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Remember Gurmehar Kaur? She’s now accused of threatening young boys for making memes

OpIndia Staff
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Remember Gurmehar Kaur? She’s now accused of threatening young boys for making memes

Sometime ago, a 20-something year old girl, daughter of an army martyr who lost his life in a terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir, had released a video holding placards where she, rather naively, declared that “Pakistan did not kill my dad, war killed him.”

She was trolled and allegedly received even death threats for this comment. It was argued that free speech was under attack if a 20-something girl can’t express herself through videos and placards. She received support and became a household name after relentless media coverage. Sportspersons who didn’t agree with her were trolled and abused by self-styled liberals. Ironically, disagreeing with her was made a crime.

You surely remember all this, right? It happened in February this year. The girl’s name was Gurmehar Kaur.

Not even eight months have passed and the same Gurmehar Kaur – who was made an icon for free speech and young India – has now been accused of doing exactly the same thing she complained of – issuing threats to youth just because she did not like something posted online.

The victims this time are a couple of young boys – younger than Gurmehar Kaur – who run a Facebook page named “Squint Neon” and ‘dared’ to post the following two memes that had images from the video released in public by Gurmehar:


The memes were essentially a criticism of activism of Gurmehar Kaur. We at OpIndia.com too had criticized the misplaced idealism and partisan activism of Kaur back in March (though our focus was not on feminism or such issues). But since memes tend to go viral more than articles – just like videos of someone holding placards – perhaps Gurmehar thought it was time to act and nix the criticism.

Gurmeher Kaur wanting to delete a Facebook page she doesn't like
The above Facebook post has now allegedly been deleted. Screenshot was provided to OpIndia by one of the admins of the Facebook page.

The admins of the Facebook page, who posted the memes and earned wrath of the free-speech warrior Kaur, knew that their page was going to be mass reported by supporters of Gurmehar.

But they were shocked to find the following message by Kaur herself:

Gurmeher threatens boys
Screenshot provided by admins of Facebook page

The admins – boys younger than Gurmehar – decided to go public with this ‘threat’ of Gurmehar and posted the following update on their page (now unavailable), rightly pointing out how a girl – who was painted as an icon and champion of free speech by the media – was now using various means to curb the freedom of expression of others:

Gumehere's intolerance and hypocrisy
Facebook page update after receiving the threat. The page is currently unavailable.

Perhaps the young boys thought that the above public post will make Gurmehar realize that she was indulging in the same act – cyberbullying and attacking other’s free speech – that she accused her tormentors of indulging in.

But Gurmehar apparently had other plans.

Like a true left-leaning activist, she allegedly decided to attack the career and livelihood prospects of the boys. In a screenshot of messages allegedly sent by her, she is seen warning the boys with threats of defamation case, police action, and a destroyed career where they may not get admissions in good colleges and may even fail to get jobs:

Gurmher threatens to destroy career of boys
Threat by Gurmehar Kaur received on Tuesday (October 3) night by the Facebook page admins.

The boys were spooked by the above message. Imagine you are not even out of college and someone says you will have your career destroyed.

They know that Gurmehar is now strongly entrenched in the left-liberal ecosystem. She was recently made a co-founder in an organization offering fellowships in areas usually hijacked by left-liberals. Politicians, journalists, activists, etc. who are part of the same left-liberal establishment that believes in having a mafia like control on institutions, were already supporting her organization:


Scared about their future, they unpublished their Facebook page and deactivated or restricted their social media profiles. They requested OpIndia.com not to publish their real names. They are terrified – to say the least.

Amidst all this, Gurmehar Kaur appears to have succeeded in her mission of getting the page off Facebook.

Rather tragically ironical that a girl who shot to fame due to being a victim of cyberbullying has now adopted cyberbullying as a tool to settle scores.

While the mainstream media will not find fault with their favorite girl for what she did, many in social media were upset at this naked display of power and arm-twisting:


Some even made jokes and memes around the whole episode:


After seeing all the information available on social media, Supreme Court lawyer Ishkaran Bhandari said that given the turn of events, it was Gurmehar Kaur who was more likely to be deemed as having committed a crime than the young boys. He said that the memes may not qualify as defamatory in a court of law, but what Gurmehar did can qualify as “criminal intimidation” under the Indian Penal Code (IPC):


Bhandari further offered to help the boys if Gurmehar files a complaint or if the boys decide to file a complaint against her for intimidation, however the boys are too scared to take on the left-liberal ecosystem. They did not provide an answer when OpIndia asked them. They said they will think about it but most probably their families will not like to take on the might of Gurmehar and her supporters

Gurmehar too has not responded about her next step at the time of filing this report, neither has she denied allegations nor expressed regret about her behavior.

Why CPI(M) alone is responsible for the political violence in Kerala

Abhishek Banerjee
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Why CPI(M) alone is responsible for the political violence in Kerala

Finally ceding to a longstanding demand from BJP workers, cadres and sympathizers, party president Amit Shah began a concerted initiative against the Communist reign of terror and death in Kerala.

On the elite left, the reaction to the BJP’s efforts has been very interesting. Often known to (pretend to) oppose whataboutism, the left dug deep into decades old history to somehow prove that the RSS/BJP and the Communists are somehow equally to blame for the political violence.

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I really recommend people to watch this video, if only to see Ravish Kumar’s desperation as he complains that the “national” media selectively covers only the killing of RSS workers in Kerala. One wonders if the leftist propaganda outlets would have done so much in depth research into decades old history if a Hindu Muslim flare up had occurred, especially in a BJP ruled state.

Look who’s complaining about the use of the “victim card”. It’s our friendly propagandists at Scroll.in

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These are the same kind of folks who gathered at the Press Club to protest a couple of tasteless tweets after the murder of Gauri Lankesh.

The comical, hypocritical rage of the left at being hit hard on its dark underbelly of violence in Kerala is something to see.

However, the simple truth is that only the Communists are to blame for the violence in Kerala. Here’s why.

The RSS/BJP is not present in just one or two states, unlike the CPI(M). At the moment, the BJP is ruling as many as 13 states. It is the main opposition in several others, such as Karnataka or Himachal Pradesh. The BJP has come and gone in numerous state capitals for the last three decades.

But have we seen any such decades long cycle of political violence between BJP and its competitors in any of these states? Are Congress and BJP workers killing each other in turns in say Gujarat (where BJP has been sort of ruling forever) or Rajasthan (where BJP and Congress rule alternately)? Do we see any such cycle of murder in Madhya Pradesh (where BJP mostly ruled in the recent past) or in Maharashtra (where BJP was mostly in opposition)?

No, of course not. Because none of these other states I mentioned above have any sizeable Communist presence.  But travel out of Kerala in the south to Bengal in the east and what do we see again?

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As many as 28000 political murders in Bengal between 1977 and 1996, admitted by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee himself on the floor of West Bengal assembly.

The only reasonable conclusion here is that the introduction of Communists into the political sphere of a state leads inevitably to political violence.

The RSS/BJP is (nearly) everywhere in the country. But large scale political murders seem to happen only when the Communists are around. 

Who should we blame then for political violence in Kerala? The CPI(M) and only the CPI(M).

Of course, this ties up perfectly with the way Communists have behaved all around the world. The murderous regimes of Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot killed hundreds of lakhs of people. The portraits of some of these mass murderers can be found hanging in CPI(M) offices.

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This photo is actually from Scroll itself. See the decorated portrait of their hero Joseph Stalin?

I wonder if NDTV and The Wire and Scroll would ever question the Communists for putting up Stalin photos in their offices. Does it amount to the CPI(M) endorsing the slaughter of 30 lakh innocent people under Stalin?

I hear that Indian liberals are much outraged because some people that the Prime Minister follows on Twitter have used some abusive language. My guess is that the same liberals will make excuses for the CPI(M) putting up in its office a decorated portrait of a man who killed 30 lakh people.

The truth is that Communists today are surprised and outraged about their dark underbelly in Kerala being exposed to national attention. With sympathetic leftists controlling most of the flow of information, the Communists thought their killing fields in Kerala would remain hidden forever. Not any more.

Now NIA questions J&K MLA Engineer Rashid in its terror funding probe

Hemant Bijapurkar
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Now NIA questions J&K MLA Engineer Rashid in its terror funding probe

The National Investigative Agency which is probing the alleged funding provided to carry out terror activities in Jammu & Kashmir, has now decided to bring in mainstream politicians for questioning.

As per reports, the NIA on Tuesday thoroughly questioned Sheikh Abdul Rashid commonly known as Engineer Rashid, who is an independent MLA from the Langate constituency in Handwara. The summons were sent to him by the agency on 28th September.

Before contesting elections, Rashid had worked in the J-K government’s Project Construction Corporation for around 15 years as an Engineer.

The questioning carried out under the terror funding probe reportedly focused on possible links between the MLA and businessman Zahoor Watali. Watali was arrested by the agency in August after the NIA in its raid at his home uncovered, highly incriminating material pertaining to receipt of funds from foreign sources and its further distribution to the terrorists and separatists in Kashmir valley for anti-India activities. 

Before going into the NIA office for being questioned, Engineer Rashid claimed that he had nothing to hide and termed the NIA summons as a conspiracy hatched by his political opponents. He further claimed that after a trial started against him in the media, he approached the J&K assembly speaker to initiate a probe and uncover the truth.

Such a development is significant because till now the NIA had focused on separatists and business persons while carrying out its probe. We had reported in the past how people from all walks of life, like PhD students, trade body chiefs, retired Judges and journalists have been under the scanner during the probe.

Apart from these civilians, the NIA has also thoroughly scrutinised the usual suspects like the stone pelters and Hurryat. It was reported that the agency had summoned the sons of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and had also arrested 7 Hurryat leaders including the dreaded Bitta Karate.

It remains to be seen if after the questioning of Engineer Rashid, the NIA follows it up with further summons to more mainstream politicians.

The Hindu withdraws its fake news, but is it enough? Ask readers

Nirwa Mehta
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The Hindu withdraws its fake news, but is it enough? Ask readers

Following the social media outrage and Mumbai Police trashing the report about molestation of Elphinstone stampede victim, legacy newspaper The Hindu was forced to withdraw the story and claimed their story was “the result of the failure to adhere to journalistic norms”. In a series of tweets late Tuesday night, The Hindu expressed regret at publishing the story:

The Hindu Mumbai, too, posted an apology which would be carried in the print edition the following day.


On Monday we had reported how social media was sceptical of the “Elphinstone stampede: Dying woman molested on bridge by bystander, video shows” story by The Hindu which could not be corroborated with any proper evidence.

Following this, a lot of people started questioning The Hindu about the malicious reporting.

The reason why people took the claims of The Hindu very seriously was because, it shook the very core of everyone who read it, owing to the ghastly circumstances under which it was reported to have happened.

The thought of a bystander molesting a woman seconds away from breathing her last was a depth of degeneracy few had imagined. However, at a time when we are trying very hard to fight the ‘criminalising marital rape will be misused like dowry law’ mindset of people in our fight to criminalise marital rape, incidents like these act as deterrents to strengthen our case.

The story by The Hindu was not only curated by other Indian media houses, but even International media houses had picked it up.


This fuelled the outrage amongst social media users who have long questioned the credibility of mainstream media reporting. A lot of users wanted the reporter and the editorial team held accountable for making a monster out of an innocent man.

Some showed their protest by blocking the Twitter account of The Hindu


While others demanded resignation of Vedika Chaubey, who has indulged in mischievous reporting of news in the past.


However, the elitist media persons, who want to don the hats of investigators, should ideally begin from within.

Their arrogance and unwillingness to accept that they are being forced to be vigilant, as readers are more alert and taken up fact checking upon themselves is appalling.


Abusive troll also chimed in with her whataboutery.


While admitting mistake is indeed rare and takes a lot of courage, spreading fake and unverified stories is extremely common and a lot easier to carry out. Readers expecting unbiased reporting and real stories instead of sensational pieces to get traffic on the website isn’t too much to ask for.

Mumbai Police trashes news reports about molestation of Elphinstone stampede victim

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai Police trashes news reports about molestation of Elphinstone stampede victim

On 1st October 2017, the country was shocked as The Hindu published an article that claimed that a dying woman, at the Elphinstone stampede tragedy in Mumbai, was molested by a bystander. The journalist, Vedika Chaubey had included a 8 seconds long video clip, which was later questioned as the longer video that emerged suggested that the bystander was actually trying to help the victim.

Social media erupted with questions and was gripped with horror at the sheer negligence of not only The Hindu and Vedika Chaubey, who had initially reported the story, but also at how other mainstream media outlets and journalists were quick to believe the story without demanding video proof and circulated it widely.

Social Media’s skepticism and our own report on the matter stood vindicated when news emerged today that the police have probed the allegation of molestation and found it to be untrue. A senior police official has reportedly asserted that the man accused of molesting the victim seconds before she died, was actually trying to help her.

As per a report in The Indian Express, the official reportedly said:

“The victim got stuck in between the railing of the bridge. The commuter tried to drag her out. He rested her body on his foot and was trying to pull her and grabbed her by her chest. His intention was to save her and not molest her”. This report was also confirmed by ACP Sunil Deshmukh.

While these reports have vindicated the doubts raised by Social Media, Mr. S. Sudhir Kumar had sought answers from The Hindu and Mr. A. S. Panneerselvan, who is the Reader’s Editor of The Hindu, by drawing his attention to the report carried by Opindia. In response, Mr. Panneerselvan assured appropriate action, following investigation.

The assurance by The Hindu to look into the matter (tweet link)

This story of molestation shook the very core of everyone who read it, owing to the ghastly circumstances under which it was reported to have happened. The thought of a bystander molesting a woman seconds away from breathing her last was a depth of degeneracy few had imagined.

Considering this story now appears a fabrication, the editorial standards of The Hindu and of those outlets that carried this story without basic fact-checking, have come under scanner. It is a monstrosity if a Good Samaritan is smeared as a molester in the pursuit of provocative journalism. At the very core of the spirit of journalism, is curiosity and a dogged pursuit of evidence.

Perhaps it’s time the mainstream media introspects and asks themselves if credibility is an appropriate price to pay for perverse sensationalism.

Amit Shah accuses Kerala CM of being directly responsible for the murders of RSS, BJP workers

OpIndia Staff
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Amit Shah accuses Kerala CM of being directly responsible for the murders of RSS, BJP workers

BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday kicked off a Padayatra (foot march) in Kerala against the reported violence perpetrated in the state by the ruling CPM dispensation.

During this Yatra, Amit Shah didn’t mince his words and outright blamed the current Chief Minister of the state Pinarayi Vijayan, for the political killings.

He stated that:

More than 120 BJP and RSS workers have been murdered in Kerala so far. CM Vijayan is directly responsible for it

This ”Jan Raksha Padayatra” of the BJP was launched in Payyannur of Kerala’s Kannur district which in the past has seen gruesome murders of RSS workers.

As recounted by J Nandakumar, an executive committee member of the RSS, a BJP worker named Ramith whose house was just a stone’s throw away from the Kerala CM’s home was brutally murdered by communists, last October. This wasn’t the only tragedy which had struck their family and the father of Ramith, too was killed by suspected communists in 2002.

Apart form there there have been various murders in the region which also include, two people being killed while they were returning from the funeral of Ramith’s father. J Nandakumar too claimed that Pinarayi Vijayan was fully aware of the political violence in the state but was doing precariously little to rectify it.

Coming back to the current story, this Padayatra by the BJP, would be passing through the state before culminating in Trivandrum on 17th October.

A day before the start of this Yatra, 3 BJP workers were attacked at Neeleswaram in Kasargod. This attack happened when the BJP workers were making preparations for the Yatra by decorating a part of the National Highway-66. The BJP Kasargod secretary claimed that claimed that the attack was carried out by about 20 CPM workers.

It remains to be seen if the BJP amplifies Amit Shah’s statement and even takes the legal route to try and file cases against those it claims, are murdering their workers. One thing is certain that after Amit Shah’s statement, the bloody history of atrocities against RSS workers in Kerala is again in the focus.

Pakistan Zindabad chanted during Muharram processions in UP and Bihar, sedition case filed

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan Zindabad chanted during Muharram processions in UP and Bihar, sedition case filed

Muharram, which is an event of mourning for many Muslims around the country, was observed on 1st October.

It unfortunately generated some controversy in parts of the country after it was reported that many places had witnessed communal tensions during Tazia processions. Now further disturbing reports have come out from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh about pro-Pakistan slogans being chanted during these events.

As reported from Pipra Kathari village in East Champaran, Bihar, panic spread in the region when some youths wearing clothes with Pakistan written on it, started taking part in the procession with sticks as weapons and tried to create a communal atmosphere. Some of the youths were wearing t-shirts similar to Pakistan cricket team jersey, which reportedly had Nawjawan committee, Pipra Kathari tola written on the back.

Not just this, even slogans of “Pakistan Zindabad” were heard during the procession. Even though people protested against it while the procession was taking place, the police failed to take any action. But SP Vinay Kumar promised the same after carrying out an investigation. As a result of that, a case of sedition was filed against 21 persons on Monday.

The case has also reportedly been filed against the miscreants for the breach of communal harmony and raids are on to nab him. Some of the accused are named Nazir, Aftab, Sarfaraz, Salman, Azhar, Gauhar, Aujekh, Imran, Salaluddin and Nasseruddin.

A similar incident was also reported from Agra. On Sunday night, tension spread in Kirawali region of Agra after Pakistan Zindabad slogans were chanted post the Tazia procession. This resulted in a clash between the two communities wherein people pelted stones at each other.

As per the report, the Tazia was organised in front of a certain Vazir’s house which is in Azad Mohalla. There from Saturday midnight, songs were being played and according to neighbours, “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans were also chanted. They as a result complained to the police. Officials later arrived and after having a chat with the youths, returned back.

The youths though again started chanting slogans at 8 PM on Sunday after which people from the other community allegedly beat them up. As a result, the matter escalated and led to the stone pelting incident. The police after coming to know about the incident arrested 3 youths.

The SP of the region has stated that after the inspector completes his probe, cases would be filed against the accused.

In our report yesterday, we had also mentioned that a similar pro-Pakistan slogans were also chanted at Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh during a Tazia procession.

World is a cruel place

navfrn
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World is a cruel place

The world is a cruel place. This can be proved by observing any comrade standing in the queue for buffet lunch at a seminar on ‘Poverty and Role of Capitalism’. Our comrade brothers spend so much mental energy worrying about the destitute of the world. And what do the destitute do? They end up voting for leaders like Modi, Trump or Putin. Quelle Horreur!!!

This thankless job of worrying without any recognition can never be compensated by the badaam halwa offered at the above mentioned seminar. And the irony is that the senior leftist professor cum organiser ends up getting his commission from the caterer. And what does this lead to? No cashew in the badaam halwa. Quelle Horreur again.

Our comrade brothers spend their entire life worrying. Even when they end up joining a full time job, they keep that internal flame driving their social justice warrior heart burning because of this cruel world. Oh, and then someone quipped that butter is not the reason for heart diseases. This proves it all. Badaam halwa is the gift of the proletariat to compensate for the dagger that those dirty destitute poke in the heart of our dear comrades by never understanding how painful it is to sit in such seminars for endless hours and waiting for lunch.

Dear comrades have to throw away all their branded clothes bought by their rich fathers to replace them by FabIndia kurtas with Levi’s jeans and still the destitutes are so ignorant that they end up voting for Modi kurta. Quelle Horreur!!

The world is a cruel place. Our comrades do mental self fornication all the time. That is necessary to prepare for the revolution. But how horrible is it that the vermins of Right wing want comrades to pleasure themselves just to cool down their revolutionary minds. What is wrong if comrades end up looking for sex in elevators? Monogamous sex is a bourgeois concept and it must be countered by practicing commune sex. Comrades are working so hard trying to convince women how they should not file rape charges as this goes against the very idea of revolution. What purpose does the revolution serve if women have to follow the patriarchal idea of monogamous sex? It proves, irrefutably so, how this world is a cruel place.

Such noble thoughts of our dear comrades end up being termed as ‘rape’. Let the day of revolution come and there will be no patriarchal barrier. We will have ‘Aazadi’ to have the fruit of revolution without fear of police.

Dear comrades best of luck with the idea of revolution. You need a lot of wishes to convince these forsaken, penniless souls. who keep voting for Modi inspite of your non stop mental masturbation.

The ream of paper that you have blackened would be saved if Modi wad not there. This man is an ecological disaster. Quelle Horreur!!!

Twitter’s hilarious reactions to Ranveer Singh’s first look of Alauddin Khilji

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter’s hilarious reactions to Ranveer Singh’s first look of Alauddin Khilji

Ranveer Singh today released the first look of Alauddin Khilji, a period film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali starring Singh and Deepika Padukone.


Soon, Twitterati got their creative side out and returned with various parody looks of Khilji.


Earlier, too, Twitter got creative when Deepika Padukone released her first look as Rani Padmavati.


This garnered hilarious reactions from Twitterati.


Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati has been embroiled in controversies since it’s launch since it is fashionable these days to glorify tyrants on the celluloid. Earlier, Tipu Sultan’s birthday was celebrated by the Karnataka Government, the Taimur episode or the fact that efforts were made to normalize even Aurangzeb.

Gurmeet Ram Raheem’s supporters now threaten mass conversions to Islam, find out why

OpIndia Staff
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Gurmeet Ram Raheem’s supporters now threaten mass conversions to Islam, find out why

When self-styled Godman Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh was convicted for rape by a special CBI court in Panchkula, Haryana, it provoked an extreme reaction from his supporters.

Soon after the verdict, the streets of Panchkula were turned into a virtual war-zone with the followers vandalising public property which included setting a petrol pump ablaze, vandalising vehicles with sticks and stones, beating up journalists and even vandalising a 5 star hotel. The violence soon spread to other parts of the country with 2 railway stations being partially burnt down in Punjab.

The possibly dangerous nature of the supporters too was witnessed when weapons cache were recovered from the Dera headquarters in Sirsa. This excluded the recovery of 4 rifles including an AK 47, which was made during the aftermath of Ram Rahim’s verdict wherein he was sentenced to 20 years in jail.

Now the supporters of Ram Raheem are in the news once again, but this time its as a result of them creating a drama.

According to reports, in order to divert attention from the charges against Ram Rahim, the supporters are now threatening mass conversions to Islam.

This ‘threat’ of mass conversion was reportedly made via a video circulating on social media, which was anchored by the spokesperson of Dera named Sandeep Mishra. Here Mishra is reportedly seen in conversation with a Dera follower whose face is hidden. In the video Mishra also claimed that they were in touch with AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi, Shahi Imam Syed Ahmad Bukhari of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, possibly in order to ”facilitate” their conversion.

The reason incidentally given by them for wanting to convert was that, Gurmeet Ram Rahim was jailed because he was a Hindu and that Hindu organisations are an easy target. They didn’t stop at that and claimed that converting to Islam would be beneficial to them as nobody touches Muslims even when they throw stones.

As per the report, Gurmeet Ram Rahim himself is the main brain behind the whole controversy as he is an expert in playing the Religion card. The report even quoted former Dera followers who claimed that Gurmeet Ram Rahim knows how to misuse and exploit religion, when things are not going right for him. According to them, he also used to give his Hindu followers Muslim names, so that he could also boast about having a Muslim following.

The report also levelled a serious allegation by claiming that Gurmeet Ram Rahim is directing such exercises from within the jail, which might be facilitated by his “well-wishers” in the administration.

This allegation has been denied by Dr KP Singh, the DGP Prisons, Haryana who has claimed that Gurmeet Ram Rahim is not able to speak to anyone in the Dera.

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