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Hindus taking part in Ganesh Visarjan told to ‘worship only Jesus’ by evangelists in Mumbai

OpIndia Staff
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Hindus taking part in Ganesh Visarjan told to ‘worship only Jesus’ by evangelists in Mumbai

An incident of Christian missionaries going after Hindus for proselytization even at Hindu religious events has come to light in Chembur area of Mumbai. Local residents have claimed that on Monday evening, when they were taking part in Gauri Ganpati Visarjan ceremony to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, Christian evangelists targeted them and handed them over pamphlets that claimed that Jesus Christ was the only true god.

The evangelists were two young women who ambushed devotees at Teen Talao, near Acres Club of Chembur. The pamphlets that were handed over to Hindu devotees claimed that Hindus had their heart hitherto away from god, and they (Hindus) should come to Lord Jesus to find true god and ‘salvage’ themselves.

The pamphlets also gave ‘testimonials’ of two individuals who were supposedly cured of serious diseases like brain tumour and AIDS after accepting Christianity. The pamphlets asked Hindus to convert to Christianity because that was the only right way to achieve peace, freedom, and a healthy life.

Evangelism in Mumbai
Pamphlets distributed by Christian evangelists to Hindus in Mumbai

The audacity of evangelists was noticed and protested by some local residents, who confronted them and asked why were they targeting Ganesh devotes for their activities.

“They were adamant. They said that it was their duty to show Hindus the path of truth, which according to them was only available by becoming Christians,” Dhananjay Dubey, a local resident who witnessed the entire incident and confronted the evangelists, told OpIndia.

Dhananjay said that the local residents were behaving politely with the evangelists, who still refused to leave the place to show some respect to the religious sentiments of Hindus. “They also refused to accept prasad from us, making their intentions very clear that they were not interested in any dialogue, but in showing Hindus that their religion was inferior,” Dhananjay said.

Satish, another local resident confirmed the incident. “While most of the Hindus taking part in the visarjan ceremony did not bother protesting, a few of us decided to act further and asked a local policeman to remove the evangelists from the spot as they were indulging in provocative deeds,” he said.

“When some of us confronted them for their claims of Jesus being the ‘only true god’ and asked them what they had to say about Ganesh devotees, they said they did not believe in Ganpati,” Satish further recalled, “On being told that the surroundings were being littered by the pamphlets distributed by them, they said ‘humko koi matlab nahi’ (we don’t care).”

“They refused to budge even after the policeman requested them to,” Satish recalled, “After that we also started protesting. They finally went away.”

A short clip of this confrontation was shared on Twitter by a user:


While the Indian constitution gives freedom to propagate one’s religion, the incident shows how evangelists have become emboldened and don’t even spare major events like Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai while targeting Hindus.

“It is difficult to act against such deeds as everyone has the constitutional right to propagate one’s religion, but such acts where someone tell people taking part in a religious procession that their god is not true; it can be deemed to cause enmity between groups,” said Chirag, an advocate OpIndia talked to.

“Since the pamphlets talked about religious conversations getting rid of serious diseases, that can come under anti-superstition law enacted in Maharashtra. A case of illegal activity can be made on that count too,” the advocate said.

Local residents say that they don’t know contact details of the evangelists so as of now they are not planning to take any legal action.

“We also have day jobs so it might not be possible for us to pursue court cases, especially given that the other side can get lots of support from established network of lawyers,” Dhananjay said, “But we will not silently watch such assaults on our faith from now on.”

Tripura’s new government seizes 40,000 kilos of Ganja, tackles drug mess left by Communists

Abhishek Banerjee
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Tripura’s new government seizes 40,000 kilos of Ganja, tackles drug mess left by Communists

We all know that the state of Tripura was discovered on March 3, 2018, the date on which the BJP swept to power in the Assembly elections. In fact, historians are still debating whether the region has always been a part of our republic or was added to the Indian Union in March 2018. Since that day, our unbiased ‘national’ media has risen to the challenge of distorting, misreporting and lying about nearly everything from this newly found territory of the Indian Republic.

On an average day, you can find the bold explorers from Delhi media houses on a mission to find ways to discredit the new BJP Chief Minister Biplab Deb. Because the truth rolls off our ‘national’ media like water off a duck‘s back.

It is almost like responsibility for Tripura has passed from the hands of an ‘honest’ CM to the hands of the ‘honest’ media.

What the media won’t tell you is that the new government in Tripura has been on a mission to end the state’s drug problem. In six months, they have seized 40,000 kilos of ganja and vast quantities of other drugs. There have been 204 people arrested and CM Biplab Deb claims that most of them are related to CPI(M). A claim that is hardly surprising.

So how did Tripura get to be this way, a smuggling corridor for drugs from Myanmar to India? Here is the true picture, for which I had to go to The Shillong Times, a media outlet that is decidedly less fancy than Delhi based channels:

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The per capita income in Tripura grew from Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 (a 60% increase) in seven years despite no new industries and no real expansion in agricultural output. How was this miracle possible?

Who says Communists don’t believe in a higher power? In the case of Tripura, that ‘higher power’ might just have been druglords from Myanmar who wanted to export their product to India. The “honesty” of Manik Sarkar was possibly underwritten by drug smugglers over South East Asia. Nice.

And why did the druglords of Myanmar find such fertile ground in Tripura? Well, people need to eat, don’t they? And what other work was available in Tripura?

For decades, the people of Tripura were suffering a quadruple whammy: First of all, their state lies in India’s North East, which is often forgotten and neglected. Even today, some of India’s most prominent “liberal” faces like Shashi Tharoor refer to people from the North East as “hilarious” and “outlandish”.

Second, Tripura was an enclave, a tactical concession from the Congress to the Communists in order to secure the support of radical academics, intellectuals, NGOs, etc on the wider national ideological battlefield. Which means the state had no opposition to speak of.

Third, the rule of the CPI(M) brought with it political murder and thuggish intimidation of the usual kind that Communists carry out everywhere in the world. To be fair, the Communists are very open about their admiration for Stalin. They promise Stalinism openly and they deliver it as promised.

Fourth, because of the massive influence of the Communist Party among India’s journalists, the crimes of the Communists in Tripura not only go unreported but are actively covered up by the mainstream media.

And thus, for decades, as the Communists ruled over Tripura, the state and its economy rotted away. Unemployment stood at a staggering 19.7%, the highest in the country. There being no private economy, the state government was practically the only employer but paid near poverty level wages. State Government employees in Tripura were paid as per the Fourth Pay Commission. Just so you know, the Government of India convenes a Pay Commission approximately once every 10 years. This is why Government employees today are paid as per the Seventh Pay Commission. Except in Tripura. Over there employees were stuck with Fourth Pay Commission wages, i.e., 1987 salaries!

Have you wondered what life would be like if 20% of the people were unemployed and the lucky few who got jobs were receiving 1987 level salaries? People need to eat, don’t they?

And when drug smuggling is the only game in town, people living without employment and without hope have to do that to survive. Plus, when people are high on drugs, for a few moments, they might just catch a glimpse of the promised Communist utopia.

‘Myanmar based drug mafia is hatching a plot to eliminate Tripura CM Biplab Deb’: BJP

OpIndia Staff
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‘Myanmar based drug mafia is hatching a plot to eliminate Tripura CM Biplab Deb’: BJP

Addressing a press conference at BJP state headquarters at Krishnanagar, Agartala, Tripura’s former minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Ratan Chakraborty claimed that Myanmar based drug peddlers have hatched a plot to kill state Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.

The minister further claimed that the drug mafia recently had a meeting in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw to eliminate Deb, as they are apparently unhappy because after coming to power the CM had launched a massive operation against drugs and had called for making the north-eastern state drugs-free.

Determined to eradicate drugs from the state, the security forces in Tripura, under the supervision of the CM, have seized more than 41,000 kilograms of marijuana, 80,000 bottles of contraband cough syrup, 1.35 lakh tablets (including Yuba manufactured in Myanmar), two-kilogram heroin, and 620-gram brown sugar and arrested more than 250 drug peddlers.

Chakraborty added that “the Union Home Ministry is very worried as Asia’s top kingpin and drug peddlers had organised a meeting at Myanmar capital and decided to eliminate Biplab Kumar Deb.”

While raising concerns the BJP MLA also said that the former Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M)-led Left Front government and its leaders have been aiding the drug mafias who have been operating free during that period.

In the month of August, it was reported that in an operation carried out by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) teamed up with Tripura police, Assam police and Border Security Force (BSF) seized over 3878 kg of cannabis in two separate back-to-back cases in Tripura and Assam on 1st and 2nd August respectively.

Realising that Tripura has lately become the hub for the illegal trading of narcotics, the newly-formed BJP-led Government in Tripura declared that it wanted to make the State drugs free. In its quest to do so the Tripura Police and Border Security Force (BSF) for the last few months have been making continuous efforts to curb smuggling of drugs into Tripura.

Cabinet approves ordinance on Triple Talaq making it a punishable offence

OpIndia Staff
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Cabinet approves ordinance on Triple Talaq making it a punishable offence

In a significant development in ending the regressive practice of instant triple talaq prevalent among the Muslim community in India, today cabinet approved an ordinance which makes triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat “void and illegal.”


The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 was presented in the Parliament during the monsoon session, but it could not be passed in Rajya Sabha. It was expected the bill will be passed in the winter session, but the Modi government decided not to wait till next session of parliament and took the ordinance route itself. Now the ordinance will be presented before the president, once president signs the ordinance it will turn into a law.

The bill was formulated following the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court of India in the case of Shayara Bano vs Union of India. A five-judge bench of the court had outlawed triple talaq calling it is a “manifestly arbitrary” practice. As the practice was declared illegal by the apex court of the country, an act became necessary to implement the order and to determine the legal procedure to be followed and punishment to be awarded in case allegations of the banned practise being followed is surfaced.

The bill was passed without any hiccup in the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session, but it could not pass the hurdle of the upper house of the parliament. There is no political consensus on the bill, as parties like RJD, AIMIM, BJD, IUML and AIADMK are opposed to the bill, who demanded that the bill is sent to select committee, in an apparent delaying tactic.

Muslim woman activists are fighting a long battle to outlaw this regressive practice and today’s ordinance comes as a major victory for woman’s right among the Muslims. The ordinance reflects the NDA government’s commitment towards gender justice in the largest democracy in the world, which will still need to be passed in both houses of the parliament to remain a law.

Pakistan government dismisses economist because of his Ahmadiya faith, India hits out

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan government dismisses economist because of his Ahmadiya faith, India hits out

India using its ‘right of reply’ in its response to Pakistan’s statement in the 39th session of Human Rights Council hit out at Pakistan government for dismissing economist Atif Mian from their Economist Advisory Council because of his Ahmadiya faith.


Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government had asked Princeton University economist Atif R. Mian to step down from the Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Economic Advisory Council (EAC), PTI Senator Faisal Javed Khan announced on Friday. The decision, as furthered by Faisal Javed Khan, was taken due to the increasing pressure from the religiopolitical parties against the appointment of Atif Mian.

Minister of Information Fawad Chaudhary confirming the dismissal, had said that since the government wants to avoid division it has decided to withdraw the nomination of Dr Mian from the EAC. “The government wants to move forward alongside scholars and all social groups, and it is inappropriate if a single nomination creates an impression to the contrary,” he tweeted.

Ahmadis are designated non-Muslims in Pakistan’s Constitution and their beliefs are considered blasphemous in most mainstream Islamic schools of thought. They are often targeted by the extremists and their places of worship vandalised.

India denouncing Pakistan on the dismissal of Atif Mian said that a state whose foundation was laid on religious fundamentalism should not have any opinion on communal harmony and religious tolerance.

Responding to the statement made by Pakistan, India castigated Pakistan for not only aiding cross-border terrorism but for grossly violating human rights, especially in the territories under its control. India also went on to speak about the absence of constitutional and civil rights of people of Gilgit-Baltistan and the adversities they face because of Pakistan’s deliberate economic policies causing extreme hardships for the people living there.

Jemima Goldsmith, the ex-wife of the Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan, had also in her tweet revealed her disapproval and disappointment when she learnt that Mian was asked to step down due to his Ahmadi faith.


While tweeting her displeasure she attempted to remind the Pakistani government that the founder of Pakistan,’Quaid-I-Azam’ had then appointed an Ahmadi as his Foreign Minister.

The sudden displacement of Mian, however, came as a shocking revelation, reinforcing the thought that Pakistan does not keep up to its words, considering the Pakistan government had only three days ago defended the academic’s nomination, saying strongly that it will “not bow to extremists”.

Allegations of housing scheme scam in Left-led Siliguri Municipal Corporation, TMC demands resignation of mayor

OpIndia Staff
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Allegations of housing scheme scam in Left-led Siliguri Municipal Corporation, TMC demands resignation of mayor

Allegations of scam in ‘Housing for All’ scheme and LED installation have emerged against the Left-led Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) and the Trinamool corporators sat in a demonstration in front of the mayor’s office, demanding his resignation. The TMC has accused misappropriation of funds by the Left-run SMC. According to Ranjan Sarkar, a TMC councilor, the state government had sanctioned funds for 2,900 beneficiaries in SMC, but the Left-run SMC added additional names in the list.

As per reports, allegations are made against SMC for preparing a ‘defective’ list of around 1,287 beneficiaries for whom a sum of Rs. 6.94 crore was allotted under the ‘Housing for All’ scheme. This brought the TMC, Congress and the BJP which are in the opposition in the SMC together and informal talks are reportedly on to table a no-confidence motion against the Left.

On Tuesday, about 100-odd TMC supporters led by Ranjan Sarkar reached the civic body, demanding resignation of mayor Asok Bhattacharya accusing the board of having indulged in corruption. TMC has also accused the board of having indulged in malpractices in the installation of LED lights in the town.

Mizoram : Leaders of 14 Churches reject Supreme Court order order on Section 377

OpIndia Staff
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Mizoram : Leaders of 14 Churches reject Supreme Court order order on Section 377

While the country is celebrating the historic Supreme Court judgement to decriminalise Homosexuality, the Churches in Mizoram have “rejected” the apex court’s ruling on Article 377.

A congregation of 14 major churches in the state, Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee, on Monday has said that it wished the apex court had never scrapped Section 377.

The leaders of the Church stated that homosexuality, lesbianism should continue to be criminalised as it was in the past.

In Meghalaya, the Church has said, “What is legal is not equal to moral acceptability. The Catholic Church and many others  hold that homosexual behaviour, between consenting adults, is morally unacceptable because it violates the purpose of human sexuality which is procreation and union of love fulfilled in the loving union of man and woman marriage,” a document from the office of Justice, Peace and Development of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India.

The Supreme Court of India in its historic verdict decriminalised homosexuality under section 377, making gay sex legal. A  five-member constitutional bench had delivered the judgement, announcing that consensual sexual relationships between adults of the same gender in private do not fall foul of section 377 of IPC.

This particular judgement has not been well received by some sections of the society, especially by the certain section of minorities  We had earlier reported regarding a news website called ‘The Milli Gazette’, representing Indian Muslims had openly asked for the scrapping of the judgement and called it ‘a step towards self-destruction’.

Recently, a Christian pastor from Tamil Nadu had created a tense drama in a court, as he had shouted slogans and claimed that Jesus Christ would arrive to punish the ‘evil people’ who decriminalized consensual gay sex.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), one of the highest Islamic bodies had come out to oppose scrapping section 377. The AIMPLB had asserted that homosexuality is a ‘sin in all religions’.

Rafale deal didn’t go through in the UPA era as ‘kickback’ demands were not met?

OpIndia Staff
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Rafale deal didn’t go through in the UPA era as ‘kickback’ demands were not met?

The ‘scam’ allegation over Rafale deal has now come full circle and is starting to bite the party that first claimed it. While Congress, especially its President Rahul Gandhi, has been claiming that a scam is involved in the deal between India and France to buy Rafale jets, the twin-engine Multi-Role Combat Aircraft from Dassault, now it is being rumoured that there was an ‘attempted scam’ over Rafale deal during the Congress era itself.

This aspect came to light when columnist and scientist Anand Ranganathan asked a couple of questions to Defense Minister Nirmala Sitaraman over the Rafale deal. He asked:

“There are some people who say that the Rafale deal did not go through during the UPA because there were some demands of kickbacks that were denied by Dassault. Do you think there is any strength to this rumour?”

To this, Defence Minister N Sitharaman said:

“You said it’s a rumour and I would like to see how far this rumour goes. One thing is there, during UPA, middlemen were the important actors for any procurement related matters, now there are no middlemen. So, with that said, we will wait and see”.


In the short video that Anand posted, he also asked the Defense Minister if the government will probe these allegations of ‘kickback demands derailing Rafale deal’ during UPA era, to which Ms Sitraraman replied that first, she will have to see if the ‘rumours gain strength’.

Ms Sitaraman though categorically rejected that there was an element of any scam in the Rafale deal executed by the Narendra Modi government.

OpIndia asked Anand about these allegations of demands of kickbacks during the UPA era and if he thinks there could be an element of truth in it.

“I want to know the truth myself, and this is why I asked the question,” Anand told OpIndia, “Yes, there have been rumours that the Rafale deal didn’t go through during the UPA era because there were some expectations of kickbacks that Dassault was not willing to pay. These could be plain malicious rumours, and that’s why I put the question to the defence minister.”

Anand said that such rumours can’t be outrightly rejected because kickbacks in defence deals are not a new phenomenon.

“Forget defence deals, in UPA era, you had kickbacks in almost everything. Walmart officially budgeted for lobbying, which can be argued to be as good kickbacks since lobbying is illegal in India, for their operations in this part of the region. We can also take the example of the Agusta Westland chopper scam where Christian Michel is accused of organising bribes in exchange for a 2007 contract for the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters to be used by leaders including the President, Prime Minister and former prime ministers”.

Interestingly, after UAE agreed to extradite Christian Michel of Agusta Westland scam to India, veteran journalist J Gopikrishnan made another startling revelation. He claimed that Christian Michel who is alleged to have organised bribes in exchange for a 2007 purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters during the UPA era, was once the agent of Rafale’s firm Dassault in India. He asserted that if India gets Michel, it might turn into a “nightmare for many”.


After the news of Dubai agreeing to extradite Michel to India, the Congress had hurriedly decided to approach the Central Vigilance Committee (CVC) to raise the Rafale issue.

As of now, it appears that the allegations of a scam by either side are merely political rhetoric as neither side has been able to cite any proof in support.

AgustaWestland scam: UAE to extradite middleman Christian Michel, accused of bribing politicians and journalists

OpIndia Staff
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AgustaWestland scam: UAE to extradite middleman Christian Michel, accused of bribing politicians and journalists

In a big break to the investigative agencies in India, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) court on Tuesday allowed extradition of the alleged middleman Christian Michel, a British national, in the AgustaWestland scam. He is accused of organising bribes in exchange for a 2007 contract for the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters to be used by leaders including the President, Prime Minister and former prime ministers.

While the exact reasons for his extradition are not known, it is believed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were jointly involved in the bid to extradite Michel in the Rs. 3,700 crore scam.

As per reports, the UAE court found merit in India’s arguments made for the extradition. It is alleged that Michel received around 30 million Euro from AgustaWestland for influencing the decision to reduce the service ceiling of helicopters from 6,000 mtrs to 4,500 mtrs in 2005, making AgustaWestland eligible for the contract.

Earlier in 2016, a document had surfaced that it was not just politicians, officials and agents who received alleged kickbacks from Michel, but even some celebrity journalists were also involved. The journalists were allegedly flown to Italy at the behest of the Italian arms dealing company and were paid a hefty sum to ensure that the coverage on the scam is ‘managed’. Other than Christian Michel, two Italian businessmen, Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke Ralph, are accused to be middlemen in the deal.

On 25 February 2013, CBI registered a preliminary enquiry against 11 persons including the former Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi, and his cousins, besides four companies, which was followed by an FIR on 13 March which named 13 persons including former Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi, his three brothers: Juli, Docsa and Sandeep, the brother of former Union minister Santosh Bagrodia, Satish Bagrodia, and Pratap Aggarwal (Chairman and Managing Director of IDS Infotech). The FIR also named four companies – Italy-based Finmeccanica, UK-based AgustaWestland and Chandigarh-based IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix. You could also read the details of the scam here.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, is yet to decide on the extradition and India is still awaiting formal communication and confirmation from the UAE.

CNN-News18 Senior Editor fans North-South divide, calls North India a ‘shithole’

OpIndia Staff
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CNN-News18 Senior Editor fans North-South divide, calls North India a ‘shithole’

An incident has come to light where a resident of Bengaluru has lodged a complaint against a security guard for his rude behaviour while asking the concerned passenger to talk in Hindi.

According to reports, a senior manager of an IT farm went to the Lalbagh Metro Station at around 5 pm on September 15th. He asked for some information regarding the elevator there from a security officer, but the personnel asked him to speak in Hindi only.

The person also claims that the security personnel brandished his lathi and asked him to learn Hindi if he does not know the language. The person, who goes by username @pvenkata on Twitter, posted a question to BMRCL Public Relations Officer U A Vasanth Rao, asking whether security guards can be polite and courteous to people.


He says that he knows Hindi very well but he was not happy with the way the security guard behaved with him. He also made a verbal complaint about the incident to the ticketing staff and customer care.


One can arguably say that the security guard’s behaviour was rude and lodging a complaint with the concerned authorities for it was correct. It is also worthy to note that brandishing the lathi, as reported by the media, is an action worth lodging a complaint over.

But for some elements in the media, this wasn’t just a case of bad behaviour that deserved attention. Fanning the North-South divide seems to be the latest fad among elements from the Media. We had seen earlier how this sentiment was also given prominence recently after the Kerala floods. The latest to join the bandwagon of regionalists is Senior Editor of CNN-News18 DP Satish.

Responding to the video of the security guard, DP Satish ended up exposing his regionalist mentality when he referred to North India as a “shithole”. In his tweet, Satish said that the guard should be arrested immediately and followed that sentiment up with asserting that the guard “left his shithole for a better future in Bengaluru and then, has to temerity to order locals.


The security guard, given his language preference, perhaps belonged to North India. DP Satish by his tweet implied that the security guard had migrated to Bengaluru for a better future from “shithole” North India and should be arrested for the temerity of asking a local to speak in Hindi.

The Senior Editor of CNN-News18 used a highly derogatory word used to describe a large geographical area, which will do nothing other than adding fuel to already nasty exchanges on the north-south divide that we frequently see on social media. It also shows how certain elite people have disdain for the working class who come from other states of the country, which is nothing but a form of racism.

One can argue that even calling for the arrest of the security guard is a bit of an overreaction. The guard erred in his behaviour but is that a crime grave enough for an arrest? Is there a provision for arrest for such matter in the Indian Panel Code? This matter is at most a disciplinary matter in an organisation, and not a law and order situation.

The irony of a so-called “liberal” asking for the arrest of the security guard didn’t escape Netizens. One immediately pointed towards the hypocrisy that comes with the elitism of the ‘liberals’. Columnist Sujoy Ghosh pointed out that while DP Satish asks for the guard to be arrested for not knowing Kannada, the Karnataka Rajyotsava award has been conferred on Ram Guha who hasn’t learnt Kannada even after staying in Bengaluru for 20 years.


The call for the guard’s arrest coupled with this shameless fanning of North-South divide just goes to show the deep-rooted intolerance in the Media community.

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