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Watch: While assuring a journalist that their anti-CAA protests are ‘peaceful’, RJD leader spots an autorickshaw and vandalises it

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: While assuring a journalist that their anti-CAA protests are ‘peaceful’, RJD leader spots an autorickshaw and vandalises it

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav called a bandh in Bihar on December 21 against the Citizenship Amendment Act. “In protest against CAA and NRC, the RJD will be leading a Bihar bandh on December 21. On the eve of it, the party carried a torch rally in all districts to give a call for a peaceful protest”, Tejashwi tweeted on Friday. But the protests were far from peaceful, and reports of violence by protesters are emerging from the state.

Among all these, in a video which is going viral on social media, one RJD leader is seen vandalising an auto-rickshaw just seconds after claiming that protests are peaceful. In the video, an ABP reporter approaches the RJD leader and questions him about the violence which his party workers had resorted to during the ‘peaceful’ bandh called by the party.

The leader tries to convince the reporter that the party workers at no point during the bandh resorted to any sought of violence and that the entire process was being carried out as peacefully as promised by their supremo. When he was asked about auto-rickshaws being attacked by RJD workers during the bandh, he was dismissing them but then the video suddenly takes an unprecedented twist.

While talking to the reporter about how peaceful their protests were, the RJD leader spots an auto-rickshaw on the road, presumably defying the bandh. Seeing this, he suddenly runs towards the vehicle, leaving the interview, he has a stick in his right hand, and an RJD flag on the left hand. Several other party workers charge towards the vehicle along with him, chanting ‘maar maar maar’. The politician who was, a second ago, assuring the reporter that his party workers have not been using muscle power to enforce the bandh, reaches the auto and starts attacking its front side with the stick he was carrying. After him, his party workers also join him in vandalising the auto-rickshaw, with the driver still sitting on the driver’s seat.


Following the call of Bihar bandh, against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), party supporters blocked highways at Darbhanga and Vaishali here on Saturday.

At Darbhanga, RJD workers and supporters protested bare chest, sloganeering against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and central government. While party supporters protested at the railway line and disrupted train movement, they blocked the highway by burning tyres. At Vaishali, the highway was blocked by the RJD workers with the help of buffaloes.

The biggest incident occurred in Patna, where fierce stone-pelting took place during a clash between two groups. During this brawl, 11 people were sho, whereas, one was stabbed. Two dozen people, including half a dozen policemen, were injured in the stone-pelting incident. Several media person also fell prey to the hooliganism. Dainik Jagran’s cinematographer, Kumar Dinesh, was also injured in the ensuing.

In Aurangabad too, several policemen, including the SDPO were injured. Protests in places like Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Nawada also turned violent which compelled the police personnel to use tear gas shells to compel the crowd.

Phulwarisharif in Patna also turned into a war zone leaving 13 people injured in an incident of indiscriminate stone-pelting and violence by anti-CAA rioters. While 8 injured were admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),  two were taken to the Patna Medical Colleges and Hospitals (PMCH) and one was rushed to a private hospital. One person was also reportedly stabbed during the ruckus.

Six police personnel have also been reported injured due to the stone-pelting. They are being treated in local hospitals. DM Kumar Ravi said that Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code has been implemented in Phulwarisharif, Patna.

Meanwhile, in Bhagalpur, RJD district president Tirupati Nath Yadav was himself seen vandalizing several vehicles.

The Left parties, supported by mahagathbandhan allies barring the RJD, too had observed a Bihar bandh on Thursday.

Meerut: Anti-CAA rioters trap RAF police forces in a house and try to burn them alive, 4 rioters killed after bullets fly from both sides

OpIndia Staff
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Meerut: Anti-CAA rioters trap RAF police forces in a house and try to burn them alive, 4 rioters killed after bullets fly from both sides

Several towns and cities in Uttar Pradesh witnessed widespread violent protests over the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act. The anti-CAA rioters, who ran amok, under the pretext of peaceful protests, blatantly indulged in arson, vandalism and stone-pelting in opposition to the bill that aims to naturalise persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring countries.

In Meerut, the police had received a tip-off that things could turn ugly on Friday. Soon after the Friday prayers, a crowd of people wearing black bands came out from the Jama Masjid at around 2 pm to protest against the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Bill. When police tried to stop them, they started chanting slogans against the police after which the police lathi-charged them. After that, 15-20 miscreants reached the Lisadi gate intersection and started creating ruckus there. As the crowd kept swelling, the protestors started throwing stones at the police forces.

DM and SSP reached the spot as bullet started flying from both sides. On Hapur road, where around 25-30 RAF police trainees were deployed, realising that the police deployment is less, the agitating crowd shifted there, vandalising scores of vehicles and pelting stones against the law enforcement personnel. To protect themselves from the stone pelting, the trainee policemen took shelter inside a shop, but they were taken hostage by the violent protestors inside the shop by shutting down the shutters. The mob also tried to torch the shop, but was unable to do so.

The trapped policemen called their seniors, and a police force from Nauchandi police station reached the spot, but their vehicles were also stopped and they were attacked with stoned by the protesters. After that, the police opened fire on the mob, and eventually rescued the trapped RAF soldiers and brought the spiralling situation under control. The soldiers were trapped inside the building for around an hour before being rescued. The Islamabad police station was also set ablaze by the violent demonstrators.

Source: AmarUjala

Four rioters-Asif(20), Mohsin(25), Zaheer(25) and Asif(25) were killed in police retaliation. 50 policemen were also injured in stone-pelting and other violent incidents, 3 of them were shot bullets at by the ‘protestors’ protesting against the CAA. The police have so far filed 6 cases against the rioters in three police stations in Meerut.

Similarly, in Muzzafarnagar, after offering the namaz, people started gathering on the grounds of Islamia Inter College. The crazed mob then started pelting stones and petrol bottles at the police. The miscreants set a branch of Dena Bank near Meenakshi Chowk on fire.

India Today reports fake source-based news stating BS Yediyurappa will not implement NRC in Karnataka, deletes article

OpIndia Staff
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India Today reports fake source-based news stating BS Yediyurappa will not implement NRC in Karnataka, deletes article

The “liberal-secular” media industry of the country which is openly instigating Muslims to pick up arms against the Modi government over the passing of Citizenship Amendment Act has now resorted to publishing fake news against the BJP government on the issue of implementation of NRC in Karnataka.

In a report by India Today on Saturday, it has been claimed that BS Yediyurappa led government has decided not to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Karnataka.

The deleted India Today report which claims that NRC will not be implemented in Karnataka

 

India Today report

The report further stated that the BJP government to create a database of immigrants who have been living in Karnataka instead of implementing NRC.

However, in reality, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has 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 last week after 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.

Funnily enough, if one searches with keywords, the deleted article by India Today and another article that appeared in India Today on the 18th of December on Karnataka appear one after the other.

Google search of India Today article

Funnily, India Today had itself reported that Karnataka CM had said that he will be implementing CAA in the state. One has to logically ask oneself that if a state is implementing CAA, which would it not implement the NRC?

Interestingly, the same journalist who reported the fake news today had reported in October that Karnataka is already in the process of collecting NRC information.

India Today article from October

In October, as reported by India Today itself, Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai had also said that his department was collecting information on immigrants in the state and will proceed on working toward Assam-like National Register of Citizens (NRC) after a discussion with the central government.

Read: Modi government dispels myths about NRC: Here are 13 FAQs and their answers published by the govt

“There is a talk on the implementation of NRC across India. We are one of the states where people across the border have come and settled down. We are collecting information and will discuss with Union home ministry and go ahead,” Bommai had said.

One has to wonder how India Today and the journalist himself missed their own reportage in the past to peddle fake source-based news today only to delete the news later.

Karnataka government’s decision to implement NRC comes after Union home minister Amit Shah had repeatedly called for a nationwide NRC. Several other party leaders from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Tripura have also demanded the exercise across the country.

Media spreads fake news about Parineeti Chopra being removed as Haryana Brand Ambassador due to anti-CAA tweets. Here is the truth

OpIndia Staff
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Media spreads fake news about Parineeti Chopra being removed as Haryana Brand Ambassador due to anti-CAA tweets. Here is the truth

A day after Congress party and its ecosystem attacked BJP government in Haryana for the alleged removal of actor Parineeti Chopra as the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign’s state brand ambassador, the spokesperson for Women and Child Development Department of Haryana Government on Friday said that an MoU signed with the actor had ended in April 2017 itself.

Taking to social media after reports suggesting that BJP govt had sacked Parineeti Chopra for speaking against the government, the Haryana government on Saturday said those reports were “false, baseless and malicious”. The Haryana government further said that the MoU between the government and Parineeti Chopra was signed for 1 year till April 2017 and the agreement was never renewed again.

This means, Parineeti Chopra was not even the brand ambassador of Haryana’s Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign at a time when she stood behind violent protestors of Jamia Millia University, so there is no question of sacking her for that reason.


On Thursday, Congress party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala and many members of the “liberal-secular” media ecosystem had criticised the Haryana government for allegedly “sacking” Parineeti Chopra from her assignment of brand ambassador.


After that, yesterday several media houses published the news that Parineeti Chopra has been dropped as the brand ambassador of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign by the Haryana government. Reporting a blatant lie that the Bollywood actress has been sacked, the media reports then went on to speculate whether it was done due to her tweet supporting the ant-CAA protests.

On 17th December, Parineeti Chopra had posted a tweet where she had criticised police action against Jamia Millia and AMU ‘students’ for protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. She had tweeted, “If this is what’s gonna happen every time a citizen expresses their view, forget #CAB, we should pass a bill and not call our country a democracy anymore! Beating up innocent human beings for speaking their mind? BARBARIC.”


Indian Express, New Indian Express, Firstpost, News18, Zee News, The Print were among the media houses that carried the fake news and the insinuation connecting with her tweet.

The media reports claimed that Parineeti Chopra has been sacked by the Haryana government, but there is no official confirmation of the same. The reports quoted ‘reports’, and didn’t mention any source for the news. Some of the reports used an earlier quote by Haryana CM’s Advisor on Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign, Yogender Malik, as saying that “as per my information, Parineeti Chopra is no longer our brand ambassador”, as a source of the claim. This quote is not dated, and it says Parineeti is no longer the brand ambassador, it does not mean that she has been sacked recently.

He was clearly referring to the fact that her contract with the state government had expired, and that’s why she is no longer the brand ambassador, not because she was dropped or sacked. But the media reports chose to ignore that and went ahead with publishing a fake report.

Some of the reports have since been deleted from the websites by the respective media houses. The fake news was picked up by usual suspects from the left-liberal ecosystem and used it to attack the BJP government in the state.

As Bhim Army supports Islamist protests against CAA, here is what happened to a Dalit leader who had supported Pakistan

Editorial Desk
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As Bhim Army supports Islamist protests against CAA, here is what happened to a Dalit leader who had supported Pakistan

The anti-CAA riots have raged on throughout the nation. While the riots are mostly by Islamists, the support has poured in from several expected quarters. The movie industry, which is often said to be made up of a vacuous, cerebrally vacant lot, have supported the Islamists in their riots. The violence unleashed on India has often been pushed under the rug, while attempts have been made to paint this onslaught as some sort of ‘dissent’ and ‘revolution’. Political parties like Congress, AAP, RJD, TMC etc have only poured kerosene on the raging fire. The latest addition to the list of people who have joined the Muslim mobs, is Chandrashekhar Azad, the chief of Bhim Army, a political party that fights on the ‘Dalit’ plank.

Recently, during the anti-CAA protests, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad surfaced at the Jama Masjid in Delhi, dramatically defying a ban on protests amidst heavy police presence. Azad was seen holding up a copy of the preamble of the constitution along with posters of BR Ambedkar as he led his supporters in a protest inside the gates of the Jama Masjid just after Friday prayers.

The Delhi Police had denied permission to Chandrashekhar Azad’s protest march against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar. Reports say that thousands of Muslims gathered at Jama Masjid after the Friday prayers, joined by Bhim Army members. Azad was later detained by the police after reportedly, escaping detention once.

Read: Khilafat 2.0: How Useful Idiots in the media and political parties were fooled by Jamia students associated with the ‘blood brother’ of a banned Radical Islamic outfit

Azad’s presence at Jama Masjid where Islamists held protests indicates the age-old attempt to peddle the ‘Dalit-Muslim’ unity narrative. The ‘Jai Bheem, Jai Meem’ narrative was also seen at Jignesh Mevani’s rally in Gujarat that turned violent. Islamists who had attacked a police van in their frenzy were seen carrying ‘Jai Bheem’ flags.

In the face of such blatant unification of so-called Dalit leaders and Islamists, it becomes important to take a walk down memory lane and remember Dalit leader from West Bengal, Jogendranath Mandal. In Bangla, Yogendra is often pronounced as ‘Jogendra’, as was the Dalit leader Jogendra Nath Mandal. It is rather unfortunate that such vital stories from our past have not been taught in schools. Unfortunate because as is said, those who not remember history are condemned to repeat it.

Jogendra Nath Mandal was born on 29th January 1904 in British Bengal. In fact, the Dalit leader can be called one of the parents of Pakistan itself as he was instrumental in its formation. Ever since he was elected to the Calcutta Municipal Corporation in 1940, he helped the Muslim community and was immensely involved with them.

Read: 25 crimes that prove that the Dalit-Muslim unity is nothing but a farce

Jogendra Nath Mandal helped A.K. Fazlul Haq and Khwaja Nazimuddin (1943–45) in their governments and during 1946–47, Mandal contributed greatly to the Muslim League. It is because of Mandal’s immense contribution to the Muslim League that when Jinnah had to name five ministers for his newly formed government, Jogendra Nath Mandal was one of the five. Once named, Mandal became the first Law Minister of Pakistan.

One must look at the contribution of Mandal to the formation of Pakistan as well, that earned him the place in history as the first Law Minister of Pakistan.

After the announcement of June 3, 1947, Assam’s Sylhet district had to decide by voting whether it would become part of Pakistan or of India. The area had almost an equal population of Hindus and Muslims. The results of the election were expected to be non-decisive. Knowing the expected results, Jinnah sent Jogendra Nath Mandal to the area. Mandal went their and swung the Dalit votes in Pakistan’s favour. The area is today a part of Bangladesh.

Read: Why the Muslim perpetrators’ name must be mentioned explicitly when the victim is a Hindu

Jogendra Nath Mandal was also the first Labor Minister of Pakistan. In 1949, Jinnah also entrusted him with the responsibility of the Ministry of Commonwealth and Kashmir Affairs. It was from 1947 that the brutal atrocities against Hindus started in Pakistan. The abduction, murder and rape of Hindus were becoming extremely common and the fact of these sectarian atrocities was not hidden from Mandal. Mandal constantly wrote letters urging authorities to take note and investigate the atrocities against Hindus.

Jogendra Nath Mandal repeatedly urged Pakistan authorities to take action against Islamists heaping atrocities on minority Hindus. However, the Islamic republic was not interested in stopping the atrocities. It was almost as if the persecution of Hindus had state sanction. Unbridled persecution continued with Hindu women being raped, houses being looted and murders and abductions being the order of the day.

Mandal tried his best and for a while, continued his efforts to get the state of Pakistan to act against Islamists. However, his efforts failed. Soon after the death of Jinnah, Jogendra Nath Mandal returned to India in 1950 and lived a life of oblivion in Bongaon, West Bengal. The guilt of his actions weighing down heavily on him. Guilt-ridden, on October 5, 1968, he breathed his last in oblivion.

Read: Battle of Koregaon: Lessons in Unity

Dalit and Muslim politics haven’t changed much since then. We still see Dalit leaders trying their best to peddle the narrative of Dalit-Muslim unity. Leaders like Chandrashekhar Azad join Islamists in demeaning India and Congress leaders like Jignesh Mevani scream ‘Jai Bheem Jai Meem’ at the top of their voice.

The anti-CAA riots have seen a renewed push to further this narrative. What is forgotten, however, is that most Hindus who were left behind in Pakistan when the country was partitioned were, in fact, Dalits and backward classes. Today, when Citizenship Amendment Act seeks to right that wrong and give those Dalits and other Hindus the citizenship of India and steer them away from an Islamic nation that has historically heaped atrocities against them, it is unfortunate to see Dalit leaders join Islamists in opposing the Act.

Those who don’t remember history and condemned to repeat it, it is said. With the Dalit leaders pandering to Islamists, it would bode well for them to remember Jogendra Nath Mandal, what his actions entailed, and how, after trying his best to honour to ‘Dalit-Muslim’ unity trope, he breathed his last in India, guilt-ridden, after watching his Hindu brothers and sisters mercilessly persecuted.

1100 academicians, intellectuals and research scholars issue statement supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act

OpIndia Staff
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1100 academicians, intellectuals and research scholars issue statement supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act

Amidst the uproar and the extreme violence being discharged in the name of dissent against the Citizenship Amendment Act, more and more people have now started coming up in support of the Act. A group of 1100 academicians, intellectuals, and research scholars issued a statement in support of the recently passed Act, stating that any opposition to the act is not in the best interest of the country.


The list mainly comprises of professors, associate professors and assistant professors from dozens of colleges and universities in Indian and abroad, research scholars from within the country and abroad, scientists and scholars associated with institutes like AIIMS, IITs and IIMs, law students and practitioners.

The statement which is duly signed by such distinguished academicians including names like Dr Anand Ranganathan, a faculty in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Kanchan Gupta- Senior Journalist, Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, J Sai Deepak- Advocate, Supreme Court etc. states that: we a group of academicians, intellectuals, and research scholars are issuing this statement in our personal capacity in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019.

SS of the statement issued in support of CAA

The statement further adds, “The Act fulfils the long-standing demand of providing refuge and citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Ever since the failure of Liaquat-Nehru pact of 1950, various leaders and parties like the Congress, CPI (M) etc cutting across the ideological spectrum have demanded the grant of refuge and citizenship to religious minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh who mostly belong to the Dalit castes.”

“We congratulate the Indian parliament and government for standing up for the minority rights in keeping with the civilizational ethos of India, providing a haven to those fleeing religious persecution from across the world,” the statement signed by over 1100 academicians, intellectuals and research scholars read.

We also note with satisfaction that the concern of the North-Eastern states has been heard and are being addressed appropriately.

“We believe that CAA is in perfect synchronization with the secular Constitution of India as it does not prevent any religious denomination from any country, seeking citizenship of India. Nor does it change the criteria of existing citizenship in Indian in any way. CAA only seeks to provide a special expediated redress, under special circumstances to minorities fleeing religious persecution from three specific countries i.e. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan while in no way excluding Ahmadis, Hazaras and other denominates and ethnicities, from seeking Indian citizenship through regular processes”, it read.

While castigating the violence in the name of CAA, the statement read that we also note with deep anguish, that an atmosphere of fear and paranoia is being built in the country through deliberate obfuscation, propaganda and fear-mongering leading to violence in several parts of the country most notably in Bengal.

“We also appeal to every section of the society to exercise restraint and refuse to fall in the trap of communalism and anarchism”, it read.

Yesterday, around 5000 people gathered the Central Park in Connaught Place and raised thundering slogans in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act. Apart from these, students of Delhi University had also on December 18 come out to extend their support for the Citizenship Bill.

Moreover, Alumni at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), had also launched a campaign in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). Earlier, the IIT Bombay students had also come out in support of the CAA.

Lutyens ‘journalists’ peddle half-truths about RBI’s new KYC norms which help persecuted minorities to open bank accounts in India

OpIndia Staff
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Lutyens ‘journalists’ peddle half-truths about RBI’s new KYC norms which help persecuted minorities to open bank accounts in India

The liberal-secular media thrived by Congress ecosystem has time and again tried to incite public, especially Muslim communities, by resorting to fake news and half-truths to incite them against the Narendra Modi government. In a similar move, some self-proclaimed ‘intellectuals’ and media professionals have yet again indulged in fear-mongering and fake propaganda against the Modi government.

On Saturday, some of these ‘journalists’ picked up an article reported in Times of India which stated that banks may introduce a new column in ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) forms for their depositors and clients to mention their religion. Reportedly, this requirement has necessitated after the changes made to FEMA Act regulations, which extend the benefits of opening NRO accounts and holding property to select religious minorities, excluding Muslims.

However, these amendments issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations is not new, but was issued in 2018.

These regulations are limited to migrants who are from minority communities — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who are already staying in India and hold long-term visas (LTVs). These LTV holders can buy residential property and open bank accounts in India.

The amendment to Schedule 3 of the FEMA (Deposit) regulations states, “A person being a citizen of Bangladesh or Pakistan belonging to minority communities in those countries, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who is residing in India and has been granted a Long Term Visa (LTV) by the central government is permitted to open with an authorized dealer only one NRO Account.

Read- Reserve Bank of India clarifies that it has not sold any gold or trading in it, refutes the ET report categorically

An NRO account is basically a savings or current account held by NRIs in India to manage their income earned in India.

Most importantly, the FEMA regulations state, “The said NRO account shall be converted to a resident account once the person becomes a citizen of India within the meaning of the Citizenship Act, 1955.”

The above provision which was brought in 2018, will now aid the persecuted minorities belonging to three neighbouring countries who are already residing in India to open resident accounts and also buy one residential immovable property in the country for themselves. Further, the resident Muslims, who are already citizens of the country will not have any effect as they open resident accounts and not NRO accounts.

Rajeev Kumar, the Finance Secretary, Secretary Department of Financial Services (DFS) also clarified that there is no requirement for Indian citizens to declare their religion for opening bank accounts for KYC.


However, the usual suspects in the media fraternity tried to communalise a simple regulation passed by the RBI to ease the provisions of FEMA to enable the new citizens of the country to open bank accounts in the country.

Faye D’Souza, one time TV ‘news’ anchor claiming to be ‘journalist’, as usual, was keen to express her anguish on the regulations without even reading the details of the provisions of the FEMA regulations that were brought in by the RBI in 2018 itself even before Modi government decided to implement the CAA.

At a time when Muslim mobs are creating riots on streets, senior ‘elites’ like D’Souza should have been careful not to indulge in fear-mongering and incite Muslims by further propaganda.


Pritish Nandy, another Congress-era ‘journalist’ blames the Modi government for a decision taken by an independent RBI.


Maya Mirchandani, a former news anchor at NDTV who is now associated with an ultra left-wing fake news website – The Wire, displayed her ignorance on the regulations and attempted to trivialise the issue by calling it ‘communal’.


Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, another left-wing ‘journalist’ also vented out his anger against the country and tried to mislead it as another ‘religious’ issue.


After inciting Muslim population across the country to take up arms against the Modi government, the Indian media mafia is likely to pick up these non-issues of bank regulations to twist it suit their ‘communal’ propaganda against the government.

At a time when the media fraternity should have tried to clear misgivings and confusions among the Muslims community regarding the CAA, the media fraternity is pushing such carefully crafted half-truths to further destabilise the law and order in the country.

After Mamata Banerjee, communist govt in Kerala puts NPR work on hold due to ‘apprehensions’ that it would lead to NRC

OpIndia Staff
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After Mamata Banerjee, communist govt in Kerala puts NPR work on hold due to ‘apprehensions’ that it would lead to NRC

The Communist Kerala government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a controversial decision has ordered a stay on all activities relating to the updation of National Population Register (NPR) in the state scheduled to be held in April 2020.

Through an order issued on Friday late evening, the left government in the state stayed all activities connected with the updation of NPR. “Considering the apprehensions among the general public about the conduct of NPR related activities would lead to the national register of citizens (NRC) in the wake of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, the state government orders to stay all the activities connected with the updation of NPR in the state,” the order issued by general administration department principal secretary KR Jyothilal said.

While the government order said the NPR had been put on hold in view of the “apprehensions” of the public that it would lead to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office said the action was taken as the NPR “deviates from Constitutional values” and also because the matter was before the Supreme Court.

The BJP government has decided to prepare a National Population Register (NPR) by September 2020 to lay the foundation for rolling out a citizens’ register across the country.

Read: Modi government dispels myths about NRC: Here are 13 FAQs and their answers published by the govt

The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country. The database would contain demographic as well as biometric particulars.

The government has said that a usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more and that it is mandatory for every usual citizen to register with NPR.

The data for National Population Register was actually collected in 2010 alongwith the house listing phase of Census of India 2011. The updation of this data was done during 2015 by conducting door to door survey. The digitisation of the updated information has been completed. Now it has been decided to update the National Population Register along with the Houselisting phase of Census 2021 during April to September 2020 in all the States/UTs except Assam. Gazette notification to this effect has already been published by the Central Government.

Read: Mamata Banerjee says BJP workers buying skull cap to malign Muslims, demands UN-monitored referendum on CAA and NRC

Interestingly, while the opposition continues to call CAA and NRC including NPR ‘communal’, NPR, according to the Census website does not require the religion of the person to be mentioned at all.

The updation of NPR, the fieldwork of which is carried out by the state government, was scheduled between April 15 and May 29 next year in Kerala. The Left government in Kerala who had earlier agreed to participate in the process has now taken a U-turn saying the process “deviates from constitutional values”.

Earlier this week, the West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had also decided to stay all activities relating to the preparation and updation of the NPR in the eastern state amid the furore over the CAA.

The BJP has reacted sharply to the Bengal government’s stay. The party’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who has been camping in West Bengal since the protests started against the Citizenship Amendment Act, called it “irresponsible politics by Mamata Banerjee”.

“If she is so disturbed and upset by the Act, why did her MPs not mention all these during the debate in Parliament? Why did eight of her MPs remain absent in Lok Sabha on the day? These are instances of cheap politics and theatrics,” said Vijayvargiya.

Sharad Pawar bats for Bhima Koregaon violence accused ‘Urban Naxals’, demands ‘fresh probe’ from CM Thackeray

OpIndia Staff
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Sharad Pawar bats for Bhima Koregaon violence accused ‘Urban Naxals’, demands ‘fresh probe’ from CM Thackeray

After senior NCP leader Jitendra Awhad exhorted Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray to drop charges against accused Urban Naxals in Bhima Koregaon violence case, now the party supremo Sharad Pawar has demanded a fresh probe on Bhima Koregaon violence case.


Casting aspersions on the investigative agencies’ role in the Bhima Koregaon case, Sharad Pawar said, “We will ask CM Uddhav Thackeray to form a Special Investigation Team to probe the matter.”

The five suspected ‘Urban Naxals’, identified as Delhi based activist Rona Wilson, advocate Surendra Gadling, professor Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut from Nagpur and Mumbai’s Sudhir Dhavle were arrested by the Pune police on 6 June 2018, over charges of organising the Elgaar Parishad held at Pune’s Shaniwarwada on 31 December 2017, which is believed to have instigated the Bhima-Koregaon violence a day later.

Read: Cases against ‘Dalit activists’ arrested during Bhima Koregaon violence will be dropped: Uddhav Thackeray assures NCP leaders

The NCP led by Sharad Pawar has always sided with the ‘Urban Naxals’, referring to them as ‘activists’ and not accused. Earlier, after the formation of Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state, senior NCP leader Dr Jitendra Awhad had urged CM Thackeray to release Bhima Koregaon violence accused as they were, according to him, falsely incriminated.

Pawar too had sided with the ‘Urban Naxals’ from the start. He had filed an affidavit with the Bhima Koregaon Commission holding the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra Government responsible for the violence and giving a clean chit to the ‘Urban Naxals’.

Read: Pahad Singh: Heard senior members talk about the ‘activists’ arrested, unarmed Urban Naxals same as gun toting Naxals

“It is not possible for anti-social elements with a strong political vendetta to come together at such a large number at Bhima Koregaon without the failure of the law-enforcing agency. Hence the state has to own up responsibility for a failed law-and-order situation on January 1, 2018,” Pawar said in the affidavit.

It is noteworthy to mention that the Pune Sessions Court had recently rejected the bail application of all the nine alleged ‘Urban Naxals’ namely, Surendra Gadling, Varavara Rao, Sudha Bhardwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut and Rona Wilson, accused of instigating the Bhima-Koregaon violence that took place on 1st January 2018 in Pune.

Idols will be removed, thrones will vanish, only Allah’s name will remain: Complaint against IIT-K’s Jamia solidarity event

OpIndia Staff
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Idols will be removed, thrones will vanish, only Allah’s name will remain: Complaint against IIT-K’s Jamia solidarity event

The anti-CAA protests which are being carried out across the country by certain sections of the population, especially Muslims, have already turned communal and violent.

From Muslim mobs vandalising public infrastructures to ‘students’ shouting communal slogans like “Allahu Akbar and ‘Naara-e-Takbeer’ inside public universities, the trends have been clear that the protests are nowhere related to expressing dissent against the government regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act but more of displaying religious hatred towards other communities.

In a similar incident in the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K), the protestors resorted to blatantly communal slogans, only to be stopped by students of the university.

According to a report by Swarajya journalist Swati Goel Sharma, a faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) has given a written complaint to the institute’s director, objecting to purported anti-India and communal statements made in a recent ‘solidarity with Jamia students’ event held in the campus.

Read: AAP MLA and Delhi Waqf Board Chairman Amanatullah Khan rewards Md Minhajuddin, who got ‘injured’ during Jamia anti-CAA riots

Dr Vashi Sharma, a faculty from the mechanical department, has raised a complaint along with video evidence of the anti-CAA protests to the director, appealing for action against the participants.

In the video, according to Sharma, lines from ‘Hum Dekhenge’ have been recited along with placards reading, “tumhari laathi aur goli se tez hamari awaaz hai” (our voice is louder than your sticks and bullets).


The poem reads, “Lazim hai ke hum bhi dekhenge. Jab arz-e-Khuda ke kaabe se. Sab but uthwae jaenge. Hum ahl-e-safa mardood-e-harm. Masnad pe bethae jaenge. Sab taaj uchale jaenge. Sab takht girae jaenge. Bas naam rahega Allah ka. Hum dekhenge.”

The lines used from the poem appear deeply communal in isolation and are often used by Pakistani-sponsored terrorists and separatists in Kashmir to express their anti-Hindu and anti-India hatred. The ones raising these slogans essentially wanted that all the idols, crowns will be vanished to keep Allah’s name alive.

The English translation for the same is, “We will witness. It is definite that we too will witness. When from Allah’s place, when all idols will be removed. When crowns will be tossed. When thrones will vanish. Only Allah’s name will remain…”

Read: Jamia students joined rioters, former Congress MLA Asif Khan named: Read details of FIR filed in Jamia anti-CAA riot case

As students in IIT-Kanpur began to recite these communal lines during the anti-CAA protests, some other students had reportedly interrupted the recitation. In this regard, Professor Sharma has filed a complaint, which is also signed by 15 other students of the institute.

“I was shocked as these lines are cited as a communal call frequently in Pakistan, and have been popularised by Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s radical anti-India party – PTI. They are published on Khan’s official website,” said Prof Sharma.

He further added that it was evident that the gathering was orchestrated by certain nefarious elements and was aimed at radicalising innocent students, spreading hate against India and communally vitiating the atmosphere of the institute.

Read: Khilafat 2.0: How Useful Idiots in the media and political parties were fooled by Jamia students associated with the ‘blood brother’ of a banned Radical Islamic outfit

In his complaint, Sharma said that there is now an “immediate security situation” for him as well as those students who objected to the statements made by protestors.

“Kindly know that when I was returning from the venue, I was shown middle finger by a participant of the rally. Another one shouted loudly – “so here he lives” in a threatening tone indirectly suggesting others to harm me later,” the complaint said.

The complaint also urged the IIT administration to take immediate disciplinary and legal action against the hate mob. “Organisers and masterminds must be identified and expelled immediately,” Sharma demanded in his complaint.

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