Home Blog Page 5947

AAP refuses to accept BIS report that said Delhi tap water unsafe, Minister Ram Vilas Paswan exposes Delhi govt apathy

OpIndia Staff
-
0
AAP refuses to accept BIS report that said Delhi tap water unsafe, Minister Ram Vilas Paswan exposes Delhi govt apathy

A day after it was revealed that water quality in Delhi is the worst, failing in all the 19 parameters set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Delhi Government refuted the report claiming ‘bias’ in sample testing. BIS is the national standardisation body of India established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986. 11 samples collected in Delhi failed in all 19 parameters set by the BIS for water quality. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is the chairman of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) since September 2017.

The samples were taken from 11 localities, including Paswan’s official residence at 12 Janpath and Krishi Bhawan in Lutyens’ Delhi, and areas such as Nandnagari, Sonia Vihar, Pitampura, Ashok Nagar and Burari.

However, Delhi government has ‘challenged‘ that the water quality be compared to other BJP-governed states in ‘fair’ manner and send it to a ‘neutral’ agency for checking. It may be noted that tap water quality in Mumbai was found to be complying with standards set in 10 out of 10 samples. Mumbai is capital of Maharashtra, which till last month was a BJP-ruled state. Following a logjam in government formation, it is currently under President’s rule.

Read: RTI reply reveals AAP government in Delhi has not spent almost 80% of the Green Tax collected in last four years

Casting aspersions on the BIS, DJB vice-chairman and AAP leader Dinesh Mohaniya said he would like to know which parameters were used to check water if capital cities like Kolkata, Chennai and Jaipur failed to meet them. Responding to the allegations, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan said that BIS is an independent body and they have checked the water sample in an unbiased manner.


Training his guns on AAP government’s apathy towards drinking water toxicity, Paswan said if Delhi Jal Board is so confident of water quality, they should not hesitate in getting mandatory testing under BIS or WHO (World Health Organisation) standards. Paswan said that on 3rd October, a meeting was held with DJB CEO (Arvind Kejriwal), DG of Bureau of Indian Standards and officers of the NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corporation) where it was suggested that a team be constituted to test water samples in any laboratory.
He added that previously the Delhi Government had agreed to getting it tested but later showed no interest in following it through.


Paswan even suggested that the DJB and team up with BIS and get water samples tested in any other laboratory if they so wish.

SQR Ilyas, who announced AIMPLB’s decision to file review petition in Ayodhya case, used to be a member of terror org SIMI

OpIndia Staff
-
0
SQR Ilyas, who announced AIMPLB’s decision to file review petition in Ayodhya case, used to be a member of terror org SIMI

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has decided to file a review petition against the Ayodhya verdict. The unanimous judgment of the Supreme Court had paved the way for a Bhavya Ram Mandir at Ram Janmabhoomi while awarding the Muslim community an alternate piece of land for a Masjid. Interestingly, Umar Khalid’s father was present during the press briefing where the decision was announced.

Read: Islamist terror organisation SIMI banned for five more years by the Union Home Ministry

Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas was the one who announced the decision on behalf of the AIMPLB.


Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas is a former member of the Islamic Terrorist organization, SIMI. He had left it in 1985, well before Umar Khalid was born. Ostensibly enough, there doesn’t appear to be a legal case against the organization when the left-wing Muslim communist’s father left the organization. SQR Ilyas recently contested the Lok Sabha Elections from West Bengal on a ticket from the Welfare Party of India (WPI) from the Jangipur constituency, a Muslim-dominated seat in the Murshidabad district.

The former SIMI member is now a member of Central Advisory Council of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and served as convener of Babri Masjid Coordination Committee. He is now a member of AIMPLB.

Read: Hubli railway station blast: Police arrest one suspect with links with banned SIMI

Umar Khalid, meanwhile, has always maintained that he is an atheist and the mainstream media had worked hard to build up his image as a ‘hardcore Communist atheist’. However, recently, in the aftermath of Kamlesh Tiwari’s brutal murder by Jihadis, Khalid had bowed meekly before the prophet of Islam in his bid to deflect attention from the pervasive intolerance within significant sections of the Muslim community.

Read: Dara Hua ‘Murtad’? Two days after Kamlesh Tiwari’s death, ‘communist atheist’ Umar Khalid prostrates as a ‘believer’

Some suspect that Umar Khalid is playing the ‘Taqqiya‘ card. The practice of ‘Taqiyya’ is a religiously sanctioned lying or deceiving non-Muslims in order to present oneself as not a true believer in Islam.

Amit Shah said not to worry, BJP and Shiv Sena will form the government, claims Union Minister Ramdas Athawale

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Amit Shah said not to worry, BJP and Shiv Sena will form the government, claims Union Minister Ramdas Athawale

The suspense in Maharashtra appeared to have been coming to a close with Shiv Sena getting increasingly close to forming the government with Congress and NCP. However, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has renewed speculations saying that he was assured by Home Minister Amit Shah himself that the BJP and Shiv Sena will be forming the government.


Ramdas Athawale, as reported by ANI, said that he told Union Minister and BJP President Amit Shah that if he mediated between the two parties, a solution could be reached. He was then assured by Amit Shah that ‘everything will be fine’ and BJP and Shiv Sena will come together to form the government.

Read: Point of no return: Shiv Sena to sit in opposition in upcoming winter session in Parliament

Earlier, it was announced that Shiv Sena will not attend the NDA meeting ahead of winter session of the Parliament which begins from Monday. On Saturday, the meeting between the joint body of the new alliance – Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP with the Governor of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, was postponed due to the unavailability of the leaders.

Presidential Rule was imposed on the state after Shiv Sena split off with its traditional alliance partner the BJP after a pre-poll alliance was agreed upon by the two. Following the declaration of results, Shiv Sena decided to pull away from the alliance over its demand of sharing the Chief Minister’s chair.

The ‘lynched’ man for whom Harsh Mander’s ‘Karwan e Mohabbat’ did a spontaneous ‘fund collection’ comes back alive

OpIndia Staff
-
0
The ‘lynched’ man for whom Harsh Mander’s ‘Karwan e Mohabbat’ did a spontaneous ‘fund collection’ comes back alive

A bizarre story has emerged from Bihar. Krishna Manjhi, previously believed to be murdered in a case of mob lynching, has returned from the dead. The Police say that his dead body was identified by his wife and father. Investigations are currently underway to discover the accurate identity of the murdered individual.


Twenty-three people were even arrested for the murder of Krishna Manjhi. The wife claims that she was told by the Police that it was her husband and the Police had identified the person based on the clothes worn by the corpse. Meanwhile, Manjhi himself says that he had gone out of town to work but he wasn’t aware that he had been murdered in the meantime.

Meanwhile, Harsh Mander’s ‘Karwan e Mohabbat’ had used the ‘lynching’ to peddle the narrative of rising hate crimes in the country. The wife of the deceased, Rudhi Devi, is a poor woman and a mother of six. Mander wrote, “Everyone in the Karwan e Mohabbat delegation was badly shaken and moved by our encounter with Rudhi Devi, her children and her husband’s father. People who had joined the Karwan quietly made a spontaneous fund-collection of money we carried in our pockets, which they silently pressed this into Rudhi Devi’s hands. She did not resist. But we knew that this would only help the family survive through a few more weeks. What would happen after that?”

Read: Harsh Mander’s article shows how ‘seculars’ are the real bigots and believers of the 2-nation theory

He continued, “Two senior volunteers in the Karwan e Mohabbat – Anwar ul Haque who heads our work with homeless people, and Ibrahami, a retired IAS officer from Bihar – decided that they would do nothing until they were able to extract some promise from the state administration for action to sustain the survival with dignity of Rudhi Devi, her children and her father-in-law.”

Mander concluded with the following words, “But the whole day, I could not forget the faces of Rudhi Devi and her children, the faces which Gandhiji had advised us to recall in times of uncertainty and confusion. I thought also of the talisman which the Mahatma had given us in his last months among us before he fell to the forces of hate. It is evident that we, his people, have lost his talisman somewhere in the blinding glitter of our wealth and the heady intoxication of our hate. How many generations will pass, I wondered, before we find his talisman again?”

The only good thing that has emerged from the entire fracas, it appears, is that the poor family received some monetary assistance from Harsh Mander, hopefully.

Muslim parties to file review petition against Ram Janmabhoomi judgement, AIMPLB decide to reject 5-acre alternate land

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Muslim parties to file review petition against Ram Janmabhoomi judgement, AIMPLB decide to reject 5-acre alternate land

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), on November 17, said that it has decided to file a review petition in the Supreme Court of India against the Ram Janmabhoomi case verdict.

According to the reports, the AIMPLB after holding a crucial meeting on Sunday decided to challenge the Supreme Court order by filing a review petition on the Ram Janmabhoomi judgement that was delivered by the top court on November 9.


“We have decided to file a review petition in the SC. Since the SC, in its judgement, said that the mosque was not built by demolishing a temple, still the mosque was not given to us. So, we will file a review petition and ask for what is rightfully ours,” said Arshad Madani of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind. He also said that though they are sure the review petition will be thrown out, one must be filed.

Reportedly, the AIMPLB has also decided to reject the 5-acre land which was promised by the Supreme Court as compensation. The AIMPLB contended that once a Mosque was built at a spot, it remains there and Shariat does not allow for anything to be accepted in lieu of the same.

Read: A Hindu perennially ashamed and guilty: How narrative after Ayodhya verdict is trying to achieve it

The decision was taken after the Jamiat’s highest decision-making body, the working committee, gave permission to file a review petition following extensive deliberations involving lawyers and experts.

On November 9, in a historic judgement, the Supreme Court had ordered handing over of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri masjid land to the Hindu parties, making way for Hindu devotees to have a grand Ram Mandir at the birthplace of Lord Ram.

The court had ordered for the construction of a Ram temple by a government trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town.

Earlier on Saturday, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) held a brainstorming session with different Muslim parties over the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case in Lucknow.

The decision to file a review petition comes a week after the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board had welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi case. The Sunni Waqf Board had made it clear that it will not file any review or curative petition against the same.

On Friday, the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (JuH), a key Muslim litigant in the Ayodhya title suit, had taken a similar position, stating that they will not be accepting the 5-acre alternative land for building a mosque as mandated by the Supreme Court.

The working committee of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind had met in Delhi on Thursday, declared that nothing would be acceptable as an “alternative” to a mosque, be it money or land. Jamiat had not ruled out the possibility of going for a review of the Supreme Court verdict.

39 bills to be introduced in the Winter session of Parliament including Citizen Amendment Bill: Read what these bills are

OpIndia Staff
-
0
39 bills to be introduced in the Winter session of Parliament including Citizen Amendment Bill: Read what these bills are

‘She is a BJP agent,’ minister in Kamal Nath’s cabinet in Madhya Pradesh loses his cool on Congress worker

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘She is a BJP agent,’ minister in Kamal Nath’s cabinet in Madhya Pradesh loses his cool on Congress worker

Harsh Yadav, a minister in Madhya Pradesh government lost his cool at a recent function organised in Sagar district and lashed out on a female colleague of his and called her a ‘BJP agent’.

As per reports, in a function where Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bala Bachchan was present, a lot of Congress leaders came up to meet him. When a photo-session was underway, Congress leader Anita Mishra also came up for a photo. Along with Bachchan, Kamal Nath government’s cabinet minister Harsh Yadav was also present. Yadav suddenly lost his cool on seeing Mishra and lashed out on her. “Don’t listen to her, she is a BJP agent. She had worked for BJP during elections,” Yadav told Bachchan about Mishra.

Read: Madhya Pradesh: Civic body officials beaten up by Kamal Nath cabinet minister’s supporters for removing birthday greeting hoardings

To that, Mishra responded by saying she has been with Congress since past 35 years. After that, she asked another Congress karyakarta to click her picture with Bachchan. Oblivious to this, Bachchan continued meeting and greeting other Congress workers present there.

Remembering Balasaheb Thackeray: A legacy shunned by Shiv Sena within seven years of his death

K Bhattacharjee
-
0
Remembering Balasaheb Thackeray: A legacy shunned by Shiv Sena within seven years of his death

Seven years ago, on this very day, Shiv Sena icon Balasaheb Thackeray passed away after a long and fruitful life. After his demise on the 17th of November, 2012, he was awarded a state funeral by the government. The entire city came to a grinding halt and hundreds and thousands of people gathered at his funeral to pay their respect to the stalwart.

As respected and revered as Balasaheb was, he never formally held any position in the Shiv Sena. He did not need to, everyone knew who the King was. There’s a certain lesson in there for the current Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray who has committed harakiri in his pursuit of the chair of Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

A lot has been said about how Balasaheb would have viewed the Shiv Sena’s conduct post the 2019 Assembly Elections in the state. While politics is a funny sport and people should expect the unexpected, the late stalwart did reserve some very harsh critique for the people his son is now trying to ally with. Uddhav Thackeray has abandoned the BJP and appears desperate to ally with the Congress and the NCP.

Read: Shiv Sena barters ideology for CMship: Agrees to 5% Muslim reservation, no Bharat Ratna for Veer Savarkar as per reports

In an interview to NDTV in 1999, Bal Thackeray had used the term “scoundrel” when asked about the possibility of an alliance with the NCP. He rejected the possibility of any alliance with Sharad Pawar. He said, “It is for a man to decide whether he wants to remain a gentleman or a scoundrel. How can I stop? If anybody is trying to become a scoundrel… Okay. But I will not go along with a scoundrel, whoever he may be.” “I will never, never, an enemy is an enemy,” Balasaheb further said.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQfuvkfcIXc]

In January 2012, Balasaheb raked up the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s “foreign origin” during an interview to Saamna, the Shiv Sena mouthpiece. “What love will she have for this country and what is her contribution here,” he asked. “You see what is going on in the country. There is controversy over the Army chief’s age and the matter is in court. Whose reputation is in jeopardy? There is no question of Sonia’s reputation as she is a foreigner,” he said.

Read: Shiv Sena: An untrustworthy ally and a sorry excuse for the party Balasaheb Thackeray built

Balasaheb did not spare Rahul Gandhi either. He said, “He was born yesterday and wants to be prime minister today. Is the PM’s post up for auction?” He had heavily criticized the series of corruption cases during the Congress regime as well. He asserted, “The Yuvraj of Congress (Rahul Gandhi) is very vocal on the corruption by Mayawati. However, he is not saying anything about the corruption by his government.” He also wrote, “His mummy (Sonia Gandhi) is also quiet on the issue. The Prime Minister is also not opening his mouth. The truth is hidden in the silence”.

Balasaheb had even claimed once that it would be better to hand over India back to the British than being governed by Sonia Gandhi. In a video message in November 2012, he said, “Overthrow the Congress governments in the state and at the Centre, which are a ‘cancer’.” It’s no wonder then that Sonia Gandhi was extremely displeased with Pranab Mukherjee when the Congress stalwart met with Balasaheb during his presidential campaign in 2012.

Shiv Sena’s role in the demolition of the Babri Masjid is also well known. It is also a documented fact that Balasaheb never felt apologetic about the entire incident. The Liberhan Commission Report documents the stalwart as saying, “We will not stop now. Hindus have united as never before.  The nation needs a strong united force of Hindus. They want to project the United Hindutva front. We want BJP to be power in New Delhi. Political compulsions compelled BJP to discard the moderate stand of Vajpayee. I am glad that I have breathed life into the Hindus. Since the time of the Muslim invasion, nine centuries back Hindus had lost their souls. The need to get their spine back, I did just that. That Rath even if it is power-driven appeals to the Hindu. Arjun received the Gita from Lord Krishna in a Rath. Anyone who takes to Rath is truly resurrecting the spirit of Hindutva. I am proud of having done that. I am also proud of my organizing skills. Everyone knows that I am the power behind the power — no aspersions on my friend Joshi – the Murli (flute) beautiful (Manohar) notes. Nevertheless, no flute can strike the right notes unless someone who knows how to place the right finger at the right spot at the right time.”

Read: The Liberhan Commission report on Babri Masjid Demolition: 10 things ‘liberals’ don’t want you to read

He continued, “On December 6, 1992, found how much power I gained in inspiring people. In fact, it was a moment of exultation. I also noticed that I had all the power, so long as I swung the mob but the moment I tried to make them turn back from their onwards assault towards the monument, I found nobody would listen to me. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot stop it from drinking. That is the modern version of the old proverb I learnt during the operation.”

Politics is a funny game. At the end of the day, it is about preserving self-interests. However, in his pursuit of power, Uddhav Thackeray has turned his back on the legacy of his father, the late Balasaheb Thackeray. Everything that the late Shiv Sena stalwart has been shunned by the man who took the reins of the party after his demise. And on the seventh death anniversary of Thackeray, it can be safely said that the apple has fallen very far from the tree.

RSS leader Gagneja murder: NIA chargesheets 11 with Khalistani links, murder aimed to revive Khalistan terrorism

OpIndia Staff
-
0
RSS leader Gagneja murder: NIA chargesheets 11 with Khalistani links, murder aimed to revive Khalistan terrorism

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge-sheet against 11 accused persons with Khalistan terror links, including a British national in connection with the murder case of Punjab unit RSS vice-president Brigadier Jagdish Gagneja (retired).

According to the reports, the NIA spokesperson on Saturday said that the agency filed the charge-sheet in the Special NIA Court in Mohali on Friday. The probe agency said that during the investigation, it was found that the killing of Gagneja was part of a trans-national conspiracy hatched by the senior leadership of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF).

The main accused is identified as Hardeep Singh alias Shera alias Pahalwaan. The others accused are Ramandeep Singh alias Canadian alias Bagga, Dharminder Singh alias Guguni, Anil Kumar alias Kala, Jagtar Singh Johal alias Jaggi alias Johar, Amaninder Singh alias Mindu, Manpreet Singh alias Mani and Ravipal Singh alias Bhunda have been arrested.

Read: Pakistan’s official song on Kartarpur Corridor features Bhindranwale and other Khalistani terrorists

The NIA has charged all the five accused with murder, conspiracy and under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Arms Act.

In October this year, the NIA court had supplied a copy of the charge-sheet in RSS leader Ravinder Gosain murder case after framing charges against the five accused, who were all accused in Gagneja murder case.

According to the charge-sheet, Gagneja’s murder was part of a trans-national conspiracy hatched by senior KLF leadership under targeted killings. He was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants in the Red Cross Market area in Jalandhar, Punjab. He was immediately shifted next day to DMC Hospital in Ludhiana but died on September 22 due to critical injuries.

Read: Former Pakistan army chief says Pakistan will use Kartarpur corridor to revive Khalistani terrorism in India

Reportedly, the killing of RSS leader was one of the firsts in a series of assassinations carried out by the trans-national Khalistan terror group. Eight acts of such targeted killings were executed as part of this conspiracy between January 2016 and October 2017 in Punjab. All the persons targeted belonged to the right-wing organisations.

In its charge-sheet, the NIA said the objective of the conspiracy was to destabilise the law and order situation in Punjab and to revive the Khalistani terrorism in the state. The Punjab government had transferred the cases to NIA after the killing had trans-national links.

The NIA investigations had revealed that funds were supplied from Italy, Australia and the UK to the perpetrators of the killings. These funds were used by the accused to purchase weapons to execute the murders as well as other logistics.

Read: Shifting focus: Is the Khalistan movement really ‘Justice for Sikhs’?

“As part of the conspiracy, large amounts of funds were supplied from Italy, Australia and the UK to the perpetrators of the killings -Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh,” said the official stating these funds were used by them to purchase weapons for executing the killings as well as logistics.

The NIA official also said that another UK national, Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been arrested in the case was involved in the funding of the conspiracy. The man behind day-to-day coordination of the conspiracy was Pakistan-based Harmeet Singh aka PhD.

Paramhas Das expelled from Tapasvi Ki Chhavni for making objectionable remarks against Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas chief

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Paramhas Das expelled from Tapasvi Ki Chhavni for making objectionable remarks against Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas chief

Paramhans Das, disciple of Mahant Sarveshwar Das, head of Tapasvi Ki Chhavni, has been expelled from the organisation for allegedly making objectionable comments against Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das.

Das, whose original name was Uday Narain Das, was a self-proclaimed mahant and ‘jagatguru’ and had never discharged his duties as a saint. Mahant Sarveshwar Das also urged fellow saints to not give refuge to Paramhans Das in their circle.

Read: Hindu Mahasabha writes to PM, HM and UP CM, demand withdrawal of Babri demolition cases against Kar Sevaks

As per reports, in a television debate, Paramhans Das had made objectionable remarks against Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das. “He is like our guru. How can one say such things about one’s guru?” Mahant Sarveshwar Das reportedly said. Following his remarks, disciples and supporters of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das had gathered outside his ashram. Paramhans Das was then escorted outside his ashram by administration.

Next day, Paramhans Das reportedly accused Mahant Nritya Gopal Das of conspiring to murder him. Following this, he was expelled from Tapasvi Ki Chhavni. Paramhans Das has reportedly fled Ayodhya and not returned since.

1...5,9465,9475,948...7,664Page 5,947 of 7,664