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Local terrorists should be saved, charge sheet against Kashmiri students same ‘mistake’ as Afzal Hanging: Mehbooba Mufti

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Local terrorists should be saved, charge sheet against Kashmiri students same ‘mistake’ as Afzal Hanging: Mehbooba Mufti

Former Jammu and Kashmir CM and PDP chief, Mehbooba Mufti, stoked controversy on Tuesday, by terming local terrorists in J&K as ‘son of the soil’ and said that efforts should be made to save them.

Talking to reporters in Anantnag after a party function, Mufti claimed that the Centre should initiate dialogue with the terrorist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir to end the “gun culture”. She furthered, “Right now, talks should be held with Pakistan and separatists. Similarly, the militant leadership should also be talked to, as it is they who have the guns and only they can end the gun culture.”

Mufti, reiterating that the local terrorists should be prevented from walking on the path of violence, said that according to her, “at some stage, talks will have to be held with Hurriyat Conference and militants as well,” she said.

What came across as advocating these insurgents, Mehbooba Mufti in her statement maintained that the local terrorists should be saved as they are ‘assets’.”Right from the time I came into politics in 1996, I have been saying that local militants are sons of the soil and our maximum efforts should be to save them because they are assets. If an encounter breaks out, the two people (militants and security forces) come face to face and no one can do anything about it then,” she said.

Referring to the filing of the charge-sheet in the 2016 JNU sedition case, in which seven Kashmiris have been named, Mufti on Monday had taken a jibe at the government criticising it for using this issue to score political points ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.


She furthered that BJP was making the same mistake Congress had made ahead of 2014 elections by hanging Afzal Guru (a terrorist leader, who was convicted for his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack), which according to her was a political stunt to attract voters.


Mehbooba Mufti’s endearment for the terrorists is not something everyone is unaware of. On December 30 last year, she visited a terrorist’s family in south Kashmir’s Pulwama and admonished the government for alleged harassment of terrorists’ families. She had taken to Twitter to express her angst for the ‘injustices’ meted out to the terrorists and their families.

However, launching an attack on Mehbooba’s duplicity, the BJP had then alleged that the PDP chief is playing worst kind of opportunistic politics to stay relevant in the Kashmir politics. Sympathising with terrorists and whitewashing of crimes of pro-terrorist stone pelters in the state has been a chosen political tactic of many leaders, including Mufti in the state.

In fact, when BJP had walked out of the coalition government with Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP in J&K in June last year, they had stated heavy radicalisation and soft approach towards extremists under the PDP governance as the key reason for the break-up.

BJP’s national general secretary Ram Madhav had then stressed that despite the central government always giving whatever the PDP asked for, they had failed to deliver expected results and control the retrogressing law and order situation in the valley.

Kapil Sibal, who wants sedition law scraped, never shied away from implementing it when UPA was in power

OpIndia Staff
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Kapil Sibal, who wants sedition law scraped, never shied away from implementing it when UPA was in power

Kapil Sibal, former law union law minister, today came out in support of the JNU student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Shehla Rashid and others against whom the Delhi Police is in process of framing charges.


Sibal took to Twitter to appeal that the sedition law (section 124A of the Indian Penal Code) should be scrapped. He furthered that the “real sedition is when those in power manipulate institutions, misuse the law, breach peace and security by inciting violence.”

Sibal being the one to complain about the sedition law is indeed interesting, because he, as the minister of law and justice in the UPA 2 did not take any steps to abolish the same. In fact, it even charged people under the same ‘colonial hangover’ law which Sibal now wants to be scrapped. Scientist and Columnist Anand Ranganathan, who has previously called out Congress’ hypocrisy over a series of tweets on multiple occasions, again listed out various occasions in the past where Congress itself used the sedition law against citizens. There were not one or two, but as many as 8,000 such cases where sedition law was used when UPA was at the Centre.


In September 2012, cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was arrested on charges of sedition, cybercrime and insulting the national flag, Parliament and the Constitution through his work. In October 2010, the Union Home Ministry gave a go-ahead to Delhi Police to file a case against Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and activist Arundhati Roy for giving ‘hate speech’ at a seminar. These days, Roy spends her spare time spreading fake news.

A cursory Google search also threw up dozens of cases of sedition laws used under hte Congress regime. Simranjit Singh Mann, President of Shiromani Akali Dal – Amristar, was arrested from Sangrur for allegedly raising pro-Khalistan slogan in 2005. In 2012, sedition charges were filed against nearly 7,000 villagers who were protesting against Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu.

In 2011, Maharashtra Police charged Sudhir Dhawale, an alleged urban Naxal, with sedition and he spent 40 months in jail. Congress was in power in the state as well as at the Centre. In March 2014, Akhilesh Yadav led Uttar Pradesh government booked 67 Kashmiri students under sedition laws for cheering for Pakistani players during a cricket match. Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party was Congress’ alliance partner in 2017 Uttar Pradesh state elections and has even extended support to Congress for forming the government in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in recently concluded elections.

In 2013, a sedition case was filed against the author of Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaru (Resurgence of Pandiyar History), K. Senthil Mallar, which claimed that Pallars, a Scheduled Caste, were the original rulers of southern state Tamil Nadu. In September 2012, two Swedish nationals were booked under sedition charges for burning Indian currency notes in public.

Clearly, there was no dearth of sedition charges filed under the UPA. However, Kapil Sibal saying the sedition laws are being “misused by Centre just to keep citizens in check” is a bit rich. Kapil Sibal had passed a law where anyone posting anything ‘offensive’ on Twitter can be jailed for three years. That was the section 66A of the IT Act that was amended by the UPA.

Mass conversions need to be checked, says Rajnath Singh addressing programme of a Christian body

OpIndia Staff
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Mass conversions need to be checked, says Rajnath Singh addressing programme of a Christian body

Raising concerns over mass conversions in the country, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that there is a need to check mass conversions that are occurring in the country. Interestingly, he made those comments while speaking at a function organised by a Christian body. “If someone accepts a religion on their own there shouldn’t be objections but mass conversion is a matter of concern for any country. If you’re Hindu be Hindu, Muslim be Muslim, Christian be Christian. Why do you want to convert the whole world?” he said at a function organised by Rashtriya Isai Mahasangh.

Rashtriya Isai Mahasangh is a federation of various Christian Forums at different levels in the country. Addressing the Festival of Peace organised by the Christian body, Singh said that he supports the freedom to follow any religion but was of the opinion that a debate is needed as the mass conversions is a matter of concern for any country.

Dismissing the charges against his party of trying to divide people along communal lines, BJP strongman Rajnath Singh said, “BJP aa gayi. Ab gadbad hoga, ye hoga wo hoga (BJP has come. Now this or that will happen). We do not want to run the country by instilling a sense of fear. We want to run this country with a sense of confidence (among people). Nobody should have a sense of alienation. This will be our efforts.” He added that the present NDA government will not discriminate with anybody.

“I have never discriminated on the basis of caste, creed and religion in my life. Whether or not we get votes. Whether or not we form the government, whether we win or lose. But we will never discriminate among people. This is what our prime minister feels,” he said at the Christian gathering.

Addressing the Chrisitan community, Rajnath Singh said, “I would also say one thing on the Christian community. We do not want to level allegations against anybody. You may have also heard. If somebody wants to accept a religion, he should do that. There should not be any objection to it. But if mass conversion starts happening, a large number of people start changing their religion, then it could be a matter of concern for any country,” Singh said.

He said in almost all countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, minorities demand anti-conversion law. In India, he said the majority community is demanding that there should be an anti-conversion law. “Then it is a matter of concern. It should not happen,” Singh said. Citing a slogan in Sanskrit, the home minister said, “we do not have an allergy with anybody”.

“You want to enlighten people. This is your purpose, right? ‘Hum number badhane ke chakkar me kyon pade hain’ (why are we for increasing the numbers?) Do we have to rule on somebody?” he asked.

Meanwhile, Rajanth Singh also added that there are attempts to create a sense of fear among people. Citing the incidents of stone pelting at churches, Rajnath Singh said that few priests had come to him to demand security. He said he had assured him of all the necessary security for the community. However, the stone pelting started a month before the assembly elections and stopped a month after the elections, Singh said while questioning the conspiracy behind such attacks.

1-in-3 UN employee reported sexual harassment in first ever “Me Too” survey by the organisation

OpIndia Staff
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1-in-3 UN employee reported sexual harassment in first ever “Me Too” survey by the organisation

According to the results of a survey released on Tuesday, one-in-three United Nations employees have reported suffering sexual harassment at the global organization over the past two years.

The figure went up to 38.7% for those who reported experiencing some sort of sexual harassment during their time at United Nations.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is reported to have told staff in a letter that the study contained “some sobering statistics and evidence of what needs to change” to improve the workplace at the United Nations.

Appealing for higher standards of behaviour to his staff, Guterres said, “Perhaps one of the more important findings of the survey is that exclusion and incivility are highly correlated with incidents of harassment, providing a permissive atmosphere for such behaviour.”

Guterres stated further, “The results confirm that these have a debilitating effect on staff morale and on work performance and there are continued barriers to reporting, including fear of retaliation and perception that perpetrators, for the most part, enjoy impunity.”

The most common types of harassment reported in the survey were “sexual stories or jokes that were offensive” and “offensive remarks about appearance, body or sexual activities.” However, more serious transgressions were also reported as common, including offensive gestures and touching, and unwelcome attempts at conversation about sexual matters.

According to the survey, two-thirds of the harassers were men and one out of four were supervisors or managers. Nearly one in ten harassers were senior leaders. The consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu was commissioned by Guterres to conduct the first-ever “Me Too” survey of the employees of the UN worldwide.

Kumbh Mela 2019: First Dalit head of Juna Akhada calls for ‘Gharwapsi’ of those who have converted to other faiths

OpIndia Staff
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Kumbh Mela 2019: First Dalit head of Juna Akhada calls for ‘Gharwapsi’ of those who have converted to other faiths

As per a report in Times of India, the first Dalit Mahamandaleshwar to be made one of the heads of the Juna Akhara, Kanhaiya Prabhunand Giri, has called for the Gharwapsi of SCs, STs and OBCs who have “left Sanatan Dharm due to fear of exploitation to Buddhism, Christianity and Islam”.

Earlier known as Kanhaiya Kumar Kashyap, the 32-year-old Prabhunand Giri was honoured at a Pattabhishek ceremony by all the seers of the Juna Akhada in April 2018 and it was announced there that he would participate in the 2019 Kumbh as a Mahamandaleswar.

He stated, “I will wash the feet of the past lives of all my community members who embraced Islam, Christianity and Buddhism due to inequality, and bring them back to Sanatan Dharm. I will show them how Juna Akhara has been inclusive with me.”

On Tuesday, Giri took his first dip at Sangam on the first ‘Shahi Snan’ in Kumbh Mela. He told TOI, “It is difficult to explain the pride I felt when I was made to sit on a chariot for the ‘Shahi Snan’, surrounded by devotees dancing to drum beats around me. My community has, for ages, been kept away from this honour, even when we have been rulers and have proved our mettle both mentally and physically by writing the Constitution and fighting the Mughals and British, respectively.”

Giri further stated that he wants politicians to stop using the word Dalits and call the members of his community SCs, STs and OBCs as mandated by the Constitution. He asserted that he has faced casteist comments himself but wants to bring back people to Hinduism.

Controversy erupts as 1984 riots accused Jagdish Tytler attends Congress official event in Delhi

OpIndia Staff
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Controversy erupts as 1984 riots accused Jagdish Tytler attends Congress official event in Delhi

In a sheer contempt towards the victims of 1984 Anti-Sikh riots, Congress leader and 1984 Sikh genocide accused Jagdish Tytler was spotted at the event in which Sheila Dikshit was made Delhi Congress chief.

Congress party had organised an event to officially hand over the charge of Delhi Congress unit to former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. During the event, 1984 anti-Sikh riot accused Jagdish Tytler was seen occupying the front row seats, which has now stoked controversy.


The presence of a genocide accused in an official programme of the Congress party has now turned out to be another embarrassing incident for the Congress ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Last year, in the mother of all ironies, when Congress President led a 5-hour symbolic ‘fast’ for ‘communal harmony’, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, were both present at the venue leaving the party red-faced. Later, they were both asked to leave.

Recently, another accused and accomplice of Tyler, Sajjan Kumar was convicted by the Delhi High Court for murdering five Sikhs in the Delhi Cantonment area during the 1984 Sikh genocide. The court, while awarding him a life sentence, had directed him to surrender by December 31 and had also asked to pay Rs 5 lakh as fine.

The 1984 Anti-Sikh riots took place in the aftermath of the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which resulted in brutal killings of more than 2800 people according to official figures. Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler were accused of a direct role in orchestrating the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India.

Hyderabad: Muslim man tortures his two wives after they deny consent for third marriage

OpIndia Staff
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Hyderabad: Muslim man tortures his two wives after they deny consent for third marriage

A twenty-six-year-old woman living in Hyderabad’s Borabanda, who is married to Mohammed Khan for nearly four years, has accused her husband of torture after she refused him permission to marry for the third time, reported the New Indian Express.

According to the reports, the victim woman, who is his second wife has accused her husband of mistreating her after she refused Mohammad Khan her consent to marry for the third time. Khan has three children from his first marriage, the youngest one being just two weeks old.

Reportedly, the first wife Ayesha (name changed) said that Khan had told her that second wife cannot bear children.“He convinced me to allow him a second marriage by claiming that she would take care of our children,” Ayesha said. However, Khan has now expressed his desire to marry for the third time as the second wife is not being able to bear him any children.

Ayesha further added that Khan has been torturing them for giving consent to marry for the third time. At times, he assaults his second wife by hitting her with a leather belt and has also been threatening to push her off the building.

The wives lodged a complained against their husband at SR Nagar police station, where a general diary entry was made by the police. The family will be sent to Bharosa Centre for counselling, police said.

Karnataka crisis: Congress-JD(S) tries to lure BJP MLAs to save its government

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka crisis: Congress-JD(S) tries to lure BJP MLAs to save its government

Crisis in Karnataka deepens with four Congress MLAs rumoured to be resigning today. Two independent MLAs have already withdrawn their support to the Congress-JD(S) coalition government and as per reports, at least 12-13 Congress MLAs might resign in the coming days bringing the house strength to 106.

According to reports, to counter effect of resigning MLAs, Congress is trying to lure BJP MLAs by offering them a ministerial berth, unconditionally. BJP had alleged yesterday that Congress is trying to poach BJP MLAs so as to stabilize the collapsing government.

Downplaying the crisis on hand, Kumaraswamy has claimed that his government is stable and intact. He said that he is in touch with the Congress MLAs who are in Mumbai and all is well. “Two MLAs withdrawing support from my government does not matter,” he said.

Meanwhile, as per reports, BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa is holding a meeting with the BJP MLAs in a hotel in Gurugram even as Congress Legislature Party meeting has been called in Bengaluru on 18th January. Meanwhile, Congress workers have taken to protesting outside the Gurugram hotel where BJP Karnataka MLAs are staying.

The crisis the Congress-JD(S) government emerged after, Karnataka Water Resources minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party was indulging in horse-trading and were luring three of its MLAs to camp at a Mumbai hotel in the “company of some BJP leaders”. He had also alleged CM Kumaraswamy of being extremely permissive and lenient towards BJP.

Congress-JD(S) coalition has been unstable since it came to power in 2017. Recently, Kumaraswamy claimed that he was being treated like a clerk instead of a chief minister. However, this was not the first time Chief Minister Kumaraswamy has lamented over his discomfort to work with the Congress party. Earlier in July, expressing his unhappiness over the coalition government, Kumaraswamy had cried saying he was unhappy and swallowing the poison of a coalition government.

Earlier, JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda, had declared that JD(S) will not be a part of Mahagtabnadhan and go alone in 2019 general elections. He had cited its worker’s complaints regarding the “Big Brother” attitude of Congress, after winning recent assembly elections.

Currently, in 224 sets assembly of Karnataka,  JD(S) has 37 seats, Congress has 80 seats and BJP has 104 seats. Other than this BSP has 1 seat and there are two independent MLAs. As per reports, a major breakthrough is expected later in the day.

Prevent “another black day”, Retired Judge pleads with President against Collegium’s recommendations for SC

OpIndia Staff
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Prevent “another black day”, Retired Judge pleads with President against Collegium’s recommendations for SC

Justice Kailash Gambhir, retired Judge of the Delhi High Court, has written to President Ram Nath Kovind objecting to the Collegium’s recommendations of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dinesh Maheshwari for elevation to the Supreme Court.


The Collegium’s recommendations have superseded 32 judges and Justice Gambhir has deemed it outrageous and appalling. He stated, “This is appalling and outrageous that such an earth-shattering decision has been taken to supersede as many as 32 judges which include many Chief Justices, casting aspersions on their intellect, merit and integrity.”

The letter further asserted that democracy will not survive without a ‘free Judiciary’. It states, “I humbly urge your Excellency to kindly ponder over as the head of largest democracy in the world with a robust judiciary and having remained a part of the legal fraternity, and see yourself that the way the present collegium of five eminent senior judges have superseded almost 32 judges, how will the democracy and independence of judiciary in the country survive.

Justice Gambhir further states that Justice Maheshwari was superseded just a month and a half back but suddenly has become deserving. He wrote, “It cannot be forgotten that it is just one-and-a-half month back the then collegium members of the Supreme Court had superseded Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and now out of the blue, he becomes more deserving and suitable within such a short gap.”

Justice Gambhir also pleaded with the President to prevent “another black day” and “another historical blunder” from being committed to preserve the credibility and independence of the Judiciary.

“BJP waalon ko dauda dauda kar maarenge”: BSP leader’s pitch for 2019

OpIndia Staff
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“BJP waalon ko dauda dauda kar maarenge”: BSP leader’s pitch for 2019

Following Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) coming together to fight the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh, it seems arrogance has crept across their leaders as in a shocking incident, BSP leader Vijay Yadav has asked his party workers to publically thrash BJP workers after winning the Lok Sabha elections.

According to reports, Vijay Yadav, addressing a public gathering in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad told his supporters that BJP was the most corrupt party of the nation and asked the party supporters to teach a lesson for the BJP after winning the elections.


Yadav, a BSP MLA from Thakurdwara city, said, “We will thrash the BJP, there is no need to worry about it. Now the SP and SP-BSP are together. The BJP’s elimination in the elections is certain. After the elections, the workers of SP and BSP will surely teach the BJP a lesson (Inn BJP waalon ko toh dauda dauda kar maarenge. Ghabrane ki zaroorat nahi hai. Aaj inhe nani yaad aagai hogi, mari hui nani, ki SP- BSP ek hogaye)”

“Bharatiya Janata Party is the most corrupt party in the country. Congress gave us four Gandhis- Rajiv, Indira, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. What did the BJP give us? Modi. Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and sitting in Ambani’s lap- Narendra Modi,” said Yadav.

Yadav further said that everyone in the BJP is worried and there is no need for the BSP supporter to lose hope. “Jai Mayawati, Jai Akhilesh bhaiya. Baaki sabka nikalgaya teil, ab chalega SP-BSP ka Khel,” said the BSP MLA in an event organised to celebrate the birthday of BSP supremo Mayawati on Tuesday.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati celebrated her 63rd birthday on Tuesday and the party had organised various programmes on the occasion of its supremo’s birthday. However, an awkward situation occurred at one of such events when the party supports went berserk after seeing a magnificent multi-layered cake and soon started creating a ruckus over the cake while trying to ‘loot’ it.

Meanwhile, in yet another shocking incident, which took place in another part of the town, where a similar celebration was in full swing, BSP supporters were seen commemorating the occasion by open firing and yanking cake from each other.

Recently, SP and BSP came together in Uttar Pradesh to contest against BJP, without even considering Congress a choice to be their partner in the alliance. After being ignored, Congress party has now decided to contest all the 80 seats from Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

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