On Tuesday (5th March), Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the “Parivarvadi” opposition over the ‘Parivar’ jibes made against him by RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav. He asserted that the dynastic opposition parties are highly insecure and that they do not allow the youths to move forward in politics.
Speaking at a public rally in Telangana’s Sangareddy, PM Modi said, “…Members of ‘Parivarvadi’ parties open bank accounts outside India to hide their black money, while I help the poor to open Jan Dhan accounts and propel their growth. ‘Parivarvadis’ live in luxurious homes, while I make sure that the poor get to sleep in pucca houses. Unlike them, I have never built a personal residence; instead, my focus is on building secure homes for the poor citizens of our nation. ‘Parivarvadi’ sold India’s resources to uplift their children, while I strive to convert the dreams of your children into reality… 140 crore Indians are my family…”
#WATCH | At a public gathering in Sangareddy, Telangana, PM Modi says "…Members of 'Parivarvadi' parties open bank accounts outside India to hide their black money, while I help the poor to open Jan Dhan accounts and propel their growth. 'Parivarvadis' live in luxurious homes,… pic.twitter.com/7qaPyNX1Pa
“They believe in ‘Family First’, and I believe in ‘Nation First’. For them, their family is everything; for me, my country is everything. They sacrifice the Nation for the welfare of their family; I have sacrificed myself for the welfare of the Nation,” PM Modi continued.
"For them, family comes first, but for me, the nation comes first.." – PM Modi (@narendramodi) launches attack on Opposition in Sangareddy, Telangana pic.twitter.com/V8lnb9JB1l
Moreover, the prime minister reiterated that 140 crore people of India are his family. “Opposition is raising the issue of my lack of a family. But they forget that the 140 crore citizens are Modi’s family. Every mother, every sister of the country is part of Modi’s family. Every youth, every son, every daughter of the country is part of Modi’s family. Therefore, today, millions of families are saying – ‘Main Hoon Modi Ka Parivar’,” PM Modi said.
Taking to X, PM Modi attacked BRS and Congress saying that these parties lack the vision for developing Telangan. “BRS and Congress lack vision for the development of Telangana. BJP is fully committed to diligently serving the people of the state…” PM Modi wrote.
BRS and Congress lack vision for the development of Telangana. BJP is fully committed to diligently serving the people of the state. Addressing a rally in Sangareddy.https://t.co/P6rVGTYW82
This comes after the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Yadav while addressing a rally on 3rd March said, “Modi talks about dynastic politics, but what is dynastic politics? You (Modi) should explain why you don’t have children. What can we do if Narendra Modi does not have his own family?”
This, however, backfired on the opposition as people came out in support of PM Modi and started the “Modi Ka Parivar” campaign saying that they are the family members of PM Modi. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the opposition coalition, INDIA bloc over nepotism and corruption during his address at Adilabad in Telangana.
“The leaders of the INDI alliance, deeply engrossed in corruption, nepotism and appeasement, are becoming nervous. When I question their ‘Parivarvad’, they have started saying that Modi has no family,” the Prime Minister said.
In a world with shortened attention spans, courtesy of the popularisation of platforms like reels, meme language is rapidly replacing the well-established proverbial notions of yesteryears, which were based on the lived experiences of several generations. For several months, the ‘Moye moye’ reel flooded social media platforms, crudely representing the adage, ‘You will end up getting in the same pit you dug for others’. In the political realm, the Indian opposition, ironically cobbled together under the amorphous umbrella of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, has had its fair share of ‘Moye moye’ moments that have significantly diminished their remaining political capital.
They have knowingly or unknowingly perfected the art of political harakiri by making personal attacks and hurling abuses at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ultimately extending his lead in key battles.
While the intended aim of such snide remarks and abhorrent personal attacks against PM Modi has been to enthuse the core voter base, it has repeatedly boomeranged on the opposition parties. Their personal attack strategy against him has only resulted in rallying neutral and undecided voters (who constitute a vast majority) behind PM Modi.
In simple arithmetics, while uncouth politicians win praise from a loyal, committed voter base that is in best case scenario not more than one-third of total eligible voters, the below-the-belt and offensive remarks shift the general public in favour of the person being targeted, in these cases, it has been predominantly PM Modi.
Furthermore, PM Modi’s humble background and self-made image increase his relatability among voters. When personal attacks are targeted at PM Modi, a sizable chunk of voters consider them as attacks or mockery of their own backgrounds or struggles in life, thereby further solidifying their support for him.
Redux of ‘Mein bhi Chowdikar’: Lalu Yadav’s ‘Parivar jibe’ prompts BJP ko launch ‘Modi ka Parivar’ campaign
On Sunday (3rd March), Lalu Prasad Yadav made vicious personal attacks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This has now snowballed into an electoral pitch for the BJP and the saffron party kick-starting ‘Modi ka Parivar’ campaign in a bid to pit PM Modi’s family (Indians at large) against political dynasts who in many cases are even second or higher order-dynasts.
While addressing a rally in Patna, the RJD supremo Lalu Yadav ranted, “Modi talks about dynastic politics, but what is dynastic politics? You (Modi) should explain why you don’t have children. What can we do if Narendra Modi does not have his own family?”
Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was convicted in the fodder scam case and is now out on bail, went further and claimed that PM Modi is not a Hindu.
He was heard saying, “(Modi) keeps bragging about the Ram Mandir. He is not even a true Hindu. In Hindu tradition, a son must shave his head and beard after the death of his parents. Modi did not do so when his mother died.”
While Lalu Prasad Yadav assumed that he would garner support for RJD by targeting PM Narendra Modi’s personal life, the political strategy has now backfired on the I.N.D.I. alliance partner as it led to an outpouring of public support for PM Modi with several netizens coming forth stating that PM Modi is their family member.
Several netizens, spearheaded by popular X user Mr Sinha, used the suffix ‘Modi’s family’ in their Twitter bio while lambasting the opposition for making personal attacks against PM Modi.
Hey @laluprasadrjd, PM Modi is not alone….. I'm his family….. We all are his family….
— Mr Sinha (Modi's family) (@MrSinha_) March 3, 2024
A day later, on Monday (4th March), PM Modi responded to the personal attacks against him and stated that 140 crore Indians are his family. “Jiska koi nahi uska Modi hai (The person who has no one has Modi on his side),” he stated.
“140 crore countrymen are my family. Today, crores of daughters, mothers and sisters of the country are Modi’s family. Every poor person in the country is my family,” he emphasised.
140 करोड़ देशवासी ही मेरा परिवार है।
आज देश की करोड़ों बेटियां-माताएं-बहनें यही मोदी का परिवार है।
देश का हर गरीब मेरा परिवार है।
जिसका कोई नहीं है, वो भी मोदी के हैं और मोदी उनका है।
मेरा भारत-मेरा परिवार, इन्हीं भावनाओं का विस्तार लेकर मैं सपनों को संकल्प के साथ सिद्ध करने… pic.twitter.com/Gkc5im71TL
PM Modi further added, “Those who have no one, they also belong to Modi and Modi belongs to them. My India-My family, with the expansion of these feelings, I am living for you, fighting for you, and will continue to fight for you, to fulfil my dreams with determination.”
Prodded by overwhelming public support, Cabinet Ministers began suffixing their names on X(formerly Twitter) with ‘Modi ka Parivar.’ Top BJP leaders such as Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Nitin Gadkari, and Anurag Thakur extended their support to PM Modi and slammed the opposition for personal tirade against the Prime Minister.
And thus Lalu Yadav’s strategy of personal attack boomeranged as it birthed the second version of the ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign, which proved to be a game-changer during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Interestingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to his countrymen as ‘parivarjano (family members)’ during his speech from the ramparts of Red Fort on the occasion of 76th Republic Day. The Opposition seems to have inadvertently played into the hands of the BJP and helped strengthen the party’s narrative ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Furthermore, it also helps the party corner the authoritarian, self-centred, and dynastic culture of the Congress-centred I.N.D.I. alliance by contrasting yesteryear’s slogan ‘India is Indira and Indira is India’ during the heydays of Congress against ‘PM Modi is a family member of every Indians’ who is tirelessly working in the service of his parivarjaan. In short, it pits the opposition’s dynastic politics against PM Modi’s selfless act of service for his family members, Indians.
Here are a plethora of instances to highlight how the opposition has mastered the art of political harakiri and played to perfection in bringing back PM Modi or his party, BJP to power in the Centre or states.
From ‘Maut ka Saudagar’ to ‘Neech’, from ‘Chaiwala’ to ‘Chowkidar Chor hai’ and beyond: PM Modi lists out Congress’ dictionary of Love (Prem ki Dictionary)
The recent ‘family jibe’ by Lalu Yadav to target PM Modi has unsurprisingly stirred the hornet’s nest, resulting in the redux of “Chowkidar chor hai” incidence. But it is just another plan of action put in place by rabid Modi haters to ‘guarantee’ a third term for BJP stalwart Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of Bharat. Conspicuously, the same script unfolded in the wee hours of the 2007 Gujarat Assembly elections, the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, the 2017 GA elections, the 2019 LS elections, the 2022 GA elections, the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections and now in the run-up to Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
Earning the most notoriety, the uncouth Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar infamously led a tirade against the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi. While discussing Modi’s candidacy for Prime Minister, Aiyar arrogantly dismissed him for once being a ‘Chaiwala’ and adjudged him unworthy of the position. In a sheer display of aristocracy, he even went so far as to offer alms and help Modi open a chai stall outside the Congress office.
Taking his humble beginnings as a ‘Chaiwala’ in his stride, PM Modi went on to hold ‘Chai pe Charcha‘ sessions for political discussions and campaigning. As a result, the Modi-led BJP uprooted the decade-long misgovernance of the UPA, which had lost popular mandate over unabated corruption scandals, policy paralysis, and regression of India into one of the ‘Fragile Five’ economies.
With a thumping majority of 282 seats for BJP and 336 seats for NDA, Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister on 26 May 2014. It was a watershed moment for Indian politics as it was for the first time in the 67-year-long history of independent India that a non-Congress party had won a simple majority on its own.
While the precise impact and proportionality of personal attacks on the erosion of political capital for the opposition is a research work for psephologists and political scientists, the ‘Chai pe Charcha’ campaign, prompted by Aiyar’s disparaging remarks about BJP leader Modi’s background, significantly swelled support for Modi.
Sonia Gandhi’s infamous ‘Maut ka Saudagar’ barb
However, before 2014, the grand old party had the same lesson to learn: to avoid indulging in ad hominem attacks against Modi and to restrict political criticism to the policy sphere. Notably, before the 2007 Gujarat Assembly elections, Sonia Gandhi, the then Congress party President, infamously called Modi “Maut ka Saudagar” (Merchant of death). In response, the then-incumbent Gujarat CM Narendra Modi hit back, describing it as an attempt to shield the perpetrators of a terror attack on Parliament. Resultantly, the BJP government entrenched its foothold in the state and solidified it as their unbreachable fortress.
‘Neech’ and ‘Raavan’ slurs ahead of 2017 and 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections
Years later, notorious for his controversial remark Aiyar doubled down his attack on Modi and in December 2017, called PM Modi a “neech kisam ka aadmi” ahead of the Gujarat Assembly election. “Ye bahut hi neech kisam ka aadmi hai, is mein koi sabhyata nahi hai…” Aiyar said.
Mujhko lagta hai ki ye aadmi bahut neech kisam ka aadmi hai, isme koi sabhyata nahi hai, or aise mauke par is kisam ki gandi rajniti karne ki kya avashyakta hai?: Mani Shankar Aiyar, Congress on PM Modi pic.twitter.com/VrLM6TOlNr
Aiyar’s personal attack led to a sharp tonal shift in PM Modi’s electoral pitch and it changed the game for BJP as Congress lost whatever little ground it was perceived to be gaining in Gujarat.
“You [crowd] tell me if I am a neech because I was born in a poor family? I was born in a backward class is that why I am a neech? Or because I am a Gujarati that’s why I am a neech? You tell me, what wrong have I done to the country to be called a neech? This is not the first time that Congress leaders have called Modi neech,” Modi said.
Later, in October 2022, a video went viral in which Gujarat’s President of AAP, Gopal Italia, was heard repeatedly calling PM Modi’s name “neech”. Notably, neech is a pejorative word that insults someone as a low-class person.
Additionally, in an election rally during the Gujarat assembly election in November 2022, Congress party President Mallikarjun Kharge equated PM Modi to the demon king Raavan. He remarked at a public event in Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat that Modi has 100 heads since he is present in every election. “We see your face everywhere in corporation elections, MLA elections, and MP elections. Do you have 100 heads like Raavan?” Kharge said at a gathering in Ahmedabad’s Behrampura.
With recurrent personal attacks against PM Modi, the BJP not only repeated its state government for a record seventh straight time, but it also secured the biggest majority ever in the state winning 156 seats in an assembly strength of 182 members. Opposition parties Congress secured its lowest tally with 17 seats while AAP won 5 seats.
‘Apologies’ for ‘Chowkidar Chor hai’, BJP’s ‘Mein bhi Chowkidar’ campaign sealing the deal
Once in an interview, Rahul Gandhi expressed his intention to ‘destroy the image’ of PM Narendra Modi, emphasising the need to undermine PM Modi’s clean and strong public image to achieve political success. The ‘chowkidar chor hai’ slogan became the Congress party’s primary line of attack during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In the lead-up to the 2019 elections, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi frequently lied about the Rafale deal at all of his rallies, mocking Prime Minister Modi with the phrase ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’. Soon after, BJP supporters online began prefixing their names with ‘Chowkidar’. The campaign was started by Surat-based businessman ‘Mr Sinha.’ When it became trending on social media, the BJP leaders also began following suit and the party turned it into ‘Mein bhi Chowkidar’ campaign.
While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had to tender unconditional apology for lie attributing “Chowkidar Chor Hai” remark to Supreme Court, Prime Minister Modi remained undeterred and unflinching in his act and turned adversaries’ attacks into opportunities. Rather than stooping to personal tit-for-tat or engaging in verbal sparring, he used the chowkidar jibe to his advantage, transforming it into a badge of honor, and effectively mobilised voters by invoking the image of the ‘Chowkidar’ as the vigilant guardian of all.
Rahul Gandhi launches tirade against ‘Modi’ and ‘OBC’, blatantly peddles falsehoods fuming Narendra Modi is not from OBC community
Additionally, during an election rally in the run-up to the 2019 elections in Koral, Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi had insulted and mocked PM Modi and an entire community by saying, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi… how come they all have Modi as a common surname? How come all thieves have Modi as a common surname?” The Surat had pronounced him guilty in the criminal defamation case and sentenced two years sentence. It was, however, later stayed by the Supreme Court over the petitioner’s (Rahul Gandhi) arguments about the quantum of the sentencing.
Ironically, the anti-Modi leaders have learned nothing from the ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ fiasco and have continued to resort to below-the-belt personal attacks on PM Modi. Recently, Rahul Gandhi had attacked Prime Minister Modi over his caste and claimed that PM Modi lied about his OBC caste saying that he is not an OBC by birth and later included his caste in the OBC list. However, OpIndia fact-checked Rahul Gandhi’s claim, it turned out that the Gandhi scion was himself telling a lie since it was his own party government in Gujarat and the Centre when Modi’s Modh Ghanchi caste was notified in the OBC list in 1994, many years before Modi became Gujarat’s Chief Minister.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge makes derogatory ‘poisonous snake’ remark for PM Modi
On 27th April 2023, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called PM Modi a poisonous snake. He made these remarks in a speech he gave in Kalaburagi of Karnataka in a public meeting arranged as a part of the campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections.
Mallikarjun Kharge said, “PM Modi is like a ‘poisonous snake’, you might think it’s poison or not. If you lick it, you’re dead.” Mallikarjun Kharge also enacted licking as he mentioned it in his speech.
In an election rally ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, PM Modi listed a lengthy catalog of numerous insults hurled at him, though far from exhaustive. He wove together the barrage of verbal attacks aimed at him and dubbed it the ‘Congress’ Dictionary of Love (Prem ki Dictionary).’ He underscored how certain opposition leaders, in efforts of fleeting applause and political gains, stooped to questioning not just his upbringing but also his lineage.
(Video Courtesy – The Indian Express)
Furthermore, while speaking in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury once insulted PM Modi by comparing him to ‘gandi naali’.
In reply to the motion of thanks in June 2019, Adhir said “I respect Prime Minister Narendra Modi because not only but he was selected twice. In between some BJP MP taunted by saying we don’t say that Indira is India and India is Indira. Adhir Ranjan reacts to it by saying, ‘Kahan Maa Ganga aur Kahan Gandhi Naali’. “
In September last year, Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “R**dwa” while implying that PM Modi killed his wife alive. The Congress leader said that the “R**dwa” who killed his wife even as she is alive is ruling at the centre.
In deeply entrenched hatred for PM Modi, the opposition has attacked his identity, caste, humble background, religion, marital status, intellect, and even his humanity (calling him an animal, etc). However, their personal attack strategy has only boomeranged and played to perfection in bringing back PM Modi to power.
Thus, the opposition’s ad hominem attacks on PM Modi have consistently gifted the BJP electoral leverage on a silver platter, steering the campaign towards a personality-centric narrative akin to a presidential-style election, where BJP leader Narendra Modi has undeniably seized an unassailable advantage.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged against a man named Mohammed Rasool Kaddare for threatening to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Rasool, who is a resident of Rangampet in Yadgir district of Karnataka, reportedly works as a daily wage labourer in Hyderabad.
He had posted a video on his Facebook account wherein he vowed to kill PM Modi and Yogi Adityanatth if the Congress government returned to power at the Centre. The Islamist was seen brandishing a sword in a now-deleted video.
Karnataka | Mohammed Rasool Kaddare posted a video on his social media account where he was seen holding a sword and threatening to kill PM Modi. An FIR under section 505(1)(b), 25(1)(b) of the IPC and Arms Act has been registered against him at Yadgiri's Surpur police station.… pic.twitter.com/EhA3MDwwHt
After the video got traction, an FIR was registered against him by the Surpur police under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 505(1)(b) and 25(1)(b) and relevant provisions of the Arms Act.
The cops have initiated a probe into the matter and launched a manhunt to nab him.
While speaking about the matter, the police official informed, “Rasool, who made a selfie video on his mobile phone, abused Prime Minister Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath with unintelligible words.”
OpIndia visited the Facebook profile of Mohammed Rasool Kaddare and found that the contentious video featuring him with a sword and abusing PM Modi and Yogi Adityanath has been deleted.
Screengrab of the Facebook profile of Mohammed Rasool Kaddare
We stumbled upon a ‘Facebook reel’ uploaded by the Islamist in January this year wherein he was seen hailing slain Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for attacking the Jewish State of Israel.
JD Rasool hails Mohammed Rasool Kaddare
It must be mentioned that Saddam Hussein launched an attack on Israel in 1991 during the Gulf War. The attack was in response to the international coalition’s efforts to liberate Kuwait, which had been invaded and occupied by Iraq under his regime.
In an attempt to draw Israel into the conflict and fracture the international coalition, Saddam Hussein ordered missile attacks on Israeli cities on 17th January 1991.
Between January 18 and February 25, 1991, a total of 42 Scud missiles were fired by Iraq toward Israel. The missiles were mainly targeted at population centres such as Tel Aviv and Haifa.
On Sunday, 3rd March, DMK’s leader A Raja went on an anti-Hindu rant during his speech during an event organised to celebrate MK Stalin’s birthday. A Raja called Hindus “idiots” for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and claimed that India is not a country. Furthermore, he also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and even the people of Manipur.
BJP’s IT Cell chief Amit Malviya hit out at A Raja for his derogatory statements and said, “The hate speeches from DMK’s stable continue unabated. After Udhayanidhi Stalin’s call to annihilate Sanatan Dharma, it is now A Raja who calls for Balkanisation of India, derides Bhagwan Ram, makes disparaging comments on Manipuris and questions the idea of India, as a nation. Congress and other I.N.D.I Alliance partners are quiet. Rahul Gandhi, their putative Prime Ministerial candidate’s silence is eloquent.”
The hate speeches from DMK’s stable continue unabated. After Udhayanidhi Stalin’s call to annihilate Sanatan Dharma, it is now A Raja who calls for balkanisation of India, derides Bhagwan Ram, makes disparaging comments on Manipuris and questions the idea of India, as a nation.… pic.twitter.com/jgC1iOA5Ue
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) March 5, 2024
The Commune Magazine’s report detailed A Raja’s statements during the event to commemorate the 71st birthday of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin. The event aims to promote the accomplishments of the DMK government with the theme “Dravidiam Model Government: Everything to Everyone”.
A Raja’s attack on PM Modi
During his speech, A Raja asserted that businessman Adani’s growth was directly proportional to PM Modi’s political career. He said, “There is a man named Adani. He was in 110th place before he (PM Modi) became the Minister. Where? In Gujarat, When Modi became the Prime Minister, he came to the 66th position, and in 10 years he became the richest man in the world. How did it happen? No one knows. Everyone thought that he earned as much as he could. Who invited him to all the places and bought a contract? It is truly Modi.”
A Raja used Hindenburg’s debunked report to support his statement. Interestingly, A Raja maintained that the allegations raised in the Hinderburg report are common in public life saying, “Allegations and counter allegations are quite common in public life”. He continued to call PM Modi a fraud.
Continuing his attack on PM Modi, Raja then talked about the now-banned documentary from BBC on the Gujarat riots. Targeting PM Modi for the riots that took place in Gujarat after a Muslim mob burnt a train full of Hindu pilgrims coming back from Ayodhya in Godhra leading to 59 deaths, he attacked the central government for banning the documentary. He said that during PM Modi’s tenure as CM of Gujarat, Muslims were slaughtered like animals and Muslim women were raped. “[BBC] put everything in a document in film. It ran for 5 hours. Will it run for 5 hours? Yes, it ran. They have banned it. They banned the broadcast. We asked about it in Parliament. We asked him to tell us whether it was true or false, but he never came. Modi did not open his mouth until the end, he blocked it,” he said.
‘We are enemies of Ram’ said A Raja
A Raja continued his rant and targeted Hindus. He said, “Say that love is God. Say that God is there in the humanity shown between individuals. Say that God’s abode is a heart with no ill intentions. Say that you can see God in a poor person’s smile. For such a God neither we, nor Kalaignar, nor Anna nor Periyar don’t have any anger! But if you say this is the God. If this is your Jai Sri Ram, if this is your Bharat Mata Ki Jai, we will never accept that Jai Sri Ram and Bharat Mata. Tamil Nadu won’t accept. You go and tell, we’re enemies of Ram.”
He added, “I don’t have faith in Ramayana, and lord Ram,” after recounting a take from Kamba Ramayana. He continued saying, “If you say that the in name of the Ramayana is human harmony, where four brothers are born as siblings, one Kuravar as a brother, one Hunter as a brother, another monkey as another brother, another monkey as the 6th brother, then your Jai Sri Ram is Chi! Idiots!”
‘India is not a nation’
Continuing his uncontrollable rant, A Raja asserted that India is not a nation. He claimed that India has never been a nation as one nation means one language, one tradition and one culture. He said, “India is not a nation. Understand this well. India was never a nation. One nation means one language, one tradition and one culture. Then only it is one nation. India is not a nation but a subcontinent. What’s the reason? Here, Tamil is one nation and one country. Malayalam is one language, one nation and one country. Oriya is a nation, a language and a country. All these nations make up India. So, India is not a country it is a subcontinent. There are so many traditions and cultures. If you come to Tamil Nadu, there’s a culture. In Kerala, there’s another culture. In Delhi, there’s another culture. In Oriya, there’s another culture. Why in Manipur, as RS Bharathi said, do they eat dog meat? Yes, it is true, they eat. That’s a culture. There’s nothing wrong. It’s all in our mind.”
A Raja has a long history of anti-Hindu rants. In September 2023, he supported the anti-Hindu statements of Udayanidhi Stalin and claimed he was soft while commenting on Sanatan Dharma. At the time he said, “Sanatan Dharma should be compared to diseases with social stigma like HIV and leprosy.
The forensic analysis of and subsequent confirmation that the slogans raised inside the Karnataka Assembly on 27th February were indeed pro-Pakistan have exposed the Congress and its ecosystem including Alt News and its co-founder Mohammed Zubair.
On 27th February, “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans were raised by Congress leaders inside the Vidhana Soudha following the victory of Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Several clips of the video went viral on social drawing the ire of netizens. Yet, fake news peddler Mohammed Zubair claimed that the slogan was “Nasir Saab Zindabad”.
He posted on X, “It’s ‘Nasir Saab Zindabad’ BJP politicians and their trolls will always hear “Pakistan” because they are used to it. Not just that they’ll always see a Pakistani Flag whenever they come across any green flag.”
However, a report by a forensic laboratory confirmed that the slogans raised were indeed Pakistan Zindabad; the report was denied by Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara who targeted the private laboratory.
Now that the forensic report has exposed Zubair, let’s take a look at the many times that Alt News defended jihadis every time they raised Pakistan Zindabad slogans and even denied that such slogans were raised at all even after being proved wrong in the past too.
24 November 2022
Pakistan Zindabad slogans were raised at a PFI rally in Bhilwara leading to the arrest of the then-district President Abdul Salam Ansari. Propaganda website Alt News had done a fact-check and gave a clean chit to the PFI leader.
Alt News claimed that “SDPI Zindabad” slogans were raised and not Pakistan Zindabad.
Notably, the video of the rally had gone viral on social media. A forensic test of the video was also conducted proving that Pakistan Zindabad was indeed chanted at the rally.
However, Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha dismissed the scientific report altogether maintaining that the slogan was “SDPI Zindabad”.
15 May 2023
A similar case emerged after Congress won the Karnataka Assembly elections last year. A video of a mob of Congress supporters reportedly from Belagavi Uttar Assembly constituency allegedly shouting Pakistan Zindabad went viral on social media.
In the 27-second-long video, a group of men in skull caps was allegedly heard yelling ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ in the presence of the police.
Meanwhile, Zubair courted controversy by ‘quote tweeting’ a video by a user ‘total_woke’ and claiming that the police personnel were asking the mob to not speak against another candidate.
“Lol. The police here says not to speak against other candidate and raise slogans only if your candidate arrives,” he responded to the tweet. Soon after, ‘total_woke’ deleted his tweet.
In the meantime, a report from the Kannada newspaper ‘Prajavani’ emerged. As per the report, the local police acknowledged the allegations about the chanting of pro-Pakistan slogans by a mob of people.
“You intentionally quoted wrong video. Anyway, here is the police statement on the matter,” he tweeted.
Zubair, who had earlier tried to suggest that there was no evidence of contentious sloganeering, was quick to do a u-turn to try and mitigate the blatant unverified news that he was attempting to spread in order to defend Islamists who had potentially raised pro-Pakistan slogans.
A suo motu case was reportedly filed against some Muslim miscreants belonging to the Congress in the case.
26 September 2022
On September 25, the self-proclaimed fact-checking website Alt News again came to rescue Islamists of the Popular Front of India.
As per reports, videos of the protests organized by PFI members in Pune surfaced on social media platforms where they could be heard raising slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad.’
As the videos got traction on social media, the obvious saviours of Islamists, including Alt News and Newslaundry, came rushing to their rescue.
In their “explanation,” the portal said the slogans were not “Pakistan Zindabad” but “Popular Front Zindabad.” They even targeted those who condemned PFI workers for raising the slogans.
The portal shared a 26-second video and claimed that upon gathering videos from different sources, including journalists on the ground, they “found” that slogans were not “Pakistan Zindabad” but “Popular Front Zindabad.” They also shared a long video version of the protest recorded by Policenama.
OpIndia re-examined the videos, including the video shared by Policenama. There were multiple slogans that were being raised by the protesters. Among those slogans, ‘Nara-e-Takbeer Allah hu Akbar,’ ‘Popular Front Zindabad,’ and others were included.
At the 7:34 timestamp in the video, the slogan ‘Popular Front Zindabad’ can be easily heard. However, following the said slogan, ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ was also raised by the protesters.
In yet another social media blunder, a poster featuring Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin as the “Bride of Tamil Nadu,” rather than the intended “Pride of Tamil Nadu” was put up. The latest embarrassment for Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) follows a string of past blunders by the ruling party, including a controversial advertisement showing a ‘Chinese flag’ at ISRO’s new launch complex.
A video of the ‘Bride of Tamil Nadu’ poster is going viral online. The poster features CM MK Stalin, his son, minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, and other DMK leaders. The ‘Bride’ gaffe by DMK has left the party embarrassed triggering hilarious reactions from netizens.
This comes just days after a newspaper advertisement by the DMK government promoting the laying of the foundation stone for ISRO’s second launch pad complex in Kulsekarapatinam, showcased a ‘China flag’ among rockets from other countries in the background.
Following this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the DMK government over the newspaper advertisement while he was addressing a gathering in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli.
“DMK is a party that does not work but stands ahead to take false credit. These people paste their stickers on our schemes. Now they have crossed the limits, they have pasted China’s sticker to take credit for the ISRO launch pad in Tamil Nadu. “They are not ready to accept India’s progress in the space sector and with the taxes that you pay, they give advertisements and do not even include a picture of India’s space in it. They did not want to present India’s space success in front of the world, they insulted our scientists, our space sector, and your tax money. Now it’s high time that the DMK is punished for their deeds,” PM Modi said while addressing a gathering in Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.
Instead of gracefully accepting the mistake, DMK MP K Kanimozhi came to the party’s defence after Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the state government’s newspaper advertisement allegedly showcasing the ‘China rocket’ picture.
“I don’t know from where the person who did the artwork found this picture. I don’t think India has declared China an enemy country. I have seen that the Prime Minister has invited the Chinese PM and they have gone to Mahabalipuram. Just because you do not want to accept the truth, you are finding reasons to divert the issue,” the DMK leader said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled various development projects worth Rs 7,200 crore at Sangareddy, Telangana on Tuesday.
The projects are related to multiple key sectors such as road, rail, petroleum and natural gas.
The PM inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for three National Highway projects. The two National Highway projects inaugurated by the Prime Minister include four lanes of 40 km long Kandi to Ramsanpalle section of NH-161.
The project is a part of the Indore – Hyderabad Economic Corridor and will facilitate seamless passenger and freight movement between Telangana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The section will also substantially reduce travel time between Hyderabad and Nanded by about 3 hours.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the upgradation of the 47 km long Miryalaguda to the Kodad Section of NH-167 to two lanes with paved shoulders. The improved connectivity will boost tourism as well as economic activity and industries in the region.
Further, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the six-laning of the 29 km long Pune-Hyderabad Section of NH-65. The project will also provide improved connectivity to major industrial centres in Telangana like Pashamylaram industrial area near Patancheru.
The Prime Minister also flagged off the inaugural MMTS Train Service from Ghatkesar – Lingampalli via Moula Ali – Sanathnagar. This train service extends the popular suburban train service in the Hyderabad – Secunderabad twin city regions to new areas for the first time.
It connects the new areas in the eastern part of the city like Cherlapalli, and Moula Ali with the Western part of the twin city region. The safe, fast and economical mode of transport connecting the eastern with the western part of the twin city region will be highly beneficial for commuters.
Further, the Prime Minister also inaugurated the Indian Oil Paradip-Hyderabad Product Pipeline.
The 1212 km product pipeline with a capacity of 4.5 MMTPA traverses through the states of Odisha (329 km), Andhra Pradesh (723 km) and Telangana (160 km). The pipeline shall ensure safe and economical transportation of petroleum products from Paradip Refinery to delivery stations at Visakhapatnam, Atchutapuram, and Vijayawada (in Andhra Pradesh), and Malkapur near Hyderabad (in Telangana).
The Prime Minister inaugurated the Civil Aviation Research Organization (CARO) centre in Hyderabad.
It has been set up at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad by the Airports Authority of India to upgrade and enhance the Research and Development (R&D) activities in the civil aviation sector.
It is envisaged to provide a global research platform for the aviation community through in-house and collaborative research to provide indigenous and innovative solutions. Built at a cost of more than Rs 350 crores, this state-of-the-art facility is compliant with 5-STAR-GRIHA Rating and Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) norms.
CARO will utilise a set of comprehensive laboratory capabilities to support future research and development initiatives. It will also leverage data analytics capabilities for operational analysis, and performance measurement.
The primary R&D activities in CARO shall include: Airspace and Airport related Safety, Capacity and Efficiency improvement programs, addressing the major airspace challenges, looking into major airport infrastructure challenges, and developing technologies and products in identified fields for the futuristic airspace and airport needs, among others.
PM Modi is on three visits to Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar from March 4 to 6.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
Jay Shetty, a popular life coach and influencer who officiated Hollywood actors Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s wedding in 2022, is under fire after reports claiming that he misrepresented parts of his life story and plagiarised numerous social media postings.
Jay Shetty, who was born in London and raised by Indian parents, has received international recognition for his inspirational videos and motivational talks since 2016. He is also popular for his podcast ‘On Purpose’.
The 36-year-old, who is also well-known in Bollywood, currently heads a meditation firm worth an estimated USD 2 billion. He has also published two best-selling books: Think Like a Monk, a memoir, and self-help manual based on his time studying Hinduism, and ‘8 Rules of Love’, which helps people navigate their romantic relationships more effectively.
Shetty’s upbringing has been an important part of his story. He claims to have spent his school vacations living with monks in India before becoming a monk himself for three years. According to Shetty’s official website, “During his school years, Jay Shetty spent vacations living with monks in India, immersing himself in their wisdom and teachings.”
However, the Guardian claims Shetty lied about spending three years in an Indian temple. He has frequently recounted his life experience on talk shows and written about it in his best-selling books. He claimed that while in business school in London, he had a profound spiritual awakening after hearing a talk by Gauranga Das, an Iskon monk. The report reveals inconsistencies in this account.
Shetty claims to have followed the monk to Mumbai and served him for many years. However, according to the report, his pals and Iskon sources, as well as Das himself, appeared to disagree.
Additionally, Shetty’s colleagues, including a past girlfriend, stated that he attended Iskcon before meeting Das in 2007. “It doesn’t make sense,” Chaitanya Lila, an Iskcon member who dated Shetty from June 2008 to December 2009, was quoted as saying by The Guardian. “He was in Iskcon before 2007,” she affirmed.
In an article by journalist John McDermott in The Guardian, several others who knew Shetty confirmed that he did travel to India at the time, but not for as long as he claimed. Some of his erstwhile colleagues informed the publication that he spent most of his monastic years at Bhaktivedanta Manor, an estate outside London, rather than in Mumbai.
Reports meanwhile claimed that he only stayed a few months there before returning to India. Shetty referred to Bhaktivedanta as the main ashram on his travel blog at the time, and in a 2011 post, he talked about returning from “almost four months in India” before hanging out at London’s City University and “distributing flyers and books on the streets all over the UK and enjoying festivals!”
Jay Shetty even officiated Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s wedding on August 20, 2022, in Savannah, Georgia. According to reports, Lopez was so taken by Shetty that she requested that the “Hindu monk” officiate the marriage.
According to the Guardian, Shetty attended a State Dinner at the White House in June 2023 to visit Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also conducted a one-on-one discussion with Joe Biden about the US administration’s mental health programs.
Despite his popularity and endorsements from celebrities such as Michelle Obama and Matt Damon, recent charges cast doubt on Shetty’s past. Jay Shetty has remained mute on the issue, providing no clear response to the allegations levied against him.
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind companies like SpaceX and Tesla, has taken aim at Google’s chatbot, Gemini, accusing artificial intelligence (AI) of mirroring the biases and mistakes of its creators.
In a recent tweet, Musk lambasted Google’s AI efforts, suggesting that the technology’s flaws were evident in Gemini’s generation of biased and unreliable data and images.
Expressing his disbelief, he posted, “The sheer insanity of that actual response from Google’s AI is staggering! They will fix it to be less obvious in the future, but the bias will still be in there. AI mirrors the mistakes of its creators. When people wonder how things might go wrong if AI controlled the world, this example clearly illustrates the point. The best approach to AI safety – in my opinion, the only approach that would work – is to be maximally truth-seeking. Honesty is the best policy”.
In another post Musk also accused Google and Facebook of political bias “Google and Facebook/Instagram have a strong political bias. Hard to say if they were the deciding factor in any given election, but they certainly put their thumb on the scale. That video of Google execs holding an all-hands struggle session after Trump won was disturbing.”
Musk went on to express his concerns about the potential consequences of AI controlling the world, emphasizing the importance of honesty and truth-seeking in AI development.
The criticism directed towards Gemini comes after Google decided to pause the chatbot’s image generation tool amid accusations of racism.
The chatbot faced backlash for being “too woke” and “racist,” prompting Google CEO Sundar Pichai to acknowledge the issue and admit that the company “got it wrong.”
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, also weighed in on the matter, highlighting the legal consequences faced by platforms that provide or describe illegal content.
Minister Chandrasekhar, tweeted, ”No platform offers absolute security or a free pass to illegal content. Platforms that provide or directly describe illegal content face legal consequences under existing laws (both criminal and technology laws).”
This controversy adds to the scrutiny surrounding Google’s AI products, with accusations of bias in queries related to Prime Minister Modi leading to a notice issued by the government.
While Google apologized for Gemini’s unreliable results, it claimed to have worked swiftly to address the issue.
The tech giant’s struggles in the AI arena have been exacerbated by setbacks in product rollouts, with Google’s parent company, Alphabet, experiencing a market value loss of over USD 100 billion in February 2023 due to inaccuracies in its Bard (now Gemini) chatbot ads.
The competition with OpenAI, especially since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, has further intensified pressure on Google to deliver robust AI solutions.
As the debate surrounding AI ethics and accountability continues, Musk’s critique underscores the challenges faced by tech companies in ensuring the responsible development and deployment of artificial intelligence.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
On Monday (4th March), Delhi’s Dwarka court granted gangster Sandeep alias Kala Jathedi custody parole to solemnise his ceremony with lady don Anuradha Chaudhary alias ‘Madam Minz’.
The court allowed Kala Jathedi a six-hour custody parole on the 12th March for the wedding ceremony in the national capital and ‘Grih Pravesh’ on the 13th March in Haryana’s Sonipat.
The court has directed that Kala Jathedi be taken with police custody for his marriage on the 12th of March between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and that Delhi police make security and safety arrangements. The court also ordered the police to take Jathedi to his village on March 13 for the Grih Pravesh ceremony between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Notably, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Deepak Wason granted the relief after examining the submissions made by Kala Jathedi’s lawyer and analysing the Delhi Police’s reply.
Reports say that Kala Jathedi requested custody parole on humanitarian grounds to attend his wedding and subsequent Grih Pravesh ritual wherein the newlyweds will enter their matrimonial home together.
Lawyer Rohit Dalal filed applications arguing that the right to marriage is recognised as a constitutional right under Article 21. It was argued that both the applicant or accused and his fiancee are of legal age under the rules of the Hindu Marriage Act, of 1955. It was additionally contended that denying the applicant/accused marriage would cause prejudice and violate Article 21 of the Constitution.
There is nobody in the home to look after the mother of the accused as his father is also bedridden, the plea stated.
Sandeep aka Kala Jathedi was arrested in 2021 and carried a Rs 7 lakh reward. The Delhi Police’s special cell apprehended him at Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, almost 200 kilometres from the national capital.
According to authorities, Sandeep was wanted for extortion, murder, and other major offences in Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana. Furthermore, the Delhi Police collaborated with the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to resolve the Jatheri case.
Notably, Sandeep met Anuradha in the year 2020 when both were on the “most wanted” list of Delhi Police. While Jathedi has been behind bars since 2021, Anuradha got bail and the couple continued their relationship via meetings through legal channels. Anuradha aka Madam Minz, the gangster, a computer applications graduate, has been accused of involvement in several cases of murder, extortion, and kidnapping in Rajasthan.
According to those familiar with their love affair, Jathedi was enamored with Anuradha’s ability to speak fluent English and fire Kalashnikov bursts, TOI reported.
“For Anuradha, life had seemingly ended with the death of her former friend — the dreaded gangster Anandpal, who was killed in a police encounter in the summer of 2017. Anuradha then came on the radar of Anandpal’s rival, Raju Basodi. This was when gangster Balbir Banuda lent her support. By 2019, she had come in contact with Bishnoi and eventually became friends with Jathedi,” TOI quoted a senior police official as saying.
