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Know about Rwanda’s ‘1 cow for 1 poor family’ program before media gives it ‘Hindutva’ spin

NR Nigam
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Know about Rwanda’s ‘1 cow for 1 poor family’ program before media gives it ‘Hindutva’ spin

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a 5-day visit to 3 African nations. His first stop will be Rwanda where he will gift 200 cows to help the Girinka program which aims at providing 1 cow per poor family. While there would be many things in PM’s agenda, one can expect media to focus on cows and try to spin the gesture of donating cows as a propagation of Hindutva agenda.

If you are curious about why is Cow relevant in a country where 43% population is Roman Catholic, then you should read on.

Rwanda saw a major genocide in the year 1994 which accounted for about a million killings in a short span of 100 days. Rwanda’s economy suffered heavily during the 1994 genocide. This caused a large drop in GDP and destroyed the country’s ability to attract private and external investment.

In the year 2006, as part of efforts to reconstruct Rwanda, the Government of Rwanda turned towards homegrown solutions. One of them is the Girinka program also known as ‘One Cow per Poor Family’.

Since it’s inception, the Girinka program has contributed to an increase in agricultural production in Rwanda – especially milk production and products, reduced malnutrition and increased incomes [pdf]. The word Girinka can be translated as ‘have a cow’ and describes a centuries-old cultural practice in Rwanda whereby a cow was given by one person to another, either as a sign of respect and gratitude or as dowry (ah, there is another idea for media to spin).

The target of this program was to provide at least 1 cow to each poor family. This will ensure the nutrition of the family members as well as a stable mean of income for the household. As part of this program, milk production, as well as consumption, has increased significantly. A country which was crippled with internal instability 24 years ago, this is an important achievement.

While the usual suspects would love to take digs at the Prime Minister for his gesture, a response to one such tweet by a citizen of Rwanda makes the importance of the Girinka project extremely evident.


Rwanda has taken big strides towards improving prosperity in recent times. Rwanda has seen immense improvement over the last decade and was recently named the most improved country in the 2016 Legatum Prosperity Report.

Rwanda is famous for another achievement. They are aiming to be a complete plastic free nation by the year, 2020. In the year 2006 Rwanda became the first country to ban plastic bags, something which India is still struggling to enforce. With strict enforcement and creative ways of discouraging plastic use, Rwanda’s capital Kigali has become one of the cleanest cities in the world.

Be it food related independence or the will to become a plastic-free country, India can learn a lot from a nation which is barely the size of the Indian capital, New Delhi. When the Prime Minister goes there hopefully he will bring in some knowledge on how to go about tackling these issues. While our media will surely ignore them for they cannot think beyond the word ‘Cow’, we as citizens can take notes and implement a few of them in our lives.

Why did The Wire ‘journalist’ Arfa Khanum want an Australian thrown into Indian jail?

Abhishek Banerjee
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Why did The Wire ‘journalist’ Arfa Khanum want an Australian thrown into Indian jail?

Commensurate with India’s growing power and significance in the world, political developments in India are closely watched not only inside the country but also abroad.  And so it was that the debate, theatrics and the antics of Indian Parliamentarians during the recent No Confidence Motion attracted comments from people all over the globe.

Including from Imam Tawhidi, an Australian Imam who owns the Twitter handle @Imamofpeace.

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You could agree with him or not. You could choose to simply move on.

But not if you are a Wire reporter who cannot tolerate a word of criticism against The Great Naamdar of the Gandhi Dynasty. How dare someone shows disrespect to Rahul Gandhi? He MUST be thrown in jail! The Wire’s Arfa Khanum Sherwani couldn’t bear this.

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That’s all it takes folks. That’s all it takes to strip away the carefully conjured mask of tolerance created by Islamists on the left. One word against Rahul Gandhi and the facade falls away completely.

I should mention here that Imam Tawhidi gets tons of hate from the ‘secular’ left because of his outspoken stance against Islamic fundamentalism. And now someone wants him to be charged for ‘interfering’ in internal affairs of India. All because he called Rahul Gandhi a ‘joke.’

Charged? For what? Is Wire’s Arfa Khanum living in the 7th century or what?

That’s not how we do it in this century any more, Arfa. You’re thinking about the wrong point in time.

Just think about your social media feed for a moment. Think about the thousands of caustic comments, cartoons and memes on President Trump, on Obama and other politicians in countries across the globe. Imagine if everyone who called Trump a ‘joke’ was charged by the US government of interfering in their internal affairs.

The Wire itself is deeply plugged into this new media universe and thrives in its culture of irreverence.

But all it takes is one tweet calling their dear leader Rahul Gandhi a ‘joke’ and Wire reporters go reeling backwards from the 21st century to the 7th century. Back to their real philosophical roots.

This must be a symptom of the ‘moolbhoot soch‘ (ideological roots) and ‘chatpatahat‘ (uneasiness) that Modi touched on in his farewell to Hamid Ansari.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccl3Lj6Cc50?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent]

Incidentally, the same Arfa Khanum used to be at Rajya Sabha TV back in the day when Hamid Ansari was running it.

Right now, with a BJP government in power, we can feel the chatpatahat in the mind of Wire reporters as they have to adopt a 21st-century mindset towards dissent and free speech. They can’t wait for Rahul Gandhi to become PM so that they can return to their ideological roots in the 7th century.

Goa woman exploited by Muslim man pretending to be ‘Sahil Sharma’, files complaint

OpIndia Staff
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Goa woman exploited by Muslim man pretending to be ‘Sahil Sharma’, files complaint

A woman from Goa has been reportedly cheated by a Muslim man from Badaun named Naeem Khan. According to reports, the woman, a 38-year-old marketing executive from Goa has complained to the Bareily Inspector General of Police DS Thakur that a man from Badaun named Naeem Khan came to her contact pretending to be Sahil Sharma and has sexually and financially exploited her.

According to reports, the woman has stated that Naeem Khan sent her a facebook friend request pretending to be Sahil Sharma and they became friends in September 2015. She had added that Naeem has met her several times in Goa. The woman reportedly wanted to see where he lived and what he did before taking the relationship further. So she reportedly travelled UP to meet him.

The woman has stated in her complaint that upon reaching Agra, Naeem met her and took her to his sister’s house in Sambhal. Upon the woman’s insistence, Naeem took her to his house in Badaun where the woman was shocked to find that the man she knew as Sahil is actually Naeem Khan, he is married and has three children. During their relationship, Naeem had sexually and financially exploited her under the false pretence of being Sahil Sharma. The woman has reported that Naeem has taken Rs 70,000 and mobile phone from her.

The woman had finally filed an FIR against Naeem in Goa under sections 420 and 417. After December 2017, when the woman reportedly started asking Naeem to return her money, he switched off his phone. The woman reportedly travelled to UP again to get her money back but she was reportedly misbehaved by Naeem and his family. In April 2018, she had filed an FIR against Naeem.

The woman has complained to IG Thakur that the police in Islam Nagar, Badaun, have not been co-operative and hence Goa police are unable to arrest Naeem. IG Thakur has reportedly assured the woman of appropriate action.

This is one of many other cases where Muslim men have been accused of targetting Hindu women under a false identity. Recently in West Bengal, a Muslim man Sheikh Sultan had shot and killed his Hindu girlfriend after his fake identity was exposed. In December last year, a Meerut girl had alleged rape by a Muslim man after befriending her under a Hindu identity. There are also several instances where Muslim men use Hindu names and Hindu religious symbols to dupe girls and later forced them to convert to Islam.

Did Rahul Gandhi just escape yet another defamation case from the BJP and RSS?

OpIndia Staff
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Did Rahul Gandhi just escape yet another defamation case from the BJP and RSS?

In what appears to be a close shave with yet another defamation case, Congress President Rahul Gandhi seems to have barely managed to save himself. As reported by India Today, in Rahul Gandhi’s maiden Congress Working Committee meeting as Congress President, which excluded veterans like Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath, Rahul Gandhi was heard criticizing the BJP and the RSS. India Today reports that the speech may have been blasphemous enough for the Congress to have deleted it within minutes of it being uploaded on Twitter and YouTube.

As per reports, Rahul Gandhi was heard criticizing the BJP and RSS but at the same time, he even asked Congress to learn from them. India Today reports that Rahul Gandhi said that whenever BJP comes to power, thousands of institutions affiliated to the RSS mushroom in the states. He further said that the BJP steals money from the state coffers and passes it on to thousands of RSS-affiliated institutions. He reportedly named Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and alleged that money was being stealthily donated to RSS’ institutions like Shishu Mandir Schools. He said that thousands of RSS institutions run on government money.

He further added that Congress leaders should ‘learn’ from the BJP and RSS modus operandi. He said that the right-wing cadres have infiltrated the government institutions and that Congress will also have to do that. He said that the tribal votes have swung towards the BJP because they went to them and ‘brainwashed’ them. Hence, Congress would have to win them back.

Within minutes of uploading the video, the same was deleted across all platforms. Perhaps Rahul Gandhi didn’t want yet another defamation case against him. During the run-up to the 2014 elections, an aggressive Rahul had made some rather controversial statements. He had said that people from RSS had killed Mahatma Gandhi. Later during the trial, Rahul Gandhi made a U-Turn. He told the Supreme Court that he did not blame the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on the RSS. He further said his remark had been misinterpreted by the RSS worker who filed the initial complaint against him. His U-Turn came as a rude shock to his social media warriors who had backed Rahul’s decision of not apologising and settling the case.

Mehul Choksi says he won’t come back to India because he fears mob lynching, wants warrants cancelled

OpIndia Staff
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Mehul Choksi says he won’t come back to India because he fears mob lynching, wants warrants cancelled

Mehul Choksi, the billionaire owner of Gitanjali Gems Pvt Ltd has today appealed before a Mumbai court that there are numerous mob lynching incidents in India lately and he fears the same if he comes back to the country. According to reports, Choksi had appealed in a Mumbai court against the non-bailable warrant issued against him in the 13,000 crores PNB Scam case.

Choksi has a non-bailable warrant against him after a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court took cognisance of the charge sheet filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate.

Times of India has quoted Mehul’s application filed through his lawyer Sanjay Abbot as stating, “As it became impossible for the applicant’s company to function, employees were not paid their salaries and debtors did not get their money back, all these persons have become agitated against the applicant (Choksi) and he now fears for his life.”

The application reportedly further added, “There have been various cases of mob lynching in India. The recent trend of mob lynching and the general public giving justice on the road is growing. Even the applicant faces a similar threat as there are several people who have grievances and anger against him.”

Choksi is one of the prime accused in the PNB Scam and has been absconding like his nephew Nirav Modi since January this year.

According to reports, Choksi’s application also mentions the poor conditions in Indian jails and the probable threat and extortion he would face from other inmates and jail staff. The application also reportedly states that there are instances of third-degree torture meted out to suspects by CBI and ED.

Choksi has been absconding since the PNB Scam was brought to the notice of authorities. Both his and Nirav Modi’s passports have been revoked by the government of India and the Interpol has issued a red corner notice against Nirav Modi. The ED and the CBI have also frozen the bank accounts and seized assets of Choksi’s Gitanjali Gems and Nirav Modi owned companies.

Choksi’s name has also been linked to the former UPA government after it was brought forth that the former finance minister P Chidambaram had signed an order that allowed Gitanjali Gems to import huge amounts of gold under the 80:20 scheme just before vacating his post to the new government.

Choksi has reportedly moved a similar application before a CBI court last month. Special PMLA judge MS Azmi has reportedly directed the ED to file their response on Choksi’s application and has deferred the case for further hearing to August 18.

Atheist communists now make a splash with a Ramayana recital after Yechury’s kalash wielding picture went viral

OpIndia Staff
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Atheist communists now make a splash with a Ramayana recital after Yechury’s kalash wielding picture went viral

In a surprise move, the video of a Communist MLA reciting Ramayana has gone viral on social media. The communists have recently been in the news because of their sudden interest in Hinduism. CPIM has traditionally espoused the cause of atheism and communism is a political ideology that is intrinsically anti-religion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gO2uf08GOs

U Prathibha Hari, a CPI(M) MLA, who represents Kayamkulam constituency in the state Assembly, has now posted a Facebook video, where she is reading the verses of the Hindu epic Ramayana. It is reported that the lawmaker posted this video as a part of the annual celebrations of Karkkidakam, the last month of Malayalam calendar.

Prathibha Hari in her Facebook post wrote, “Ramayana month has begun. Let each faith and reading (of Ramayana) is to propagate virtues.” The post has been shared by several people in the past few days.

The Ramayana month in Kerala is celebrated annually, in which verses from Adhyatma Ramayana, which is written by the poet Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, are chanted are chanted in front of lighted ‘nilavilakku’ (traditional lamps).

The viral video is interesting for the reason that the pro-Left parties, who otherwise proclaim to be atheists, have been now presenting themselves to be soft towards Hindus, Hindu culture and traditions. Recently, a pro-Left outfit called ‘Sanskrti Sangh’ consisting of Left-wing scholars, academicians and Left sympathizers had reportedly organized a Ramayana seminar series which created some controversies.

It is alleged that the Communist party was behind this Ramayana seminar series to appease some section of the society. But, the CPI(M) Kerala secretary rejected the role of the party in organizing these events. “The media reports stating that CPI(M) is organizing the observance of Ramayana month is baseless. Sanskrit Sangh is an independent outfit and not a feeder organisation of the CPI(M),” he said in a statement.

Recently, Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the CPI(M) was seen attending a Hindu religious event in Hyderabad. He had attended the Bonalu festival, a Hindu religious event to worship Goddess Mahakali. Yechury was seen carrying a pot, which was filled with the offerings to the God Mahakali.

It is interesting to see that the Communists, who proclaim to be ‘atheists’ accuse other parties of indulging in religious politics, have themselves invoked religion as 2019 elections approach.

RJD expels party spokesperson who had slammed Rahul Gandhi for blatantly lying in Parliament

OpIndia Staff
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RJD expels party spokesperson who had slammed Rahul Gandhi for blatantly lying in Parliament

The RJD has expelled its national spokesperson Shankar Charan Tripathi who had famously slammed Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his actions inside the parliament during the no-confidence motion debate:


As reported by us, Tripathi during a TV debate on Friday had slammed Rahul Gandhi’s behaviour inside the parliament and also dismissed his political capability by commenting that, “Rahul Gandhi wants to be the PM? My foot!”.

Besides this, Tripathi had criticised the Congress President for blatantly lying on a national platform over the Rafale deal. Tripathi commented that such kind of a behaviour was not expected from a senior parliamentarian like him.

He also went on to say that even though he is an RJD spokesperson, for him the nation comes first and, it was laughable that someone like Rahul Gandhi wanted to lead it.

Clearly such comments have not gone down well with the RJD leadership which has expelled him from the party.

As reported by India Today, a letter announcing the same was issued by the party’s national general secretary SM Qamar Alam:

RJD expels party spokesperson who had slammed Rahul Gandhi for blatantly lying in Parliament
Letter announcing the expulsion of Tripathi. Image via @IndiaToday

As seen in the letter, the general secretary claimed that various senior party leaders accused Tripathi of indulging in anti-party activities, following which he was asked to clarify his stance. But Tripathi failed to provide any written or oral clarification in the stipulated time period. Thus the letter conveyed that owing to the lack of clarification, he is being relieved of all party positions and his membership is terminated.

Tripathi is known to be an astrologer and was appointed as the party’s national spokesperson in November 2017.

Alwar lynching: MHA seeks report from Rajasthan govt even as Congress continues vulture politics

OpIndia Staff
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Alwar lynching: MHA seeks report from Rajasthan govt even as Congress continues vulture politics

The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked for a report from the Rajasthan government on the recent death of Rakbar alias Akbar, who was allegedly lynched to death in Alwar on suspicion of being a cow smuggler.


It is alleged that the police had stopped to have tea and got his clothes changed before taking him to the community hospital about four kilometres away from where Akbar was allegedly lynched. Not to give up on a chance to play politics on death, Congress President Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to take a dig on the BJP.


However, the BJP leaders slammed Rahul Gandhi for playing vulture politics and appealed to him to stop trying to divide society for electoral gains.


Rajyavardhan Rathore, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting also tweeted to Gandhi asking him to stop sowing seeds of hatred in society for few votes.


He was also questioned on his selective reaction on such incidents.


This is not the first time Congress and its leaders have indulged in vulture politics. Earlier, BJP had called out Congress for playing politics over blood and bones of Dalits. Congress was also called out for making External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj appear like a villain instead of ISIS over killings of 39 Indians in Mosul, Iraq.

Congress leader Kamal Nath deletes tweet after goofing up, but not before social media had a field day

OpIndia Staff
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Congress leader Kamal Nath deletes tweet after goofing up, but not before social media had a field day

Today is the birth anniversary of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Tilak was one of India’s greatest freedom fighters and social reformers. He was born on 23 July 1856 in Maharashtra. Well known for his famous slogan ‘Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it’, Tilak is a household name among Indians for his patriotism and social movements.

Many prominent personalities on social media have shared their respect for Bal Gangadhar Tilak on his birth anniversary, including PM Narendra Modi.


However, senior Congress leader and Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath goofed up. Kamal Nath shared a tweet commemorating Tilak for his ‘Punya Tithi’ (death anniversary). Though he deleted his tweet soon after realising his mistake, it had already grabbed the attention of social media users.


Twitter user @bhaiyyajispeaks took a screenshot of Kamal Nath’s tweet before he deleted it and started a Twitter trend #GetWellSoonKamal Nath. Soon, the hashtag gained popularity on Twitter and people started using it to remind the senior Congress leader of his mistake.


Hundreds of Twitter users have been using the hashtag, some with memes and jokes about the Congress party and its President Rahul Gandhi. But Kamal Nath is yet to post an apology for wrongfully citing the birth anniversary of a great national leader as death anniversary.

Kamal Nath, who was recently in news for writing an open letter to Lord Shiva, asking him to help people of Madhya Pradesh to dislodge the BJP from power, is reportedly being seen as a rival to Jyotiraditya Scindia for the Congress’ CM candidate for Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh goes to assembly polls later this year and Kamal Nath’s position in the party means his actions might influence his party’s poll performance too.

Dalit man lynched to death in Barmer for having an affair with a Muslim girl : Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Dalit man lynched to death in Barmer for having an affair with a Muslim girl : Reports

Khetaram Bheel, a 22-year old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death by a group of Muslim men over an affair with a Muslim woman, near a police station in Barmer district.

The police has reportedly said that the accused individuals tied up the victim’s his hands and legs, and then started beating him. A report by the Hindustan Times quotes the police stating Bheel’s failed attempt to run away while bleeding, and falling dead in that very attempt. The report also claims that his body was found 500 metres away from the spot where he was allegedly beaten up, perhaps transported there by his killers.

It was a known fact in the village, that Bheel worked at the house of the Muslim girl and had a love affair with her. In fact, Khetaram Bheel’s brother, Gordhan Ram said in his police report that there did exist some minor land disputes, with a man named Mahboo Khan.

On the night of 20th July, Saddam Khan and Hayaat Khan had approached Bheel, asking him to help them out with some work in the farm. As Bheel complied, Ram alleged in the report that Amar Khan, Akbar Khan, Anwar Khan, Raheem Khan, Muheeb Khan, Pathai Khan and Shaukat Khan, started beating up Khetaram Bheel.

Ram also added that two farmers, Gomada Ram and Heera Ram, attempted to save his brother, having heard his loud and painful cries. However, the accused, who were strong enough to overpower them, also attacked the two and later fled from the scene.

Bheel’s brother also said that Hayaat Khan and Saddam Khan went to his house the next day to proudly tell him that the dead body of his brother lay in the farm, having been killed by them.

“Meghwal said that eight of 10 accused have been detained and are being questioned. Bheel’s body was handed over his family members after postmortem”, says the report by Hindustan Times.

There have been numerous occasions where Dalits have been unfairly targeted by certain Muslims. We had reported earlier how a Dalit’s funeral procession led to communal violence in Tamil Nadu. Communal tension had also broken out after a group of Muslims had molestated Dalit woman during a marriage procession. There were also reports of a Dalit woman and a minor being attacked violently and fights breaking out after casteist slurs being used in a patty fight.

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