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Pondicherry University: HoD asked to step down, case filed against director and writer of the anti-Hindu play, internal committee to probe the issue

OpIndia Staff
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Pondicherry University: HoD asked to step down, case filed against director and writer of the anti-Hindu play, internal committee to probe the issue

Pondicherry University has relieved its Head of the Department of Performing Arts from his duties following a controversy sparked by a play performed by students during the annual cultural festival, Ezhini 2k24, on 29th March. The play, which included disrespectful portrayals of Hindu deities Goddess Sita and Lord Hanuman, led to protests by ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) on 30th March.

In response, the university has initiated an internal investigation by forming a committee to examine the matter. Pending the outcome of this inquiry, the HoD has been instructed to step aside from his role.

On Friday (29th March), the Department of Performing Arts of Pondicherry University staged this controversial play in the annual cultural festival Ezhini 2K24 leading to protests by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) who complained against this play in university as well as a local police station. The Kalapet police registered the case against the play’s Director and Script Writer on charges of outraging religious sentiments. The student organisation also held protests on the university campus and issued a statement about this matter.

In response to the incident, the university formed an investigation committee. According to reports, the University’s Assistant Registrar, D. Nandagopal, informed the student complainants that a high-level committee had been established to investigate the issue and would deliver a report within three to four days.

In a written communication dated 1st April addressed to these students, he wrote, “Pending the Committee report, the Head of the Department has been asked to step down immediately. We have called for an explanation from all faculty members of the Department of Performing Arts.” He added that the University was committed to providing a peaceful and harmonious ambience on campus and would not tolerate any act hurting religious sentiments on its campus. The Registrar In charge has also asked for students’ cooperation to maintain peace on campus.

On the other hand, the students involved in this contentious play have refuted any intention or effort to offend religious sentiments. A statement was also issued by some students of the Performing Arts Department and other students in solidarity with the team performing this play titled ‘Somayanam’. The statement said, “The play is not intended to hurt any religious beliefs. Hailing from different social and cultural backgrounds, we respect the beliefs of everyone equally. If all we hurt anyone’s religious sentiments, we apologize for it.”

According to the statement, the performance depicted the imposition of patriarchal values on women in the style of Therukoothu (street play). They said that the play showed the ancient concepts of female chastity that ‘persist in contemporary society’ and aimed to ‘uproot these ideals’. The statement questioned why a woman’s virtue is often equated with her chastity, prompting consideration of why the same standard is not applied to men. However, it did not tell about why it was necessary to portray Goddess Sita and Lord Hanuman in the way it did to underscore the targetted issue.

Earlier, in its statement, ABVP emphasised the importance of creative expression that respects religious sentiments and avoids inciting communal discord. The organisation said that the Pondicherry University bears the responsibility to respond decisively to the incident, ensuring a balance between freedom of expression and sensitivity toward religious beliefs.

Massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake strikes eastern Taiwan: Tsunami alerts in Japan’s Okinawa

OpIndia Staff
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Massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake strikes eastern Taiwan: Tsunami alerts in Japan’s Okinawa

On 3rd April (local time), a powerful earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter Scale struck the eastern Shores of Taiwan. According to the administration’s Seismology Centre, the quake’s epicentre was located 25 KM south-southeast of Hualien County Hall in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 15.5 KM. In a post on X, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, “Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.5 – 11 KM NE of Hualien City, Taiwan.” Social media was flooded with the visuals of the earthquake and its aftermath.

Following the earthquake, metro systems in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung were suspended, and the suspension is expected to last 40 to 60 minutes. A tsunami warning has been declared for the coastal areas of southwestern Japan’s Miyakojima and Yaeyama regions and the main island of Okinawa in Okinawa Prefecture. Authorities have urged residents in these regions to evacuate to higher ground or safe locations promptly.

An intensity level of 5+ was reported in Yilan County in the northeast and Miaoli County in the north, while 5- was reported in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City and Hsinchu County in the north, Taichung City, Changhua County and Nantou County in central Taiwan, the Central Weather Agency said.

As per reports, a 30-centimeter tsunami was recorded at Yonaguni Island around 9:18 AM Japan Time. Forecasters predict that the tsunami waves may reach up to 3 metres in height in the affected areas.

The alert was prompted by an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.5, occurring shortly before 9 AM. The Japan Meteorological Agency identified the earthquake’s epicentre near Taiwan.

Anticipated tsunami arrival times are projected for 9:30 AM in the Miyakojima-Yaeyama region and 10 AM in the Okinawa main island region.

In response, the Japan Meteorological Agency sounded the alarm for Miyakojima and Okinawa islands, cautioning residents about imminent waves as high as 3 meters.

(With inputs from ANI)

Turkey: Fire breaks out at Istanbul nightclub during renovation work, 29 dead, several injured

OpIndia Staff
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Turkey: Fire breaks out at Istanbul nightclub during renovation work, 29 dead, several injured

At least 29 people have died while several others have been hurt after a fire broke out at a night club in Istanbul. As per reports, the 16-storey residential building was undergoing renovation and was closed during the day. The fire had initially erupted in the basement of a high-rise building named the Masquerade Club in Istanbul. The cause behind the fire is not yet known. 

(Image Source – X_Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu)

In a statement, Governor Davut Gul’s office said, “The number of people who lost their lives in the fire… in Gayrettepe of Besiktas district has increased to 29.” 

“One person hurt in the fire was still being treated in hospital,” it added.

The office said that the fire began at 12:47 (0947 GMT). Hours after firefighting efforts, the fire was brought under control. 

In several videos doing rounds on the internet, flames and a column of thick smoke can be seen billowing from upper-storey windows. Speaking with reporters, Gul said that the blaze had broken out during construction work in the first and second floors below ground, which housed a nightclub. 

Taking to X, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote, “An investigation has been opened into the fire in Gayrettepe.”

According to news channel NTV, five people have been arrested at the scene in connection with the fire including the nightclub manager and the manager of the renovations.

Istanbul’s newly re-elected mayor Ekrem Imamoglu also rushed to the scene and offered his condolences to the relatives of the dead and injured. He said, “The fire is under control. Let’s hope there are no further victims.”

They don’t believe in India’s sovereignty: Amit Shah lambasts Congress after the political wing of banned Islamist terror outfit PFI, SDPI extends support to Congress

OpIndia Staff
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They don’t believe in India’s sovereignty: Amit Shah lambasts Congress after the political wing of banned Islamist terror outfit PFI, SDPI extends support to Congress

On Tuesday (2nd April), Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a scathing attack on the Congress party for not turning down the support extended by SDPI, the political wing of banned Islamist terror outfit PFI, to Congress-led UDF in Kerala. Notably, the Congress party had earlier demanded to ban SDPI under UAPA, only to seek its support during the Karnataka assembly elections. 

During his roadshow in Ramanagara, Karnataka, Home Minister Amit Shah said, “On one hand there are blasts in Bengaluru, on the other hand, I just got the news that SDPI has supported Congress. If this is true then can the people of Karnataka remain safe under the Congress government?…” 

Amit Shah’s remark come amidst the findings that Congress had withdrawn cases against 1600 PFI terrorists and allied with SDPI earlier.

Amit Shah slammed Congress stating that the party has been supporting anti-India campaigns by getting support from communal forces. He added that with such developments it has revealed that it doesn’t believe in India’s sovereignty.  

Speaking with CNN-News18 during his roadshow in Ramanagara, Karnataka, Shah said, “I am not shocked to see that SDPI is supporting Congress. With the support of communal forces, Congress has been supporting anti-India campaigns for several years. Support from SDPI means that you don’t believe in India’s sovereignty.” 

The Home Ministry had banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) and several associated Islamist organisations under UAPA for five years due to various criminal cases, including findings that several PFI members had joined international terrorist organisations. SDPI is the political wing of the banned outfit PFI. Security experts have repeatedly noted that members of banned terror outfits carry out terror acts by renaming their groups or joining other outfits, prompting Parliament to individually book terrorists under UAPA. 

A day earlier, the SDPI announced that it will be supporting the Congress-led UDF in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Kerala. SDPI state President Muvattupuzha Ashraf Moulavi stated that the party has not fielded any candidates in Kerala but has 18 candidates in various parts of the country.

Despite facing massive criticism, the Congress party declined to reject the support of the banned outfit PFI’s political arm, SDPI. 

AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal claimed that the Congress party never sought any help from the SDPI and no discussion has happened in this regard, indicating that the party was not against getting support from the extremist outfit. Venugopal is also contesting the Lok Sabha polls from the Alappuzha constituency in Kerala.

Following SDPI’s announcement, the BJP has been asking Congress to clear its stance on whether it has no problem in getting support from terror out of PFI’s political arm. 

Kerala BJP chief and candidate from Wayanad, K Surendran is contesting against Congress scion Rahul Gandhi. He said, “Yes, really shocking – the dangerous political move by the Congress party, especially Rahul Gandhi and the UDF leaders from Kerala. PFI’s – the banned terror organisation – political outfit SDPI is openly supporting the Congress party, the UDF candidates… I would like to ask Rahul Gandhi if this is his national-level policy. For the vote bank, you are compromising the national interests…Is it right?…”

In the past, Rahul Gandhi had once courted controversy for giving clean chit to its ally in Kerala, IUML, stating that it is a completely secular party. 

Pakistan: Priest accuses Plaza owner Sheikh Ahmed of setting a temple-turned-church on fire, accuses police of protecting him

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Priest accuses Plaza owner Sheikh Ahmed of setting a temple-turned-church on fire, accuses police of protecting him

In a major development following a fire incident at a church in Rawalpindi, the local Christian community and the priest stated that it was a case of arson. They reported that some unknown miscreants had set the building on fire in the early hours of the day. They have charged a local Muslim businessman Sheikh Ahmed for setting the church on fire as he had been eyeing to include the church building in his under-construction Plaza and had recently threatened them.  

Notably, a fire incident was reported at a Presbyterian church in Rawalpindi’s Gujar Khan area on 30th March 2024. The incident occurred just hours before the local Christian community was scheduled to hold Easter services at the location. Following the incident, Police claimed that their initial investigation showed the fire was caused due to a “short-circuit”. 

Speaking with Dawn, Rawalpindi CPO Khalid Mahmood Hamdani said that they did not find any inflammable material on the spot. However, the local Christian community and the Church priest protested against the Police’s assertion. They stated that unknown miscreants had torched the church in a pre-dawn attack. 

According to the local Christian community, they had an altercation with their neighbouring Plaza-owner who had threatened them that he would not let them hold Easter services. As per the congregation, the Muslim businessman Sheikh Ahmed or his henchman had gutted the church to include the building in his under-development Plaza. 

The Rev. Adeem Alphonse is the priest of the United Presbyterian Junior Church in Gujar Khan tehsil. He said, “Our church was targeted around 3 a.m. on Saturday. The huge fire burned everything inside the church, including holy books, the sound system, furniture, curtains, etc.” 

He charged the Rawalpindi police and local administration with protecting the accused by claiming that it was an incident caused by ‘short-circuiting’. 

Alphonse added, “We strongly suspect that it’s a case of arson, but the police and administration are trying to hush up the matter by terming it an outcome of a short-circuit in the electricity wiring.”

Sheikh Ahmed had threatened them, Police declined to name him in the FIR: Local Christian community

Pastor Alphonse emphasised that the congregation suspects a Muslim businessman, identified only as Sheikh Ahmed, who publicly threatened that he would not let them hold an Easter service, as he has been trying to force them to leave in order to add the property to an adjacent plaza he is developing.

According to the Pastor, Ahmed had disrupted the church’s Good Friday service and tore down tent coverings set up outside the building. 

Speaking with Christian Daily International-Morning Star News, Pastor Alphonse recalled the incident saying, “When the police stopped Ahmed from causing unrest, he threatened our church elders that he will not let us have Easter service at any cost.” 

He added, “We resumed our Good Friday service thinking that the police would talk sense into him, but I was shocked when I received a telephone call the same night that my church was burning.”

He pointed out that Ahmed, who earlier ran a construction supply company, has been eying on the property that the church leases from the government.

As per reports, after the fire was doused, the pastor and church officials learned that the fire had started from the wooden door of the main church hall. 

Pastor Alphonse said, “Everything inside was reduced to ashes. When we checked the electricity wiring, we did not see any signs of a short-circuit.” 

Additionally, when the Church member Javed Masih filed a police complaint and named Ahmed as an accused, Police officers declined to book him in the First Information Report (FIR). They also went on to claim that the fire was caused by a short-circuit, the pastor noted.

Pastor Alphonse said, “The building was previously used as a Hindu temple, but the Pakistani government allocated the building to Christians after the Partition when the area’s Hindu community chose to migrate to India.” It has been allotted to the church on a rental basis.

Rampant attacks on Minorities including Christians in Pakistan

Other community members also highlighted the rampant attack on the Christian community in Pakistan including the Jaranwala attack. 

They urged the administration and police to consider the just demand of the church management and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice no matter how influential they may be, as per reports.

Last year in August, more than 20 church buildings and at least 80 homes of Christians were ransacked and burned by Muslim mobs in Jaranwala after two Christian brothers were falsely accused of desecrating the Quran and writing blasphemous comments against Islam’s prophet, Muhammad. 

As per sources, while the police had detained more than 300 suspects after the attacks, a majority of them walked free on bail because of defective investigations and other reasons. 

The local Christian community fears that the Police is protecting the suspect Sheikh Ahmed by giving the incident of arson a different spin and blaming ‘short-circuit’ for the gutting of the Church building, which was once a Hindu temple before partition. Pakistan has been notorious for downplaying the extremist attacks on institutions including religious places of minorities including Hindus and Christians.  

ED files money laundering case against TMC leader Mahua Moitra in a cash-for-query scam

OpIndia Staff
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ED files money laundering case against TMC leader Mahua Moitra in a cash-for-query scam

On Tuesday (2nd April), the Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering case against TMC leader Mahua Moitra in the cash-for-query scam case, news agency ANI reported citing sources.

This is the second case that the ED so far has registered against Moitra. The first one is linked to the discrepancies in a foreign exchange contravention case under which the ED has issued three summons to Moitra and she did not appear yet before the investigators in response to the case.

ED filed the case against the expelled TMC lawmaker based on an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Moitra. The CBI had earlier filed a case against the former MP in the cash-for-query scam case. 

The CBI booked her on the direction of Lokpal who had issued the directions after receiving findings of the agency’s preliminary inquiry into allegations made by BJP Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey against Moitra. The anti-corruption ombudsman had earlier directed the CBI to submit its findings within six months after investigating all aspects of the complaints against her. 

The CBI had also raided her premises in connection with the case. 

Last year, on 8th December, Lok Sabha expelled her based on the recommendations of the Ethics Committee in a cash-for-query case. Moitra was expelled hours after the Ethics Committee report was tabled in Lok Sabha.

Mahuagate: TMC MP Mahua Moitra faces allegations of ‘cash for query’

On 14th October, the Indian political scene experienced a major tremor as BJP MP Nishkant Dubey wrote to the ethics committee seeking an inquiry against TMC MP Mahua Moitra in the ‘Cash for Query’ matter. He based his complaint on the letter written by Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, who alleged that most of the questions asked by the TMC MP in Lok Sabha directly or indirectly benefit businessman Darshan Hiranandani. Dehadrai also accused Moitra of “kidnapping” his pet dog Henry, adding another layer of complications to Mahuagate.

Moitra filed a case against Dubey and Dehadrai but never denied accepting gifts. Interestingly, she has also been accused of sharing her Lok Sabha credentials with Hiranandani so he can post questions independently. Hiranandani has reportedly turned approver in the case and submitted an affidavit suggesting the allegations against Moitra are true.

‘Tit for Tat’: Assam CM Himanta Biswa calls for the Centre to rename 60 places in Tibet over China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh

OpIndia Staff
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‘Tit for Tat’: Assam CM Himanta Biswa calls for the Centre to rename 60 places in Tibet over China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh

Being responsive to China’s issuance of a fourth list of 30 new names for various places in Arunachal Pradesh, BJP stalwart and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated on Tuesday (2nd April) that he would like the Government of India to rename 60 places in Tibet as ‘tit for tat’.

“My request to the Government of India will be that we should give 60 geographical names to the Tibetan area of China,” Sarma said while on the sidelines of an election rally in Assam’s Karbi Anglong. “It should always be tit for tat but I don’t want to comment because it is a policy decision of the Government of India. But if they have named 30, we should name 60,” he added.

His Arunachal counterpart Pema Khandu meanwhile condemned China’s act. “Another gimmick from China. Being a proud citizen of Bharat and a native of Arunachal Pradesh, I strongly condemn this act of naming places within Arunachal Pradesh which has been an inalienable and integral part of India,” Khandu wrote on X.

The continuing verbal battle between India and China escalated as Beijing produced another list of standardized geographical names in Arunachal Pradesh, which it acknowledges as Zangnan. Thirty new publicly used names in the region have been made official. This is the fourth such list, with the first three published in 2017, 2021, and 2023.

India rejected China’s attempts to claim the region as part of its territory. “We categorically condemn such attempts. Assigning invented names will not change the fact that Arunachal Pradesh is, has always been, and will remain a vital and inalienable part of India,” stated Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. External Minister S Jaishankar also responded to China’s list of names, saying, “If I change the name of your house today, will it become mine?”

The opposition meanwhile chastised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for their “subdued response”. Former finance minister P Chidambaram has stated that instead of straining relations between India and Sri Lanka over the Katchatheevu island problem after 50 years, PM Modi and S Jaishankar should demonstrate their belligerence towards China.

“Let the government show its belligerence to China. Under the BJP government, China has occupied 2000 square km of Indian territory and is fortifying the area. China is on a re-naming spree and is merrily changing the names of villages and landmarks. Why is the Foreign Minister subdued in his response to the actions of China?” he asked.

Recently, on Tuesday (19th March), India rejected the “absurd claims” and “baseless arguments” made by China on Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the northeastern State of India is an “integral and inalienable part of India.” The Ministry of External Affairs said that the people of Arunachal Pradesh will continue to benefit from India’s development plans and infrastructure projects.

This is after the Chinese defense ministry on 15th March again tried to claim the Indian state, referring to it as “Zangnan- an inherent part of China’s territory”. India has time and again denied China’s territorial claims on its Northeastern state, stating that the state is an integral part of the country. New Delhi has also criticised Beijing’s move to give “invented” names to the territory, claiming that it does not change the facts. Notably, despite having no legal claim over Arunachal Pradesh, China has ‘named’ the territory “Zangnan”.

‘You Hindus deserve this, your Ram is Ma&^%$’: Hindu kids assaulted by their Muslim friends, profanities hurled at Hindu Gods; 6 booked

Siddhi Somani
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‘You Hindus deserve this, your Ram is Ma&^%$’: Hindu kids assaulted by their Muslim friends, profanities hurled at Hindu Gods; 6 booked

On Tuesday (2nd April), Mumbai Police lodged a police complaint against 6 persons from the Muslim community for brutally assaulting 2 minor Hindus and abusing Hindu Gods and Goddesses. The accused persons have been identified by the Police and have been booked under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

As per the information obtained by OpIndia, 2 of the booked persons from the Muslim community are adults while the other 4 are minors. Team OpIndia has obtained an FIR copy in the case in which the father of the 2 Hindu minors stated that both his sons were brutally assaulted by 6 persons from the Muslim community.

The incident is said to have happened on 30th March in the Kashigav area of Maharashtra’s Thane district. One of the minor Muslim friends of his son had come home to play with him. However, the duo happened to engage in a verbal fight after which the Muslim minor boy began abusing the Hindu one. He threatened the Hindu boy and said that he would brutally beat him and none of his Hindu Gods would come and save him.

“I’ll beat you so much that none of your Hindu Gods will come and save you. Your Ram is Ma****. You are Ma****,” the Muslim minor was quoted as saying in the FIR.

FIR obtained by OpIndia

The next day, on 31st March, the Hindu minor kid narrated the incident to his parents and other friends. On confrontation, the accused kid threatened the victim and brought 5 other persons from his community to side with him. They threatened the victim and his family and warned them not to mess with them.

However, on 1st April, as per the FIR, the Hindu kids were blocked by the 6 accused while they were on their way to the school. They were brutally assaulted by the accused persons, 2 of whom were adults. They were also abused and demeaned for belonging to the Hindu community.

“You Hindu people are like this only. You deserve to be treated like this. None of your Gods will save you,” the accused persons were quoted as saying.

The father of the Hindu victim spoke to OpIndia and shared his ordeal with us. “My kids were brutally assaulted by 6 Muslims. They also abused Hindu Gods and have hurt our religious sentiments. This has long been happening here, but nobody talks about it. Today I just dared to raise my voice against this. No disrespect to the Hindu community and Gods will be tolerated. Strict action against these is a must,” he said.

The 6 accused persons have been identified and have been booked under sections 295A (outrage the religious beliefs of any class of citizens by insulting their religion), 153A (promoting enmity between two communities), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (offences against public tranquillity and peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

The police could not be reached for comment at the time of the writing of this report. The report will be updated once the comments are obtained.

Massive population decline in South Korea: 150 schools have no first graders to enrol

OpIndia Staff
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Massive population decline in South Korea: 150 schools have no first graders to enrol

In February this year, the Ministry of Education in South Korea said that 157 elementary schools across the country do not have any first graders to enrol in the month of March. This comes as a record-low number of new students have enrolled in schools in South Korea as this school year started.

Except for Seoul, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan, and Sejong, the ministry said that almost every province and metropolitan district in South Korea had at least one elementary school that was not expecting new students. North Jeolla Province led all regions with 34 schools with no new students enrolling.

The ministry stated that 369,325 children have been confirmed to enrol in primary school when the school year begins in March, accounting for 99.9 per cent of the 369,441 children scheduled to begin state-mandated education this year. This figure is lower than the government’s January estimate of 396,533.

It will be the lowest number of new first graders since the government began keeping track in 1970, and the first time the total has fallen below 400,000. Last year, 401,907 new students were admitted to primary school.

Source: South Korean Ministry of Education website

According to a report published by The Korea Herald in February of this year, the number of new children starting school was largely expected to fall this year, as just 357,771 babies were born in 2017 — when the majority of this year’s first graders were born. It represented a significant decrease from the 406,243 births the previous year.

Notably, South Korea is witnessing a sharp population decline over the last few years. The country’s yearly population growth in 2024 is projected to be 0.08%, as per Worldometer data. Notably, the population of South Korea as of April 2024 is 51,752,215.

Source: Worldometers.info

South Korea’s fertility rate, which was already the lowest in the world, continued to plummet in 2023. This, according to reports came as women concerned about their career advancement and the financial expense of rearing children opted to delay childbirth or decided not to have kids. In addition to childcare concerns, housing, employment, and education costs-related challenges have also contributed to this decline.

The average number of expected babies for a South Korean woman during her reproductive life dropped to a historic low of 0.72 from 0.78 in 2022, according to Statistics Korea.

The situation is such that the South Korean government has taken several measures to boost the country’s population including childcare subsidies. Multiple media reports say that the South Korean government since 2006 have spent over $247 billion to boost the country’s population, however, these measures have not yielded any significantly positive results as desired.

Last month, it was reported that a South Korean construction company Booyoung Group had proposed to pay $75,000 (roughly 62.28 lakh in Indian rupees) to its employees each time they have a kid to combat the country’s low birth rate. As per the report, Joong-keun further said that employees with three newborns will be given the option of getting $225,000 ( ₹ 1,86,78,318) in cash or rental housing if the government supplies land for the building.

Kapil Sibal repeats opposition lies on electoral bonds in an interview with The Wire, claims Future Gaming, which made largest donation to TMC & DMK, has ‘quid pro quo’ ties to BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Kapil Sibal repeats opposition lies on electoral bonds in an interview with The Wire, claims Future Gaming, which made largest donation to TMC & DMK, has ‘quid pro quo’ ties to BJP

With nothing left in the tank, the opposition parties and the leftist milieu are clinging to the issue of political donations via electoral bonds as a final straw to criticise the Narendra Modi-led BJP government as the 18th Lok Sabha election draws nearer.

The latest to join the bandwagon is non other than senior Supreme Court advocate; former Congress veteran leader and UPA Minister Kapil Sibal. In an interview with the ultra-leftist news portal The Wire, Sibal went on to lie that the BJP had illegally taken ‘bribes’ in electoral bonds as a quid pro quo arrangement to provide legal security or frame favourable laws to Future Gaming and Hotel Services at the time when ED probed the company in 2022.

To bolster this conspiracy theory, Sibal, not for a second, hesitated to lie through his teeth. However, Sibal’s claims were soon debunked by popular X user Ankur Singh who shared data which revealed that the amount of money that Sibal claimed the BJP had received was in reality received by the TMC and DMK.

Sharing a clip of the interview with The Wire where Kapil Sibal is heard spreading fake news on Electoral Bonds to malign BJP, popular X user Ankur Singh wrote, “How @KapilSibal spreads Fake News on Electoral Bonds. Sibal lists details of Electoral Bonds purchased but the bonds went to DMK and TMC.”

Along with the clip of the interview, the X user shared a chart in which he highlighted the claims made by the former veteran Congress leader vis-a-vis the reality.

Journalist Karan Thapar of The Wire asks Kapil Sibal to expand on his points of view, which he brought up on his show “Dil Se,” namely that the BJP had received funds from electoral bonds in exchange for quid pro quo and/or possible extortion from the Enforcement Directorate or CBI.

In answer to Karan Tapar’s question, Kapil Sibal starts by giving the example of Future Gaming and Hotel Services, owned by scam-tainted Santiago Martin. The former leader of the Congress provided a series of dates in an attempt to paint a picture that the BJP obtained donations from companies such as Future Gaming through coercion by probing agencies.

The ex-Congress leader started by saying that on April 2, 2022, ED attached assets worth Rs 409 crores of Future Gaming and Hotel Services. On April 7 Future Gaming and Hotel Services purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 100 crores which, according to Sibal, the company gave in the form of donations to the BJP.

The Congress leader cited another set of dates to insinuate that merely 4 days after ED again attached properties of Future Gaming and Hotel Services on July 2, 2022, the company purchased Electoral Bonds worth 75 crores, and again gave them to the BJP in the form of donations.

Kapil Sibal further said, “If you match this with as to when the bonds were purchased, you realise and there has been investigation done that on that particular day in Chennai and Tamil Nadu, only one entity purchased those bonds. Therefore if only one entity purchased those bonds and those bonds were received by the BJP and this is happening immediately after the raids of the ED then quid pro quo is established.”

Kapil Sibal was essentially, attempting to peddle the same conspiracy theory that the entire leftist ecosystem has been peddling that the Electoral Bond scheme was a scam, “extortion”. According to their “calibrated” claims, selective donations including the one from firms like Future Gaming were part of a “quid pro quo”. According to their conspiracy theory, the BJP extorted money from scam-tainted firms like Future Gaming and Hotel Services to provide legal security or frame favourable laws. 

Throughout his whole defence, Kapil Sibal insisted that Future Gaming and Hotel Services was the only company that had bought electoral bonds during that period and that the BJP was the only political party that received electoral bonds as donations at that time. Additionally, given that the entire transaction took place at the same time that the Enforcement Department raided Future Gaming and Hotel Services, Kapil Sibal jumped to the conclusion that the BJP had either extorted money from the latter to shield it from the agency’s investigation or that the latter had given the former a bribe to avoid being investigated by the latter.

Sibal was well aware of the fact that Santiago Martin, the “lottery king” and owner of Future Gaming and Hotel Services, has close ties to several political parties, including the Congress party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala, the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) in Tamil Nadu, and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal. Furthermore, the majority of the bonds that Future Gaming bought were donated to the Trinamool Congress followed by DMK and others. But instead of bringing these important facts to the public’s attention, Kapil Sibal decided to overlook them in his attempts to criticise the BJP.

The truth is that, in a fresh set of data related to Electoral Bonds published by the Election Commission on March 17, it was revealed that Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) received Electoral Bonds worth Rs 509 crore from Santiago Martin’s Future Gaming.

In his post, X user Ankur Singh also highlighted how the Electoral Bond which the Future Gaming and Hotel Services bought on April 7, 2022, five days after ED seized assets worth Rs 409 crores of ‘lottery king’ Santiago Martin, was donated to Tamil Nadu’s DMK party.

Similarly, on July 6, 4 days after ED again raided the properties of Santiago Martin, his company, Future Gaming and Hotel Services bought Electoral Bonds worth a total of Rs 75 crores. Rs 50 crore from this amount was received by DMK and the rest Rs 25 crores were donated to the Trinamool Congress.

Despite this information being readily available to the public forum, former Congress veteran leader Kapil Sibal went on to lie blatantly to accuse the BJP of receiving those amounts from Future Gaming and Hotel Services instead of saving the company from ED scrutiny. He conveniently hid the fact that it was not BJP but DMK and TMC which had received the said amount.

He repeated the same conspiracy theory that is being peddled by the entire leftist ecosystem that the BJP has indulged in corruption and used electoral bonds as a legal way to force corporate houses to donate. 

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