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Justice AK Sikri declines honorary judicial position: Here is how lies were spread about his appointment

OpIndia Staff
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Justice AK Sikri declines honorary judicial position: Here is how lies were spread about his appointment

Supreme Court judge Justice AK Sikri, who is scheduled to retire on March 6, has withdrawn his consent for appointment to the post of president/member of the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT).

Today, several media houses reported the news that government has nominated Justice Sikri for the Tribunal, and linked it with Justice Sikri’s verdict against former CBI director Alok Verma as a member of the high-level selection committee. His ruling was decisive in removing Verma from his post, as PM Modi wanted to remove Verma while Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge wanted to keep him as CBI director.

Media houses reported the news of Justice Sikri’s new appointment hinting that it is a plum posting the government is offering him as a reward for his role in the selection committee. Reacting to the news, Rahul Gandhi tweeted repeating his Rafale allegations, saying PM Modi is driven by fear, and this fear is making him corrupt and destroy key institutions.


Left-wing activist Prashant Bhushan tweeted that Justice Sikri is getting a plum posting.


After the barrage of attack by politicians, activists and journalists, who were directly insinuating Quid pro quo in Justice Sikri’s decision against Alok Verma, the news came that he has withdrawn his consent for the post-retirement offer.


Then there were others who went a step ahead and lied about Prime Minister Modi appointing Justice Sikri in the High Powered Committee that heard Alok Verma’s case.


While Justice Sikri has come under the attack from the Congress ecosystem over the Verma issue and this post-retirement appointment over, several important facts were ignored by them.

Justice Sikri was nominated for Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal in November last year itself, and he had given his consent in the first week on December 2018, this decision was not taken after the Alok Verma decision. Moreover, it was not known at that time that he will have to take a decision on Alok Verma’s fate.

He was not a part of the bench hearing the petition of Alok Verma, and the Supreme Court’s order that selection committee should decide on Verma’s fate came in 8th January this year. Apart from the Prime Minister and the leader of largest opposition party in Lok Sabha, the third member of the committee is the Chief Justice of India. CJI Ranjan Gogoi had nominated Justice A K Sikri, means there was no role of government in constituting the committee.

The insinuation that Justice Sikri was offered a ‘plum post-retirement posting’ due to his pro-government stand is totally false. In May last year, Justice Sikri had ruled against BJP in the crucial Karnataka assembly floor test case. BJP had emerged as the largest party in the assembly elections but did not win a majority, while Congress and JDS had formed a post-poll alliance with a comfortable majority. BJP had wanted more time for the floor test to be conducted, but a Supreme Court bench which included Justice Sikri had ruled that the floor test had to be conducted within 24 hours.

Justice Sikri had also struck down Section 57 of Aadhaar Act, 2016, which had empowered private entities to use Aadhaar data. Although the judgement had ruled that Aadhaar is constitutionally valid, striking down section 57 was seen as a major embarrassment for the government.

It is also important to note that the CSAT is a judicial organisation, comprising the President and seven members. The Commonwealth members are required to nominate persons to the body on a regionally representative basis, and such nominated persons must hold or have held high judicial offices in a commonwealth country. This means, only senior judges can be nominated for this position. As Justice Sikri is the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court after CJI Gogoi, and he is retiring in March this year, he was the natural choice of the government for the job.

The CSAT position is also not a regular job, and it offers no remuneration. It is an honorary position, and the members need to visit London only a few times a year to attend hearings of the Tribunal, as it is not a regular court.

But the baseless and irresponsible mudslinging on him by left-liberals has meant that he was forced to withdraw from the post to stop it. Moreover, any new judge nominated by the government for the position may come under the same attack of ‘plum posting’, and such persons also may decline the offer, which would mean that India may have to give away its representation in the Commonwealth body, all because of baseless allegations of Rahul Gandhi and left-liberal journalists.

OpIndia Evening Dispatch : Sunday, 13th January 2019

OpIndia Staff
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OpIndia Evening Dispatch : Sunday, 13th January 2019

In the hustle and bustle of the day, it is only natural to miss some of the biggest developments that impact the nation. The OpIndia Evening Dispatch will catch you up on the day’s event even if you have been busy thus far.

Here are the articles from today:

1. Army jawan arrested on charges of espionage, was honey-trapped to share sensitive info and pictures with Pak

Rajasthan Police had arrested one Army jawan on charges of espionage in Jaiselmer. After interrogations, it was revealed that he was in touch with the Pakistani ISI operatives through social media.

Sepoy Somveer Singh got in touch with one ‘Anika Chopra’ over Facebook and was chatting regularly with her and exchanging details and information about the armoured unit including its movement. Now, multiple accounts of officers and jawans are under probe with whom ‘Anika Chopra’ was in touch with.

2. Congress seeking help from Pakistan to remove PM Modi: Nirmala Sitharaman

While speaking on the second day of the BJP’s National Convention held at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, Nirmala Sitharaman accused Congress leaders of playing dirty politics by seeking help from Pakistan to remove PM Modi’s government.

“The defence forces conducted surgical strikes across the border and instead of commending them, the opposition wanted proof,” Sitharaman said. “We showed them the proof and some Congress leaders went to Pakistan to seek help to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. A big shame on our Opposition that they went to Pakistan and said, ‘please help us to remove them’. This is the kind of politics that the Congress plays.”

3. How Business Standard misused Google Trends data to show Rahul ahead of Modi

Business Standard published an article showing that Rahul Gandhi was ahead of PM Modi in online search, using Google Trends data. But they used highly filtered, very specific criteria to arrive at that conclusion while analysing Google Trends data. Our detailed analysis shows that Narendra Modi was overall searched more than Rahul Gandhi in the previous year as per the same data.

4. 2014 Cuddalore rape case: Christian Priest sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping two minors, 15 others convicted

A special Mahila Court in Cuddalore delivered an important judgement sentencing a church priest to 30 years in prison and nine others to life in prison for their involvement in the horrifying 2014 Tittakudi rape case, which involved two minor girls.

The court had found 16 of the accused guilty of various charges such as abduction and under provisions of the POCSO Act, including a Christian priest Aruldoss, who had sexually assaulted the minors and had forced them to watch pornography. He was sentenced to a jail term of 30 years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.

5. Gujarat High Court frames issues in plea against Ahmed Patel in relation to his Rajya Sabha election

Supreme Court had directed Gujarat High Court to initiate a probe against Patel, taking former Congress leader Balwantsinh Rajput’s election plea as grounds. Balwantsinh Rajput had filed a petition in Gujarat High court challenging Elections Commission’s decision of invalidating of two votes, which had led to Patel’s victory and Rajput’s defeat in Gujarat Rajya Sabha election.

High Court has framed six issues against Ahmed Patel. Among them, the biggest is whether Ahmed Patel indulged in corruption and affected the outcome of polling. The issues also include whether the decision to invalidate votes of Bholabhai Gohil and Raghavji Patel was wrong and whether votes of Shailesh Parmar and Mitesh Garasia, were actually invalid. One of the issues also challenges EC, whether its actions were “being violative of the principles of natural justice, without any authority of law”.

6. Former Supreme Court judge accuses media of running fake news over Alok Verma case

Yesterday, several media houses published reports claiming that Justice Patnaik had told them that there was no evidence against Verma regarding corruption. Most of them had said that their reporters talked to Justice Patnaik. But when former SC judge M Katju talked to Patnaik over phone, he was told that only one reporter from Indian Express talked to him, and no other media house contacted him.

Justice Katju termed this as fake news. He also rebutted arguments made against the transfer of Alok Verma. Replying to the claim that the decision to remove Verma was very hasty, he reminded that the Supreme Court had given the selection committee only one week to take a decision. He also gave detail explanation of the reason behind the committee’s decision, based on his conversation with Justice Sikri, who was member of the committee and voted in favour of removing Verma.

7. PM Modi releases commemorative coin to mark birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh in New Delhi

PM Modi today released a commemorative coin of Rs 350, to pay tribute to the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, on his 352nd birth anniversary. The event was attended by President Ram Nath Kovind and also the Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

8. Viral video: Know why a 2014 interview of Mulayam Singh Yadav has made a come back

After  Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party officially declared their alliance in Uttar Pradesh yesterday, a four year old video of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s interview has gone viral. In the interview, Mulayam Singh Yadav is seen admitting that his party had transferred votes to Congress in Amethi to defeat BJP in 2014.

9. Jignesh Mevani mixes up Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations, gets schooled

In his blind hate for PM Modi, former AAP leader and ‘independent’ Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani yesterday forgot the difference between 26th January and 15th August. Taking a dig at PM Modi, Jignesh Mevani yesterday tweeted, “Today the PM will address a rally in Ramlila Maidan. Question is, whether he will keep any heavy dose for 26th January?” He forgot the prime minister do not deliver any speech on 26th January, it is the president who hoists the tricolour on the Republic day, and addresses the nation on the eve of Republic day.

10. Dear Rahul Gandhi, stick to spreading nonsense about Rafale, spare the religions

Kushal Mehra responds to Rahul Gandhi’s claim that Mahatma Gandhi picked up the idea of non-violence from ancient Indian philosophy, from Islam, from Christianity, from Judaism, from every great religion. Mehra argues that to say that Gandhiji got that idea from every great religion is not only factually incorrect, it is insulting and condescending to the many religions at a fundamental level, and Gandhiji’s ahimsa was deeply inspired by Jainism.

11. Gujarat couple prints Rafale details in their wedding card, ask people to vote for Modi instead of giving gifts

A Surat-based couple has decided to use their wedding as an opportunity to express their support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yuvraj Pokharna, an entrepreneur belonging to Surat and his bride-to-be Sakshi Agarwal has come up with an idea of designing wedding cards to present facts to the public pertaining to the Rafale deal.

12. Arsenal Football Club creates history: Becomes first club to be mocked by a pornstar

Pornstar Mia Khalifa, who was in attendance to support West Ham in its match against Arsenal,  called out young Arsenal player Matteo Guendouzi for falling on the pitch one too many times. Khalifa was not very amused by Guendouzi’s antics on the field and posted a Graphic tweet calling him out for diving in a dramatic fashion.

13. Operation Johar: Author Abhishek Banerjee takes us back in time of left-wing terror in newly formed Jharkhand

A review of the book Operation Johar: A Love Story, by author and columnist Abhishek Banerjee. The book, although fictional, walks us down the memory lane of left-wing terror in the newly formed Jharkhand.

Gujarat couple prints Rafale details in their wedding card, ask people to vote for Modi instead of giving gifts

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat couple prints Rafale details in their wedding card, ask people to vote for Modi instead of giving gifts

In a unique occurrence, a Surat-based couple has decided to use their wedding as an opportunity to express their support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yuvraj Pokharna, an entrepreneur belonging to Surat and his bride-to-be Sakshi Agarwal has come up with an idea of designing wedding cards to present facts to the public pertaining to the Rafale deal.

The wedding card carries interesting details of the Rafale deal with a headline referring to “Keep calm and trust NAMO”. The card carries 9-point facts concerning the Rafale deal, which counters the views presented by Congress President Rahul Gandhi. “Even a fool will not compare prices of a simple flyaway aircraft with a weaponised jet”, says the wedding card while presenting some facts to refute Congress claims of irregularities in the deal.

Wedding Card of Yuvraj Pokharna
Wedding card carrying details of the Rafale deal

Speaking to OpIndia, Yuvraj said, “As the wedding card is the most important thing in a wedding, I and my fiancee Sakshi Agarwal decided to design a wedding card that no one has ever made before. We decide to pick up the issue of Rafale deal and present the information in the simplest points which can be ingested by the simplest of the individual.”

“We need to spread the truth and call out the bluff of the opposition especially Rahul Gandhi,” said Pokharna who runs successful IIT coaching institutes in Surat and Gandhinagar.

Responding to a question regarding his association with the BJP, Pokharna with all his pride said that he is an ordinary tax paying citizen coming from a middle-class family of Surat, who wanted to present the facts to the public amidst the false propaganda to create a controversy out it. He further added that he is educated enough to understand the importance of his nation and its unsung history.

Expressing surprise after his unique card went viral, Pokharna said that he has been receiving wishes from across different corners of the country. “I have received good wishes from the several people after it went viral. I had initially invited about 500-600 people for the wedding. I have been receiving phone calls by many people informing about their arrival at my wedding,” said Yuvraj Pokharna.

“Modiji is a ‘Superman’ who wakes up at 5 and works round the clock. No leaves, no offs, not even medical leave! He inspires the youth. He is my youth icon. He is cool. He rocks!” said the bride Sakshi.

The wedding card also carries a request asking the invitees to contribute to the BJP and vote for the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections instead of presenting them any gift. “Our gift would be whatsoever you wish to contribute towards BJP via NaMo app and your vote for Modi in 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” read the footer note.

This is not the first time that common people has gone a step ahead to express their support for Prime Minister Modi. Another supporter, Bhanwar Lal from Tonk had appealed the invitees to vote for Modi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and even printed this message on the card along with ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”

Operation Johar: Author Abhishek Banerjee takes us back in time of left-wing terror in newly formed Jharkhand

OpIndia Staff
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Operation Johar: Author Abhishek Banerjee takes us back in time of left-wing terror in newly formed Jharkhand

In his debut book Operation Johar: A Love Story, author and columnist Abhishek Banerjee walks us down the memory lane of left-wing terror in the newly formed Jharkhand. Having grown up in Ranchi himself, the book draws elements from his real-life experiences of preparing for competitive exams while being surrounded by Naxalites. While the book is fictional, the characters seem so real because in today’s day and age we have long crossed the threshold of fact and fiction.

There are four main characters: Somu, a teenaged boy preparing for his IIT entrance test, Sangeeta, Somu’s neighbour and a doctor whom Somu has a crush on, Jatin, a JNU student-turned-‘revolutionary’ and Sangeeta’s boyfriend and Rani, the Naxal terrorist who lives in the forests of Jharkhand. For those who have been following the Indian politics and the rise of left-wing terror, the characters, which also seem inspired from real life people, the book reminds us how deep-rooted these terrorists masquerading as intellectuals are in the academicia and media.

The characters evolve nicely, especially Somu, who is smart for his age and a keen observer. Rani is intriguing, rustic and silently dangerous. Jatin’s character is a weak villain, as in he is not evil from the start. He is easily inspired by other people and that is where his flaw is. He believes certain ideology not because he believes in it but because people around him believed in it. This comes out toward the end where he is thinking of English books he liked to read but didn’t accept because the ‘party ideology’ didn’t agree with it. The book brings out the hypocrisy of the leftists, who would oppose development because when ‘someone has too much of something, they take some of it and make it theirs’.

Drawing inspiration from real-life incidents and people, like the destruction of the Dholkal Ganesha in Chhattisgarh, Sabarmati Express carnage in Gujarat in 2002 and The Professor who radicalises youth who reminds us of a Delhi University professor who is serving jail term for left-wing terror activities, the book leaves you wanting for more.

Here is an excerpt of the book,

To Dr. Sangeeta, the night had never seemed longer. On a regular shift, things would wind down by 3 am, leaving her to look out upon the night through her office window. The mahua trees that outlined the darkness were her favourite. She had planted all twelve of them herself as a little girl waiting for her future. All grown up now, they would make gentle companions for her through the night.

“Why do people so fear being alone with their thoughts?” she would wonder.

On some nights, Sangeeta would bring along some warm milk. She would sleep until the cool morning breezes filled her little office room.

But tonight, Sangeeta was filled with a sort of mechanical sense of being, one that seemed to require no rest. She had been awake for well over twenty hours now, but couldn’t get herself to wind down. It was like being on the inside of a clock that would not stop ticking.

The crowd of people and the sea of police uniforms. The silent mourners. The booms of the gun salute. Sangeeta had seen one of the bodies. The forensics had done a good job of sewing it back together.

Amitabh Kumar had a sister, who lived abroad. It was she who had flown in from Europe to light the fire that would send her brother on his way to eternity.

“Vande… Mataram! Vande… Mataram!” the echos had risen to the sky followed by cries of “… amar rahe” and “Bharat Mata ki… Jai.”

Sangeeta’s fingers were holding a pen. She found herself tapping it furiously on the table. She felt for the heavy glass paperweight and spun it around sharply, setting off a dull ring.

The faces of the two young boys came back to her. The younger one was sobbing weakly, while his brother just stood there in a daze. Behind them was the old man in the crumpled white kurta who seemed too weak to stand but was still clutching them tightly.

Operation Johar is a fast-paced, unputdownable book and highly recommended. You could buy it here.

Arsenal Football Club creates history: Becomes first club to be mocked by a pornstar

OpIndia Staff
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Arsenal Football Club creates history: Becomes first club to be mocked by a pornstar

Arsenal Football Club created history on Saturday after becoming the first club in footballing history to be bantered by a pornstar. Mia Khalifa, who was in attendance to support West Ham in its match against Arsenal, called out young Arsenal player Matteo Guendouzi for falling on the pitch one too many times. Arsenal lost the game with the scoreline 0-1 in favour of the Hammers. In support of her favourite team, Khalifa had also posted her photos on Instagram wearing West Ham shirt.

Khalifa was not very amused by Guendouzi’s antics on the field and posted the following tweet calling him out for diving in a dramatic fashion.

Warning: Graphic language in the tweet.


Football Twitter, which has been having much fun at the expense of Arsenal for the past decade and more, broke into peals of laughter after Arsenal traversed a path hitherto uncharted in the course of footballing history.


Arsenal fans, on their part, took the banter in good faith while ruing their team’s woeful performance.


Arsenal’s form, which seemed to have turned around after the sacking of club legend Arsene Wenger, returned to its usual state of affairs in December. The team’s fate is such that even after going on an unbeaten run that stretched over 20 games, they could find themselves on level points with Manchester United who made their worst start to the season after 17 games in 28 years under Jose Mourinho should the latter manage to win their game against Tottenham Hotspurs later in the day.

Arsenal now find themselves 6 points adrift of Chelsea in 4th spot.

Congress to contest all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh in Lok Sabha elections

OpIndia Staff
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Congress to contest all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh in Lok Sabha elections

A day after the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party announced their alliance in Uttar Pradesh leaving only two seats for the Congress Party, Congress has today announced that the party will be contesting all 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. The SP-BSP alliance will be contesting on 38 seats each excluding Amethi and Rae Bareily for Congress and two other seats for smaller allies.

At a press conference held in Lucknow, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad announced, “We will fight on all 80 seats of Uttar Pradesh in upcoming Lok Sabha elections. We are fully prepared. And just like Congress emerged number 1 party in Uttar Pradesh in 2009 Lok Sabha elections, we’ll fight on our own and win twice those number of seats in upcoming elections”.

Calling it a battle to keep India united, Azad said, “The fight over parliament is between Congress and BJP. We will definitely respect and support all other parties who support us. This is not an individual fight. This battle is to keep India united”. “If any secular party competent to fight the BJP, willing to fight the BJP, willing to go with us, we will accommodate them”, he added.

Congress had allied with SP in 2017 UP Assembly elections. “We didn’t break this alliance, public should know that. We had earlier also said that we’re ready to walk with every party that wants to defeat BJP. But we can’t force anyone. They’ve (SP-BSP) closed this chapter, so we’ll continue this fight for defeating BJP on our own”, said Azad referring to the alliance.

According to reports, Congress is planning to organise 13 rallies of Rahul Gandhi in 13 zones of UP starting from Hapur, Moradabad and Saharanpur in Western Uttar Pradesh.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress had won 2 seats, SP had won 5, and BSP didn’t win any seats, while BJP had won 71 seats.

Dear Rahul Gandhi, stick to spreading nonsense about Rafale, spare the religions

Kushal Mehra
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Dear Rahul Gandhi, stick to spreading nonsense about Rafale, spare the religions

There is an old saying which goes like this, “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance you baffle them with bullshit”. If this saying was ever going to apply to someone it is Shri Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul ji is touring UAE and during one of his speeches in Dubai, he has been talking to the Indian diaspora. I came across a small excerpt of his speech on Twitter where Mr Gandhi says “Tolerance is inside our DNA, and it is been embedded not from 50 years, Mahatma Gandhi was a great exponent of non-violence, but Mahatma Gandhi ji picked up the idea of non-violence from our great religions, from our great teachers, Mahatma Gandhi picked up the idea of non-violence from ancient Indian philosophy, from Islam, from Christianity, from Judaism, from every great religion, where it is clearly written that violence will not help anyone achieve anything.”

Mahatma Gandhi was a great exponent of a particular type of non-violence/ahimsa, no disagreement on that account Mr Rahul Gandhi. But what did Gandhi ji mean when he used the word ahimsa? Was it the ahimsa that Krishna talks about in the Bhagavad Geeta? Or was it the Ahimsa that is expounded in Jainism? Because there is a fundamental difference between the two. Shri Krishna’s ahimsa was not pacifism, but, ahimsa, as it is understood in Jainism, is pure pacifism. A Jain cannot even hurt a small insect

And Gandhiji’s ahimsa was deeply inspired by Jainism and not by Hinduism. Gandhiji was from Gujarat and Jainism has a deep influence on the larger societal discourse of Gujarat.

Gandhiji had once adviced the Jews by saying “If I were a Jew and were born in Germany… I would claim Germany as my home even as the tallest gentile German may, and challenge him to shoot me or cast me in the dungeon… And suffering voluntarily undergone will bring them an inner strength and joy… The calculated violence of Hitler may even result in a general massacre of the Jews by way of his first answer to the declaration of such hostilities. But if the Jewish mind could be prepared for voluntary suffering, even the massacre I have imagined could be turned into a day of thanksgiving and joy that Jehovah had wrought deliverance of the race even at the hands of the tyrant.”

To say that Gandhiji got that idea from every great religion is not only factually incorrect, it is insulting and condescending to the many religions at a fundamental level. As Mr Rahul Gandhi was spinning his yarns of non-violence I could do nothing but pull my hair in anguish. Because this line of thinking is a standard shtick that has been peddled to every person in India since time immemorial. Indians, especially Hindus have a unique problem.

We will constantly hear the line “all religions are the same” from our elders or religious gurus on different platforms/situations ad nauseam. Just start a discussion on religion and their differences and see the resistance that comes. Rajiv Malhotra calls this trait as “difference anxiety” in his book Being Different.

As a dharmic sceptic/atheist who has been a humble student of religion for the last 15+ years, I agree with Mr Malhotra. Yes, all religions are not the same. Different religions make different claims and one has to merely read the religious scriptures to realise this basic fact. Islam and Hinduism are not the same, in fact, Islam does not even consider Hinduism to be a legitimate faith system.

Idolatry is “shirk” as per Islam. According to Islam Hinduism is a false faith and people who follow Hinduism will go to hell! Do not believe me? Well, let us check the Quran out ourselves.

Surah Al Baqarah 2.54

Sahih International: And [recall] when Moses said to his people, “O my people, indeed you have wronged yourselves by your taking of the calf [for worship]. So repent to your Creator and kill yourselves. That is best for [all of] you in the sight of your Creator.” Then He accepted your repentance; indeed, He is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.

Surah Al-Ma’idah 5.90

Sahih International: O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah ], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.

If all religions are the same and preach nice things why does the Quran criticise something that is a key aspect of many sects of Hinduism? Now let us take the claim made in the 2nd part of Mr Rahul Gandhi’s speech head-on. Mr Rahul Gandhi said that Mahatma Gandhiji learnt his idea of non-violence/ahimsa from all religions including Islam! But does Islam preach non-violence? Let us take a look at some verses from the Quran.

Surah Al Baqarah 2.191

Sahih International: And kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at al-Masjid al-Haram until they fight you there. But if they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.

Surah Al E Imran 3.151

Sahih International: We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve for what they have associated with Allah of which He had not sent down [any] authority. And their refuge will be the Fire, and wretched is the residence of the wrongdoers.

Surah Al E Imran 3.157

Sahih International: And if you are killed in the cause of Allah or die – then forgiveness from Allah and mercy are better than whatever they accumulate [in this world].

Now the usual apologist of Islam will come back at me by saying these verses are in a particular context, they are based out of a certain situation and a reaction to that situation. The next line of defence are the verses Surah Al-Baqarah [2:256], Surah Al-Ma’idah [5:32] & Surah Al Kafiroon [109:1-6] where Allah says there is no compulsion in religion or your religion to you and my religion to me. These verses are used to state that Islam believes in tolerance and has nothing against idolators and atheists.

Even if we were to buy their apologetics (which I don’t) it still does not prove that Islam preaches non-violence as it was understood by Mahatma Gandhi. In fact, if we did a proper search of the entire Quran we will not find a single verse that preaches the concept of non-violence as it was preached by Mahatma Gandhi. The best one gets is a conditional temporary truce in the Meccan verses which gets superseded by the later Medinan verses by the argument of abrogation which is used by most mainstream scholars of Islam. Even Hinduism does not preach the concept of non-violence that was expounded by Mahatma Gandhi!

Also, I would like to remind Mr Rahul Gandhi about one more very interesting factoid. He made this speech in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE happens to be one of the 13 countries in the world today where atheism is considered to be a crime, and it is punishable by the death penalty. Talk about irony committing suicide.

Mr Rahul Gandhi could not have chosen a better spot to talk about tolerance and non-violence. He picks the one nation where you cannot even criticise the religion of Islam or leave it. Because if you do that you can be killed for that! How tolerant isn’t it?

When Mr Rahul Gandhi talks about the tolerance in Islam he basically rubs salt on the wounds of the millions of atheists who are trapped in the Islamic world. He rubs salt on the wounds of Raif Badawi who is languishing in a jail in Saudi Arabia. Just this week we saw how a young girl named Rahaf Mohammad Al-Qanun was struggling to escape from the clutches of Islam.

If Mr Gandhi wants to know a real horror story he can check out this story of an atheist in Pakistan named Spartacus. We are hiding the real name for security reasons.
The aim of this article is to point out a fundamental flaw in the thinking of the Indian left and Mr Rahul Gandhi who is their leader personified. The Indian left likes to celebrate diversity. But the same Indian left hates the diversity in religious thought. All religions have to be preaching the same thing. They cannot be different.

But hang on, if all religions are the same why do Abrahamic religions convert? Has anyone ever asked themselves this basic question? Also, if all religions are different and make different truth claims why is it so bad? Islam does not tolerate idolatry, so can one make the claim that Islam is a tolerant religion from a practising theistic Hindus point of view? Is Islam tolerant towards Hinduism?

Indian religions/Darshanas have been built on the principle of “Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti”. But that does not mean other religions that originated outside India follow the same rules. In fact, the larger Indian society needs to realise this basic fact of life. The sameness disease that is seeped deeply into Indian society is because of this Hindu notion of acceptance of the multiplicity of viewpoints. While the trait by itself is beautiful and we should be supporting/accepting of multiple viewpoints we cannot deny the basic fact that all religions are not equally tolerant.

In fact, we should not demand tolerance, what we should be demanding from every person is mutual respect. Stable societies are those that believe in mutual respect. Dharmic Darshanas believe in that principle of mutual respect.

The aim of this article is to point out the muddled thinking of Mr Rahul Gandhi and the mainstream Indian left. Not for one moment should the critique of the tenets of Islam be taken as a critique of the larger Muslim population in the world. In my view Muslims around the world are not tolerant/kind because of Islam, they are tolerant/kind in spite of Islam because we as human beings are more than our religious ideologies.

We are nice towards each other not because our religions make us that, we are nice towards each other because of the inherent altruism that has seeped into us through our evolution over thousands of years. And if we want to credit religion for all the nice things we do, then the same religious ideology has to be blamed for all the horrors that are committed on its name today or in the past. And this logic applies to each and every religious idea that exists today on planet earth.

Religions are different, hence the problems and solutions that emanate from them will be different too. I will leave you with a small excerpt from a book written by Stephen Asma titled Why We Need Religion (p. 197) “ Can we just love our enemies into submission? Can our own piety transform all our enemies into friends? Sometimes, that is a real option. ISIS magazine Dabiq makes it clear that sometimes that is not an option.

“The fact is,” ISIS warns us, “even if you were to stop bombing us, imprisoning us, torturing us, vilifying us, and usurping our lands, we would continue to hate you because our primary reason for hating you will not cease to exist until you embrace Islam. Even if you were to pay jizyah [tax for infidels] and live under the authority of Islam in humiliation, we would continue to hate you.”

Jignesh Mevani mixes up Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations, gets schooled

OpIndia Staff
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Jignesh Mevani mixes up Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations, gets schooled

In his blind hate for PM Modi, former AAP leader and ‘independent’ Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani yesterday forgot the difference between 26th January and 15th August. Taking a dig at PM Modi, Jignesh Mevani yesterday tweeted, “Today the PM will address a rally in Ramlila Maidan. Question is, whether he will keep any heavy dose for 26th January?”


Mevani even forgot the difference between how the Republic Day (26th January) and the Independence Day (15th August) are celebrated. Whether it was his lack of general knowledge or his mind was numbed with Modi hatred that he could not distinguish between the two occasions cannot be ascertained. On the eve of Republic Day, i.e. 26th January, it is the President who delivers an address and not the Prime Minister. On 26th January, too, the President hoists the flag and not the Prime Minister though the Prime Minister with other dignitaries garces the occasion with their presence. The Prime Minister addresses the nation from the Lal Qila on 15th August i.e. on the day when India got independence.

Mevani soon got schooled for his lack of knowledge. Twitterati was more than glad to explain to him the difference between the two.


Meanwhile, some Modi supporters were also challenging Mevani that on the upcoming 15th August, which will fall after the new government at Centre would be formed, too, PM Modi will address the nation.

Viral video: Know why a 2014 interview of Mulayam Singh Yadav has made a come back

OpIndia Staff
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Viral video: Know why a 2014 interview of Mulayam Singh Yadav has made a come back

As the 2019 Lok Sabha elections are approaching, political parties have started their election calculations. Yesterday on January 12, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party officially declared their alliance in Uttar Pradesh with a declared agenda of keeping the BJP out of power.

The primary agenda of the opposition parties in the upcoming general elections is to defeat the BJP. And to achieve the same, such political formations are happening which were unimaginable in the past. However, this is not the first time that such political patch-ups are being resorted to by the political parties to grab the power. In view of this political scenario, a four year old interview of former President of Samajwadi Party Mulayam Singh Yadav becomes relevant. In the interview, Mulayam Singh Yadav is seen admitting that his party had transferred votes to Congress in Amethi to defeat BJP in 2014.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyRhfQV9H2U]

Acting on similar lines this time also, the SP-BSP have left the two seats of Amethi and Rae Bareli for Congress despite the fact that Congress is not a part of the alliance. The SP and the BSP will be contesting on 38 seats each while the RLD and other parties will contest on 2 seats only.

As the 2019 general elections become a question of survival, the opposition parties have chosen to look beyond their past differences and joined hands for their own benefit. BSP supremo Mayawati while addressing the joint press conference yesterday had claimed that she has decided to ally with SP forgetting the 1995 Guest House incident in the “interest of nation”.

Meanwhile the four year old video of Mulayam Singh Yadav has invoked some Twitter reactions. Some questioned:

Some speculated:


Some mocked:


Whether the political patch ups will prove beneficial for the opposition parties or not will only be revealed after the election results. However past experience has not been very pleasant when it comes to such alliances.

PM Modi releases commemorative coin to mark birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh in New Delhi

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi releases commemorative coin to mark birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh in New Delhi

PM Modi today released a commemorative coin of Rs 350, to pay tribute to the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, on his 352nd birth anniversary. The event was attended by President Ram Nath Kovind and also the Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.


PM Modi also extended greetings of Lohri to the Sikh community throughout the world.

“Coin of Guru Gobind Singh is etched in her hearts for the last hundred years. I am sure, it will be etched in the heart of people, in the coming years too” PM Modi said. He also wished farmers for their new harvest of the season.

PM Modi said that the coin is a just small attempt to pay tribute to Guru Gobind Singh. He said that Guru Gobind Singh was not only a great warrior but an erudite poet too who fought vehemently against the injustice meted out to people in the country. Guru Gobind Singh also gave the message of equality, cutting across boundaries of inferiority and superiority.

Guru Gobind Singh had laid the foundation of Khalsa in 1699. PM Modi said that the Khalsa was a step undertaken by Guru to unite the whole county and protect its citizens and civilization. Guru had an extraordinary knowledge, of scriptures like Vedas and Puranas, he added. He said that our country too is treading the path of Guru Gobind Singh and taking to world our knowledge of Yoga and Ayurveda, to renovate our civilization.

PM Modi declared, that the Prakash Utsav will not only be celebrated by union and state government offices in India, but also by the Indian embassies throughout the world.

Speaking on the steps undertaken by the government to open the Kartarpur Corridor, PM Modi said that his government is helping Indians and Sikhs, to visit the shrine of Guru Nanak Dev in Pakistan, that too visa-free. Stating that opening of the Kartarpur Corridor is the government’s attempt to redeem the country from the horrors of 1947 India-Pakistan partition, he added, “August 1947 mein jo chuk hui thi, yeh uska prayaschit hai. Humare guru ka sabse mehatvapurn sthal sirf kuch hi kilometer dur tha lekin use bhi apne saath nahi liya gaya. Yeh corridor uss nuksaan ko kum karne ka pramanik pramaan hai.”

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