vande Mataram’ will instil a greater sense of ‘Swadeshi’ element and patriotism

JNU violence: Delhi HC asks Delhi Police to seize mobiles of members of ‘Friends of RSS’ and ‘Unity Against Left’ WhatsApp groups

OpIndia Staff
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JNU violence: Delhi HC asks Delhi Police to seize mobiles of members of ‘Friends of RSS’ and ‘Unity Against Left’ WhatsApp groups

The Delhi High Court today asked Google and WhatsApp, a Facebook company, to preserve their data based on basic subscriber information including the email ids, as per their policy. The Delhi HC was hearing petition of 3 JNU professors seeking to preserve CCTV footage, WhatsApp conversations and and other evidence related to January 5 violence.


Delhi High Court has also asked Delhi Police to summon witnesses and seize mobile phones of those who were members of WhatsApp groups named ‘Friends of RSS’ and ‘Unity Against Left’. Delhi High Court has also asked JNU to provide CCTV footage sought by police as soon as possible.

Last week, Delhi Police had identified 37 members of the WhatsApp group ‘Unity Against Left’. According to the police, the group was created against the Left parties on January 5, the day when violence broke out in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) premises.

Soon after the violence broke out, screenshots of the WhatsApp group called ‘Unity Against Left’ purportedly used by the mobsters to coordinate the violence started making rounds on social media. Part of such conversation was shared by former NDTV anchor Barkha Dutt in a tweet late night on Sunday.

Later, several conspiracy theories began to float on social media, claiming that the Whatsapp group ‘Unity against Left’ was responsible for the violence inside the JNU campus on Sunday. As the name insinuated that it was against left-wing, the blame was quickly shifted on ABVP, implying that the sender of the message was ‘against Left’ and hence by default it was ABVP, the student wing of the RSS.

Read: JNU violence: 208 reputed academicians, professors blame ‘Left-wing Coterie’ for deteriorating academic environment in country

In fact, since the violence broke out in JNU, the usual suspects were busy propagating and making noise that it was the ‘ABVP goons’ who were on a rampage on campus despite the fact that they were masked. Later, several facts began to emerge which exposed a conspiracy against the ABVP members.

It was revealed that certain numbers in the Whatsapp group ‘Unity against Left’ belonged to people who were actively associated with the Congress party. Screenshots of WhatsApp conversations shared by former NDTV anchor Barkha Dutt had number linked to a person named Anand Mangnale.

Mangnale was involved in various crowdfunding events for the Congress party and had involved with Prashant Kishore, who had earlier worked as a strategist for ex-Congress President Rahul Gandhi in 2016 ahead of Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections.

After the initial Congress link emerged in the JNU violence, Congress quickly tried to dissociate itself from Anand and discarded his association, whatever he had, with the party.

Sushma Swaraj’s husband Swaraj Kaushal narrates a story of how a proofreader in Times of India changed India’s political landscape

OpIndia Staff
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Sushma Swaraj’s husband Swaraj Kaushal narrates a story of how a proofreader in Times of India changed India’s political landscape

Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s husband, Swaraj Kaushal is grieving her passing and seems to have taken to Twitter to let the world know about the other side of his wife most people may be unaware of. Late last night, he narrated a story about a man who worked as a proofreader in Mumbai office of Times of India.


A bachelor living in a chawl in Mumbai and working as proofreader, he had to work late hours. The landlady would not let him in the house between 11 PM and 5 AM. So, after his shift got over, the man would take a window seat in Mumbai buses and roam around on the streets, reading signboards.


He had no money for food, clothes but after spending few years like this, he learns reading Marathi. After becoming a fluent Marathi speaker, he quits his job as he was still not getting the day shift.


The man then comes in touch with a prominent trade union leader Placid D’Mello who took him under his wings. He also met the socialist leader Ram Manohar lohia who also was a great influence in his life. P D’Mello Road is a 6 KM road between south end of Eastern Freeway and north end of Colaba Causeway in Mumbai. Originally from Mangalore, just as the man in context was, D’Mello spent years organising dock workers around Mumbai’s Ballard Pier. The man later joined the socialist trade union movement and fought for rights of labourers in small scale service industries. He was a member of the Bombay Municipal Corporation from 1961 to 1968. In 1967, General Elections, this former proofreader with Times of India fought and won on the Samyukta Socialist Party ticket for the Bombay South constituency against seasoned Congress leader S. K. Patil.

At around this time, Swaraj Kaushal, also a noted Supreme Court lawyer, met this man. As many had guessed it by now, the man who is being talked about is George Fernandes, who served as India’s Defence Minister.

Continuing his story, Swaraj Kaushal talked about Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency.


Kaushal and his wife, also a Supreme Court lawyer, defended Fernandes in the Baroda Dynamite case.

Baroda Dynamite Case

Indira Gandhi declared a state of Emergency on 25th June 1975, suspending all fundamental rights. Fernandes was amongst those who opposed the blatant misuse of power and a warrant was issued in his name. He later went underground to escape arrest and prosecution. His brother, Lawrence Fernandes was arrested and tortured by Police to find out George’s whereabouts.

Read: George Fernandes: The Socialist who refused to make the Faustian bargain with Gandhis

In July 1975, George Fernandes arrived in Vadodara (then Baroda), where he met journalists who were opposing the Emergency. Viren Shah, an industrialist, helped them procure dynamite which was supposed to be used to blow up government toilets and cause explosions near the venue of public meetings held by Indira Gandhi, without killing or harming anyone. A plan was hatched to blow up a dias days before Indira Gandhi was to address a meeting in Varanasi. This got to be known as the Baroda Dynamite Case.

Later Fernandes decided he will contest the upcoming elections from Baroda, but Morarji Desai was opposed to this idea.


A new constituency was decided. Muzaffarpur in Bihar. He was still in jail even though the Emergency was lifted. He had to win otherwise he would be in prison for rest of his life. His mother didn’t know Hindi, so who’d campaign for him?

This is where Swaraj Kaushal informs us about a lady who presented herself as his sister, a great orator in Hindi, who campaigned for him.


While Swaraj Kaushal left it on people to decide who the ‘sister’ might be who campaigned for Fernandes, people had quite correctly guessed it was his wife, former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Defence Minister

Fernandes was the Defence Minister during the 1998-2004 NDA government and it was during his tenure that the Kargil War broke out between India and Pakistan in 1999. He was also the Defence Minister when India conducted the nuclear tests at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan in 1998. While he earlier opposed nuclear disarmament, he endorsed the NDA government’s decision to test nuclear bombs.

Coffin scandal

In 2002, Fernandes was accused of purchasing 500 poor quality aluminium caskets from the United States at 13 times the price to transport the bodies of slain Kargil soldiers. The Supreme Court eventually dismissed the investigation saying that there was no scam. The CBI found no evidence of any wrongdoing. The Comptroller and Auditor General, in a report, had alleged that ministers including Defence Minister Fernandes and others filled their pockets by making purchases at exorbitant rates in the name of slain soldiers. Congress milked the ‘scam’ which never was which came up with the ‘kafan chor’ call. A controversy which had stemmed from a clerical error eventually played a pivotal role in the BJP and NDA losing 2004 General Elections.

Fernandes breathed his last in January 2019 and Swaraj passed away in August 2019. The two of them have in their own way changed the political landscape of India.

Professors joined leftists in harassing students, media largely focused on one side: ABVP student speaks to OpIndia on JNU violence

OpIndia Staff
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Professors joined leftists in harassing students, media largely focused on one side: ABVP student speaks to OpIndia on JNU violence

OpIndia has spoken to some students who were targeted by leftist goons on the day of the violence inside the campus on January 5. Manish Jangir, an ABVP member, is one of those students who have been injured in the attack by leftist goons. Manish has a broken arm as a result of the violence. However, unlike JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh’s elaborate bandaging on the head that seemed to have healed overnight and is now limited to just a tiny little band-aid, Manish’ hand is still far from healing. Manish told us that the agitation in JNU against the increased fee structure had started on November 28, 2019.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dt9XmQ5ueE]

Manish told OpIndia that many common students had also supported the agitations against the fee hike. Soon, when the common students became aware of the leftists’ intentions, they started withdrawing their support from the agitations. The leftists, as a retaliation, had allegedly then attacked hostels and the families of the hostel staff. Manish informs that even a pregnant woman, who was the warden at one of the hostels, was not spared. Almost 500 leftist students, had attacked the hostel staff and their families with glass bottles and stones.

Similarly, dean Vandana Mishra was gheraoed by leftists and was taken hostage for over 30 hours. Manish told that Mishra was manhandled, misbehaved and her clothes were torn as the leftists demanded that she resigns and leaves JNU. This incident had taken place on 8-9 November.

Read: JNU faculty member Dr Vandana Mishra kept in illegal captivity by protesting ‘students’ inside a classroom

In the interview, Manish has expressed his displeasure over the biased, one-sided coverage of the JNU issue by a large section of mainstream media. Manish objected to violent, hateful sloganeering like “Bhagwa will burn” and “Hindutva ki Kabr Khudegi”(Hindutva will be buried) etc that are being used by leftists in the name of the protests. He also reminded about the vandalism of the yet to be inaugurated Vivekananda statue inside the JNU campus. He also added that the protests against fee hike were also morphed into protests against the CAA and were used later to boycott examinations.

Discussing the openly-leftist stand of some professors, Manish stated that even some professors at JNU have openly supported the leftists and had stopped taking classes for students who wanted to study. They were also issuing threats and warning to students who do not support the leftist cause. These professors had also stopped taking assignments and conducting exams. When the university conducted online exams, the departments where leftist professors were in the majority, never managed to conduct exams properly. Manish informed that to stop the registration process for the new semester, leftist student leaders Geeta Kumari, Apeksha Priyadarshini and their supporters had damaged the server rooms.

Why did the leftists shut down the internet room and caused damage to the servers? Replying to these questions, Manish stated that the server room held all the CCTV footage of the JNU violence. The leftists’ acts of violence and destruction would have been exposed had the footage been recovered. He added that the people agitating against the restrictions on connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir were against connectivity inside the JNU campus. JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh was also a part of the mob that had vandalised and damaged the server room. Later, in the name of a ‘peace march’, the leftists gathered another mob of 500 students and damaged the server room again.

Manish also stated that the students who wanted to register for the new semester were attacked with sticks, rods and stones. The initial attack was stopped after the security guards intervened. Manish further informs that later, the leftists had launched an attack on the Periyar, Sabarmati, Mahi-Mandavi hostels because ABVP supporting students were more in numbers in those hostels. Reminiscing about that day, Manish says that the masked goons had reminded him of the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. He added that he had hidden in a room with some of his friends on the day of the attack.

Manish has named JNUSU general secretary Satish Chandra Yadav as the leader of the violent mob. He also added that the violent mob included JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh and Sucheta. He stated that he was beaten so much that he had lost consciousness for some time. He added further that, later he was taken to AIIMS where he saw that leftist leader Vrinda Karat was already there and was creating hurdles for the hospital staff in availing treatment to students. He also stated that his friends Shivam Chaurasia and Ujjwal had received head injuries. Their friend Seshmani Sahu was also badly injured.

Manish further informed that many Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi and Kamal Nath, had reached AIIMS. Even many lawyers had barged into the AIIMS trauma centre calling themselves ex-students. When Priyanka Gandhi was told about the violence done by leftists, she had simply ignored and walked away. He also added that many leftists students had faked injuries and were occupying beds there. A person named Suri was there too. He went to Kerala, attended events and was seen with garlands and all his ‘injuries’ had vanished.

Watch: As ABVP member shares his ordeal on JNU violence, Priyanka Gandhi ignores and walks away

Manish stated that many political leaders, like Yogendra Yadav, D Raja and Sitaram Yechury had reached AIIMS too. He asked that how did so many leftists leaders managed to gather at JNU within such a short span of time. Mentioning the AAP connection of the journalist who was behind India Today’s so-called ‘sting’ against ABVP, Manish has expressed concerns that he thinks all this politicisation may be aimed towards the upcoming Delhi elections. Expressing concerns over India Today’s Rahul Kanwal’s behaviour over Ashwath Awasthi, Manish stated that Kanwal’s intentions behind blaming the world’s largest student organisation may have been to tarnish Delhi Police. He also alleged that though India Today had spoken to him, his statements were edited out from all their and social media shares.

Manish stated that Rahul Kanwal and his channel (India Today) pre-decides what statements are to be shown in their broadcast. Citing the 1983 incident where leftists had entered the JNU VC’s residence and had vandalised the place, causing the university to be closed for over a year. Manish stated that at that time, leftist had dominated the campus and there was no dissenting voice.

Manish stated that the same violent tactics that the leftists adopted in China, is being repeated inside JNU. He added that leftists are now distributing pamphlets inside the campus, asking students to boycott ABVP and its leaders. He added that as long as ABVP workers are present they will fight to preserve the glory of the institution.

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