A week after a Muslim mob attacked police and administration in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani, the police have revealed that Muslim women wearing ‘burqa’ pelted stones at the police personnel. According to reports, these women are now being identified by police as part of the investigation into the widespread violence that shook Haldwani on 8 February. The unrest transpired during the legal demolition of an illicit madrasa and mosque resulting in six fatalities and 300 others injured including several policemen and policewomen as well as common citizens.
Police are keeping an eye on the Muslim women in the Islamic veil who stirred up disturbance during the violence in Banbhoolpura. They also pelted stones at the police personnel when the encroachment was being cleared, as per Senior Superintendent of Nainital Prahlad Narayan Meena. He stated that “under the cover of the burqa, women miscreants also pelted stones at the police personnel and created a ruckus.” He mentioned that the culprits are being recognized based on the CCTV footage and they will be held accountable.
Meanwhile, on 15th February the local administration declared that the curfew that was put in place after the violent confrontations between Muslim mobs and authorities would be temporarily eased in Banbhoolpura town in the Nainital district. According to an order issued by District Magistrate Vandana Singh, curfews in Gaujajali, Railway Bazar and FCI godown would be relaxed from 9 am to 4 pm. The curfew in the remaining portion of Banbhoolpura will be lifted for two hours, from 9 to 11 in the morning. The outer regions of Banbhoolpura have already been relieved from the curfew that was initially enforced throughout the entire town.
Over 300 police officers, administrators and journalists have been injured in the chaos which claimed six lives. The Muslim crowd even set fire to a police station and tore the clothes of female cops. A little over Rs 8 crore worth of property has also been damaged in the mayhem. The district and police administrations have expressed the intention to collect the losses sustained during the occurrence from the rioters.
Notably, after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced that a police station would be erected on the site of the unlawful construction, the Nainital Police set up a makeshift police outpost on the recently cleared land parcel in Banbhoolpura. It was inaugurated by the female cops who were injured in the upheaval. Uttarakhand authorities have registered three First Information Reports (FIR) against 5000 unnamed, and 19 known individuals.
The Nainital Police arrested 30 offenders and seized pistols, guns and other ammunition from them. SSP Nainital revealed that police have recovered 99 of the police ammunition looted by the agitators when they attacked Banbhoolpura police station on 8th February. He added that efforts are underway to apprehend the main perpetrator, Abdul Malik, who is believed to have planned the attack at the location known as “Malik Ka Bageecha.” The authorities have slapped a recovery notice of Rs 2.44 crores on him for damage to government properties and vehicles.
On Thursday (15th February), Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar delivered the verdict on the 5 petitions filed by the two NCP factions against each other and decided that the Ajit Pawar faction is the ‘real NCP’ political party. The decision was based on the factor of the legislative majority.
“If we look at the numerical strength, Ajit Pawar’s group has more numerical strength. There is no dispute about the party’s constitution, ” Rahul Narvekar was quoted as saying while delivering the verdict. The speaker also dismissed the disqualification application by the Sharad Pawar faction against the Ajit Pawar faction.
Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar decides that Ajit Pawar faction is the 'real NCP' political party. Decision was based on the factor of legislative majority. pic.twitter.com/HH6ab2jDVl
“Both groups are committed to the party. On June 30, 2023, this party split. In that case, what the constitution of the party says about leadership is important,” he added. Narvekar noted that there was no disagreement regarding Sharad Pawar’s leadership until June 29. In July, a group led by Ajit Pawar joined the administration. Rahul Narvekar stated that since then, both groups have claimed to be the Nationalist Party.
“The President, Working Committee, and National Committee represent the party’s decision-making system. The proof of my judgment about the Shiv Sena must be provided here. Both are seeking the position of President of the Nationalist Party. Both sides contend that the president was not elected in accordance with the party’s constitution. Two parallel leaderships have stood here. Both groups have filed disqualification petitions,” he said.
“According to the party constitution, the NCP Working Committee is the highest-level entity. It has sixteen permanent members. However, the party’s constitution prohibits the appointment of permanent members. We must determine who the party belongs to by examining the leadership structure, party constitution, and legislative strength. The party’s constitution and leadership structure lack clarity,” he observed.
Hours before the verdict, the group led by Ajit Pawar stated that it would not reverse its decision to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The NCP broke in July of last year when Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs joined the state administration under the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and BJP, resulting in cross-petitions.
Sunil Tatkare from NCP (Ajit Pawar group) said, “There is no turning back from our decision to join the NDA. The decision was taken by our leader and state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. We are hopeful that the speaker will give his verdict in our favor.”
The Election Commission of India (ECI) assigned the party name ‘NCP’ and poll symbol ‘clock’ to the Ajit Pawar-led group recently. It also designated ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ as the name of the organization led by Sharad Pawar.
Tatkare, who is the party’s state president and also a Lok Sabha member, claimed that some leaders from the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar were keen on switching over to their side. “Some of them are in touch with me, while others are in contact with Ajit Pawar. We are not opposed to inducting anyone from that side into our party ahead of the elections,” he said.
Meanwhile, the verdict by Narvekar comes days after the Sharad Pawar-led faction moved to the Supreme Court against ECI’s order to recognize Ajit Pawar’s faction as a real NCP. The Sharad Pawar-led group filed a case with the Supreme Court challenging the handover of the clock emblem to the Ajit Pawar faction, among other demands.
On Wednesday, February 14, the Supreme Court stayed the ongoing proceedings in various trial courts across West Bengal related to the heinous cases of murder, rape and crime against women and other human rights violations that happened in West Bengal in May 2021 after TMC returned to power.
A single-judge bench of Justice Sanjay Karol issued the judgment in response to CBI’s plea seeking transfer of the trials to any court outside West Bengal.
In its petition, the central agency alleged that witnesses and counsel were being intimidated, emphasizing the negative effects of this on the legal system. The CBI also argued that since complaints have been filed with state authorities no action has been taken which has necessitated judicial intervention.
Supreme Court stays proceedings in various courts in West Bengal dealing with the post-poll violence cases in the State.
Order comes on a plea by CBI seeking transfer of the trials to any court outside the State, alleging threatening of witnesses and counsel amidst police's… pic.twitter.com/OOB83bZ3Tl
The CBI also cited a report from the National Human Rights Commission that suggested that all cases investigated by the CBI be tried outside of the state of West Bengal.
Issuing notice on CBI’s plea, which is returnable on March 11, the Supreme Court bench issued a stay on further trial proceedings in the cases specified in the probe agency’s petition.
Seeking the responses from the West Bengal government and parties in the original cases, Justice Sanjay Karol ordered, “Director General of Police, West Bengal is directed to ensure compliance of the order and also file his personal affidavit reporting compliance. In the meanwhile, further proceedings of the trial referred to in the prayer clause at page 58 onwards of the instant petition, shall remain stayed.”
Notably, in August 2021, the Calcutta High Court handed over the probe into the 2021 West Bengal post-poll violence to CBI. A five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, Justice IP Mukerji, Justice Harish Tandon, Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Subrata Talukdar had pronounced the judgement in a batch of petitions alleging Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government’s inaction over the brutal acts of violence unleashed by members of ruling Trinamool Congress in the aftermath of assembly elections.
Post poll violence in West Bengal
An umpteen number of violent incidents against political opponents were reported from the state of West Bengal in the aftermath of the 2021 state assembly polls. In an overwhelming number of such incidents, the victims had been BJP supporters and workers, while the accused were said to be the supporters of the TMC party. More than a dozen BJP workers had lost their lives in the post-poll violence that ensued following the victory of the TMC party in the assembly elections. In one such attack, TMC goons had lynched BJP worker Avijit Sarkar to death.
The violence unleashed against them forced hundreds of BJP party workers and supporters to flee their villages along with their families. They had crossed over to Assam, where they had been provided temporary shelter under the supervision of CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. However, it is not just the BJP but even CPI(M), which has accused the TMC of killing its workers. Reports of attacks on BSF jawans have also emerged in the media.
On June 2, 2021, a month after Mamata Banerjee came back to power, the BJP said 37 of its workers were killed in the post-poll violence that convulsed the state. In addition, some reports said women in West Bengal were raped, assaulted and, in some cases, even killed just because they adhered to a different political ideology.
A victim raped by the TMC goons in front of her father had shared her harrowing ordeal with OpIndia. She narrated how she was attacked and sexually assaulted by perpetrators associated with the TMC party.
A case of unlawful possession of dwellings built for the needy under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has surfaced in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. It has come to attention that members of the Muslim community have illegally taken over 125 residences. Not only that, but domes have been built around these houses, which have been converted into mosques, tombs, and sites for exorcisms.
According to news reports, in 2013, the Housing Board constructed 400 residences under the Prime Minister’s scheme in Ward 43 Devrikhurd of the Municipal Corporation border region. 335 apartments were distributed to families that did not have any houses. The Municipal Corporation locked the remaining 65 houses. Outsiders eventually broke the locks of these 65 houses and began to live in them.
Not only that, but 60 of the 335 families assigned residences were threatened, they were forcefully evicted, and their homes were illegally occupied. Following this, illegal construction was carried out on these buildings, and domes were added to give them an Islamic identity. Following this, the procedure of exorcism began.
According to a report from News 18, exorcism is performed by constructing a tomb-like structure on houses numbered 199 and 200. Both of these homes have been given the titles Shankar Dharu and Sukhdev. However, an individual named Zakir Khan is said to have occupied these houses. Locals claim that Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims reside here.
In the words of locals, the majority of the houses built under the Prime Minister’s scheme have been sold. However, the provisions state that these houses cannot be sold. At the same time, the majority of the houses are illegally occupied. According to locals, around 125 properties in this area have been unlawfully occupied. There also is a steady flow of strangers here.
BP Singh, Chairman of the Housing Board Colony says that a structure resembling a tomb has been built in the Prime Minister’s residence scheme in recent years, and anti-social elements continue to meet under its shelter. People from Talapara come here to drink alcohol. He stated that people from Bangladesh and Uttar Pradesh were living in Devrikhurd, but their verification has not even been done.
BP Singh stated that there are many people here who do not have a voter ID or a ration card. He stated that the Municipal Corporation Administration has been asked to verify the identities of those residing here and take action against those who are living illegally. He further stated that multiple demands have been submitted to the administration to remove the tomb.
When the matter gained momentum, Municipal Corporation Executive Engineer Suresh Barua stated that he had received information concerning unlawful building at the Prime Minister’s house at Devrikhurd. He said that it is wrong to make changes in the construction of the Prime Minister’s residence scheme. In this situation, the unauthorised construction will be demolished after a notice is issued to the inhabitants.
Apart from that, an instance of Love Jihad has come to light here. Imran deceived a 13-year-old girl and took her to Uttar Pradesh. However, because of the efforts of Hindu organisations, the girl was found by police on February 10, 2024. In the present scenario, the police are investigating the incident by filing a FIR. Meanwhile, Imran, the accused, is on the run.
On Wednesday (14th February), a Hindu man was killed in an attack by a Muslim mob in Sabarkantha district. The deceased has been identified as Rajubhai Kantibhai Rathore. The case allegedly pertains to a monetary transaction between Hindu and Muslim communities. The police have filed a case against 30 persons. An investigation has been initiated.
According to reports, at around 10 pm on Wednesday, a Muslim mob of 30 goons armed with dangerous weapons including sticks, iron robs and stones indulged in an aggressive exchange with a man named Mayurbhai in Khodiyar Kuwa Motamadh area of Prantij of Sabarkantha district owing to a dispute over money transaction.
The mob vandalised an Echo car even as the crowd around refused to intervene. The mob reportedly shut the street lights off before pelting stones. The Muslim mob, all residents of Bhattiwala and Jambuchora province, dragged Rajubhai Kanthibhai Rathore and hit him on the head with iron pipes. He was rushed to the hospital but it was too late.
Meanwhile, the local police along with senior officials rushed to the scene after they learned about the incident. A large number of police personnel were deployed at the scene.
After the son of the deceased filed a complaint, a case was filed against 30 persons under sections 302, 323, 143, 147, 148, 149, 504, 506(2), 427 of the IPC, and section 135 of the GPA.
17 of the 30 accused identified in the case are Ayaz Qureshi, Munaf Qureshi, Ayub Qureshi, Rashid Mian, Imran Mian Qureshi, Maqbool Mian Qureshi, Jani Kamruddin, Rais Mian, Mehboob Khan, Malek, Sameer, Manan Harun, Nisar’s brother, Rafiq Bhatte, Nisar Mian, Babu Akbar, Yunus Mian, and Feroze Mian.
Vijay Patel, SP of Sabarkantha district, said that at around 9.30 pm on February 14, a fight erupted between Imran Qadri and Mayurbhai over money transfer in the Bhoi community and Muslim community in the area of Big Marh. Patel said a case has been filed in the death of Rajubhai.
Police patrolling and deployment has been increased in the area. All the markets in Prantij Nagar have been closed due to the incident. Bajrang Dal has alleged that stones were pelted by the Muslim mob at the residence of Rajubhai Kantibhai Rathore. The Hindu group has demanded bulldozer action against the accused.
#Gujarat के प्रातीज शहरमें मुस्लिमों की भीड़ ने हिंदूओ के धर पर पथराव किया,जिसमें कांति भोई नाम के शख्स को धर से घसीटकर ले गए दंगाईयो ने बेरहमी से हत्या कर दी, @sanghaviharsh@SPSabarkantha सिर्फ FIR से काम नही चलेगा जिहादियों के घर बुलडोजर चलाया जाए यही हिंदू समाज की मांग है। pic.twitter.com/4tnnkFAS7X
The police are taking further action in the matter. Meanwhile, OpIndia contacted the police for more information, however, there was no response. This report will be updated as soon as we receive a response from the police.
On Thursday, February 15, Bengali film actress and West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mimi Chakraborty resigned from her post, expressing unhappiness over the local party leadership in her constituency. She has submitted her resignation to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, however, media reports suggest that the resignation has not yet been accepted.
Mimi Chakraborty has reportedly stated that she is not happy with her Jadavpur seat and local leadership. She alleged that she is not getting enough support from local leaders.
Mimi Chakraborty’s resignation to Mamata Banerjee will not count as a formal resignation as she has not yet submitted her resignation to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Therefore, there will be no difference in her position at the moment.
The Statesman quoted Trinamool Congress insiders as confirming that Mamata Banerjee has assured Mimi Chakraborty that she will look into her grievances.
Earlier, Mimi Chakraborty had resigned from the membership of two standing committees. Mimi Chakraborty was a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industrial Affairs. She was also a member of the Joint Committee of the Union Ministry of Power and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Mimi Chakraborty had also resigned from the post of president of the health centre organisation under her Lok Sabha constituency. She was the president of Nalmudi and Jirangchha Block Primary Health Centre Rogi Kalyan Sangh under the Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency. After this resignation, speculation about her next move was intensified in political circles. Finally, she resigned from her MP post on Thursday (15 February 2024).
It remains to be seen whether Mimi Chakraborty will retire from politics or join some other party. However, from the statement she has given about his resignation, it seems that she is in the mood to retire. Media reports claim that she was not happy with her Lok Sabha seat and local leadership.
Mimi Chakraborty said, “Politics is not for me. You have to promote someone here (in politics) if you are helping someone. Besides being a politician, I also work as an actor. I have equal responsibilities. If you join politics, you are criticised whether you work or not. I spoke with Mamata Banerjee regarding the issues I had. I wanted to tell her about my resignation from a party that gave me an opportunity to go ahead. I had also told her in 2022 about my resignation from the post of an MP. She had rejected it at that time. I will complete the further process after whatever she says.”
Mimi Chakraborty says, "Politics is not for me. You have to promote someone here (in politics) if you are helping someone…Besides being a politician, I also work as an actor. I have equal responsibilities. If you join politics, you are criticised whether you work or not. I… https://t.co/cU9371kPYypic.twitter.com/OlM0BZv1zx
Mimi Chakraborty was born on 11 February 1989 in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. She is a well-known name in the Bengali film industry today. She made her acting debut in 2012 with the film “Champion” and has worked in over 25 successful films to date. She is very popular in Bengal. Given her popularity, she got a Lok Sabha ticket from TMC in 2019.
Mimi Chakraborty contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on a TMC ticket from the Jadavpur seat in West Bengal. Mimi had defeated BJP’s Anupam Hazra by 2.95 lakh votes. In this election, Mimi Chakraborty got a total of 6,88,472 votes. At the same time, BJP candidate Anupam Hazra got 3,93,233 votes.
She courted controversy while making her debut into politics with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when she was seen wearing gloves while shaking hands with the people in her constituency. Moreover, during her election campaign, she was seen addressing people in a loud manner, almost shouting at them with anger.
“I am here only because of you. I have no other reason to be here. I want to work for you. I am here to work for you, I have no other reason to be here. Everyone should get it into their heads. Why have I come here after leaving everything?”, said Chakraborty. Mimi looked as if she was almost intimidating the people present there.
Chakraborty’s angry rant had resulted in wide criticism on social media.
In a major decision, the Supreme Court of India on 15th February struck down the electoral bonds scheme saying that it violates Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution and the Right to Information Act. Ruling the scheme as unconstitutional, the court said that the objective of curbing black money in politics can’t justify the scheme where the identity of donors to the political parties are kept confidential.
Notably, opposition parties have been opposing the electoral bond scheme, alleging that BJP is the biggest beneficiary of the scheme as it favours them. Several opposition leaders today welcomed the Supreme Court verdict.
TMC leader Sushmita Dev tweeted, “Heard many BJP people bragging that electoral bonds was one of the biggest reforms by NDA government. Now what!”
Heard many BJP people bragging that electoral bonds was one of the biggest reforms by NDA government.
DMK chief and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin said that Supreme Court has rightly held that the #ElectoralBonds are unconstitutional.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court has rightly held that the #ElectoralBonds are unconstitutional. This will ensure transparent electoral process and the integrity of the system. This judgement has restored the #democracy and level playing field for all political parties. It has also…
He added, “This will ensure transparent electoral process and the integrity of the system. This judgement has restored the #democracy and level playing field for all political parties. It has also ensured the common man’s faith in the system.”
The Congress party has also called it a historic verdict, with Randeep Surjewala alleging that it was BJP’s ‘black money conversion scheme’
Jairam Ramesh said that the electoral bond scheme was illegal and unconstitutional, welcoming the judgement.
While the opposition parties are welcoming the judgement and terming the scheme illegal and unconstitutional, the same parties are also some of the biggest beneficiaries of the scheme. In fact, for some parties, almost all donations came through the electoral bond scheme.
As per the latest audited financial reports for the year 2022-23 of national and regional parties submitted with the Election Commission, while BJP received far more amount through the scheme then the others, for many parties the share of the scheme in income was very high, nearing 100%.
In terms of the share of the scheme in total income, the biggest beneficiary of the scheme was Trinamool Congress. In FY 2022-23, the party’s income was ₹333.45 crore, out of which ₹315.10 crore came from electoral bonds only, a whopping 97.49%.
The next was another opposition party DMK, which received ₹185 crore in bonds, out of ₹214.35 crore total income. The ruling party in Tamil Nadu received 86.31% of its income from electoral bonds alone. BJD, the ruling party in Odisha, received ₹152 crore in bonds, which is 83.95% of the total income of ₹181.05 crore.
Income, total donation and donation via electoral bonds received by major parties in 2022-23 (Source: Annual reports submitted with EC)
Similarly, the share of electoral bonds in total income for BRS was 71.7%, it was 69.53% for YSRCP, the ruling parties in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The share of electoral bonds in the total income for BJP was 54.82%, which means while BJP received almost of half of its income from other sources, the share was much higher for regional non-NDA parties. AAP and TDP had shares similar to BJP, at 53% each. However, AAP’s share is not confirmed, as the party didn’t disclose the figure for electoral bonds. Instead, the party gave a combined figure of Electoral Bonds and Electoral Trust.
The Congress party received ₹171 crore from the scheme, which is 37.8% of its total income 452.38 crore. Some major parties like SP, CPI and CPI-M didn’t receive any donation under the electoral bond scheme in the year 2022-23.
This is not the first time for the opposition parties to receive majority of their donations using bonds, the trend is going on for last several years. A report on analysis of sources of funding of national parties in 2021-22, prepared by Association of Democratic Reforms, show that TMC led the chart in that year also, with 96.77% share of electoral bonds in total receipts. The share for the party has gone up to 97.49% this year.
However, in monetary terms, BJP remains the biggest beneficiary, with a total receipt of ₹1,294.15 crore through electoral bonds in the year 2022-23. BRS was second highest recipient with ₹529 crore. TMC and DMK were third and fourth positions. As the total amount of electoral bond sold for the year 2022-23 is not known, the share of parties in the scheme is known for the year. But reports have emerged on total amounts since the launch of the scheme.
As per reports, since the launch of the scheme in 2018, bonds worth around ₹16,000 crore were sold by the State Bank of India. BJP’s share in it was around 55% or approximately ₹6,565 crore. Congress received around 1,123.3 crore, or around 7%. TMC received around ₹1,101.33 crore, around 7%.
Therefore, while opposition parties like TMC and DMK are welcoming the SC verdict striking down the electoral bond scheme, the same parties are major beneficiaries of the scheme. In fact, they received most of their donations through bonds only, which was as high as 97.49% for TMC and 86.31% for DMK.
West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali district has been on the boil after several women victims have accused TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his aides of sexually assaulting them. Now, another disturbing event has unfolded in the Mothabari area in West Bengal’s Malda district. Today (Thursday, February 15) the half-naked body of a 25-year-old woman has been discovered in a maize field just a few hundred meters away from her house in the area.
The victim, identified as Kalpana Mondal, went missing on the evening of Saraswati Puja (14th February), leaving her family frantic with worry. Her family members suspect that she was raped and brutally murdered, as her body bore several stab wounds and showed signs of assault.
According to local sources, Kalpana left her home in the Sreepur Colony area of Mothabari on the morning of Saraswati Puja to bring vegetables. However, when she failed to return home, a search was initiated, leading to the grim discovery on Thursday morning. Her grieving family members recounted the events leading up to her disappearance.
Her mother said, “Saraswati Puja festivities were in full swing in our village yesterday. Amidst the joyous celebration and music, my daughter was enjoying herself too. She mentioned to one of my granddaughters in the evening that she was going to the bathroom, but she never returned. As the night wore on, my son searched for his sister to prepare dinner, but she was nowhere to be found. That’s when we began to worry and searched tirelessly throughout the night. Despite our efforts, her lifeless body was discovered this morning. My daughter had been married for a few years, but due to issues with her husband, she returned to live with us. She had no other affairs. I don’t know who killed her or why.”
Her brother said, “On the night of Saraswati Puja, I wanted to eat khichdi and curry. I went out in the evening and when I was looking for my sister, I heard that she was missing. We immediately started searching. I was searching this morning. Then I came to know that Didi’s body was lying in the cornfield. The body was almost naked. We suspect that she was murdered by rape or gang rape. The police took the body. We have lodged a written complaint with the Mothabari police station.”
BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya said in an X post, “West Bengal, under Mamata Banerjee, has become hell for women… Not a day goes when a woman is not raped and murdered. The brutality of the crime is often so spine-chilling that one can’t sleep for days. But nothing affects Mamata Banerjee, as long as she keeps getting votes. No criminal is ever prosecuted because they are almost always affiliated with the ruling TMC. Last night, another young woman was possibly raped and murdered in Mothabari, Malda. Her naked mutilated body was found in a cornfield in Sripur village. Bengal is witnessing anarchy, where the Chief Minister, and her criminal police force, have not only failed to provide any sense of security to women but are also actively working to deny justice to the victims. Mamata Banerjee is a curse for the women of West Bengal.”
West Bengal, under Mamata Banerjee, has become hell for women… Not a day goes when a woman is not raped and murdered. The brutality of the crime is often so spine chilling that one can’t sleep for days. But nothing affects Mamata Banerjee, as long as she keeps getting the… pic.twitter.com/bREGJop4Mb
BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla posted on his X handle, “After Sandeshkhali now Malda Mutilated half-naked body of a woman now found Talibani state of affairs thanks to TMC!”
Notably, for the last week, women in several areas in Sandeshkhali of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal have been protesting, demanding the arrest of TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and others, narrating how the women in the area have been sexually exploited for a long time. The protests led to violence in the area, after which heavy police force have been deployed in the area.
Several women from Sandeshkhali have come forward to narrate how the women in the area are being raped by Sheikh Shahjahan, the mastermind behind the attack on the ED team, and other TMC workers and their aides. As per them, TMC workers regularly visit the area and pick out ‘beautiful women’ to exploit them. Some women said that they were taken to the party office in the night, and were released only after the men in the gang were ‘fully satisfied’.
On January 31, an 11-year-old girl was found beheaded in Malda town. According to a police official, her head and torso were discovered in separate locations in the city. Now, the half-naked body of a young woman is found in Mothabari near Malda in this incident. Repeated incidents of rape and atrocities on women have become a matter of concern in West Bengal.
A Hindu youth named Vikas Rajput, his mother and his sisters were reportedly attacked in the Uttar Pradesh region of Farrukhabad. The incident transpired on 12th February at the Kadrigate police station area. The accused have been identified as Shamim, son of Yusuf and Sadruddin, son of Shakir along with two other unidentified accomplices. Authorities have opened an investigation, arrested two persons and filed a case in this regard.
The victim and his family had gone to visit a fair where the accused launched a vicious attack on him, his mother and sisters. The victim told OpIndia that the accused threatened to kill them and bury them in the graveyard. A few sages who were present at the scene intervened and saved them.
Vikas Rajput submitted a police complaint on 13th February. According to the complaint, he and his family attended Mela Ramnagariya on the day of the incident. At around 10.15 pm, Vikas along with his sisters, mother and brother visited a shop selling bangles. He went and sat on a cot laid before the shop when the perpetrators came and started hurling abuses at him.
When Vikas Rajput raised objections to their offensive remarks, the culprits started hitting him. They also beat up and mistreated his mother and siblings when they intervened. They sustained serious wounds due to the assault.
Due to the ensuing commotion, when the public started gathering the accused fled from the location while issuing death threats to the youngster.
The Farukkabad police, meanwhile, took cognisance of the incident and filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Sadruddin, Shamim and two other unknown individuals under sections 323, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the matter. OpIndia has a copy of the FIR.
According to a Newsline Network article, two culprits have been arrested while efforts are on to identify and nab the other two.
BREAKING: Hindu girls nearly lynched by an Islamist mob; Rescued by a Hindu Sadhu.
Hindu saint named Bateshwar rescued two Hindu girls from an attack by an Islamist mob. He said that if they had not arrived on time, then they would have killed them.
A video of the sages who were present there when the incident took place has also surfaced online in which they can be heard recounting the brutal thrashing of Vikas Rajput and his family at the hands of the Muslim males. They unveiled that the females were kicked in their stomachs. The sages added that they believed the assailants would have killed the victims if they had not come together to rescue them. They have also hoped for strict action against the attackers.
Delhi-NCR-based Shiv Nadar School has come up with a parent feedback form that has caused a stir among the parents. The feedback form asks the parents about their views on various aspects of the school, its programs, and the child’s journey there.
The parent feedback form is meant to be filled out by all parents of children across all grades on all campuses. The Shiv Nadar school has campuses in Noida Faridabad and Gurgaon.
Source: Shiv Nadar School’s feedback form
Notably, in the first section, which asks for the essential details about the child, there is a section on gender that asks the parent to choose between “Male”, “Female”, and “Non-Binary”. While “other” and “third gender” are common in feedback forms across platforms, specifying non-binary brings a different approach. Notably, there is no guideline from NCERT on adding such a gender option for the school forms.
In the form, there is an option to select the child’s grade. It is evident that this form is to be filled even for kids as young as 3 or 4 years of age since selecting ‘Foundation year’ and ‘Nursery’ is also an option.
Non-binary is used to describe people who feel their gender cannot be defined within the margins of a gender binary. Instead, they understand their gender in a way that goes beyond simply identifying as either a man or woman. It would, therefore, mean that Shiv Nadar is going down a slippery slope of elected pronouns and gender politics of the West.
Until even a decade ago, the terms ‘gender’ and ‘sex’ was used interchangeably and it was widely understood that there are only two genders that could be considered normal, while transgenders are considered a deviation from the norm and were understood as an anomaly and rightly so. But as it turns out, a certain bunch of ‘intellectuals’ in their echo chambers had conjured the hypothesis that gender identity is completely independent of biological.
When it is claimed that gender identity is independent of biological sex, one goes down a slippery slope of elective gender politics. Essentially, this would mean that a boy could claim that he is ‘non-binary’ and ‘gender fluid’ since he feels like a boy one day, a girl the next, and like an individual with no gender at all on the third. This ‘non-binary’ individual could also then claim that they are not comfortable with conventional pronouns since they are attributable to gender identities, and therefore, he would want to be referred to as “They/Them” or Xe/Xhrer or some other made up pronoun.
We also noticed that the school has a “Gender Sexuality Alliance” to provide “a safe and free space to express and allow the germination of new ideas”. The school’s website page about School Councils reads, “The Shiv Nadar School is a safe and free space to express and allow the germination of new ideas. The Gender Sexuality Alliance is a club that hopes to start conversations about gender neutrality and open acceptance of sexuality. Earlier the IBDP students had initiated the Gay-Straight Alliance club, taking it forward this year, not only was it renamed but also opened to all the students. The aim of this club is to facilitate activism in the form of open discussions without any prejudices to provide a welcoming environment for all the students.”
The Harmful Effects of Gender Politics on Children
The normalization of such toxic politics has led to a situation where countries in the West are suddenly seeing a spike in the number of teenage girls who want to transition to male. Lisa Littman, an American Academic, said that ‘socially-awkward’ girls self-identified as transgender after being drawn together in chat rooms where they reinforced each other’s beliefs about their identity. She was ostracised by the academia for observing this particular trend.
Furthermore, gender identity overlords advocate the use of puberty blockers for underage children. Puberty blockers are drugs that postpone or inhibit puberty in children who feel they are of a different gender. This is not to say that gender dysphoria is not a real issue but it’s particularly concerning because research indicates that over 90 percent of the children (94% to be precise) grow out of it by the time they reach puberty.
Thus, gender identity overlords are irrevocably altering the natural growth of children and scarring them for life due to their petty politics when most of the children would go on to have a completely normal life without it. Their justification for such life-altering events at such a tender age is that children ‘feel’ that they are a ‘boy trapped in a girl’s body’ or vice versa.
Children are children at that age. They might say a lot of things and do a lot of things but it is the responsibility of adults to ensure that they do not let them harm themselves. But hundreds of children under the age of fourteen, many as young as 10 years old, have been injected with these life-altering drugs merely because of their feelings, something that the children could come to regret later.
Shiv Nadar’s inclusion of ‘non-binary’ as a gender identification for children is being viewed as an extension of the normalization of such toxic politics at an early age.
OpIndia tried to speak to the parents of a few wards studying at Shiv Nadar. While some parents we reached out to refused to speak to us saying that it would unnecessarily affect the progress of their ward, a few parents, on the condition of anonymity, expressed outrage about the school’s decision to force all parents to subscribe to gender politics. “I think the decision about what the children should learn about such sensitive and politically charged subjects should be left to the parents. The school can’t enforce their own woke ideology on the students and their parents”, one parent said. The other said, “Most parents don’t speak up because they fear the repercussions the child might face, but this was simply not expected. We don’t want such fantasy being fed to our children”.
Not the first time
This is not the first time that a school has attempted to normalize dangerous gender politics. In 2020, there was great outrage on social media after Harish Iyer, a prominent LGBT activist, said on the micro-blogging site Twitter that he had conducted a workshop on sex, orientation, gender identity, and gender expression at a school in Mumbai. Several sessions of the same were conducted on the same day and in the tweet, he mentioned that it was the 4th session that was then underway. After the tweet caused outrage among users on social media, Harish Iyer proceeded to delete the tweet.
What caught people’s attention in Harish Iyer’s tweet was the reference to a ‘gender identity class video’ composed by Abish Mathew of All India Bakchod fame and one Anuya Jakatdar. One social media user soon discovered the video that the LGBT activist was referring to in his tweet where he announced his workshop in a Mumbai school.
The video in question is titled on YouTube as the ‘Gender Identity Song’ and is quite disturbing, to put it mildly. It is tailor-made to target its intended constituency, that is, children, and is entirely a tool for brainwashing. There is not even an attempt made to make it seem anything other than a propaganda tool.
In the video, there is an entity that calls itself ‘Angel’ and claims it is gender fluid. He is, apparently, sometimes a boy and sometimes a girl, both and sometimes neither: That is my gender identity. It could be different from my gender expression and my biological sex,” Angel says.
Then, Angel proceeds to sing. “If it hangs between your legs, it’s your sex. It physically manifests, it’s your sex. But society thinks in two’s, doesn’t mean that it is true, Gender Identity is what’s inside of you.” The song continues, “If you want to be a boy or a girl, or you want your special fashion to unfurl, you get to choose how you and the way you want to dress. You get to choose how you would like to be addressed.”
Then, the person proceeds to brainwash the children with the concept of gender pronouns. There is also a point in the video where it speaks of ‘gender-neutral toilets’. The core message of the sermon is, “You don’t have to get it. You just have to respect it.”
NCERT does not prescribe the inclusion of ‘non-binary’ as a gender identification
In 2021, the Department of Gender Studies at NCERT had earlier published a document titled ‘Inclusion of Transgender Children in School Education: Concerns and Roadmap’ where it said that toilets were used to brainwash children into believing that there were only two sexes, men and women. Besides that, the training manual appeared to give its support for puberty blockers, a medication that has gained widespread notoriety in recent times. The medicines were used to block the development of puberty in children which permanently alters their natural course of development. Following public outrage over the manual, NCERT had removed the document from public access.
Another draft was issued in 2023, which was later pulled down after receiving feedback from the stakeholders. That document did not talk about adding “non-binary” to school forms in the name of inclusivity. NCERT has no guidelines for schools to use “non-binary” in any form.
OpIndia reached out to Shiv Nadar for their comments on the inclusion of ‘non-binary’ as a gender identification for students. The school wasn’t forthright in answering the specific questions and chose to prevaricate. As and when the school chooses to respond, their statement will be added to this story as an addendum.
