The Kerala police on Saturday took into custody a Muslim person named, Noorudeen Sheikh from Wayanad, alleged to be the key tormentor, for launching a cyber attack on a 19-year-old, college girl Hanan Hamid, who sold fish at Thammanam near Kochi after her class hours to support her mentally-ill mother and brother.
Hanan had grabbed a lot of attention on the internet after she was featured in a newspaper, the Malayalam daily- Manorama, as a student who sold fish after college hours. Soon after some people on Facebook started targetting her with vicious abuse baselessly alleging that she was only putting up an act. The Union Minister for Tourism Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam stepped forward to extend his support, condemning the abuse.
However, it was after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s Facebook post supporting Hamid on Friday that the police registered a case against the cyber bullies.
Noorudeen Sheikh, the man who did a Facebook live claiming Hanan was a fraud, is being questioned and an FIR has been registered against him, a police officer said. He has been booked under various sections of the IT Act, besides provisions attracting non-bailable offences.
Sheikh who was the first to take selfies with Hamid when he came to know of her struggles, later went hammer and tongs against her and posted the pictures questioning her condition, after she was also seen in a few pictures with superstar Mohanlal. Soon Sheikh’s post went viral and Hamid was slammed as “a fake and doing all she did only to impress superstar Mohanlal in order to land a role with his son Pranav Mohanlal in an upcoming film.”
A happy Hanan who dreams of pursuing MBBS only resorting to these odd jobs to take care of her mentally ill mother and brother, on hearing about the arrest said, “Now, I have realised that with the support I am getting from the government and my college, I have got so many guardians.”
Bullying, it seems, is no longer restricted to the pervasive schools, colleges, playgrounds or parks. This global menace has spread its tentacles over to the big, wide world of technology making it more dangerous than before. Cyber-bullying, as it is known, can occur anytime, anywhere and be targetting almost everyone.
A pregnant goat died in Marodha village of Haryana’s Mewat, after it was gang-raped by eight accused on Wednesday, MyNation has reported. As per the report the eight accused who are believed to drug addicts and alcoholics, raped the goat in a deserted house, following which she died on Thursday.
Subsequently, a complaint was filed with the Nagina police station. The station in charge (SI) Rajbir was recorded as detailing that they were approached by the goat’s owner named Aslu on Thursday, who accused eight people of stealing and raping his goat.
He further stated that Savakar, Haroon and Jaffar have been named as accused in the complaint while the identity of five others is yet to be ascertained. The authorities are now trying to trace the accused.
As per an Eenadu Indiareport, a postmortem has been carried out on the deceased goat, whose results the police now awaits.
It also quotes the complainant as claiming that the goat’s owner started searching for her following which he stumbled upon the rape scene. The report claims that the pregnant goat’s value has been estimated at about Rs 20,000.
The report also contained a video recording of the complainant where he claimed that the accused stole the goat at about 7 PM on Wednesday and the act was committed. He also alleged that when confronted, one of the accused brazened things out by stating that they would do whatever they wanted and challenged the complainant to take any action he deemed fit.
The complainant then retorted that he would file a police complaint and also call a Panchayat. This too did not sway one of the accused who boasted that he has friends in high places. The goat’s owner thus appealed for action and claimed that the accused would be booked under relevant sections after the police receive the postmortem report.
As Prime Minister Modi led NDA government in India completed four years recently and enters its last lap, below is an analysis of the long and winding path of development that the Modi government has walked.
Focus on Infrastructure Development:
Project Bharatmala is building 35,000 km highways across 16 states, including 9,000 km of economic corridors, which will enable faster movement of goods and dramatically reduce supply chain costs from the current average 18% to 6%. Project Sagarmala is modernizing 12 major ports and 185 minor ports along the entire 7,500 km long coastline of India, which would stimulate trade and provide logistic costs savings of over Rs. 35,000 crores per year. This Bloomberg report calls out India for building new roads at a breakneck pace and this business report enumerates how Metro networks are expanding across India. Construction started for “Navi Mumbai International Airport”, Jewar International Airport, Noida to reduce the load on currently saturated Mumbai and Delhi international airports and 22 new airports in North East alone to improve connectivity.
Per Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley, between last year of Congress-led UPA government and current year of BJP-led NDA government, the infrastructure expenditure has increased by 134% and the road sector itself has witnessed an increase by 189%.
Finance & Economy:
In 2014, Congress government had left a mountain of Bank NPAs which had blocked the capital and choked country’s industrial growth. BJP introduced IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code) is effectively addressing bad loans worth INR 10 lakh crores ($150 billion). With three of the largest cases already resolved and many more scheduled to be resolved by 2019, a large chunk of capital has started returning to the system. The impact is huge and has been explained in detail in this article.
GST (Goods & Services Tax) was successfully rolled out as India’s largest Tax reform since independence that transformed entire country into a single market. Congress had struggled for more than 10 years to roll out the reform over revenue concerns raised by Maharashtra (Congress ruled), Tamilnadu (non-BJP), Odisha (non-BJP), Kerala (non-BJP) and most of the other states. Since the rollout of GST, the number of indirect taxpayers has increased by 50% and direct tax collections have surged significantly to an all-time high.
Government initiatives on Aadhaar linkage and Direct Benefit Transfer have arrested the leakage of government money to middlemen and fake ghost accounts. As of 2017, about 130,000 fake teachers (drawing government salaries), 3.5 crores fake LPG connections (using government subsidy) and 1.6 crore fake ration cards were discovered. Resultant savings amount to Rs. 65,000 crores. According to a World Bank report of 2016, Aadhaar linkage could potentially help save $11 billion annually in government expenditures through reduced leakage and efficiency gains. All these savings could be used for further infrastructure development.
Since 2014, all Macroeconomic indicators are strong, the fiscal deficit is reducing, FDI has been increasing, inflation is down, Forex Reserves are at an all-time high and crossed $400 billion for the first time ever.
Manufacturing under Make in India:
Since the launch of Make in India, Alstom (France) has set up its manufacturing factory for electric locomotives in India and General Electric (GE) of the USA for Diesel locomotives. Hanwha-Techwin (HTW) of South Korea is manufacturing Mobile K9 Self-Propelled VAJRA-T9 Artillery guns and Boeing (USA) is manufacturing Military Helicopters in collaboration with India’s Tata Aerospace Ltd. Boeing (USA) has tied up with India’s HAL and Mahindra Defence for manufacturing F/A-18 Fighter Jets in Bengaluru, Saab (Sweden) has offered to manufacture Gripen fighter jets in India (with Adani) and Lockheed Martin (USA) has offered to manufacture F16 fighter jets in India (with Tata). Lockheed Martin has also offered to manufacture third generation Javelin missiles in India. Russia is in the final stages of starting the production of AK-103 Kalashnikov Assault Rifles in collaboration with Ordinance Factory Board in India.
In Automobiles sector, Volvo (Sweden) has already started manufacturing XC90 cars in Bengaluru and Lexus (Japan) is about to set up their plant in India shortly.
In 2016-17, electronics worth $50 billion were manufactured in India compared to $43 billion in Imports. For the first time in history, Electronic goods made in India exceeded the imports from outside (Source: here). In addition, Electronics Manufacturing Corridor may come up shortly in U.P. to further increase local production (Source: here)
Image: Some successes from Make in India
Social welfare and improvement:
The government built 10 million (1 crore) houses for poor which is more than double the previous government, increased LPG gas connection coverage from 56% to 80% and digitally connected 1,10,000 village panchayats with optical fibres. Under Swachh Bharat Mission, the government constructed more than 78 million (7.8 crores) household toilets within 4 years. Consequently, 4 lakh villages and 19 states have been declared open defecation free. Within four years, rural sanitation coverage increased from 39% to 88%. More toilets were constructed in 4 years of current government than in 67 years by all previous governments put together. As explained in this article, India could completely eradicate Open Defecation by 2019. Real-time status of this initiative can be tracked on Swachh Bharat Mission Dashboard here.
Education Reforms:
Set up Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in 2,500 schools across India. By exposing children in classes VI to XII to emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors, robotics and 3D printing etc., the project aims to “cultivate one million children as innovators of tomorrow”. Modernizing Madrasa education (Muslim religious schools) by including NCERT books with mandatory Maths and Science subjects. This would enable children from economically weaker families to be equally equipped as mainstream schools for higher paying jobs. Financial incentives for Muslim girls encouraging them to complete graduation instead of dropping out of school.
All round cabinet performance:
Under the Home Ministry, the security situation improved drastically in LWE (Left Wing Extremism) affected areas and in the North-East. AFSPA removed completely from Tripura after 18 years, from Meghalaya after 27 years and in parts from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Jammu & Kashmir and Nagaland may see the partial withdrawal of AFSPA shortly if the situation improves. Naxal violence in LWE affected areas dropped to an all-time low. Under Power Ministry, the Solar power generation increased from 2.6 GW to 20 GW and under Road Transport Ministry, the National Highway construction speed is at an all-time high. Defence Ministry exhibited smart diplomacy in peacefully resolving Doklam issue with China. Foreign Ministry ensured that India got included in MTCR, Wassenaar Arrangement and Australia Group – which will strengthen India’s case for joining NSG (Nuclear Supplier’s Group) as next step.
The government has delivered well on most parameters and set up a solid base from which stronger and bolder economic reforms can be launched to propel the country towards even higher growth.
A 22-year-old tailor named Sameer Khan has been arrested by Bhopal police on 26th July after he raped a minor girl and the victim’s mother laid a trap to catch him. According to reports, Sameer Khan had raped the minor girl four days ago on July 22nd.
Sameer Khan, who is a local tailor resides in the same colony as the victim and he was reportedly stalking the girl. The victim is a student of class 9th. Sameer had allegedly stalked the girl and eventually persuaded her to ride with him in his bike so he could drop her at her school.
On 22nd July, Khan allegedly took the girl in his bike to the nearby Kerwa dam and raped her in a desolate spot. He then allegedly threatened the girl with dire consequences if she informed anyone and continued to drop the girl at the school.
Three days later, the victim reportedly mustered some courage and told her mother about the incident. The girl’s mother, on being informed about Khan’s deeds reportedly decided to catch him and hand him over to the police.
On 26th July, the girl again accepted a lift from Sameer Khan while her mother and sister followed Khan’s bike without his knowledge. When Khan again took the girl near Shyamla Hills and attempted to molest her, the girl’s mother and sister dialled the police helpline number and caught Khan while he was attempting to flee.
Shyamla Hills police have reportedly registered cases against the accused under charges of abduction, molestation and rape.
It is notable here that the state of Madhya Pradesh has recently passed laws for awarding death penalty to rapists of children under 12. CM Shivraj Chouhan had been very committed to ensuring strictest punishment to rapists of minors and earlier this month a rapist was convicted and awarded the death penalty within 46 days. The central government had also made provisions for very harsh punishment under the POCSO Act.
Shaktipada Sardar, a local BJP leader from Mandir Bazar in South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal has been brutally hacked to death. According to reports, the 45-year-old Sardar was attacked with sharp weapons last night while returning from work and was left bleeding in a critical condition.
Sardar was spotted by locals and was rushed to the hospital but as his condition was critical, he was referred to another hospital. Sardar reportedly died on the way.
Sardar was the local Mandal committee secretary for BJP. BJP West Bengal has alleged that Sardar was murdered by TMC goons.
Shaktipada Sardar, age 45, murdered by TMC goons in South 24 Parganas.
Reason: BJP won this block in panchayat election, and he was punished for ensuring BJP’s victory.
This is continuation of panchayat poll violence as process for panchayat board has just begun. pic.twitter.com/2yMz1t0jTa
BJP has alleged that in Sardar’s block, the BJP has won in the recently concluded Panchayat elections and he had worked for the party. The BJP has also alleged that Sardar’s murder is the continuation of Panchayat polls violence and Sardar is the latest victim of TMC’s political murders.
There has been a spree of murderous attacks on BJP workers in West Bengal. In June, a 32-year-old Dulal Kumar was found hanging from an electric pole. Just days ago, on 30th May, an 18-year-old BJP worker named Trilochan Mahto was found hanging from a tree. These incidents had taken place soon after Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee has reportedly stated that he would make Purulia ‘opposition free’.
In early July, the body of Dharmaraj Hazra, another local BJP worker in Murshidabad district was found in a lake with his hands and feet tied in a rope. These murdered are part of many such cases where local BJP leaders were found dead or were attacked brutally, allegedly by TMC goons.
The Panchayat elections in West Bengal were one of the bloodiest in recent history. There were a string of violent attacks and murders. While the BJP has been alleging that TMC is targetting its workers and killing them, the TMC has denied any such incidents.
Earlier today, the Indian National Congress hosted an ‘Anti-bullying workshop’ with a panel consisting of Barkha Dutt (who has a history of bullying), Talish Ray, Gurmehar Kaur (who bullied teenagers) and Sanjay Rajoura (an abusive comedian who bullies others on social media).
It becomes especially amusing when the Congress party calls a serial intimidator like Barkha Dutt to speak against the threats of bullying.
The mob is big and intimidating but the only way to fight them is to stay true to yourself. Don’t be afraid of the pressure to fit in, always be an individual : @BDUTT at the #AntiBullyingWorkshop organised by the @INCIndia Social Media Team in association with @RGICSpic.twitter.com/wsTM4VZqm2
As Barkha Dutt tells the youngsters present at the Congress forum that, “The mob is big and intimidating” for which the best way to fight is being “true to yourself”, people are left to wonder if the advice is intended to reach those who were victims of her bullying, where she herself used her “big and intimidating” position as a journalist, to threaten people and question their right to express.
It was back in 2011 when an IIMC student named Yogesh Kumar Sheetal protested against her leaked conversations in the Radia tapes. And the campaigner for “being an individual” in turn celebrated his individuality, by making his life very difficult and doing as much as she could, in her capacity, to sabotage his future.
On another occasion, Barkha compelled a blogger named Chaitanya Kunte to take down a blog where he raised compelling questions on her journalistic ethics. The blogger was strong-armed by the news house to apologise, without which he was told to face an entity that has an army of lawyers at its disposal. And so, Barkha forced a blogger to compromise his opinion by sheer intimidation.
When Postcard News published an opinion piece, on how Barkha Dutt had breached the basics of journalistic practice, by publicising matters of national security, right from suggesting how “water can be used for infiltration”, to asking hesitant soldiers about their duty timings- she threatened them too.
In fact, even the BJYM spokesperson and tax lawyer, Amrita Bhinder, who shared the article, was put through threats of criminal defamation.
since you are a lawyer assume you & https://t.co/4QUYsxITov willing to back this up in a criminal defamation case. See u
It is interesting to note that when someone else threatened Barkha with a lawsuit, she categorically called it “a violation”. Which goes to prove that Barkha herself believes in absolute freedom of expression and doesn’t endorse legal recourse.
However, her faith in absolute freedom of express goes out of the window when others threaten her with a lawsuit. There have been several incidents when Barkha herself used threats of defamation to bully her detractors into silence.
Here is an old tweet where Barkha threatened to sue.
Seems Barkha has a habit of threatening people with a lawsuit for the comments made in response to her reporting.
Barkha even thought someone calling for a public enquiry of Barkha Dutt’s journalism should be held liable for his dissent in court.
Barkha even ganged up with controversial journalist Rana Ayyuub to bully none other than actress Raveena Tandon for her views.
It is indeed a fact that Barkha Dutt was involved deeply in the Radia tapes and that proved her lack of journalistic ethics. But the mere mention of that fact can get Barkha to threaten someone.
As evidenced, Barkha Dutt also has a history of using bullying and intimidation tactics to shut the voices of her detractors down. For her to be invited by the Congress party, that has its own shameful history with freedom of expression and censorship is nothing short of laughable.
The long list of Barkha Dutt’s love for bullying legitimate dissent will go on, for there have been far too many incidents when she has used her position of privilege to suppress real questions on her journalism. And her suggestions on dealing with intimidation, in the recent workshop, were apt for the victims of her own actions.
It, therefore, must be well worth submitting that irony died a thousand deaths when Barkha lectured youngsters on the harms of bullying. Maybe we could at least take solace in the fact that after years of pretending to be neutral, she has finally come out of the woodworks to own her bias by being at a Congress event.
The total expenses incurred by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his first 31 Air India trips in the last four years stands at Rs 387.36 crore, which is marginally higher than his predecessor Manmohan Singh’s expense of Rs 386.35 crore incurred for the same number of trips between 2009 and 2013, Economic Times has reported.
Infographic comparing Modi and Manmohan Singh’s foreign trips. Image via Economic Times
As per the infographic by Economic Times, both Modi and Manmohan Singh used Air India for 31 foreign trips during four years of their tenures. In these four years though PM Modi went on five additional foreign trips to neighbourhood countries via Indian Air Force’s BBJ aircraft, which wasn’t billed to the government.
Even though the Congress has been accusing PM Modi of going on an exorbitantly high number of foreign trips, the figures quoted by the report reveal that total days abroad in the first four years stood at 155 for Modi and 131 for Singh.
When it comes to the total trips abroad till date, Singh took a total of 38 trips during the entirety of UPA-2, Modi is currently on his 44th trip abroad. As per a New Indian Expressreport, Modi’s nine-day visit to France, Germany and Canada had cost the maximum at 31 crores.
Incidentally, the media had reported a few days back that the total expenses incurred on PM Modi’s foreign trips amounted to Rs 1484 crore out of which Rs 1088.42 crore was spent maintaining his aircraft. The current Economic Times report has carried a quote from government officials who stated that a similar maintenance cost of Rs 220 crore per year was also incurred during the UPA period.
As per a report published about 10 days ago prior to his trip to three African countries, PM Modi had travelled to 84 countries during his tenure. This has been broken up into a visit to 13 countries during 2014-15, 24 countries in 2015-16, 18 in 2016-17, 19 in 2017-18 and 13 so far in 2018 including his African tour.
As part of the United States, Bankruptcy Court’s summon order to fugitive Nirav Modi and his aides on Friday, the fraud-hit Punjab National Bank (PNB) has been made a party to the sale of all of Modi’s assets in the US.
The US court recognised PNB’s claim on the sale proceeds of any of Nirav Modi’s assets sold by his US debtors, with an order including a signed stipulation recognizing PNB’s agreement with the Chapter 11 Trustee that proceeds of any asset sales by the US debtors will be subject to PNB’s claims of constructive trust regarding Nirav Modi.
Apart from Modi, the court also issued summonses to his close aides, Mihir Bhansali, Rakhi Bhansali, Ajay Gandhi and Kunal Patel in connection with the multi-billionPNB scam.
In its first-ever intervention in any such foreign case pertaining to an Indian company the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), on 26th February, had filed a petition in the US court against the bankruptcy proceedings of Modi and sought to make PNB a party to the sale of any assets of his entities.
Speaking to ANI, a PNB official confirmed that this order was a big victory for them.
On 26th July, a Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai had issued summons against Modi and his uncle Choksi in connection with the PNB fraud case and had asked them to appear before it in September or be declared as Fugitive Economic Offenders.
Also, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in a charge sheet filed on 28th June, the details of which recently surfaced, labelled chairman of Gitanjali Group, Mehul Choksi as the “mastermind” behind the PNB fraud case, calling it a “huge economic scam brewing since 2015.”
Prior to this, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the second charge sheet filed by them in Mumbai’s special CBI court named Choksi as ‘wanted’. Earlier in April, a non-bailable warrant was issued against Nirav Modi, an accused in the PNB scam and Mehul Choksi. Before this, the Enforcement Directorate had also issued summons to them and their passports were revoked.
The Nirav Modi scam rocked the nation in February 2018. The scam that amounted to Rs. 11,000 crores worth had left the Congress red-faced when news emerged that this scam too, that they had been blaming the Modi government for, had squarely landed on their doorstep. The Modi government has since then been in relentless pursuit of Nirav Modi.
The International Criminal Police Organization more commonly known as Interpol has issued a red corner notice against the absconding Nirav Modi in connection with the Punjab National Bank Scam.
While deliberate attempts are also on by the Enforcement Directorate to seize his assets under the provisions of Fugitive Economic Offender’s Ordinance, this move comes in as a breather for the fraud-hit Punjab National Bank.
It’s without bitterness or rancour that I point out how the rotten media—both Indian and Western—keeps the “Dead Man Walking,” that is, Indian National Congress.
Vir Sanghvi, out from the edit pages of Hindustan Times for nearly a decade after the Radia Tapes leaks, is back strategically ahead of the 2019 Elections. On Friday, he warned BJP it has a “fight on its hands,” since “Rahul Gandhi has grown in confidence.” The first time Sanghvi’s political pen is unfrozen in a decade, it flows in obeisance. To take a hint from his own Brunch column, it’s in “rude taste”.
The last we saw of the man-child Rahul on national screen was during the “hug debate” in Parliament last Friday. He had a dark visage, stung by the rebuke of generally mild Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan, followed by BJP’s Anurag Thakur ripping open his Rafale lies in front of the nation.
Yet the same newspaper, only a couple of days before, was showcasing Shekhar Gupta almost celebrating the “Bofors moment” of BJP on Rafale. Now Shekhar isn’t shy on Congress or slinking type – remember how he made light of “pimping-for-Congress” remark of Arvind Kejriwal? So boldly Shekhar has gone ahead and penned another piece close on its heels, and you’ve guessed it right: “He (Rahul) has risen in stature as a pre-eminent leader of the opposition.”
The next name which came almost instinctively to my mind was Barkha Dutt. Why? Because she links with Sanghvi as one who was badly stung by Radia Tapes leaks; and with Shekhar as a columnist in his venture to which once she briefly was a partner.
Barkha these days is usually found parked in Washington Post. She found Rahul Gandhi winner all over on “Hug Day” in front of the nation: “He won the headlines…he won the talking points.’
If Barkha is around can Sagarika Ghose be behind? She is used to being called a Gandhi loyalist. Her first sentence in Times of India on Rahul-hug is: “(it) has stunned the government and left the Prime Minister looking thunderstruck.” Her husband, Rajdeep Sardesai, was far more nuanced but still couldn’t resist stating: “Pappu can hug saala.”
None of them realizes that if there is one definitive moment which has sealed Rahul Gandhi’s fate in the eyes of the nation (as well in the eyes of other prospective allies) it is this “hug moment.” He looked juvenile and impulsive by first asking Modi to get up from his seat and when the wily Prime Minister didn’t oblige, throwing himself at him like a sack. He then allowed himself to be called back by PM, just to be patted and sent hurtling back to his seat. It was not a “winner” but a very “poor optics” beamed to millions. He became a laughing stock and sealed his fate with his own act.
And so have these court-jesters who masquerade as journalists. Remember the words most of them had to say about “Hugplomacy” of Modi: if you believed them or their Western ilks, Modi had made himself a laughing stock in front of world leaders.
Read BBC (“he has become a caricature of himself”); Washington Post (Modi an awkward hugger); Quartz (penchant for bear hugs) or news outlets closer home, unfailingly you’d find Modi plastered to the wall for offering warm hugs to fellow statesmen and leaders. But when Rahul Gandhi does so, all of these pen-pushers can’t stop gushing in admiration. The same Congress which ridiculed Modi and his hug on a youtube video now has posters where Rahul’s hug has all but saved humanity. I mean how ludicrous could it get?
With 2019 elections approaching, many media houses and mainstream journalists have started disproportionate highlighting of news around cow-related issues. Unsurprisingly, the clear objective of building such narratives is to influence a section of voters and create resentment against BJP. Earlier, a similar media narrative that squarely blamed Modi government in Gujarat for 2002 riots played an important role in BJP losing 2004 general elections despite a stellar performance by the Vajpayee government.
While the political narrative has to be set by political parties, it is staggering how the media itself has become a tool for propaganda that aide one political party of the other. The mainstream media has continuously peddled a narrative sans facts on the issue of beef ban, and it is incumbent to separate the wheat from the chaff and the facts from the narrative to understand how deep the rot runs.
Narrative:
India is the world’s largest exporter of beef despite the ban on cow slaughter
Facts:
Meat exported from India is that of water buffaloes.
India is world’s largest beef exporter because US Department of Agriculture (USDA) categorizes meat of bovine animals like “buffaloes” under “beef”.
While “cow” slaughter is banned in 21 states, there is no such restriction on “buffaloes”.
Hence, there is nothing illegal, immoral or hypocritical in India being world’s largest beef exporter.
Detailed CNN Report on India’s beef exports may be referred here.
Narrative:
BJP is obsessed with cow related laws while Congress is “liberal” and “secular”
Facts:
Cow slaughter ban, which is currently applicable in 21 states was implemented mostly in the period between 1950’s going up to 70’s
Laws banning cow slaughter were implemented by various Congress governments in respective states even before BJP came into existence in 1980
In 2015, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh was busy claiming credit for it when the beef ban was perceived as a favorable issue for Bihar elections
Congress was even open to extending it to a central ban across entire India
Interestingly, Congress was happy to claim credit for the beef ban when it was perceived to be a positive factor. Now, a negative narrative has been built by associating violence with cows and the blame for every incident is automatically transferred to BJP.
Congress actually implemented laws banning cow slaughter across the nation and claims to be “secular”. Yet, BJP is projected as the one “trying to control what people eat”.
BJP even after winning elections in North East, respected the eating habits of people and continued focusing on development issues instead of pursuing a law on beef ban. While BJP’s flexibility on this issue deserved admiration, the media projected this as BJP’s hypocrisy. Such is the power of narrative.
Narrative:
BJP leaders are defending and supporting mob violence
Facts:
Prime Minister himself has condemned violence in the name of cows on multiple occasions. U.P. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has explicitly done the same
Quoting some lower rung BJP / RSS leaders out of context does not mean that BJP supports vigilantism
Law & Order is a subject of state governments and does not fall under the purview of government in the center. The perpetrators of such crimes have faced trials by courts and punished as per the law
In 2009, Congress leader Kapil Sibal had proudly declared that over 150 media publications were owned by people affiliated with the Congress partyand this machinery would be used to project Rahul Gandhi as India’s next leader in the coming decade.
However, Congress lost power in 2014 and now the machinery is first required to create discontentment with the current regime using the obvious narrative – “BJP Government is anti-minorities”
The issue of mob violence in India cuts across religions. Both the victims and the perpetrators belong to various religions. All loss of lives are deplorable, but selective outrage depending on “a particular”religion of victim is intended to create resentment against the regime. Mob violence is a social issue which is being painted as a religiousone.
The role of the media is to present facts to its viewers so they can make informed decisions, whether political or otherwise. The media has summarily failed to do its job and outsourced fact-checking to its readers. While rhetoric may be the hallmark of political discourse, one surely wouldn’t have expected media houses to turn into political mouthpieces.
