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In a massive political coup, Devendra Fadnavis sworn in as Maharashtra CM, Ajit Pawar as the Deputy CM

OpIndia Staff
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In a massive political coup, Devendra Fadnavis sworn in as Maharashtra CM, Ajit Pawar as the Deputy CM

In a significant development in the politics of Maharashtra, the BJP and NCP have joined hands to form the next government in the state. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath as the state chief minister and Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit joining him as his deputy.

In a massive surprise, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Maharashtra Chief Minister for a second term at Raj Bhavan this morning. The Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar will be his deputy.


“The BJP wanted to give a stable government to the people of Maharashtra,” Mr Fadnavis said after taking the oath, adding that his party’s ally Shiv Sena “did not follow people’s mandate”.

“I thank the NCP coming in support to form this government. We all know that there was the President’s rule for the last few days… Shiv Sena did not follow the mandate,” he said.

Till yesterday, it was being reported that NCP, Congress and the Shiv Sena were close to forming a government in the state. There were also reports that Shiv Sena-NCP and Congress all have agreed to make Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief Minister of the state.

The state of Maharashtra had plunged into a political crisis after Shiv Sena broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after a deadlock appeared between the allies over seat-sharing formula.

The BJP and Sena, which fought the Assembly polls in alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member Assembly. The Congress and the NCP, pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats, respectively.

Investigation: The lies and the nexus of foreign organisations behind vilification of Rafale deal and Electoral Bonds

K Bhattacharjee
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Investigation: The lies and the nexus of foreign organisations behind vilification of Rafale deal and Electoral Bonds

The Rafale saga came to an end conclusively with the Supreme Court dismissing review petitions against its earlier verdict where it refused to order an investigation into the deal. Now, a new political storm has been created in the country. It revolved around electoral bonds. The Huffington Post in a series of reports has claimed that electoral bonds brought ‘untraceable funds into Indian politics’.

The very claim is dubious as even before electoral bonds were brought in, the political funding came from mostly unidentifiable sources. It is not a matter of contention that political funding was opaque even before electoral bonds were filed. Thus, electoral bonds were brought in with the very purpose of preventing dubious money from getting into politics. Earlier, there was no record of where the money was coming from and where it went. The introduction of electoral bonds which have KYC attached to it and that can only be sourced through banks means that now the banks know where the money is coming from. Therefore, the allegation that the government brought ‘untraceable bonds into Indian politics’ is entirely baseless.

Amusingly enough, the Huffington Post busts its narrative itself in the same report. The headline of the report was titled ‘Electoral Bonds Are Traceable: Documents Nail Govt Lie On Anonymity‘. It seems a bit bewildering. Can funds be untraceable and the bonds remain traceable at the same time? In the world of Huffington Post, perhaps, but not in the world we live in.

Electoral Bonds and the RBI

The Huffington Post also claims that the NDA government overruled the RBI. It is not as explosive as the Huffington Post would like to believe. For the purpose, the government had to bring amendments in the RBI Act and this lies squarely in the domain of the Indian Parliament. In the end, in matters of national policy, the Government of India is the sovereign. The RBI may have its objections and it’s only natural that different people will differ on matters of policy but such differences of opinion do not automatically mean that there’s malice involved in the government’s actions.

It is pertinent to note here that not even the Huffington Post alleged that the government committed any illegality by overruling the RBI. And they cannot because there was no illegality committed. But as it so happened, there were a series of consultations between the government and the RBI. We were told by reliable sources, “Between the passing of the Finance Bill on 31st March 2017 and Notification of the Electoral Bond Scheme on 2nd January 2018, there were multiple interactions between the RBI and the government where certain modifications were brought about by the government on the suggestions of RBI.”

We were told that the validity of the electoral bonds was reduced to 15 days from the initially proposed 30 days after RBI’s objection. The RBI also offered to issue the bonds but they wanted to issue it in only electronic form, which was not accepted by the government. Thus, there were consultations involved where the democratically elected government accepted certain suggestions and rejected others as is normal in any democracy.

Another objection that is doing the rounds is that “the central bank never actually gave the government its explicit consent to go ahead with the electoral bond scheme as envisaged”. But the question here is, why should the democratically elected Government of India need formal consent of the RBI for electoral bonds when it is the business of the Parliament to pass laws? Again, differences of opinion will naturally exist within institutions but since when is the explicit consent of the RBI required for passing laws? These questions are not answered. It is pertinent to mention here that electoral bonds were brought into law through the Finance Bill, 2017.

The Election Commission and Electoral Bonds

Another Huffington Post makes much ado about the fact that the Election Commission raised objections to the concept of electoral bonds. Again, it is perfectly natural for different institutions within a Democracy to have a difference of opinion on a particular matter. However, the power to pass bills lies solely in the domain of the Indian Parliament. The Election Commission of India can have many differences and they are allowed to have differences but only the Indian Parliament has the power to pass laws.

We were told by sources, “Consultations were also held with Election Commission of India regarding their reservations to amendments carried out through the Finance Act. In furtherance of the stated objective to effectuate comprehensive electoral reform, the government in its best judgement has brought the electoral bonds as a strong step forward.”

The Huffington Post also claims that in the Winter Session of Rajya Sabha, 2018, a long time after the Finance Bill, 2017 was passed, the then minister of state for finance, P. Radhakrishnan, ‘lied’ on the floor of the Parliament.

The News Minute, on the other hand, twisted Huffington Post’s report and claimed that Radhakrishnan had ‘lied’ in the Rajya Sabha in 2017, thus painting a completely different picture as the time frame is of great importance in this matter. It also mentioned however that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did file a corrected reply in the Parliament in 2019.

Thus, we see here a pattern of a convoluted distortion of facts. Radhakrishnan’s answer may have been a lie or he might not have had all the information as he became the Minister of State for Finance in September 2018, long after the series of interactions between the Finance Ministry and the ECI. His tenure ended in May 2019. Huffington Post does mention that law and ministry records from October 2018 show that the ECI wrote to the Law and Justice Ministry raising his objection but Radhakrishnan may very well be not aware of it. A ‘lie’ indicates deliberate malice but Huffington Post here has not been able to prove deliberate malice. We were told by sources that the ‘inadvertent’ error occurred due to the unavailability of records at the time which was later corrected.

At its worst, it comes across as sheer incompetence. And it’s not clear why he would ‘lie’ considering the fact that Electoral Bonds already had legal sanction. In fact, if he had filed a correct reply to the question, Huffington Post would have even lesser cause for creating an undue controversy than it already has. Without Radhakrishnan’s incorrect reply, all that Huffington Post has to boast about are the objections of the ECI, which again, are normal in any Democracy.

Concerns regarding Anonymity of Electoral Bonds

Much ado has also been created about the supposed anonymity of the donors of the electoral bonds. Again, the government at no point has attempted to deny the fact that it tried to ensure donor anonymity through the scheme. In fact, the late Arun Jaitley said it explicitly in a blog which Huffington Post did quote a convenient part of in its report.

Arun Jaitley said, “As against a total non-transparency in the present system of cash donations where the donor, the donee, the quantum of donations and the nature of expenditure are all undisclosed, some element of transparency would be introduced in as much as all donors declare in their accounts the number of bonds that they have purchased and all parties declare the quantum of bonds that they have received. How much each donor has distributed to a political party would be known only to the donor.”

One thing that has to be noted here is that the Huffington Post claims that the anonymity is a ‘farce’ and at the same time, is ranting that the funds are ‘untraceable’. It is not entirely certain what the argument is being made here. In fact, its report notes a government notification on the 2nd of January, 2018 that says, “The information furnished by the buyer shall be treated confidentially by the authorised bank and shall not be disclosed to any authority for any purposes, except when demanded by a competent court or upon registration of criminal case by any law enforcement agency.”

The report then notes a press release of the government in April 2018, “This number (a secret alphanumeric code) is not noted by the SBI in any record associated with the buyer or political party depositing a particular electoral bond,” the government claimed. “It is thus not linked to any party transaction when the Bank issues a bond to the buyer. As such the number is not being used nor can be used to track the donation or the buyer.”

With this statement, the Huffington Post comes to the conclusion that the SBI will be able to track who donated the money to whom. However, it’s not that clear. “Electoral bonds will not bear the name of the buyer or payee, but will necessarily need a serial number,” Bank officials said. This was necessary because, without any number to track these bonds, it could very well lead to forgery.

The HuffPo report notes, “Without the serial numbers, the bank explained, there would be no audit trail available for internal control and reconciliation of the bonds by the bank. If courts and law enforcement agencies asked SBI for details on the purchaser of the bonds, the bank would have no answer. Without unique identifiers, the bonds could be forged, and accounting for them would be impossible.” It also notes that the government did inform the SBI that the information is to be kept confidential at all times.

Thus, we see a situation here where the HuffPo is ranting about the complete ‘untraceable’ nature bonds and at the same time, slamming the government for electoral bonds not being completely anonymous. It’s a ‘Head I win, Tails you lose’ situation. HuffPo also insinuates that the CBI and every law agency acts at the behest of the government and that institutions have been compromised, the usual Left-Liberal talking points that are used to corner the government.

Democracy entails that some level of trust is put in the elected government and on the institution that exists in the country. The SBI is advised by the government itself to not disclose details of the transaction to any authority under any circumstances unless they are required to do so by a competent court or a law enforcement agency. It is not entirely anonymous, yes, but it does prevent a huge roadblock in the path of the government to access this information. And also, it is pertinent to mention here that it’s the SBI that is in possession of the data, not the government.

And the pertinent fact to mention here is that HuffPo is not entirely sure either exactly what it is advocating for. They are complaining against ‘untraceable funds’ and lack of complete anonymity at the same time. Quite clearly, their allegations stem from the fact that the SBI has the information when the NDA is in power. And it’s obvious because they are simultaneously against ‘untraceable funds’ and lack of complete anonymity. Someone with integrity cannot hold both positions at the same time.

Other Concerns

Another concern that has been raised is the fact that apparently the government illegally opened a window ahead of the state elections. It is pertinent to note here that every political party benefited from it, not only the BJP and no significant complaints were raised about it then. Also, the 2nd January notification, 2018 provided for 4 tranches in a year apart from a special window for the General Elections. The government felt that it was desirable to open a special window for state elections as elections to numerous legislative bodies are scheduled on different days of the year. Hence, a special provision was made for funds to be available to political parties ahead of state elections.

The Spider’s Web

The Huffington Post got its idea that 95% of the funds from the first tranche of electoral bonds went to the BJP. It got this figure, which appears extremely unreliable on the face of it, from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Now, what is this entity? Who runs it? What authority does it have? As it so happens, ADR is an FCRA NGO that receives foreign funds from some of the most dubious globalist organizations to have ever existed.

As per the government website Darpan, ADR receives a huge amount of funds from the Ford Foundation, Google, HIVOS and the Omidyar network for the explicit purpose of electoral and political reform and ‘election watch’. Now, what is the HIVOS? This organization is intricately linked to George Soros’ Open Society Foundation and receives funds from various international governments.

HIVOS’ 2018 annual report says, “The key sources of grant income from governments included the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Global Fund, Swedish International Development Aid, the Millennium Challenge Account, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the US Department of State, the Delegation of the European Union in Indonesia, and the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Costa Rica.” Its annual report further says that the key sources of income from non-profit organizations included the Ford Foundation.

At OpIndia, we have extensively documented the manner in which Soros is intimately involved in trying to destabilize democracies abroad. The interference of the Ford Foundation in the internal affairs of a country is well documented. Furthermore, we clearly see that ADR is funded by even foreign governments. It’s not too hard to imagine that it’s perfectly natural for foreign governments to try to undermine Indian sovereignty.

Currently, the Supreme Court of India is hearing a case on electoral bonds. Under such circumstances, the timing of the whole controversy around electoral bonds is indeed extremely intriguing. Ahead of the General Elections, we witnessed the manner in which the Supreme Court of the country was used to interfere with the elections of the country. An attempt was made to portray the ruling party as corrupt without a shred of evidence. Conveniently, in the aftermath of the elections, all the hype around the Rafale Saga faded out completely. If it was indeed such a terrible case of corruption, why is it that the whole drama peaked only ahead of the elections and faded out after it?

It is also pertinent to remember here that a petition was also filed against the Rafale deal in France by an extremely dubious NGO with links George Soros’ Open Society. It also was partners with Misereor and other such organizations which have very real interest in destabilizing India. The NGO and its head, William Bourdon, have been accused of meddling in the internal affairs of countries in Africa and filing corruption charges against the Mauritian President while being closely associated with the latter’s political opponent.

In fact, ADR has much in common with that NGO. It is largely unheard of and George Soros is tied to both these NGOs.George Soros is a very prominent backer of the Democrat party which is currently trying desperately to impeach Donald Trump in a very clear case of an attempted coup by the US ‘Intelligence Community’.

Under the current government, we have seen a very deliberate crackdown on FCRA NGOs. Although much remains to be done on that front, the government has shown its intention on cracking down on them. The crackdown on FCRA NGOs also means that the people who fund them will also have a much lesser influence on the political affairs of India at a time of global chaos. Therefore, it’s no wonder that an FCRA NGO is trying to get back at the government.

The Congress and The Spider’s Web

The Congress, as expected, has gone hammer and tongs against the government on the issue. It’s only natural that the Congress party has picked it up considering the fact that it does not really have a concrete issue to target Narendra Modi. Having said that, however, there are plenty of skeletons in its own closet.

Apart from the Rafale Deal, where it used the petition filed against the dubious French NGO to run a concerted campaign against the BJP, it also has the National Advisory Council (NAC) that functioned under Sonia Gandhi. What was the NAC? Who were its members? Unsurprisingly, there were numerous individuals associated with dubious NGOs on the NAC, which received foreign funds from abroad. Thus, shady foreign organizations did exert undue interference in Indian law-making during the UPA regime. In fact, some of them even wrote the immensely controversial Communal Violence Bill.

More recently, Oxfam, another dubious organization, appealed to the Congress party that it should work closely with the ‘civil society’ in order to counter the BJP government. As we have reported extensively in the past, the ‘civil society’ is a euphemism for a network of extremely shady organizations that seek to undermine Indian sovereignty. Given the Congress party’s history, it’s no surprise if it is working closely with foreign-funded NGOs like the ADR again.

The Real Drama

At the end of the day, it is a series of spurious allegations that hold no ground. Electoral Bonds may not be perfect but they are much better than what we had before. Quite clearly, the Huffington Post is making inane arguments arguing simultaneously for complete anonymity and traceable funds. Both are simultaneously impossible.

Thus, we see the Huffington Post use an unverified data conjured by the ADR, an FCRA NGO funded by Globalist organizations, in order to run a targeted campaign against the NDA government in order to reverse its electoral reforms. Quite clearly, it is Rafale 2.0. On top of it jumps the Congress party which has a history of collaborating with foreign-funded NGOs that interfere with Indian internal affairs.

Throughout the whole saga, the Huffington Post or anyone else has not been able to provide any evidence that the government committed any illegality. The best it has been able to come up with is disagreements between various institutions of the country, which is extremely natural in a Democracy. Ultimately, the law was ratified by the Indian Parliament. The only thing that the Huffington Post has up its sleeve is an incorrect reply, months after the law was ratified and the scheme came into effect. There really is nothing to go on here.

It is quite clearly an attempt to reverse a law passed by the Parliament via the Supreme Court. Given the nature of the organizations involved, we have every reason to believe that this is being pursued with malafide interests. Now, it remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court or the government will cave into such propaganda.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari calls Shiv Sena, NCP, Congress alliance ‘opportunistic’, predicts fall within 6 to 8 months

OpIndia Staff
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Union Minister Nitin Gadkari calls Shiv Sena, NCP, Congress alliance ‘opportunistic’, predicts fall within 6 to 8 months

As talks between Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress to stitch up an alliance to form the Maharashtra government reaches its final stage, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari said today that even if they managed to form the government in Maharashtra, this ‘opportunistic’ alliance will not last beyond six to eight months.

In an interview during electioneering in Jharkhand, Gadkari said the alliance forged by these “ideologically different” parties was just to keep the BJP out of power, which was rather unfortunate, said the Union minister.

“Opportunism is the base of their alliance. The three parties have become united with the only motto to keep the BJP out of power. I have doubts about whether this government will be formed… Even if it is formed, it will not last beyond six to eight months,” Gadkari told PTI.

Read: Shiv Sena will not join hands with BJP even it offers Indra’s throne: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress have been discussing the modalities to form the government in Maharashtra, but have been unable to come up with anything concrete until now.

Asked if the BJP will try forming the government in case the alliance breaks, the minister said in case of such circumstances, the party will decide its future course of strategy. “Anything can happen in cricket and politics”, he quipped adding that it was beyond his comprehension why the three parties will forge an alliance to form the government despite huge ideological differences.

The base of Shiv Sena and the BJP alliance was “Hindutva”, he said.

Unfortunately, Sena in its lust for power gave away its ideologies. According to media reports, the three parties had reached a broad consensus on a Common Minimum Program (CMP) where Hindutva has been dropped like a hot potato and the cause of minorities, farmers have taken the spotlight. Shiv Sena’ motormouth, Sanjay Raut had also come out swinging batting for the tenets of ‘secularism’.

Talking about Shiv Sena’s claim on rotational CM’, the Union Minister furthered, that the claim was found untrue when he enquired.

Read: Has Shiv Sena conceded to NCP-Congress ‘secular’ demands? Sanjay Raut invokes Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to harp on ‘secularism’

“As per party President and others, the party’s stance on chief minister was to be decided later but things took an unfortunate turn, Gadkari said. The chief minister should be from the party which got a higher mandate, he said adding that the decision as to who will be the chief minister lies with Maharashtra party president, state chief minister and the BJP president. “We did our efforts,” Gadkari said.

Meanwhile, after senior Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Friday reiterated that all the three parties, including the Congress and the NCP, had agreed to a Shiv Sena Chief Minister, now there seems to be turbulence within the Sena for the CM post.

Hours after names of Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant emerged as frontrunners for the post of the chief minister, Shiv Sena MLAs at a meeting at Matoshree stressed on Uddhav Thackeray’s name for the top post. Later, NCP too lent support to the legislator’s demand. “Congress-NCP are of the view that Uddhav should be CM. Not sure if we will support any other name for the post,” Chhagan Bhujbal said.

‘Go way, people like you maligned us’: JNU goons stop Dr Anand Ranganathan from entering his lab, hurl insults at the scientist

OpIndia Staff
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‘Go way, people like you maligned us’: JNU goons stop Dr Anand Ranganathan from entering his lab, hurl insults at the scientist

The JNU goons have been creating a ruckus over the marginal hostel fee hike in the University. After resorting to endless vandalism and hooliganism, clashing with the police, heckling reporters and attacking teachers the JNU goons, most of them associated with the left-wing brigade, today crossed all levels of indecency when they stopped scientist Dr Anand Ranganathan from entering his laboratory.

In a video, the students can be seen blocking the main door to the laboratory. When the scientist and columnist intervenes and asks the students to move out of his way and let him enter the lab, the students shout back at him telling him to go away.

The video clip has gone viral on social media

Ranganathan is heard raising concerns asking whether they are aspiring scientists or do they belong to any political outfit. “Do you understand what science is…where do you learn all these things from”, the stunned professor is heard asking the students furthering that science does not mean disallowing people from doing their job.

Angered by the impertinence shown by the students he asks them to go away elsewhere and continue with their protest. He asks the guard to open the gates, but the security also stands helplessly trying to gently convince the students. A girl student is then heard telling the guard that the security cannot interfere and asks him to back off. “Aap kyon itna logic samjha rahe hain…aap log yahan kya karte hain humen pata hain”, (why are you giving us such logics.. we exactly know what you guys do here) said the student to the guard who makes a hopeless attempt to knock some sense into the protesting students.

Read: JNU facing deficit of Rs 45 crores, says fee hike is necessary to pay contractual staff

Professor Ranganathan then asks a student as to whether they receive scholarships. The student (who is prompted by another student to not disclose) answers that they receive Rs 35,000 as scholarship. The moment Ranganathan mentions that even after receiving a scholarship worth that amount, you’ll are protesting for a marginal fee hike, the students are seen jeering in unison: “yehi toh wrong hain…you go away…people like you have maligned us…dus se teen so rupaiye ki baat kar rahein hain…go get lost…call the police.. you are most welcome to call the police..” yelled the enraged JNU goons.

Ranganathan calls the students ‘irrational’, illogical’ for their foolhardy behaviour and says he does not expect such behaviour from science students, but the students refuse to budge and continue to lament over the situation.

“Aap thoda science ki padhaai karke aaiye.. mujhe lagta hain kami ho gayi hain…” (you pls go and brush up your subject.. you have forgotten it seems), said one of the students.

A girl student is seen arguing with the professor that if scientist and professor like you are using the logic of Rs 10 to Rs 300 (taking about the fee hike) then we can understand where all this is coming from..” When Ranganathan asks the students whether they are not embarrassed by their conduct.. all are seen shouting in agreement..” No..No.. this is what the Vice-Chancellor has taught us this for the last four years.

Read: JNUTA hands in gloves with miscreants in attacking teachers: 113 Professors disassociate from JNU Teachers’ Association

Ranganathan is heard telling the girl student, who is heard arguing with the professor endlessly, that “you go and protest in front of the vice-chancellor”. To this, the girl replies arrogantly that this is what they have been doing for the past 26 days.

Ranganathan reveals that Rs 6.95 lacs in the subsidy given to every JNU student.. to this the students again shout in unison..”so..so..aapko kitna salary milta hain? (what is the salary you are drawing?)

Dr Anand Ranganathan then points at the security guard and a JNU university authority present there to intervene and do the convincing, but the two are seen standing helpless like mute spectators, not uttering a single word against the students.

The professor is seen trying his best to convince the students to make way for him to get to his lab but the students refuse to let him go instead ask him to support them in their protest.

Dr Anand Ranganathan is heard saying that he supports their right to protest and will sit with the JNU students is they so wish him to, but he should not be stopped from doing his work. After hearing the students patiently for over a minute, Ranganathan asks them to at least unlock the lab, promising them that he would not enter, but the students refrain from listening to the professor. Even after the professor’s persistent efforts, he was not allowed to go into his lab.

Read: Watch: “You think I can’t buy an AK-47?” JNU ‘student’ threatens to take up arms while protesting against hostel fee hike

It is pertinent to note here that the JNU students had earlier kept a faculty member named Dr Vandana Mishra, who is the Associate Dean of the university in illegal captivity, abused and attacked the Dean for 30 hours. Prior to this, the JNU goons had forcibly stopped the ambulance in which the Dean was being taken for medical care even though the Dean’s health was deteriorating alarmingly.

Today 113 Professors had disassociated themselves from JNU Teachers’ Association over their complicity and silence when teachers are attacked by miscreants and JNU goons.

One Professor Aswini Mohapatra took to Twitter to say that the 113 teachers believe that JNUTA is the root cause of the current deadlock. Controlled by the Left-wing coterie, it has turned JNU into a hotbed of Azadi brigade.

The “students” of JNU have been protesting against the marginal hostel fee hike in JNU. Even after the partial rollback, the students were not satisfied and called the roll-back only ‘cosmetic‘. The students have clashed with the police and even heckled reporters in their ongoing protests. The JNU campus was mercilessly defaced by these goons.

Rajasthan: Modi govt puts stay on Congress govt’s order to deport persecuted Hindu family back to Pakistan

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Modi govt puts stay on Congress govt’s order to deport persecuted Hindu family back to Pakistan

The Ministry of Home Affairs has put a stay on Rajasthan government’s order to deport persecuted Pakistani Hindus citing security threat. Earlier, the Rajasthan government had ordered at least six Hindus from Pakistan residing in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan to leave the country. The Rajasthan CID had called the family, which came to India seeking asylum six years ago, a ‘security threat’.


A Hindu family of 19 members had fled Pakistan in 2013 to avoid religious persecution and settled in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur. After a while, six members of that family had moved to Jaisalmer’s Nachna village.

Read: Majnu ka Tila: Uncertainty looms over 700 Pakistani Hindu refugees’ future as NGT directs authorities to remove encroachments

The Rajasthan CID and Foreigners Registration Office (FRO) after assessing the documents and occupations of the six members living in Nachna, had termed them as a security threat to the country and its people. The authorities had also issued a notice to the family asking them to leave the country and seek asylum elsewhere.

Deportation order issued by the Rajasthan government.

Dr Omendra Ratnu, a resident of Jaipur, an activist working for the cause of persecuted Hindus, had approached the court after the Rajasthan government had ordered to deport Hindu families of Pakistan but did not find any success.

“The Rajasthan police wants to send these people to Pakistan via the Wagah-Attari border but we are trying our best to stop it. In this regard, we have spoken to Arun Kumar and senior leaders of the RSS. We will not allow them to deport these persecuted Hindus,” said Ratnu.

Read: India: A land with Hindu consciousness, which will forever be a natural home for Hindus

Dr Ratnu further added that instead of deporting persecuted Hindus, let the government punish them for the crimes that they have allegedly committed.

Pakistan is notoriously known for its persecution of not only religious minorities but also ethnic minorities within their own country. The forceful conversion programmes have often been unleashed against the minorities especially Christians, Sikhs and Hindus living in Pakistan with utmost brutality.

The Sindh province of Pakistan is notoriously known for violent attacks against minority Hindus in the country. The forceful conversions, the killing of Hindus by Islamists are increasing at an alarming rate in the terror state of Pakistan.

BHU researcher’s detailed interview: 26 OBC Hindus disqualified to favour Firoze Khan, corruption should be investigated

OpIndia Staff
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BHU researcher’s detailed interview: 26 OBC Hindus disqualified to favour Firoze Khan, corruption should be investigated

The protest by BHU students against the administration’s decision to appoint a Muslim professor Dr Firoze Khan in the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vigyan faculty of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has entered its 16th day today.

The students have been opposing the appointment of Dr Khan, a Muslim in the faculty of the university that deals with ‘Dharma Vigyan’, where subjects related to te practising aspects of Sanatana Dharma, performing Dharmic rituals, rites, Mantras and Shlokas are taught.

The peacefully protesting students have been largely demonised by certain sections of mainstream and social media. They have been called ‘bigots’ for opposing Dr Khan’s appointment.

Read: BHU protests: SVDV professors, former professor and Acharyas of Vishwanath Mandir support students, here is what they say

OpIndia has interviewed Saurabh Dwivedi, a former research student of the same faculty, who was a researcher under the same HOD who had appointed Dr Khan. Dwivedi is now working as an assistant professor in Nagpur.

Dwivedi has levelled serious allegations of bribery, vested interests and favouritism in the appointment of Firoze Khan.

When OpIndia’s Ajeet Bharti asked Dwivedi whether the student protests are inspired by Brahminical casteism, and notions of superiority, as being projected by the mainstream media, Dwivedi stated that the allegations are absolutely wrong.

Dwivedi stated that the post for which Dr Khan has been appointed was reserved for an OBC candidate, hence there is no question of Brahminical casteism here. 26 Hindus from all OBC groups, including several women among the candidates who have been overlooked. He added that when 26 Hindus from the backwards castes have been cheated of their right.

Dwivedi further stated that media houses have been spreading blatant lies in support of Firoze Khan. From claiming he is a Padmashree awardee to claiming his appointment has been in the ‘Sanskrit Department’, to the above-mentioned lie about casteism, there have been deliberate attempts to spread misinformation over the student protest.

Read: We perform Purohit Karm, we do not want Sanatan Dharma studies to get influenced by Islam or Christianity: Protesting students at BHU

He furthered that people will have to understand first and foremost that Firoze Khan has not been appointed in the ‘Sanskrit Department’, but in the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vigyan faculty. He explained further that the faculty doesn’t ‘teach the Sanskrit language’ as being portrayed. He stated that the faculty deals with the Dharmic and spiritual aspects of Vedas, Puranas, and religious scriptures that happen to be written in the Sanskrit language. It is very important to understand the difference.

Dwivedi further stated that while a section of ‘elite liberals’ does not follow the Hindu calendar and religious ‘Muhurtas’ ‘Lagnas’ and days, a large number of common Hindus do follow them. Dwivedi elaborated that while the workings of the SVDV faculty is being trivialised, it is the same faculty that prepares the Hindu ‘Panchang’ that is followed by over a billion Hindus all over the world. He asserted that whenever there is a debate over a Lagna or Muhurta of a Hindu festival, it is the ‘Vishwa Hindu Panchangam’ released by the SVDV faculty of BHU that has the final say on the issue.

Alleging that there has been corruption in the appointment of Firoze Khan, Dwivedi stated that the appointment has bribery involved. Dwivedi asserted that he knows the SVDV faculty HOD Dr Umakant Chaturbedi well and Khan is Chaturvedi’s former student.

He further added, “Had there been another Hindu in his place, there would not have been any protests even if there was corruption in his appointment. Today the biggest reason for the protest is that we do not want Islamic interpretation of our texts and Sanatan traditions. Muslims have done enough damage to our temples and Sanatan Hindu religion on the strength of violence in the past. Not any more. At least not where the soul of Mahamana resides.”

Dwivedi asserted that there will be long-term ramifications of not appointing a practising Hindu in the SVDV faculty. Revisiting the ideals and the vision that Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya had behind establishing the BHU in Varanasi, Dwivedi stated, “Malaviya ji had put up his perspective by placing the word ‘Hindu’ in the name of Banaras Hindu University. Even when there was a ‘Sanskrit Department’, a separate Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vigyan faculty was set up. He himself got the inscription placed which talks about Varnashram Dharma rules about the admission process. No institution can reject the objectives of its founder, least of all the great ‘Mahamana’. He had to beg and struggle to build this institution at a time when the country was caught in the chains of slavery. Today, the vice-chancellor may not value ideals of Malaviya or the constitution of the BHU, but the spirit in which the institution was founded has continued to be alive.”

The rule at the ‘sheela-lekh’ at BHU which states only those who follow Sanatan Dharm can partake studies at the SVDV in BHU

Dwivedi emphasized that the lofty ideals of secularism and inclusiveness may be applicable for other departments in the University, but the SVDV faculty deals exclusively with Hindu Dharma and its Vedic basis. He asked, “How can a Muslim person, who may be a scholar of the language in which our scriptures have been written, but is not a believer in Hindu rites, rituals and their Dharmic basis, decide on which date, time and by which rites should Hindus perform a religious ritual or celebrate a festival.

Dwivedi also stated that the appointment of Khan will set a precedent and eventually, there may be more non-Hindus hired to work at the faculty. What will happen to our festivals and rituals if, by any chance, one of them declares that a particular festival has no authenticity in our scripture?. It will have disastrous consequences for practising Hindus.

Dwivedi asked, how can a non-Hindu, who believes in a different faith, be trusted to uphold the sanctity of the SVDV that is founded exclusively for Hindu belief systems.

Dwivedi asserted that the students’ protest is over the cultural and religious contradictions that are to be expected from this appointment. He said that the students will have no objections if Dr Khan is transferred to the Sanskrit language department.

He stated that the appointment of a non-Hindu in the SVDV faculty will open the floodgates of the cultural, and religious breach of an institution that has been upholding Hindu values as one of the last few fortresses of our way of life.

Hailing the ideals of Mahamana Malviya, he stated that he founded the BHU at a time when the entire education system in India was under the grasp of Christianity and the Muslim league was threatening the integrity of our nation. Breaching the founding principles of an institution that has lines of Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas inscribed on its walls will lead to a vicious attack on the lone pillars that have been supporting the Hindu-faith in today’s India.

Explaining why should a Muslim not teach Hindu rituals, Karm-Kaands, and rites, he stated it is a very broad discussion and there are some lines in every religion that should not be breached. He says Hinduism has seen reformers who have inspired people to come out of casteism, restrictions and oppressions. But the practising and performing of rituals are exclusive to the religion and as Hindus do not attempt to perform Muslim or Christian rites, the same respect should be accorded to our religion too.

Dwivedi alleged that a nexus has worked in tandem to appoint Firoze Khan in the faculty. He also alleged that the main interviewers were all known to Khan and other short-listed candidates were deliberately asked questions that they could not answer, and hence awarded zero. He also asserted that the entire process of interview was botched and designed to favour Khan.

Dwivedi also stated that the university will never admit to the corruption and favouritism, but an independent enquiry might shed light on the shady dealings that have transpired behind Khan’s hiring.

As per the latest reports, after PMO’s involvement, the students have halted their protests. But the boycott of classes and exams are to be continued.

The full interview can be watched here:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VQ7ap15ow4]

SVDV BHU students end their protest temporarily, to boycott classes till admin gives answers, to meet PMO tomorrow

OpIndia Staff
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SVDV BHU students end their protest temporarily, to boycott classes till admin gives answers, to meet PMO tomorrow

The students of SVDV which is the Dharma Vigyan department of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) who have been protesting the appointment of one Dr Firoze Khan in the Dharma Vigyan department for more than a fortnight now, has decided to discontinue the protest for the time being. The student in a media brief also informed that he along with other students would be going to the PM’ office tomorrow at 12 noon to submit a letter with their demands.

This development came in after the university administration has, in a written assurance, asked for 10 days time from the students to resolve the issue. Moreover, the students said that since the Prime Minister himself has taken note of the issue and a report has been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), they would like to end the protest based on the expectation of positive outcomes.

Read: As students burn VC’s effigies, Shankacharya writes to PM Modi on the BHU protests, PMO asks BHU admin for report

The PMO has asked for a report from the BHU administration and Divisional Officer Deepak Aggarwal sent the report to the PMO despite being on a foreign tour. Now the administration is preparing a detailed report, which will be sent to the Prime Minister’s Office.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qll0PCxnGVw]

The students have however said that their fight will be ongoing and they will be boycotting all classes and examinations. But the protest is being put on hold. They said that till the VC and the administration doesn’t release a report, they will continue to boycott classes and examinations.

Read: BHU protests: SVDV professors, former professor and Acharyas of Vishwanath Mandir support students, here is what they say

In a letter addressed to the media, the students have said that they are discontinuing the protest briefly, however, their demands remain the same and will continue the drive until all their demands are not met. They further intimated that though the protest has been temporarily called off on the written assurance of the administration but until there is no positive outcome the students would continue to boycott classes and examinations.

The protests, which were earlier limited to the Dharma Vigyan Faculty and the appointment of Dr Firoz Khan had now, made its way to several other departments. It escalated today after the students burnt effigies of Vice-Chancellor of BHU. Rakesh Bhatnagar is currently VC of BHU. Hundreds of students congregated to burn the effigy of the Vice-Chancellor.

Read: How the BHU students were demonised and the ones who refused to be ‘secularised’ unfairly called ‘bigots’

Yesterday, the students presented a set of questions to the administration and have demanded answers. The students of the Dharma Vigyan department are protesting against the appointment of Dr Firoz Khan to teach Dharma Vigyan. While Khan is a professor of Sanskrit, he has been employed in the Dharma Vigyan department and not in the Arts department that teaches Sanskrit as a linguistic endeavour. The Dharma Vigyan department is a course for religious learning and Hindu Dharma.

On Thursday (November 21, 2019), Swami Avimukteshwaranand extended his support to the Dharma Vigyan students of BHU. He said that reading and experiencing the words are two different things. Shankaracharya also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling the appointment of Firoz Khan contrary to the values of religion.

Tamil Nadu: Catholic priest, who was also a school correspondent, arrested for forcing schoolgirls to watch porn

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Catholic priest, who was also a school correspondent, arrested for forcing schoolgirls to watch porn

An elderly Catholic priest, who was also a correspondent of a school in Coimbatore, was arrested on Thursday for sexually harassing students of the institution.

According to the reports, Maria Antony Raj, a 60-year-old the catholic priest has been the correspondent of the St Mary’s High School in the Gandhipuram area of Coimbatore for over a year. He has been accused of forcing the girl students to open sexually explicit content on his mobile phone.

Reportedly, priest Raj forced at least five girls of the school to open lewd content on his mobile phone on multiple occasions. The affected girl students belonged to class 9.

Read: ‘Sex crimes committed on impulse, offenders deserve chance for reform’, Catholic priests oppose death penalty for paedophiles 

At first, the children informed their parents earlier this week, who in turn demanded the school principal to take action against the Catholic priest Raj. However, the school, which is run by the Coimbatore Diocese of the Catholic Church, did not act on the complaint.

As a result, the parents of schoolchildren complained to police and protested outside the institution on Thursday. The police registered a case at All Women Police Station, Coimbatore Central under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) against Raj and arrested him.

Read: Indian Catholic priest sentenced to six years in prison for child sex abuse in US

L Balaji Saravanan, DCP (law and order) said that the accused has been remanded in judicial custody. The police officials said further investigations were on to determine whether similar incidents happened at the school. The affected children will be sent to counselling and medical check-up to know whether they were under any trauma.

AC Anitha, the school headmistress, said Raj was retired and had been removed from his post of the correspondent.

Wife of Kamlesh Tiwari receives death threat written in Urdu from Maharashtra, police launch probe

OpIndia Staff
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Wife of Kamlesh Tiwari receives death threat written in Urdu from Maharashtra, police launch probe

Barely one month into the Hindu activist Kamlesh Tiwari brutal murder by radical Islamists, his wife has allegedly received a letter written in Urdu last week in which she has been threatened with murder.

The letter was allegedly written by one Ganesh Nago Rao Apte from Latur, Maharashtra. An FIR has been lodged against him.

Kiran Tiwari, the wife of the Hindu activist who was brutally murdered on October 18, 2019, received a sealed envelope at her residence in Khurshed Bagh, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on the afternoon of November 14. On opening the envelope Kiran saw a nine-page letter addressed to her, out of which 2 pages had something written in Urdu. After she got the letter translated, she learnt that someone had, in the letter, threatened to kill her.

Read: ‘Journalist’ Ali Sohrab arrested by UP Police for his hate-filled comments against Kamlesh Tiwari who was hacked to death by Islamists

It is pertinent to note here that Kiran Tiwari had after her husband’s murder, filed an FIR against three people including Maulana Anwarul Haq, the head Imam of Jama Masjid in Bijnor, who had once offered Rs 51 lakh to behead Kamlesh Tiwari over his remarks against Prophet Muhammad.

Kamlesh Tiwari was arrested by the then Akhilesh Yadav government for his remarks against Prophet Mohammad’s sexuality in 2015. Muslim groups in Deoband, Saharanpur and West Bengal had launched massive riots and protests demanding Tiwari’s death.

Read: The Wire interviews Umar Khalid to whitewash Kamlesh Tiwari murder, Umar says ‘Muslims must mobilise’

A month back, on the 18th of October, Hindu activist and leader of the Hindu Samaj Party, Kamlesh Tiwari, was brutally murdered by Jihadis at his office in Lucknow. He was shot and his throat was slit by the murderers. Since then, the investigation has seen numerous developments and various people have been arrested for their involvement in the murder.

The two main accused, Moinuddin, along with Ashfaq, were arrested by Gujarat ATS on October 22 after being on the run for four days. While Moinuddin worked as Zomato delivery boy, Ashfaq, second man arrested for the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari, worked as a medical representative in a pharma company. He had forged his colleague’s Aadhaar to pose as Rohit Solanki, a Hindu rights activist, to gain the trust of Tiwari.

BJP is beginning to sputter at the state level and the party needs to urgently pay attention

Abhishek Banerjee
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BJP is beginning to sputter at the state level and the party needs to urgently pay attention

If you ask me to explain in one single sentence the difference between Atalji’s five years and Modi’s five years, I would say this. The BJP’s influence in states was continuously receding during Vajpayee’s five years. On the contrary, Modi / Shah cultivated BJP very carefully in state after state during their five years.

Haryana, Maharashtra, Assam (and all of North East). The historic revival in Uttar Pradesh. A clear upper hand in Bihar. And the big surprise package : West Bengal. Even a modest beginning in Telangana. These days, PM Modi seems to be taking more and more interest in Tamil Nadu.

The list is endless. And very impressive.

But there is a slight trend reversal in progress. It is not strong enough to be called blowback yet, especially with the BJP having just stormed back with 303 Lok Sabha seats. But glitches are happening. And more regularly than expected.

Read: Devendra Fadnavis government has delivered almost every promise on economy and employment made before 2014 Maharashtra elections: An analysis

It began with Karnataka where the BJP failed to form a government. Then, losing 3 states in December of 2018. Now in Haryana where the BJP fell to 40 seats. Now in Maharashtra where the first ever BJP government has been displaced. Jharkhand? We’ll see. Don’t be optimistic. Delhi? Be very circumspect. Relax. Bihar is easy.

To be fair, it is possible to treat each of these elections as unique, as setbacks of various degrees. In Karnataka, the BJP only fell short by a whisker. In Lok Sabha polls, it entered for first time (and swept) the Old Mysore region. Ultimately, it managed to form a government. Then, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh were narrow losses. Chhattisgarh was a blowout but see how quickly BJP recovered.

Haryana is down by just 7 seats. In Maharashtra, BJP is still the biggest by a massive margin. Has both the best strike rate (by far) and most popular leader. Can look forward to imminent collapse of a khichdi govt which will be punished by people for sure. Jharkhand has never given any party a majority. And so on…

But winning is a habit. Each state where BJP stays out of power, even if for a few months, is still a setback. Every day in power is a chance to exert your influence. To sow a seed that might pay dividends in 10-15 years time, even generations later. The Congress understands this concept very clearly.

Read: Rules of Congress Mukht Bharat: BJP and Congress are no longer in the same league, far from it

Power is a funny game. With 303 seats, it is easy to get complacent. To be fair, the same could have happened with 282 seats in 2014. But between 2014 and 2019, Modi sarkar had one very valuable ally.

That ally was paranoia. Because only the paranoid survive. They had learned from Vajpayee’s bitter experience in 2004. As had all BJP workers, sympathizers and supporters. They took nothing for granted, least of all winning 2019. Not for one moment between 2014 and 2019 did they get complacent. The ghost of 2004 would not let them sleep.

Then, the 2019 election happened and the ghost of 2004 died. We all celebrated it when the ghost was finally buried. It had been on our shoulder for 15 years, causing the longest, most annoying pain ever. It was like we had successfully treated cancer and survived to tell the story.

But now the ghost is gone and there is real fear of complacency setting in. Yes, BJP still controls most squares on the chessboard. The largest state of Uttar Pradesh is safely in the bag. The khichdi govt in Maharashtra is bound to generate long term sympathy for the BJP. And the BJP is waiting to pick up the Bengal prize.

I love cricket analogies. It is like when a really weak team like Holland has to face off against a really strong team like India. They can’t really match India in batting or bowling. But what they can do is show exceptional commitment in fielding to block runs.

That’s what the opposition is doing right now. They are blocking BJP from scoring singles. Where the BJP expected two runs, it is getting just one. Where they hoped to hit a boundary, they are having to run for three. Every single run counts, remember.

Don’t forget what happens in cricket when the singles dry up. They say that the humble pawn is the most powerful piece on the chessboard. The minister can do a lot more as an individual piece, but remember you have eight pawns but just one minister.

In retrospect, was the ghost of 2004 perhaps a friend?

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