Sadhvi Pragya has moved a privilege motion in the parliament against the former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s remarks against her. Gandhi had called her a “terrorist” in a tweet posted by him.
Pragya, who was removed from the Defence panel after terming Nathuram Godse a patriot, moved a privilege motion against Gandhi demanding an apology from him for his remarks. Pragya’s demand was also backed by the BJP which asked the Gandhi scion to tender an apology to the member of parliament from Bhopal.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had taken to Twitter to assert that Pragya Thakur is a terrorist. “Terrorist Pragya calls terrorist Godse, a patriot. A sad day, in the history of India’s Parliament,” Gandhi had said on Twitter.
Terrorist Pragya calls terrorist Godse, a patriot.
Gandhi’s comment came in the wake of Sadhvi Pragya’s remarks for Nathuram Godse. Sadhvi had called Godse a patriot after which she was pulled up by the BJP president JP Nadda and was subsequently removed from the Defence panel.
On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi has brazened out his remark on Sadhvi Pragya. “I stood by my comment. Whatever she said about Nathuram Godse, she spoke from her heart. This is what she and RSS feel about Godse. They can bring motion against me. That’s fine. Whatever they will do against me. I will welcome it,” Rahul said.
Sadhvi Pragya has already apologised in the Lok Sabha for her comments on Godse.
The 2010s are about to end and we look back at what has been a very successful decade for India in Test Cricket. In all, India played 107 Test matches this decade, winning 56 and losing 29 for a Win/Loss ratio of 1.931. In total 54 players represented India in Test Cricket this decade and out of them, here is the XI we picked.
Virender Sehwag
His best days were in the 2000s but still managed to score 2,338 runs in this decade. Sehwag had the highest average among Indian openers who scored more than 1,000 runs this decade.
Murali Vijay
Played more Test matches during this decade than any other opener for India and scored most runs among opening batsmen as well. Hit 12 hundred in his 59 Tests as well, but a poor 2018 and emergence of Mayank and Prithvi Shaw means he may have played his last Test match.
Cheteshwar Pujara
The second most prolific batsman for India in Tests this decade behind Virat Kohli. There were questions over his strike rate for some reason a while ago which saw him miss a few Tests but consistent performances during the previous Australian tour once again cemented his place in the side. Only Virat Kohli hit more 100s than Pujara’s 18 during this decade.
Virat Kohli (C)
The stand out batsman for India during this decade. Kohli dominated the bowling all over the world in all formats, and hardly surprising that he is the top run-scorer for India in the 2010s. 7,202 runs at an average of 54.97 with 27 hundred for Virat since his debut in 2011 put him in a league of his own. Being the best batsman in the side, he gets the preferred Number 4 slot and the next man has to move down one place.
Sachin Tendulkar
Just like Sehwag, the 2010s wasn’t really the best of Sachin Tendulkar as he chased that 100th international hundred for the most part. Still scored 2,951 runs this decade with 8 hundreds. Apart from Virat Kohli, the only Indian batsman to average 50+ in the 2010s (For batsmen with over 1,000 runs)
MS Dhoni
He surprised everyone when he retired from Tests back in 2014 but remains the best Wicket-keeper to have played for India this decade. Scored his career-best of 224 earlier in the decade against Australia that turned the Test in India’s favour.
Ravi Jadeja
Batting average in the Mid 30s and bowling average in Mid 20s will put Jadeja in the league of all-time great all-rounders. His batting has gone from strength to strength in recent times and he remains as accurate as ever with his left-arm spin. Add the fact that he is the best fielder India ever had and he becomes an automatic pick in the squad.
R Ashwin
7th most prolific batsman for India in the 2010s with 4 Test centuries to his name and a small matter of 362 wickets since his debut in 2011. One of the most successful bowlers ever for India (4th place for now) and almost unplayable while bowling in home conditions.
Ishant
Struggled around for a long time with bowling average in the high 30s before hitting his groove in the latter half of the decade and becoming a big reason for the successes India has enjoyed in the past few years. That bowling average is coming down all the time and he seems to be getting fitter and fitter as well.
Shami
Another member of the current pace battery that is powering India to the top of the World Test Championship. 175 wickets at an average of 27 so far for him with a well-deserved tag of “Second innings Shami”, his bowling average during 2nd innings- 21.86, first-innings- 32.39
Bumrah
Bumrah has only taken 62 wickets so far, having played just 12 tests so far but he absolutely smashes the door down to enter the Test team of the decade. He is quick, he is exciting, he moves the bowl all over the place, he destroys the stumps with amazing frequency and picks up his wickets at a fantastic average of 19.
Bengaluru Police have booked former chief ministers Siddaramaiah and HD Kumaraswamy along with few other Congress leaders including former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, DK Shivakumar, Congress state chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, and JD(S) leaders under several Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including sedition charges for opposing the income tax raids during Lok Sabha polls.
In addition to this, the then Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar, former DCP (East) Rahul Shadpurwad, former DCP (Central) Deveraju and six other police officers have been booked as well.
Acting on a private complaint by activist Mallikarjuna A, a local court directed the commercial street police to register an FIR under various sections of the IPC, including criminal conspiracy and attempting or abetting waging war against the Government of India. The FIR was registered on Wednesday.
Mallikarjuna A, an activist form Tumkur, had on March 27 alleged that the then chief minister H D Kumaraswamy had issued statements to the media that he had received information that I-T officials were preparing to raid houses belonging to some JD(S) leaders.
The next day they held a protest opposing the raids on JD(S) and Congress leaders. This amounted to obstructing I-T officials from discharging their duties and this also led to major traffic snarls in the area. He further alleged that the police too didn’t do anything to stop the protest.
IT officials had conducted raids prior to the Lok Sabha elections as precautionary measures against the use of money power in the Lok Sabha elections. The then Congress-JD(S) government had sulked over it, calling it vendetta politics.
Cautioning that he would not shy away from pulling off a Mamata if the centre continued to indulge in “politics of vendetta to weaken opponents” ahead of the elections, the then CM HD Kumaraswamy had also accused the centre of taking the CRPF’s help in the raids in order to maintain the mission’s secrecy.
Meanwhile, reacting to the sedition charges, Congress leader DK Shivakumar, who was in Tihar jail in a money laundering case until recently, said all the cases were politically motivated and he will fight it politically. “We did not enter the income tax office. We stood 150 metres away and raised slogans,” he added.
On Friday, Dr KK Muhammed, the former regional director of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), who was one of the archaeologists who had unearthed a temple beneath the controversial Babri Masjid stated that it was easy to convince a dacoit but it is impossible to convince a communist.
The BJP govt was of no help. I then convinced the dreaded dacoit Nirbhay Gujjar to respect our heritage & allow me to protect it. He relented, and I was able to reconstruct as many as 80 temples. You can convince a dacoit but never a communist, says Dr KK Muhammed at @mlrlitfest. pic.twitter.com/l8RG78yiYN
Speaking at the second edition of the Mangaluru Literature Festival on the ‘Idea of Bharat’, former archaeologist Dr KK Muhammad shared his anecdotes during his days at the Archaeological Survey of India. Dr KK Muhammed spoke about how he was successful in convincing a dreaded dacoit of the Chambal valley to not only allow him to rebuild temples but also how he motivated the dacoit to take up the cause of temple restoration.
“During one of our projects to restore temples in the Chambal valley that had been ravaged in the past, I came across a dreaded dacoit named Nirbhay Singh Gujjar, who helped me to rebuild around 80 temples in areas around Bhatukeshwar and Bhojpur in Madhya Pradesh,” said Muhammed.
He added, “The BJP govt was of no help. I then convinced the dreaded dacoit Nirbhay Gujjar to respect our heritage and allow me to protect it. He relented, and I was able to reconstruct as many as 80 temples. You can convince a dacoit but never a communist.”
Narrating the incident, Muhammed also said how he was successful in convincing the dreaded dacoit of the Chambal valley to take up the cause of restoration of dozens of temples in the area built during the reign of Gurjara Pratiharas.
Dr KK Muhammed’s statements came as a response to the continuous interference of the left-wing ideologues and self-proclaimed communist historians in the Ram Mandir case. The left-wing historians had time and again attempted to debunk the ASI reports that had suggested that there was a temple beneath the controversial mosque at Ayodhya.
Even several times in the past, the former archaeologist had alleged that Left historians like Irfan Habib and Romila Thapar had thwarted attempts to arrive at a resolution to the Babri Masjid issue.
KK Muhammed was a part of the team of archaeologists which had carried out the first excavation at the site in 1976-77 that had unearthed 12 pillars of a Hindu temple at Babri Masjid site.
Dr Mohammed had said that communists did not want the Ayodhya issue to be settled and it was they who stopped Muslim organisations from handing over the disputed land to Hindus.
“The Babri issue would have been settled long ago if the Muslim intelligentsia had not fallen prey to the brainwashing by the Leftist historians. A set of historians including Romila Thapar, Bipin Chandra and S Gopal argued that there was no mention of the dismantling of the temple before 19th century and Ayodhya is Bhudhist-Jain centre. They were supported by historians Irfan Habib, RS Sharma, DN Jha, Suraj Ben and Akthar Ali,” Dr KK Muhammed had stated in the past.
Dr KK Muhammed also expressed his disappointment over the reluctance of the BJP government in conserving and promoting Indian culture and heritage. “We expected so much from the nationalist BJP govt when it came to power, but it has been six years and they have not done anything. So much of our culture and heritage lies in utter neglect. In fact, Congress was better because at least they didn’t interfere,” said Dr KK Muhammed.
“If after giving away Pakistan, India is still secular it’s because of the tolerance of the Hindu majority!”, KK Muhammad pic.twitter.com/2YDQq4x6Zd
Speaking at the literature festival, KK Muhammed also said that if Lord Rama is not part of Muslims culture in the country, he was not a perfect Muslim. “Let me be clear, India is secular only because it is a Hindu majority nation, said Dr KK Muhammed.
After Sadhvi Pragya’s Godse remark created a major furore in the political diaspora, the Bhopal MP on Friday apologised in the Parliament saying her statement was distorted by the Opposition. Sadhvi Pragya said she acknowledges and respects the contributions of Mahatma Gandhi to the Nation and holds him in high esteem, but condemns the way she was misquoted and victimised. After apologising in the lower house the BJP leader launched a scathing attack on Congress supremo Rahul Gandhi for calling her a ‘terrorist’.
Without naming Rahul Gandhi, Sadhvi Pragya slammed the Opposition for attempting to sketch her as a Hindu terrorist. She said that though the previous government had devised a plot against her and made all possible attempts to characterise her as a terrorist, she has not been proven guilty in court, and there is no credible evidence against her.
It is widely believed that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was one of the victims of the Congress party’s attempt to invent Hindu Terror. When in power, the Congress had propagated a false ‘Hindu Terror’ narrative with the help of Digvijay Singh and others, by accusing Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Col Shrikant Purohit in the Malegaon blasts. Sadhvi Pragya was, however, granted bail in April 2017 after the court found no credible evidence against her.
Pragya Thakur said in the Parliament that calling her a terrorist without any substantial evidence is not only against the law but also unethical. She said that this comment is an attack on a woman’s self-respect. The opposition has deliberately vilified a woman, an MP, a Sadhvi’ integrity which she said is highly condemnable, she added.
The previous day, Congress ex-president Rahul Gandhi had called BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur a ‘terrorist’ after she had allegedly praised Nathuram Godse by calling him a patriot. “What she is saying that is the heart of the RSS and BJP, what can I say? It cannot be hidden. I don’t need to waste my time demanding action against that woman.”
In a tweet later, Rahul Gandhi wrote, “Terrorist Pragya calls terrorist Godse, a patriot. A sad day, in the history of India’s Parliament.”
Moreover, after Rahul Gandhi statement, Congress went a step ahead issuing a threatening statement against Pragya Thakur saying that she will be burnt alive if she ever sets her foot in Madhya Pradesh. “We will not just burn her effigy…if she sets foot here, we will burn her also,” said Biaora’s Congress MLA Govardhan Dangi.
Thakur had earlier also clarified that she was referring to Udham Singh when she made the statement.
Following the outrage, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday had clarified that the BJP condemned any philosophy which describes Nathuram Godse as a ‘patriot’.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Union Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh also said that the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi was, is and will remain relevant and described him as a guide (margdarshak) for the nation.
After the controversy, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur has also been removed from a key parliamentary panel and has been barred from attending the parliamentary party meetings of the party.
Home Minister of India and BJP’s senior leader Amit Shah addressed a rally in Jharkhand, Gadhwa ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state. In the speech, Amit Shah essentially spoke about the achievements of the Modi government and also encouraged everyone to work for BJP’s victory in Jharkhand. The media, however, has taken it upon themselves to twist Amit Shah’s statements and help the cause of BJP’s opposition.
The media across the spectrum reported that Amit Shah expressed displeasure at the turnout in the election rally at Jharkhand and even chastised the BJP workers for the thin crowd.
Jansatta reported that Amit Shah got angry upon seeing the ‘thin crowd’ and Shah said: “Don’t fool me, I am also a Baniya” from the stage to BJP leaders.
The very first paragraph of the NDTV article reads, “In Gadhwa, Jharkhand, BJP workers have faced the displeasure of home minister and BJP national president Amit Shah. Amit Shah was addressing an election rally there, but it is being said that the crowd was not the same as is usually seen in Amit Shah’s rallies. Seeing the thin crowd, Amit Shah said, ‘I too am a baniya, I know that elections are not won by the crowd of 20 to 25 thousand who come to the meeting, but send this message and video to 50-50 relatives through mobile’.”
NDTV also went on to quote Hemant Soren, who is the Leader of Opposition in Jharkhand and the former CM. He is also the executive president of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Soren had tweeted the same fake news reported by Jagran.
शासन-प्रशासन का दुरुपयोग कर भीड़ जुटाओ-झूठ फैलाओं कार्यक्रम के आदी भाजपा वालों की नींद उड़ी हुई है। 5 साल इन्होंने जमकर ठगा सखी मंडल की मेरी बहनों और झारखंडी जनता को। मगर अब कोई बहकावे में नहीं आने वाला।
अब जनता चुनेंगी एक सच्ची सरकार, झारखंडी सरकार।#JharkhandAssemblyPollspic.twitter.com/N56xNSulch
Several other news portals like The Quint peddled the same lie.
Another news article that went on to claim that Amit Shah turned to BJP leaders and chastised them for the thin crowd went on to claim that even the mic was switched off when Amit Shah supposedly “got angry” about the “thin crowds”. This article was peddled by Congress, beholden fake news peddlers.
Amit Shah saw a thin crowd at his rally in Jharkhand. Turned to others on the dias and said: Aap mujhe bewakoof mat banao. Main bhi baniya hoon. Ye dus pandrah hazar logon se jeet lenge kya.
The mic wasn’t switched off but. pic.twitter.com/KFQ9xBXXur
The sheer shamelessness of this fake news is apparent when one sees the video of the Amit Shah rally, specifically, the part where Amit Shah makes the statement, “Don’t fool me, I am also a Baniya”.
From the video, it is evident that Amit Shah was giving the crowd a mere electoral pep talk in his speech.
After the crowd chants “yes” when asked if they will vote for BJP, Amit Shah asks the crowd that while they are saying “yes”, is it possible to win elections with 20,000 – 25,000 people?”. When the crowd chants “yes” after the second time Amit Shah poses that question, in jest, Amit Shah says that “why are you saying yes, even I am a baniya, don’t fool me. Even I know we can’t win the election only with 20,000 – 25,000 people”.
He then tells the crowd that “Only 20000-25000 people will not win this election, all the people who are here, within 2 hours of the end of this meeting, call 50 close people like a brother-in-law, aunt-aunt, uncle-aunt, maternal uncle and ask them to vote for BJP and strengthen PM Modi”.
As evident from the video, Amit Shah was not talking to BJP leaders but rather, the crowd and encouraging them to bring more voters along since obviously, no election is won by only the crowd present at a public rally, no matter what the numbers are.
The Media that has traditionally been sympathetic to Congress twisted that to allege that Amit Shah got angry with BJP leaders for the ‘thin crowds’. In fact, a section of the media also went a step ahead and alleged that the mic was switched off when Amit Shah got supposedly “angry” at BJP leaders.
One look at the video would have not only clarified the context of Amit Shah’s statement, but also the fact that at no point of time was the mic switched off. The only plausible explanation is that the media willfully chose to ignore facts and peddle blatant fake news that would then help the opposition to build their narrative on.
Cyberabad police have been relentlessly investigating the case wherein a 27-year-old veterinarian Dr Preeti Reddy (name changed) was brutally raped, murdered and set ablaze in the outskirts of the city on Wednesday night. Four people have been reportedly arrested in connection with the case.
The Telangana police have now confirmed that Preeti Reddy was kidnapped and gang-raped. Police confirmed that a lorry driver named Mohammad Pasha from Narayanpet in Mahababub Nagar district was allegedly the main suspect.
Lorry driver Mohammad Pasha, reportedly arrested by Cyberabad police over Dr Reddy’s rape and murder
Another accused named Naveen from Gudigandla, cleaner Kesavulu, and an assistant named Siva, were also arrested. The Police are said to be interrogating them in an undisclosed location. They will be presented before the media by the police on Friday.
The burnt body of the veterinarian was found near an under the bridge of Chatanpally village near the Outer Ring Road (ORR) at Shamshabad on Thursday morning. It was said to be a pre-planned rape and murder and the accused were said to have kept watch on her movements as they had noticed her parking her scooter near the toll-plaza.
The tyre of the victim’s vehicle, which she had parked near the Tondupalli toll plaza, on Wednesday at 6 PM, 3 hours before she made that distress call to her sister when she returned from work, was deliberately deflated and she was unwittingly trapped by them, confirmed the Cyberabad police.
Under the supervision of V C Sajjanar, Police Commissioner, Cyberabad, Shamshabad DCP N Prakash Reddy formed a special team of 15 people to investigate the case. They had collected CCTV footage near the toll gate and the stretch between the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway. Two videos collected show Preeti riding alone towards the toll gate, while in another she could be seen talking to an unidentified person.
Cyberabad police also recovered the victim’s inner clothes, footwear and a liquor bottle at some distance away from the toll plaza, where Preeti Reddy had parked her two-wheeler. Her scooter was found 40 km away and her charred body about 25 km away from the spot of crime.
As per the post mortem reports, she was said to have been gang-raped, tortured, before they strangled and killed her in the empty land behind the Tondupally toll plaza at the Outer Ring Road at Shamshabad. They had taken the body and her two-wheeler in a lorry.
The suspects are said to have removed the number plates of the Preeti’s bike and left it near the P Darga bus stand in Kothur Mandal in Rangareddy district. After that, they wrapped her body in a bedsheet, poured kerosene and burnt her. They left the body burning there and escaped. The forensic report is pending.
The culprits had taken Preeti’s body to the Chatanpally under bridge near Shadnagar town. As per reports, knowing it as a desolate place, they had wrapped it in a bedsheet, poured kerosene and had left it burning.
The victim’s family members said the Preeti Reddy had reported for duty at her place of work in Kollur in Mahbubnagar district and returned to her residence in the afternoon. Around 5.30 pm, she left her residence on a two-wheeler for consulting a dermatologist at a private hospital at Gachibowli for a skin problem.
She parked her vehicle at Tondupally toll plaza at Outer Ring Road (ORR) in Shamshabad. From there, she took a shared cab to reach Gachibowli and met the skin specialist at the hospital.
When she reached her vehicle, two persons, who are believed to be truck drivers, told her that her tyre was flat.
Speaking on the phone, Preeti (name changed) urged her sister Bhavya to continue talking to her, as the situation was not fine and she was feeling scared. As soon as Preeti went incommunicado abruptly, her family approached the Shamshabad police and a missing case was registered.
Reportedly, milk vendor S Sathyam found a charred body underneath an underpass of a flyover on NH-44 on Thursday morning. He immediately called village elders, who informed local police.
The Cyberabad police soon arrived and found that it was a murder. They later verified the recent missing complaints. On Wednesday night, the Shamshabad police had received a complaint of a veterinary doctor missing. When her family reached the spot where the fully charred body was found, they established its identity based on a scarf and a Ganesha locket around the victim’s neck.
Acting against the drug menace, the Bengaluru police busted an international drug mafia and seized 2.65 Kgs of crystal meth which was apparently shipped through Amazon courier services from Canada.
Bhaskar Rao, Police Commissioner, Bengaluru: These drugs are amphetamine (meth). We recovered 2.655 kg of drugs, each gram was sold for Rs 6,000. The drugs were shipped by Amazon courier from Canada. Examining how it slipped through customs. https://t.co/F5VcGvY1h9
The police have arrested a person named Atif Salim from Kolkata in the matter. The suspect Salim was arrested after a drug addict’s parent provided information about him. Samples of chocolate, cola & strawberry laced amphetamine (meth) was recovered from his apartment. The investigations are currently underway as to how the drugs courier slipped through the vigilance of customs.
Crystal methamphetamine is commonly referred to as crystal meth, a potent and highly addictive drug that affects the central nervous system. It comes in clear crystal chunks or shiny blue-white rocks. Also called “ice” or “glass,” it’s a popular party drug. Known for providing a quick rush of euphoria to the consumers, it has the potential of damaging one’s body and causing severe psychological problems.
This is not the first time that the city of Bengaluru is afflicted by the menace of meth. Earlier this year, Bengaluru police had unmasked smuggling of Ya Ba, a party drug. A 27-year old youth, Jahangir Ghazi was arrested in possession of 1,000 Ya Ba tablets, popularly known as Bhul Bhulaiya or the “madness drug”, worth Rs 10 lakh. Ya Ba is a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine.
So it is official. The “hate BJP at all cost” club in Indian politics has a new member. Shiv Sena.
Governing a state like Maharashtra is no easy task. That too when you are saddling a rather dubious mandate and “alliance” partners who are just waiting to trip you at the next available opportunity. But the Shiv Sena doesn’t have a care in the world. Their hands may be full, but their minds are occupied elsewhere. They want to fish in troubled waters of Goa politics. I think Sanjay Raut even indicated that they have one eye on the BJP’s throne in Delhi.
I don’t know if Shiv Sena has been paying attention to Indian politics in the last five years, but it would be unsurprising if they have not.
Not long ago, it was Chandrababu Naidu who saw himself as the axis of all anti-BJP forces. Hating and ranting his way against BJP. Now he is trying to pick up the pieces of his political career and cursing the day he made the biggest mistake of his life.
In his victory speech on May 23, Amit Shah taunted Naidu in these words: the amount of hard work he put into hating BJP, if he had put a little bit of that into campaigning, his party might have opened its account.
The thing is, Naidu enjoyed power along with BJP for four years. In fact, in the 2014 Assembly election, the vote share gap between TDP and main rival YSRCP was just 0.4%. In other words, without the Modi wave, Naidu might not have come to power at all.
Then, in the final year of his tenure, Naidu worked himself into a rage, decided to blame BJP for all his failures and hoped people would buy his excuse. Obviously, they did not.
Here, Shiv Sena betrays the mandate of the people. Then goes running around the country trying to take down Modi instead of performing at their new job, which they didn’t even deserve in the first place. If Sena thinks people will be forgiving …
Before Naidu, there was Mamata Banerjee who crowned herself Modi’s arch-rival. Just like Naidu, Mamata Banerjee didn’t have to take up the mantle. Her main opposition was the CPIM, which she had fought her whole life. But the urge to take on Modi was too strong. She couldn’t accept her limitations.
The result? BJP rode her anger straight into West Bengal. All the way to 18 Lok Sabha seats and a near 40% vote share. Now, Mamata Banerjee is trying desperately to keep her political career afloat as a rising BJP threatens to take everything away from her.
There have been others: Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar, Akhilesh Yadav. Even some who were barely politicians like Hardik Patel or Kanhaiyya Kumar. They all wanted to take on Modi and destroy him.
They only managed to bring ruin unto themselves.
A curious and familiar phenomenon appears to play out here. Let me call this “anti-Modi fever.”
Somebody out there is foolish enough to forget their own limitations. They have delusions of grandeur and start going around telling people they will conquer Modi.
Immediately after, a crowd of liberal hopefuls collects around them. From New York to New Delhi. Suddenly they find themselves being showered with praise such as ‘youth icon’, ‘savior of democracy’ and the like. The praise goes to their head; reinforcing their delusions.
Without achieving anything, they set out to question the “arrogance” of Modi/Shah. Totally oblivious to how arrogant they sound themselves.
Then, reality (Modi) strikes. The victim of anti-Modi fever is left with nothing. Their liberal cheerleaders move on as well, searching for their next hope.
Over the last six years, anti-Modi fever has claimed the careers of many politicians across the country. Seems it is Shiv Sena’s turn now.
The South Korean government has announced that Lt Colonel AG Rangaraj, the first para-commando of Indian army, will be awarded as the Korean War Hero for the month of July 2020. Korean Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs made the announcement to reward the paratrooper for his role in South Korea-North Korea war that took place in 1950-1953. He had let the 60th Parachute Field Ambulance Platoon, a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH), during the Korean war.
The first Indian airborne formation was 50th Parachute Brigade which consisted of British, Indian and Gurkha parachute battalions. Lt. Col. AG Rangaraj, MVC, of the Indian Medical Service and RMO of the 152 Indian Para battalion, was the first Indian along with Havildar Major Mathura Singh to make a parachute descent.
The members of the 60th Parachute Field Ambulance were medics who were also parachutists. They jumped into the combat zone along with fighting infantry and provided medical care to injured soldiers in the middle of the war zone.
The 60 Parachute Field Ambulance was part of the 50 (1) Para Brigade, and it was sent to Korea to join the United Nations Forces in 1950 as per of the Commonwealth Division. India didn’t send any combating unit to Korea, only the para ambulance unit was sent. The unit commanded by Lt Col. A.G. Rangaraj took part in difficult Air Borne operations in Korea. The Indian media unit has 364 men and it had gained the respect of Commonwealth troops for its high-quality medical care and the courage of the soldiers during the war. The unit had become a medical evacuation unit for the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade in 1950, and supported the Brigade throughout the Korean war. The unit has been awarded official recommendation of the Korean government several times.
During the entire Korean war, the Indian parachute ambulance unit had treated around 200,000 wounded, including around 2,300 field medial operations. They also trained local Korean doctors and nurses.
Some of the achievement of the unit during the war are legendary. Like during the Operation Tomahawk in March 1951, the second largest airborne operation of the war, a dozen medics had para-jumped along with 4000 US troops, and had carried out 103 operations. In November 1950, when the Chinese attacked the UN lines, the parachute ambulance unit had to evacuate, but they had no transport to carry their medical equipment. During that time they stumbled upon an ancient steam locomotive, filled the boilers with water using buckets, and got it running despite having no experience on trains, finally returning to safety before the last bridge on the track was blown.
The unit had won many decorations from the governments of India, South Korea and USA, and the UN. Lt. Col. AG Rangaraj was decorated with Mahavir Chakra in 1951. The unit had won two Mahavir Chakras, six Vir Chakras, one Bar to Vir Chakra and 25 Mention-in-Despatches for its role in the Korean war.
South Korea is currently commemorating the 69th anniversary of the Korean War with its neighbour North Korea. UN forces with nations including India had supported South Korea in the war, while others led by the then Soviet Union and China backed North Korea.
“During the month of July 2020, the photo of Lt. Col A. G. Rangaraj will be put in the War Memorial and other public places in Korea. This gesture is a token of appreciation from the heart of Korean people for the sacrifices made by the participating nations,” said Col. Lee In, the Defense Attaché, Embassy of Republic of Korea in New Delhi, during a luncheon hosted by the Embassy for the family members of the Indian Army veterans who had participated in the Korean War.
“November 20 marks the 69th anniversary of 60 Para Field Ambulance of Indian Army’s arrival to Bussan in Korea in 1950. The event was to pay tribute to the sacrifice of the soldiers who participated in the Korean war. We as a nation will never forget your sacrifices and dedication. Korea also pays gratitude to all 21 nations who participated in the war to protect the freedom and democracy of the Republic of Korea,” added Col. Lee.
Former South Korean president Lee Myung-Bak had said in 2010, “Korea was fortunate to have India, the source of an ancient and noble civilization, as a friend during the war. The medical unit headed by Col A. G. Rangaraj valiantly rushed to the aid of wounded soldiers in the face of a fierce crossfire. For its distinguished service, the unit received citations of merit from the Korean government on a number of occasions. Had it not been for the devoted services and sacrifices of the Indian people, Korea would not have become what it is today.”
Before the Korean operation, Lt. Col. AG Rangaraj had fought against the Japanese in 1944 and was part of a battle in Burma during the World War 2. He was a specialist in Smallpox, and later he became a Senior Advisor to WHO in Afghanistan and the Gulf.
