The Coimbatore city police have arrested five Muslim youths for allegedly planning to kill Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) leader Arjun Sampath and Sakthi Sena leader Anbu Mari.
The city police had received a tip-off from Central intelligence agencies regarding the murder plan. The Coimbatore police have arrested five Muslim youth, out of which four Muslim youths have been already on the radar of the Central intelligence agencies.
Reportedly, four out of the five arrested are from Chennai and another person is resident of Coimbatore. The four persons from Chennai are identified as Jafar Safiq Ali (29), Ismail (25) of Tindivanam, Samsudeen (20) of Pallavaram and Shalavuddin (25) of Pallavaram, while Ashik (25) hails from Coimbatore.
The five Muslim youths had plans to kill HMK leader Arjun Sampath and also had plans for his son Omkar Balaji, as he was an easy target. It is reported that these arrested individuals used to regularly spread hatred against Hindu leaders on social media.
It is reported that one of the five members is said to be a sympathiser of the Islamic State of Jammu and Kashmir and also a member of the banned terrorist organisation, while another two Chennai youths were members of political parties. Ashik is accused in several cases, including cases of kidnapping young girls.
“Though these youth did not have any previous enmity with the leader, they were inspired by the IS module and other radical religious outfits and hatched a plot,” a senior official said. According to the police, Ismail runs a wastepaper mart, is alleged to be an IS member and had previously shared information regarding the terrorist group on his Facebook page. The officer said that “He was using his Facebook accounts—Niranthara Payanam and A Muslim without Fear—to share IS-related information. He had sent a photo of him posing with his motorcycle carrying a sticker ‘State of India and Jammu & Kashmir’ to his friends”, the officer said.
However, the accused have claimed that they had come to Coimbatore to attend a wedding, but, the police confirmed that they were not even invited to a wedding. Instead, they were in the city to meet each other and plan the murder of the Hindu leader before the upcoming Vinayagar Chathurthi (Ganesh Chaturthi).
One of the accused said that all of them had met through social media website. Ismail said that they were inspired by the IS and used to share information on Whatsapp and Facebook. They wanted to murder Arjun Sampath and Anbu Mari, as they allegedly used bad words against Islam. The police have booked all the five under Sections 143 and 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 15,16,18,20 and 38 (ii) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.
The Coimbatore police had earlier received intelligence confirming that there was a plot to kill Arjun Sampath and his son Omkar Balaji and Omkar had indeed received death threats two months ago.
Today, a Twitter user by the name Dr Laliya, pointed out how the same website we had exposed ‘viralinindia.net’ was spreading fake news regarding a BJP leader in Rajasthan.
Original video is mor e than 2 year old. Propaganda sites like viralindia & two other,fabricated whole fake story in the name of bjp leader.
Sir @Ra_THORe strict action needed against them for defaming BJP’s image & exaggerating nonsense stories which is far away from reality. pic.twitter.com/2xQnxdBzj8
A June 2018 post on viralinIndia.net mentions how a BJP leader in Badmer was caught in a compromising position inside a temple.
ViralinIndia.net post claiming a BJP leader was caught on camera in a compromising position
The article says that the said incident took place in one ‘Veermata’ temple in Badmer, which is a little far from the city. To take ‘advantage’ of the seclusion, a BJP leader and one ABVP student leader were ‘caught on the CCTV camera’ when they got intimate, the article says. Following this, the security called up police which took the duo in for questioning. The article quotes one police constable ‘Kalyan Singh’ who had said the said BJP leader tried to pull strings because of his political connections and sometimes referred to the girl as either his wife or his sister. The article explicitly says that the two were involved in an ‘illicit relationship’.
The article does not mention any source for their assertions.
Another website, ‘News FYI’, a Hindi news website also wrote the same news.
NewsFYI peddling same news about a “BJP leader”
Amusingly, the website also uses the same stock image used by viralinindia.net to represent sexual intercourse. Save for some minor changes in the sentence formation, both the stories appear identical. Neither of the stories names the BJP leader.
However, the truth is far from what is written in the above two portals. In reality, the screengrab which is peddled as a BJP leader getting physical with an ABVP student leader in a secluded temple is actually of a jail superintendent of Kishanganj jail who was caught sexually molesting a minor girl in the jail premises in 2016.
2016 news of Kishanganj jail superintendent caught molesting a minor.
Moreover, the incident is not from Rajasthan, but from Bihar and chief minister, Nitish Kumar had even asked for probe on the incident.
With Rajasthan state assembly elections expected to take place in few months’ time, more and more such fake news is expected from propagandists. And despite being called out repeatedly, no action is taken against Abhishek Mishra who is a habitual fake news peddler.
Much has been spoken of the ‘civil society’ in the wake of the raids by the Pune Police in connection with the violence at Bhima Koregaon and an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Modi. We are told these are noble individuals committed towards the welfare of the downtrodden. We have often heard of the ‘civil society’ condemning this, that or the other. Whether it is state action against terrorists, Maoists, Naxals or general condemnation for law and order is enforced. This ‘civil society’ often portrays itself as individual units. The illusion is created that several individual units are coming together to ‘condemn’ the same ‘atrocity’ and if so many intellectuals and civil society members are saying the same thing at the same time, there must be merit to their claims. However, is that really what the truth is? Are these organisations independent do-gooders? What connects them? IS there something that connects them all?
In this series of articles, we would attempt to demystify the aura surrounding the so-called ‘civil society’ and investigate whether they can withstand the scrutiny we would subject them to.
Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations (CDRO)
The first article in the series focuses on a particular umbrella organization, the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations (CDRO) which was formed in August 2007. An important point to ponder upon is the fact that People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), Civil Liberties Committee, Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) Andhra Pradesh (APCLC) and Association for protection of Democratic Rights, West Bengal (APDR) work under CDRO. The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) is a fraternal organization of PUDR, thus linked to CDRO as well. The CDRO has around 20 organizations working together.
As per PUDR’s website, “The CDRO arose in the context of the violent state repression of people’s movements in India as well as the arrest of democratic rights activists.” One of their objectives is “the repeal of brutal laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the Chhattisgarh State Public Security Act (CSPSA) and other draconian laws operating in India”.
We shall now examine how organizations that represent the so-called civil society have been affected by the raids.
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)
One organisation that has been at the heart of the raids on the alleged urban Naxals conducted by the Pune Police is the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).
“Such systematic and pre-meditated crackdown on human rights activists is unprecedented and unheard of in a democracy.”
But it’s not surprising that they would make such a statement considering the activists they are associated with either directly or through fraternal organizations were raided themselves.
One of those raided in connection with the violence at Bhima Koregaon, Sudha Bharadwaj, is the General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh unit of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV had reported that they had accessed a letter from Sudha Bharadwaj to one Comrade Prakash which allegedly showed a link between ‘Urban Naxals’ and Kashmiri separatists.
Another among those raided, Father Stan Swamy is also associated with the PUCL. In July, a sedition case was filed against him for allegedly inciting tension over the Pathalgadi movement.
Gautam Navlakha, who had links with an ISI funded Kashmiri separatist, was associated with People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) for a long time as an activist, a fraternal organization of the PUCL.
The narrative that PUCL propagates is quite often antithetical to a layman’s idea of civil society. Although the link is broken, on its website, it can be seen that the organization condemned the hanging of the notorious terrorist Afzal Guru.
As per the report of Delhi PUCL for 2016-17, they assisted PFI “in the matter relating to violation of their right to protest and their freedom of speech violated by the Delhi police on 5th Nov. 2017 in Delhi”. PUDR, its fraternal organization, condemned the ban on PFI in Jharkhand despite the increasing list of criminal activities that members of the radical Islamist outfit have been involved in. There is also significant evidence to suggest that they have been brainwashing Hindu women to convert to Islam.
PUDR also denied that there was any encounter of Naxals at Gadrichholi and strongly criticized the “mass killings”. PUDR also asserted that the death sentence awarded to Nirbhaya’s rapists was “not a cause for celebration”.
Convicted for sedition and helping Naxalites to set up a network to fight the state of India, Binayak Sen was a Vice President of the PUCL even after his conviction by Raipur Sessions Court. The West Bengal unit of PUCL also published a book exonerating Sen of all his crimes and branded him a “victim of state atrocity”.
Consistent with their stance that “One’s man terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”, the organization also argued against the hanging of the notorious terrorist, Ajmal Kasab, who was one of the Pakistanis behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR)
Another organization that finds itself at peril following the raids by the Pune Police is Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR). Shoma Sen, one of those arrested in June, is an executive member of CPDR, another fraternal organization of the PUCL. Sen’s husband, Tusharkant Bhattacharya, an alleged Naxal ideologue was arrested by Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Gujarat police on charges of sedition and waging war against the state.
Anand Teltumbde, another of those raided by Pune Police, is the General Secretary of CPDR. The CPDR had condemned the hanging of Yakub Memon as well. The organization also condemned the conviction of DU Professor G.N. Saibaba for Maoist links and stated that the Judge who had awarded the judgment had “mutilated the existing law” while saying “The judgement also panders to the vagaries of the current dispensation at the centre.” Arun Ferreira, another name that will be familiar to people as one of those raided by Pune Police, was associated with the Mumbai chapter of CPDR. Readers should take care to note that PUDR lists only the Mumbai chapter of CPDR as a coordinating organization of CDRO.
Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC)
Yet another organization associated with the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations (CDRO), Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) has a history of its members being arrested as well. Two of its activists were arrested in December 2004 by the Warangal Police after they were allegedly found moving with armed Maoists. In 2009, an APCLC activist was arrested on charges of assisting Maoists in the murder of ZP vice-chairman Samida Ravishankar in 2007. In 2012, Andhra Police arrested 2 APCLC activists along with 18 members of Chetna Natya Manch (CNM), a Maoist cultural outfit. The Police claimed that members of the CNM had arrived at Hyderabad from Khammam on the invitation of the APCLC members to create awareness among people against encounter of civilians by anti-Maoist forces.
In 2003, Andhra Pradesh Police had arrested three APCLC activists in connection with an attack on Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu including the outfit’s Chittoor district president Hari Prasad, a move that was condemned by an organization it is associated with, Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR).
In 2014, the Police in Hyderabad stopped Pratyamnaya Rajakeeya Vedika (Forum for Political Alternative) from holding a meeting, asserting that it’s a frontal organisation of a banned Maoist Party. Varavara Rao, one of the leaders of the forum, was among the 50 leaders and activists who were arrested by the Police. As per the High Commissioner of Police, the High Court had denied permission to the forum to hold the meeting. Chilaka Chandrashekar, the General Secretary of APCLC, and other members of the organization were also detained as per the statement released by the members of various organizations working under CDRO. As per reports, according to Intelligence agencies, Varavara Rao, which the APCLC appears to have links with, attended the funeral of a Maoist killed in Gadrichholi last year and also attended a meeting to commemorate the first death anniversary of slain Maoist commander Kapuka Prabhakar.
Committee for Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP)
Another organization that is intricately linked with the investigation by Pune Police into the violence at Bhima Koregaon and the alleged assassination plot to murder Prime Minister Modi is the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP).
Vernon Gonsalves, another activist raided by the Pune Police, is an executive member of the CRPP. Rona Wilson, one of those arrested in June, is the public relations secretary of the CRPP. The President of CRPP is SAR Geelani, a man who was booked for sedition in 2016 and is a vocal proponent of an independent Kashmir.
Amusingly enough, the Congress party which has come out in vigorous support of those raided by the Pune Police had branded the CRPP a Maoist front organization itself in 2011. An Advocate, Balla Ravindranath, a secretary of CRPP was arrested at Telangana and charged by the Chhattisgarh Police under Sections 8(1), 8(2), 8(3) and 8(5) of the draconian Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 (CSPSA) after he was handed over to them.
CDRO AND CRPP
Thus, it is clear that most of those raided or arrested by Pune Police in connection with the violence at Bhima Koregaon and the alleged assassination plot of Prime Minister Modi have links with the CDRO. It is also pertinent to mention that the CRPP is not directly associated with the CDRO but there appears to be a certain connection between the two. Arun Ferreira, who was associated with the CPDR, was also associated with the CRPP. Moreover, Vernon Gonsalves also appeared as one of the speakers at a CDRO event. And Sujato Bhadra, the Vice President of CRPP, was one of the speakers at an event organized by PUDR, where Arun Ferreira was a speaker as well.
CONCLUSION
From the above-stated facts, it is clear that the organizations that the activists raided by the Pune Police are associated with have a dubious relationship at best with law enforcement authorities. And their members have been raided and arrested a significant number of times during the UPA regime as well, therefore, it is perplexing that the Congress President Rahul Gandhi suddenly sees the raids as an attack on civil society. Moreover, regardless of the political dispensation in power, the organizations have been viewed with much suspicion by the Indian government.
In the next article in the series, we will explore the background of the organization behind the report that has led to the demonization of the Amarnath Yatra by the media.
As Umpire Bruce Oxenford raised his finger to signal the end of the fourth test match between India and England, it confirmed yet another defeat for India in an overseas series that promised so much at times. Ashwin could have survived if there was any review left but that would have just delayed the inevitable by a few deliveries. India lost the series with one more to go.
Earlier, India had plenty of opportunities to win in South Africa before letting the home team get away, and the story was repeated in England this summer.
87 for 7, 131 for 5, 86 for 6 are scores that every Indian fan will remember for a very long time. Each time, India had an opportunity, each time they found an English all-rounder slamming the door shut on them. It was Curran in the first test, Woakes in the second test and then Curran again in the last test in the company of Moeen in the 1st innings and Buttler in the 2nd.
With the bat, England top order may have been very ordinary but with the ball, they have constantly asked questions to the Indian batsmen who have struggled to come up with the answers. Opening partnership has become a big problem for Kohli and Shastri; two half century partnerships at Trent Bridge apart, England have always managed to find a breakthrough early on to put pressure on the middle order of Pujara, Kohli and Rahane.
None of the three openers tried during this series has managed to cross 50 leaving the big scoring to the middle order. Among the alternatives to replace the openers tried in England, Mayank Agarwal is in good touch with the A team and Prithvi Shaw has been included in the squad already, but will India take a raw opener to Australia, the most brutal of away tours?
The major difference between the two sides has been the batting of the lower middle order. While Buttler, Curran, Woakes and even Rashid have made significant contributions, Karthik, Pant, Pandya and Ashwin have not been able to make their opportunities count with the bat. Pandya did hit a half century at Trent Bridge but by then, England was just bowling for a declaration.
The first innings at Southampton was a painful reminder of the fragility of Indian middle order as a dominant position for India turned into a position of strength for England when Moeen Ali went through the Indian batsmen in a span of a few overs. Pujara still managed to give India the lead in Ishant and Bumrah’s company but the advantage was already lost.
Hardik Pandya is a key man in that Middle Order and is obviously a player Virat Kohli has a lot of faith in. He has been ever present in the squad this year while every other player apart from Kohli has been dropped once, including a fit Bhuvi.
Pandya had a great Trent Bridge Test where he ran through the English side with the ball and contributed with the bat but questions still remain over his place in the side. At Southampton, He bowled 17 overs for 85 runs and 1 wicket, and contributed 4 runs while his counterpart, Sam Curran, made game changing contributions for England. While anyone can have a bad Test, they are coming too frequently for Pandya. Yet, Kohli seems to have total faith in his all-rounder and he continues to be an integral part of the squad as India looks forward to the Australian tour during the Indian winter.
There will obviously be changes for the Final Test because playing the same XI in three consecutive Tests will be too much of a leap for Virat but who is likely to come in. Give young Shaw an opportunity at the Oval? Play six specialist batsmen and give Vihari a look in? Jadeja instead of Ashwin? Can DK get a final chance over Pant?
Whatever they decide, one thing is for sure, Pandya will definitely be in that line-up.
Varavara Rao, one of the five Urban Naxals who have been put under house arrest by Pune police in Bhima Koregaon case, had allegedly attended the funeral of a top Maoist terrorist killed in the Gadchiroli encounter in April this year. According to reports, he has also attended a meeting to commemorate the first death anniversary of slain Maoist commander Kapuka Prabhakar.
Times of India has reported that the dossier on Varavara Rao by the intelligence agencies mentions that he allegedly attended the funeral of Shrikant alias Srinu, who was the secretary of south Gadchiroli divisional committee of CPI(M). Srinu was killed in an encounter with security forces in April. In what was hailed by the home ministry as one of the most successful anti-Maoist operations in recent times, 39 Maoist terrorists were killed in an encounter in the Gadchiroli area in Maharashtra on April 22, 2018. Srinu’s funeral was reportedly held in Telangana’s Jayashankar-Bhupalapally district on April 25th.
It is notable here that Srinu was a 51-year-old top Maoist commander and was wanted by the police for years. His wife Shyamala was a Maoist leader too, but she had reportedly taken Rs 35 lakhs from the party fund and had surrendered before the Telangana police in 2012.
The TOI report also states that Varavara Rao was also a part of the commemoration meeting organised in October 2017 by the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), Revolutionary writer’s association and Telangana Praja Front to observe the first death anniversary of Kapuka Prabhakar, another divisional committee member of CPI(M). Prabhakar was killed in an encounter in Odisha’s Malkangiri district in October 2016. Varavara Rao is the national president of the RDF. As per the report, the intelligence agency dossier on Varavara Rao mentions that he allegedly hailed Prabhakar’s role in the Maoist movement and claimed that the encounters were fake and Maoist leaders had been killed in cold blood by the security forces.
It is notable here that the Malkangiri encounter in October 2016 was also one of the biggest encounters in the state and was jointly carried out by Andhra Pradesh’s Greyhound forces and Odisha police. 28 Maoists were killed in the encounter. Varavara Rao had actively criticised the encounter at that time and had alleged that the police are holding the top Maoist leader Akkiraju Haragopal, alias RK as a hostage, RK’s son was also killed in the encounter. Later, Visakhapatnam SP Rahul Sharma had denied Varavara Rao’s allegations and had stated that he is probably making the allegations as he has not been informed of the recent status of hiding Maoist leaders through his own channels.
Varavara Rao was arrested last week along with six other suspected Urban Naxals but was later kept under house arrest after the intervention of the Supreme Court. The Maharashtra police had launched a massive crackdown following the investigations into the Bhima Koregaon violence of January 2018.
A 29-year-old Muslim woman in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh has alleged that she was forced to undergo Nikah-halala with her father-in-law and was raped by him. According to reports, the police has registered a case against five persons, the woman’s husband, father-in-law, husband’s uncle and two clerics after the woman’s complaint.
According to reports, Bareily zone ADG of police Prem Prakash has stated that the woman is from Moradabad district and she was married to a man from Turtipura area in December 2014. The woman, as per her complaint, was then harassed and abused by her husband and in-laws over dowry and was left at her parents home a year later in December 2015.
The woman has further stated in her complaint that after she was left at her parents home and was asked to return ‘with a car’, her husband had given her ‘triple talaq’ over the phone. The woman had then lodged a complaint of domestic violence and dowry harassment against him and his family members. Almost a year later, in December 2016, both parties had reportedly agreed to compromise and the woman went back to her husband’s house after the intervention of police and family elders.
As per reports, the woman has complained that after she went back to her in-law’s house she was told that since she was away and her husband has given her talaq, she would have to undergo nikah-halala. She was then allegedly forcefully married to her father-in-law under the supervision of her husband’s uncle and two clerics. She was then allegedly locked inside a room with her father-in-law who had raped her. The woman has further stated that she was given triple talaq by her father-in-law the morning after the rape and was then subsequently raped by her husband, following which she became pregnant.
After this, the woman had gone back to her maternal home and in October 2017 she gave birth to a baby boy. She has also alleged that she had earlier registered a complaint at the district magistrate’s office following which she has been receiving death threats from her husband and his family. The woman’s husband, father-in-law, uncle-in-law and the two clerics who allegedly carried out the Nikah-halala have been named in the FIR.
It is notable here that nikah-halala is the practice under which a woman who has been divorced by her husband cannot marry him again unless she is first married to another man, consummates the marriage and then gets a divorce from this new marriage.
The term ‘nikah halala’ means making a nikah (marriage) halal (lawful) under Islamic laws. The practice of triple talaq has been criminalised by the Supreme Court but the bill has been pending in the Rajya Sabha. The Bareilly region of UP is notorious for many cases of triple talaq and nikah halala. Many women have come forward to complain that they had been raped by the family members of their husbands under the pretext of nikah-halala. The central government has stated that they are attempting to ban the practice of polygamy and nikah-halala. There have also been cases where women had been subjected to terrible violence and threats if they oppose the practice.
Recently, Kerala was inundated with devastating floods, the worst to hit the state since 1924. The nation came together to help Kerala which was reeling under the tragedy which left over 350 people dead and homes and farms washed away. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan even gave an initial estimate of losses worth Rs. 20,000 crore.
Everyone has come together to help rebuild Kerala. Among them is a Mumbai based doctor and Twitter user Amit Thadani, who was recently in Kerala, helping flood victims.
After attending to the patients, the staff of the subcenter where the camp was held treated us to a sumptuous Kerala meal! pic.twitter.com/pCIaG2TOnp
Last week he posted an image of the menu of the legendary coffee chain store, Indian Coffee House in Thiruvananthapuram, which is about 100 metres from the Padmanabhaswamy temple entrance.
Menu of Indian Coffee House, just about 100m from Padmanabhaswamy temple entrance at Trivandrum. How is beef sale allowed so close to such a major shrine? pic.twitter.com/Nvxj0Mmec2
One of the items on the menu is ‘beef roast’. Thadani questioned how the sale of beef is allowed so close to a religious shrine, considering cows are considered holy by the Hindus and cow slaughter is banned in many states. Thadani had merely posed a question about the sale of beef considering the same is banned at many religious and holy places. Haridwar, Uttarakhand, is a vegetarian, alcohol-free zone. However, Thadani’s tweet triggered trolls who started abusing him and even accused him of trying to ‘food police’ them, many proudly proclaiming to be ‘Urban Naxals‘.
This is kerala. Don’t impose your cowherd habits on us. FO
And he was asked to ‘go back to the cow belt’, a term usually referred to those hailing from the Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh region.
Cow belt retard – wants to impose his lynchistan behavior in other parts of india. Steppe nomads + hybrids of mongols & invading forces – is a curse to India. https://t.co/dFSMKrXxTC
He clarified how he was merely putting out an observation as meat sale and consumption is usually banned from major temple areas. He also said how he was not imposing his food choices on anyone and that never asked anyone to stop eating beef, but merely stated an observation which was misread and misinterpreted.
It is indeed unfortunate that a harmless tweet is misinterpreted by trolls who descend upon someone’s timeline for targeted harassment. That too for someone who has been helping the same people with relief after the recent devastating floods in the state.
This is not the first time people from Kerala have shown their insensitivity when it comes to talking about beef. In May, this year, one Sadhvi Saraswati, the president of Sanatan Dharma Parivar Seva Samiti, addressed a convention in Kerala, discouraging people to eat beef. Following which, her Facebook page was inundated with messages from some Malayalis who had been sending her beef recipes as well as images of raw meat. Shockingly, while sharing the story on the Malayalis who took sadistic pleasure in sending beef/meat images to Sadhvi Saraswati, The News Minute editor-in-chief Dhanya Rajendran used to ‘tears rolling down the cheeks’ laughing emoji to show her happiness and amusement at the same.
The Supreme Court has decided to hear a fresh plea filed by a Muslim woman seeking to declare setting up of sharia courts to decide marriage, divorce and other cases as unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court bench comprising of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud asked 21-year old Muslim woman, Zikra to file an application along with another batch of pleas challenging the practice of polygamy and nikah halala among Muslims. Zikra, mother of two had approached the apex court to become a party in the case to challenge Islamic practices like polygamy and nikah halala.
“Declare that establishing a Sharia court to decide cases related to marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, succession and/or other similar matters is illegal and unconstitutional”, Zikra said in her plea, adding that nikah halala, nikah mutah, nikah misyar and polygamy ran counter to public order, morality and health. In her petition, Zikra narrated her experience of how she was divorced twice and forced to undergo nikah halala to remarry her husband.
In her plea, Zikra has demanded that triple talaq should be declared ‘cruel’ under Section 498A and ‘nikah halala’, ‘nikah mutah’ and ‘nikah misyar’ as rape under IPC Section 375. “Polygamy is an offence under Section 494 of the IPC,” her plea read.
Zikra, in her plea, has narrated her ordeal of facing practices like nikah halala and other Muslim practices. She said that she was divorced twice and forced to undergo ‘nikah halala’ to remarry her husband.
Nikah halala is a practice in which a divorced Muslim woman is forced to marry another man, consummates the marriage and then get a divorce again and observes a period of separation period called ‘iddat’ before remarrying her husband.
Recently, the Supreme Court has banned the practice of instant triple talaq by calling it arbitrary and against the tenets of Islam. The Madras High Court, in 2016 had also banned the unauthorised ‘Sharia Courts’ functioning inside the mosques and stated that religious places and other places of worships are meant only for religious purposes.
We had also reported that regarding AIMPLB’s decision to open Sharia courts also referred to as Darul-Qaza, which are extra-constitutional, in all districts of the country. The apex court had also held that fatwas issued by Muslim shariat courts (Dar-ul-Qazas) do not have legal sanctity and cannot be enforced if they infringed on the fundamental rights of an individual.
Last Friday, Dutch MP Geert Wilders cancelled his ‘Draw the Prophet Mohammad’ cartoon contest after over 10,000 supporters of the Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan party demanded the Pakistani government expel the Dutch Ambassador, and to end all diplomatic ties with the Netherlands.
The contest was due to be held in November, however, Mr Wilders made a statement, saying “To avoid the risk of victims of Islamic violence, I have decided to not let the cartoon contest go ahead.” A 26-year-old Pakistani Islamic Extremist was also arrested last week in The Hague after releasing a video calling for the murder of Mr Wilders.
According to the majority of Islamic Schools of Thought, drawing the Prophet Mohammad is a blasphemous act, and carries a heavy penalty due to its offensiveness. Thousands of death threats flooded Geert Wilder’s social media pages in the last three days alone, mostly coming from Pakistan, and all calling for his murder and assassination.
Among these ferocious chants of death were the violent remarks made by another 26-year-old Pakistani, this time it was Rabi Pirzada, a fledgeling Pakistani pop singer. Joining the wave of death chants, she tweeted “Making cartoon of the Prophet (Mohammad) is the worst act of terrorism. The sketch makers must be hanged immediately”, publicly displaying her extremist views and opinions.
Her extremist views were later called out by me.
Pakistani pop singer @Rabipirzada has called for the immediate hanging of @geertwilderspvv. More proof that nothing in Pakistan doesn’t revolve around terrorism and violence, even entertainment. It’s all about destruction. pic.twitter.com/zzaqS8ZUIA
After I had confronted her, she raced to delete the above tweet (once available here) as it revealed her level of understanding regarding terrorism. She then hurried to play the victim card and claim that she was, in fact, a peaceful person who is proud of her freedom of speech, saying “Pakistan is a country of peace, love and freedom of speech… don’t manipulate my words”.
Drawing cartoons may very well be offensive, but it certainly isn’t terrorism, and calling for the ‘immediate hanging’ of all cartoonists without trial is in fact promotion of domestic terror.
I wanted to understand why a 26-year-old Muslim pop singer would speak and act like a militant Islamist, and the findings were nothing short of appalling.
Pirzada took to Twitter once again today to share a selfie picture she took with Inzimam-ul-Haq. Inzamam is a former Pakistani cricketer and a current member of Tablighi Jamaat, a militant Islamist organisation with direct links to Islamic terrorism and global Jihad. To this day, Inzimam has not disassociated himself from the extremist organisation.
French government statistics show that 80% of Islamist Extremists in Frace alone have come from Tablighi Jamaat, with French intelligence officers describing the group as the “Antechamber of Fundamentalism”.
The only person charged in the 9/11 bombings, Zacarias Moussaoui, as well as Djamel Beghal who plotted to blow up the U.S Embassy in Paris were both members of Tablighi Jamaat. The organisation has been connected to tens of terrorist plots and actual attacks, including the 7/7 London Bombings and the 2007 Glasgow International Airport Attack.
These had prompted Philip Haney from the U.S Department of Homeland Security to describe Tablighi Jamaat as part of a “trans-national Islamist network”. Michael Heimbach, the Assistant FBI director said that Tablighi Jamaat was used by Al Qaeda for recruiting purposes. This was exactly the case with Inzimam, who was indicted for using his position as a prominent cricketer to promote a fundamentalist brand of Islam.
Yet here is Rabi Pirzada, affiliating herself with Inzimam-ul-Haq, not once, but twice. So, if you were wondering how a young pop singer could possess such extremist views, you only need to look at her social circle, and who she proudly associates herself with.
Yesterday she wished death upon a Dutch MP, and today she’s proudly standing beside a member of a terror-affiliated organisation. The irony of all this is that Tablighi Jamaat promotes segregation and believes that women should stay at home.
(Imam Tawhidi is an Australian Muslim Scholar, Thinker, and one of the main leading voices of Islamic reform who has dedicated his life to ideologically tackling the spread of Islamic Extremism. He is the President of the Islamic Association of South Australia and is greatly involved in interfaith diplomacy. Imam Tawhidi is available on Twitterand Facebook)
In a shocking incident, 14 skeletons of babies wrapped in plastic bags were found in Kolkata’s Haridevpur. The police has started an investigation in the said matter.
As per reports, the dead bodies of the babies were wrapped in plastic bags and were buried. The police has begun the probe and also started questioning the nearby hospitals. Reports say that the locals found the skeletons when they were cleaning the jungle. They informed the local councillor, who in turn informed the police.
As per local news channels, the police is yet to confirm whether these bodies are of pre-mature or aborted babies or newborn. Bodies had been found wrapped around plastic bags individually. The police have not yet been able to find any CCTV footage and it is believed that the area is protected by private security guards but according to Police the area where those bodies had been dumped are around 150 meters away from the location of those guards. The police has informed that the bodies were dumped within an area of 20 to 25 meters close to the wall of the compound.
Massive search is undertaken as it is believed that there are more skeletons may be found buried in the area.
