On Wednesday (3rd January), the Madhya Pradesh Police arrested a Muslim youth identified as Faizan Lala, son of Nizam Lala, for deliberately insulting Lord Rama on social media. The accused is said to have posted a derogatory photo of Lord Rama and abused the Hindu deity further in the comments section of the post. The Police booked and arrested the accused under section 295 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
According to the reports, the incident is said to have happened in the Keli village of Khargone district in Madhya Pradesh. Faizan posted a derogatory post about Lord Rama on Instagram on 2nd January. The post was seen by several as it instantly went viral. It hurt the religious sentiments of several Hindus. The police reportedly took action based on the complaint filed by one Ashwini Thakur.
The complainant stated that the accused in the comment section asked one of the Hindu girls on Instagram to leave Hinduism and follow Allah instead. The girl then slammed the accused and said that she was a Hindu. Following this, the accused used derogatory language for Lord Rama.
Thakur reportedly is the Sarpanch of Keli village who took objection to the anti-Hindu post. Several Hindu residents of the village also protested against the post claiming that their Hindu religious sentiments had been hurt.
People gathered at the local police station and demanded strict action against the accused. They said that the accused, especially when belonging to a specific community shouldn’t have posted something like this.
The Police reportedly filed a case based on the complaint by Sarpanch Ashwini Thakur. The accused has been arrested under section 295 of the IPC.
A 950-page court documentation containing the names of some of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s acquaintances was made public on Wednesday (3rd January). The documents were part of a case registered by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and collaborator.
In December 2021, Maxwell was found guilty of sex trafficking and associated crimes for entrapping and supplying teenage girls for Epstein, a wealthy investor and convicted sex offender.
The court filings included passages from depositions and pleadings from Giuffre’s 2017 settlement with Maxwell. Maxwell was accused of defaming Giuffre by calling her a liar. Giuffre also claimed that when she was 17, Maxwell and Epstein pushed her into having sex with Prince Andrew of Britain. The woman said that Britain’s Prince Andrew put his hand on her breast at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2001.
Among the names revealed in the court filings were former US President Bill Clinton, pop icon Michael Jackson, Prince Andrew, and illusionist David Copperfield. These names have previously been redacted as J Doe versions in court files.
One of the documents included Maxwell’s testimony, in which she appeared to confirm that Prince Andrew had visited Epstein’s secret island in the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had allegedly molested many girls. Maxwell confirmed that she was present on the island when Prince Andrew arrived and there were no women other than the staff working at the house.
In another document, Johanna Sjoberg said that Maxwell had recruited her to perform sexual acts on Epstein. In her deposition, Sjoberg stated that Epstein “said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.”
Sjoberg also claimed to have met Michael Jackson and David Copperfield at Epstein’s Palm Beach residence.
Several women have accused Epstein of forcing them to provide sexual services for him and his visitors at his own Caribbean island and mansions in New York, Florida, and New Mexico.
For years, the names of more than 150 people named in a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most notable accusers, were held under wraps until a federal court declared last month that there was no legal need to do so.
Giuffre claims to have had sex with a number of politicians and business executives. Giuffre additionally stated in her deposition that she had sex with other important figures who have previously disputed her charges, such as hedge-fund owner Glenn Dubin, billionaire US businessman Tom Pritzker, and the late New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. She said she also had sex with other political leaders whose names she could not remember.
In a second deposition, Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg stated that Prince Andrew placed his hand on her breast to pose for a photo with Epstein, Giuffre, and Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Due to his affiliation with Epstein, Andrew has lost most of his regal titles. In 2022, he resolved a civil dispute with Giuffre for an undisclosed fee, and he has denied any misconduct.
The list is based on a long-resolved defamation complaint Giuffre filed against Maxwell. Ghislaine Maxwell, the daughter of British media billionaire Robert Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for assisting Epstein in recruiting and trafficking young girls. Her conviction is being challenged. Giuffre accused Maxwell of recruiting her when she was a minor to be abused by Epstein.
Epstein killed himself in 2019 as he awaited trial for sex crimes.
As per the reports, the records are one of numerous batches of files in Giuffre’s lawsuit that have been unsealed as a result of the Miami Herald’s relentless campaign to make them public.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday (3rd January) while addressing a religious event in Thane district raked up the issue of Malanggad, or more popularly known as the Haji Malang Dargah.
Reiterating Shiv Sena’s commitment to liberate the structure, Shinde said that Anand Dighe had initiated the liberation movement of Malanggad which led to the chant “Jai Malang Shri Malang”.
He said, “Your sentiments towards Malanggad are well known to me. It was Anand Dighe who initiated the liberation movement of Malanggad, leading us to chant ‘Jay Malang Shri Malang’. However, I must tell you that there are certain matters that aren’t meant for public discussion. I’m aware of the deep-rooted beliefs you hold about Malanggad’s liberation. Let me say this that Eknath Shinde will not stay quiet till he fulfills your wishes.”
The dargah is situated 3000 feet above sea-level to the south of Kalyan in the Matheran hill ranges. On 20th February, devotees will mark the death anniversary of Haji Abd-ul-Rahman, a so-called Sufi saint of the 12th century.
In 1980s, prominent Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe – who was Eknath Shinde’s political mentor – led the first agitation claiming that the structure was the location of an old Hindu shrine belonging to the Nath Panth.
Dighe began an agitation claiming that the shrine belonged to Hindus and that it was a site of a 700-year-old Machindranath temple. In 1996, he insisted on leading 20,000 Shiv Sainiks to the shrine to perform pooja.
It is since then that the structure has been called Shri Malanggad.
According to reports, the first signs of conflict began in the 18th century when local Muslims objected to the structure being managed by a Brahmin.
The conflict was brought before a local administrator who decided in 1817 that the will of the saint should be found by “casting lots”.
According to the Gazette, “Lots were cast and three times the lot fell on the representative of Kashinath Pant, who was proclaimed the guardian.”
The Ketkars have been the trustees of the Haji Malang Dargah Trust since then.
The dargah is maintained a three-member trust which reportedly includes a Hindu Brahmin family.
“Anyone claiming that the dargah is a temple is doing it for political mileage,” said Chandrahas Ketkar, whose family has been managing the dargah over 14 generations.
He said that in 1954, the Supreme Court had in a case related to the control of the dargah within the Ketkar family had observed that the dargah was a composite structure and cannot be governed by either Hindu or Muslim law but only by its own special custom or by general law of trusts.
Ketkar says that he issue is being politically raked up only to appeal to the vote bank.
The Gazetteers of Bombay Presidency published in 1882 mentions the dargah. It says that the shrine was built in honour of an Arab missionary, Haji Abd-ul-Rahman. He reportedly arrived with a bunch of followers from Yemen and settled on the lower plateau of the hill.
At the time, a local king named Nal Raja was in power. Local legend claims that Nal Raja married off his daughter to Haji Malang. The graves of both Haji Malang and “Maa Fatima” are located inside the dargah premises.
The structure and graves have reportedly existed since the 12th century and are considered holy.
Abhijit Ketkar, another member of the Ketkar family that manages the trust, said that thousands of devotees visit the shrine every year to fulfill their “mannat”.
According to The Gazetteers of Bombay Presidency, in the 18th century, the Maratha Confederecy sent offerings to the shrine as the departure of the British was “ascribed to the power of the saint”.
These offerings were sent under the charge of Kashinath Pant Khetkar, a Brahmind from Kalyan. Pant is reportedly said to have funded the repairs and taken over the management of the structure.
“The stewardship of the dargah rests with a local Brahmin family. It is a syncretic shrine and historically people who are distressed and marginalised irrespective of their faiths visit the shrine,” said Rama Shyam, who has written a thesis on the dargah.
In February 2023, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde performed aarti at the site and offered a saffron covering inside the dargah. Shinde has now raised the issue once more.
On 3rd December, CNN-News18 published an exclusive interview with Swami Nischalananda Saraswati Ji, the esteemed Shankaracharya of Govardhan Math in Puri. In the 30-minute interview with Anand Narasimhan, Shankaracharya talked in detail about different topics. The rare media interaction brought forth profound insights on Varna, Jaati and the broader aspects of Hindu philosophy.
Understanding Chaturvarnya and Jaati
The interview began with a discussion on the Chaturvarnya System. Shankaracharya explained that it is rooted in the teachings of Bhagwan Krishna from the Bhagavad Gita. It categorises society into four varnas based on qualities and actions. Shankaracharya emphasised that this system is not rigidly linked to birth but is more about the person’s nature and deeds.
Furthermore, he explained the concept of Jaati while emphasising its lasting and universal nature that goes beyond the limitations of the Varna system. His views and perspective shed light on the often misunderstood aspects of the caste system in Hinduism and highlighted its deeper and more inclusive nature.
The relevance of Varna in modern society
Explaining the practical aspects of the Varna system, Shankaracharya stated that its relevance persists in contemporary form in the global context. He pointed out that Western societies, including those of the USA and Europe, inherently follow a system to balance education, economy, defence and service sections, which is similar to the Varna system. He emphasised that the universality of such a system is essential to maintain societal harmony and balance.
Shankaracharya gave examples of different posts in modern society, like police officers or prime ministers, who perform duties as per their posts. Similarly, in the Varna system, the balance is maintained as per the position.
Transforming Varna through actions
One vital part of the discussion revealed whether one’s actions can lead to a change in Varna. Shankaracharya cited the story of Vidhur from the Mahabharata and argued that the conduct and qualities of a person can break the barriers of the limitations of birth-based Varna. Despite being a learned person, Vidhur did not gove “updesh” as he was a shudra. The idea challenges the conventional belief of an immutable caste system that is often highlighted as a black spot in Hindu society. His perspective suggested a dynamic aspect where personal virtues play a vital role in defining the position of a person in society.
The true essence of Brahmin-hood
During the conversation, Shankaracharya elaborated on the concept of Brahmin-hood. He stated that it is not limited to the birth. The true Brahmin is not just being born into a Brahmin family, but the nature and actions define it. He talked about different forms of Brahminhood based on the actions and nature of a person. For example, if a Brahmin indulges in business activities, he will be called a Vaishya Brahmin. Only a Brahmin who indulges in actions and natures defined for the Brahmins will be called a “Brahmin Brahmin”. His perspective resonates with ancient texts like Shiva Purana, where various Brahmins are recognised based on these criteria.
Equality and Justice in Sanatana Dharma
Addressing equality in Sanatana Dharma, Shankaracharya stated that everyone faces the consequences of their actions irrespective of their births. Citing examples from the Mahabharata, he illustrated how individuals born in different Varnas attained spiritual heights based on their actions during their lifetime. It reinforces the idea of justice based on the Karma of a person.
The multifaceted Hindu identity
Speaking about the word “Hindu”, Shankaracharya noted that Hindu identity is not limited to religion but has both geographical and spiritual dimensions. He explained how the term encompasses those who live in the Indian subcontinent and also those who strive against degradation and poverty.
Shankaracharya pointed out that the word ‘Hindu’ is present in several ancient texts like Puranas. He also cited examples of Hindukush Parvat and other geographical locations with the word ‘Hindu’ in their names to explain his perspective. He offered a comprehensive understanding of what it means to be a Hindu.
The consecration of Ramlala Virajman and Ram Rajya
The major highlight of the discussion was the upcoming ‘Pran Pratishtha’ (consecration) ceremony of Ramlala Virajman. Shankaracharya stressed the importance of the ceremony in re-establishing Ram Rajya in the country. Ram Rajya means the ideal state of governance and morality exemplified by Bhagwan Ram. He emphasised the importance of following the rituals for Pran Pratishta. He pointed out that the Murti of Bhagwan Ram is not similar to those of statues of leaders and needs ritual-based Pran Pratishta as without it, the essence of Bhagwan will leave the area, which may lead to bad omens. The ceremony has a profound spiritual and cultural significance in Sanatan Dharma.
Divergent Paths of Bhagwan Ram and Krishna in Establishing Dharma
The interview concluded by exploring how Bhagwan Ram and Bhagwan Krishna established Dharma in their own ways. Shankaracharya noted while Bhagwan Ram exemplified ‘Maryada Purushottam’ (the perfect man), Bhagwan Krishna was portrayed as ‘Lila Purushottam’ (the playful and divine). He explained how both deities established a higher order of divinity and righteousness in the world through their different approaches.
The interview offered a rare glimpse into the profound depths of Hindu philosophy and social structure. Shankaracharya’s insights bridged the ancient wisdom with contemporary issues and provided a deeper understanding of the Hindu way of life.
On Wednesday (3rd January), two individuals were apprehended for issuing bomb threats targeting the Shri Ram Temple, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and the chief of the UP Police Special Task Force (STF). It was discovered that Devendra Tiwari, the head of NGOs named Bharatiya Kisan Manch and Bharatiya Gau Seva Parishad, masterminded the plot.
Tiwari allegedly orchestrated these threats to enhance his security and political stature. He reportedly directed his employees to send these menacing emails through fake IDs. The STF successfully detained the culprits, Tahar Singh and Om Prakash Mishra, while the man behind the conspiracy, Devendra Tiwari, remains at large.
According to a press release by the UP Police STF, on 27th December, information was given to the office of the Director-General of Police to the control room at the Special Task Force (STF) headquarters. The alert was regarding a tweet from the Twitter handle @iDevendraOffice, which disclosed that one alleged ISI agent Zubair Khan had sent an email to Devendra Tiwari. The content of this email was alarming, as it contained threats of bombing directed at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, STF Chief Amitabh Yash, Devendra Nath Tiwari, and the revered Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
हिंदुत्व व सनातन पर फिर से प्रहार गौ सेवक मर मिटेंगे लेकिन झुकेंगे नहीं, एक बार फिर डरपोक एवं कायरो का धमकी भरा पत्र मिला है. प्रदेश के मुख्यमंत्री एवं मुझे जान से मारने की धमकी दी गयी है। प्रथम सूचना दर्ज कर कार्रवाई की जाए @aajtak@AmitShah@bstvlive@myogiadityanath… pic.twitter.com/3Zcvq72CIZ
Following directives from higher authorities, Deputy Superintendent of Police Pramesh Kumar Shukla of the UP Special Task Force spearheaded the investigation. The probe soon uncovered that cases had been filed at the Alambagh and Sushant Golf City police stations in Lucknow. These cases were registered under severe sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Information Technology (IT) Act.
Further investigation brought to light that the email addresses [email protected] and [email protected] were used to convey the threats. Subsequently, two individuals were apprehended: Tahar Singh, son of Prithvi Raj Singh from Gonda, identified as the creator of one of the email IDs, and Om Prakash Mishra, son of Bharat Bhuwal Mishra from Gonda, who was responsible for sending the threatening email.
During interrogation, the apprehended suspects revealed key information about Devendra Tiwari. They disclosed that Tiwari resides in Lucknow. Tiwari is known for running NGOs like the Bharatiya Kisan Manch and Bharatiya Gau Sewa Parishad. Furthermore, he has been implicated in multiple cases at various police stations, including Manaknagar, Ashiyana, Banthra, Gautampalli, and Alambagh.
The suspects also informed that Devendra Tiwari owns the Indian Institute of Paramedical Sciences, located in Alambagh, where he has established his office. Tahar Singh, one of the arrested individuals, worked as the social media handler, while Om Prakash Mishra, the other detainee, served as Tiwari’s secretary in the same office. Additionally, Om Prakash is pursuing a 2-year Diploma in Optometry from the same institute.
Acting under Devendra Tiwari’s instructions, Tahar Singh created a bogus email ID specifically for sending the threats, as per the police statement. The details of this email ID and its password were then communicated to Omprakash Mishra via WhatsApp. Following Tiwari’s orders, two mobile phones were procured from Aman Mobile Center in Naka, Lucknow, which were then used for sending threatening emails.
The threat’s content was first scanned and then uploaded onto Devendra Tiwari’s mobile phone using Google Lens on the mobile phone designated for sending out the threats. These threatening emails were sent on two occasions, first on 19th November 2023, and later on 27th December 2023. The recipients of these emails were the same addresses that Devendra Tiwari had previously shared through his Twitter account.
After sending the emails, Devendra Tiwari eliminated evidence by burning and destroying the mobile phone used in the crime. The emails were sent using the internet connection provided by a WiFi router installed in his office. During the interrogation, the accused disclosed that Tiwari had convinced them of significant benefits from this scheme. He purported that such actions would not only garner substantial attention on social media but would also lead to enhanced security measures for them and yield considerable political advantages. The case against the accused is booked under sections 506, 507, 153A, 420, 468, 471, 201, and 120B of the IPC and section 66D of the IT Act.
Nationalist Congress Party- Sharad Pawar faction leader Jitendra Awhad has sparked off a controversy with his statements on Lord Ram.
Awhad on Wednesday claimed that Lord Ram belonged to the ‘Bahujans’ (people in majority) and was a non-vegetarian, contrary to common belief.
This comes a day after BJP MLA Ram Kadam urged the Maharashtra government for a one-day ban on alcohol and meat on the Ayodhya consecration ceremony day on January 22.
“Ram is ours. Ram belongs to the Bahujans. Ram who hunts and eats is ours, we belong to the Bahujans. When you people go to make us all vegetarian, we follow the ideals of Ram and today we eat mutton. This is the ideal of Ram. Ram was not a vegetarian, he was a non-vegetarian,” Awhad said while addressing an event in Maharashtra’s Shirdi on Wednesday.
Kicking off a debate on the matter, Awhad asked, “Where would a person living in the forest for 14 years go to find vegetarian food? Is it correct or not (question to the public)? Tell me when I am telling the truth.”
Awhad further fueled the controversy as he said, “No matter what someone says, the truth is that we got independence only because of Gandhi and Nehru. Gandhiji was not assassinated in 1947, but the first attack on him took place in 1935, the second attack took place in 1938, the third attack took place in 1942.”
“After all, why did they attack him so many times? He didn’t care about time, he didn’t even care about the Constitution. But he was attacked because Gandhiji was a tradesman and an OBC. The fact that the leader (Gandhi) of such a big independence movement was an OBC was not acceptable to them (RSS),” he added.
The NCP leader went on to claim that Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination was rooted in casteism while criticising a lack of historical awareness among the public.
“The real reason behind Gandhiji’s assassination was casteism. You people do not read this history and do not keep it in your mind,” he said.
BJP MLA Ram Kadam hit back at Awhad over his controversial remarks claiming that the genuine concerns of Hindus and Marathi people are overlooked.
“If late Balasaheb were alive today, today’s Saamna newspaper would have spoken harshly to those who called Lord Ram a non-vegetarian,” Kadam said in a post on X.
“But what is the reality today, anyone can say anything about Lord Ram, anyone can make fun of Hindus. They don’t care. They are as cold as ice. But when the turn of elections comes, they will talk about Hindutva by gathering false power,” he said.
He further alleged that politicians are more interested in “cheap politics for vote”.
“The reality is this. no one cares about Hindus or Marathi people. They have no affection for anyone. They only want to do cheap politics of votes, that’s it,” the BJP MLA stated in his post.
(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 Wednesday, 3rd January, several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders expressed apprehension that their supreme leader Arvind Kejriwal might get arrested and his house will be raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). This comes after the Delhi Chief Minister skipped ED summons for questioning in the Delhi Liquor Scam case for the third time on Wednesday.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will not go to the ED office today, CM wrote to ED.
"Ready to cooperate in ED investigation but the agency's notice is illegal. Their intention is to arrest Arvind Kejriwal. They want to stop him from election campaign: AAP https://t.co/Wh1GzkDAK4
While the AAP supremo is skipping ED summons repeatedly, and writing letters to ED questioning their “intent”, AAP leaders are huddling in fear that CM Kejriwal might be arrested.
Taking to X (formerly, Twitter) AAP leader Atishi wrote, “News coming in that ED is going to raid Arvind Kejriwal’s residence tomorrow morning. Arrest likely.”
News coming in that ED is going to raid @ArvindKejriwal’s residence tmrw morning. Arrest likely.
AAP’s ‘EVM expert’ Saurabh Bhardwaj wrote, “It is heard that tomorrow morning ED is going to reach the house of Chief Minister Kejriwal and arrest him.”
सुनने में आ रहा है कल सुबह मुख्यमंत्री केजरीवाल जी के घर ED पहुँच कर उन्हें गिरफ़्तार करने वाली है ।
The claims by Aam Aadmi Party leaders came right before the date of ED’s third summons. It is pertinent to note that ED issued a third summons to CM Kejriwal on December 22 last year, in connection with the Delhi liquor scam case, asking him to appear before the agency on 3rd January.
However, ED has rubbished the claims of AAP leaders that they are going to raid Arvind Kejriwal’s house.
Meanwhile, Indian Express reported citing Delhi Police sources that on account of the AAP leaders’ social media posts, they had made security arrangements outside the ED’s headquarters for Wednesday morning.
In a letter to ED, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has sought a questionnaire from the agency and also questioned the intent of the summons served to him. He also mentions in the letter that the Rajya Sabha elections are to take place on January 19 and he also has to participate in the… pic.twitter.com/hT4epKJofk
Notably, in a letter dated 3rd January, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal sought a questionnaire from the Enforcement Directorate and also questioned the intent of the summons served to him. He also mentioned in the letter that the Rajya Sabha elections are to take place on January 19 and he also has to participate in the Republic Day programme on January 26 as Delhi CM.
Meanwhile, CNN-News18 is reporting that ED is now likely to issue a 4th summon to the Delhi Chief Minister.
Notably, Manish Sisodia, who was earlier serving as Arvind Kejriwal’s Deputy, and AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh are already in custody in cases linked to the Delhi liquor scam.
On Saturday (30th December), a team of Uttar Pradesh ATS (Anti-terrorism Squad) reached Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra to raid multiple places and issue summons to 11 individuals in the city. Primary reports confirmed that this raid was assisted by Maharashtra police ATS and it was in connection with an arrest that took place in July 2023 wherein Saddam Sheikh was arrested by UP ATS for sharing hateful posts on social media.
When Saddam’s post was investigated, at least 11 such suspects were identified in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, who were ideologically associated with ISIS. Soon after, the UP ATS became active in this case.
When the UP ATS investigated deeper, they found that these youths from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra were involved in some allegedly anti-national conspiracy. The UP ATS, which reached Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar in Maharashtra, raided the places of suspects associated with ISIS, seized phones and laptops, seized some booklets and other literature and returned after handing them a notice to the UP ATS office in Lucknow. OpIndia contacted local sources and gathered some information concerning this case, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Islamic fundamentalism rooted in the area surrounding the city.
The summoned people primarily live near the Kiradpura area of the old city area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
According to our sources, the individuals summoned by UP ATS include youngsters as well as middle-aged men. All of them are actively involved in religious preaching. UP ATS took action against them because they received credible inputs that these people were also holding secret meetings to conspire about anti-national activities which they wanted to execute in Uttar Pradesh.
According to our sources, these individuals primarily reside in the Kiradpura area of the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city. Kiradpura is close to the old city area where Muslims form the majority population. The sources also revealed that there is a fairly high chance that being an agent propagating the Puritan Islamist ideology, many of the summoned individuals are members of some ‘Jamaat’ as they called it in local jargon. The locals also mentioned that they would not be surprised if further investigations of UP ATS find these individuals to be associated with activities like Tabligh, Ijtemas, etc.
CCTV footage of Islamist mob attacking & burning down police vehicle outside the only #RamMandir in a Muslim dominated area of Kiradpura, Ch. Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra. How come they were prepared with stones and other weapons on the night of Ramnavmi?#SambhajinagarTempleAttackpic.twitter.com/Sr7griFwbI
Notably, the Kiradpura area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city made it to the news on the occasion of Ram Navami in the year 2023 when a Ram Mandir in this area was targeted by Islamists who pelted stones. A detailed report of this incident can be read here.
Are these radicals funded by local Muslim businessmen?
We also learned from our sources that there are multiple small and medium industrial units owned by Muslims in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. As a part of religious charity or donations, these business houses usually fund many activities from the backdoors. It is speculated that it is these businesses that also fund such anti-social activities and propagation of fundamentalism which encourages love jihad, forced conversion, etc. by providing monetary support to provoke the youths first and bear legal expenses in case of any action.
Notably, Deluxe Bakery (owned by Tasleem Khan, established in 2002) and Waterways Industries (established in 2012) are two big businesses in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. While Deluxe Bakery products are primarily sold pan Marathwada which was earlier a territory of Nizam of Hyderabad, ‘Hayat’ is a known brand of mineral water in this area. However, the Facebook page of this ‘Hayat’ water is full of Islamic religious content and video footage of events sympathising the disputed structure called Babri Masjid which once stood at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya and was demolished on 6th December 1992.
Besides, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has had its underworld. Serial killer gangster Imran Mehdi remained a synonym of terror in the city for the first decade of this century. He was arrested, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of Salim Quraishi. However, even after that he allegedly ran his gang from the Harsul Jail in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Repeated involvement of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Islamic fundamentalism
OpIndia also contacted journalist Sushil Kulkarni. He lives in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and runs the YouTube channel Analyser News. He said, “UP ATS summoning local individuals of the city is indeed a piece of big news. However, it is not a new phenomenon in the city. If we recall the recent few decades, terror sympathising has been the tendency of the radicals in the city. In 2005-2006 we saw an arms haul case near Ellora in the district. Jabiuddin Ansari involved in that case was later known to the world as Abu Jundal who went to Karachi and was instructing terrorists involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks from the control room in Karachi.”
Sushil Kulkarni added, “Faiyaz Kaghzi is another terrorist associated with this city. This ‘once B.Ed. student’ went on to join Lashkar-e-Taiba. It was this Faiyaz Kaghzi who helped Abu Jundal escape the country. Later, Kaghzi joined ISIS and became the first Indian to blow himself up in a terrorist attack by ISIS. Both these terrorists hailed from the adjoining Beed district and lived in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar for a significant time radicalising other youths. Even the rioting modules and stone-pelting patterns in the city seen in 2018 were a corrupt third grade edition of that we would once see in Kashmir where adolescent minor boys would be kept at front as a shield.”
He said, “Another terrorist Sheikh Abrar was shot dead in a broad-day encounter by Maharashtra ATS in the old city in March 2012. He was accused of the Ahmedabad bomb blast case of 2008. Not only this, the city has become a ‘Deluxe Hub’ for such terrorists and their sympathisers. There have been many cases of forced circumcision, conversion, love jihad, and communal clashes in and around the city in the recent few years. A man from Sudan came here on a student visa. Did not attend even a single lecture. And was arrested because he was executing forced conversions to Islam. Changing the name of the city from Aurangabad to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has caused a yet bigger stir in these circles as the terrorists quite naturally idolise that Islamic tyrant and associate themselves with him.”
Sushil Kulkarni further said, “What is more worrisome in the recent case is that the UP Police ATS detects the anti-national activities in the state while Maharashtra police could have easily noticed and tracked these activities on their own. Residents of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar need to be more vigilant as we have seen an ex-senior police officer Riyazuddin Ghiyasuddin Deshmukh sympathise with Aurangzeb. Babri mosque sympathisers appearing in the city and allegedly conspiring to execute some unsolicited troublesome tasks in UP weeks before the consecration of the Ram Temple should not be taken lightly. We expect to know more details of the conspiracy after the interrogations.”
On 2nd January, the information about the second complaint filed by Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai against Trinamool Congress leader and expelled Lok Sabha MP, Mahua Moitra came to the fore. In his complaint, Dehadrai accused Moitra of snooping on him by misusing her position as an MP and using the Bengal police. His assertions that Moitra was snooping on him were based on the alleged history of TMC leader snooping on her ex-partner and a German national working with Chinese company Byte Dance (owner of TikTok app).
In the complaint, three names stood out: one was of Caravan Magazine’s editor and Editor’s Guild’s President Anant Nath, and the second was of top lawyer Suhaan Mukerji, apparently Moitra’s ex-partner. The third name was Helena Lersch, the German national working with Byte Dance. Details about Anant Nath can be read here.
Mahua Moitra, Suhaan Mukerji and German ‘woh’
In his complaint, Dehadrai alleged that Moitra used her MP status to snoop on her alleged ex-partner, Suhaan Mukerji. He claimed that Moitra utilised her connections with the senior officials in the West Bengal police to actively track Mukerji’s whereabouts in 2019. He further alleged that Moitra informed him about the snooping orally and via WhatsApp messages in September 2019. She claimed Mukerji was involved with a German woman identified as Helena Lersch.
Dehadrai alleged that Moitra accessed Mukerji’s phone’s complete call records. It included detailed information about everyone who had contacted Mukerji. Furthermore, Moitra allegedly had information on Mukerji’s precise physical locations all the time. In short, Moitra allegedly utilised her influence and connections to conduct surveillance on Mukerji and tracked his movements and communications.
Who is Suhaan Mukerji?
Suhaan Mukerji is the founding partner of PLR Chambers, a firm that specialises in India’s public policy and regulatory affairs. As per his profile in Law Asia, Suhaan has extensive experience in crisis management, policy formulation, drafting and monitoring legislative agendas. He has served as an advisor to the government on policy and legislative reforms at the federal and state levels.
Furthermore, Suhaan served on several government and industry committees and appeared as an expert witness for parliamentary standing committees. He was on Legislative drafting assignments, including Amendments to the IT Act, the Major Port Bill, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways – Road Transport and Safety Bill, the Inland Waterways Authority – PPP framework, the Tourism Bill and more. Mukerji is well known in the political circle on both federal and state levels.
Timeline of Moitra-Mukerji connection
Mahua Moitra’s connection to Suhaan Mukerji indirectly came to the fore in May 2023 when a person named Shravan Kumar Yadav filed a complaint against Moitra with the Election Commission. In his complaint, Yadav accused Moitra of failing to disclose her 4,900 shares in Villerville Financial Advisors Ltd. in her election affidavit for 2019. As per reports, her declaration of nil in the section for details of investment in bonds, debentures, shares, and units in companies/mutual funds was in conflict, as stated in the complaint, with the business’s annual reports submitted from 2010 to 2022. There was a lengthy discussion on the connection between the two on the Legally India portal which can be seen here.
According to Villerville Financial Advisors Ltd data, she was the company’s director from January 2010 to March 2016. Interestingly. Suhaan Mukerji has been listed as a director of Villerville Financial Advisors Ltd since 14th July 2009. Apart from Suhaan, his father, Swaroop Mukerji, a well-known painter, is also a director at the company.
Source: Zaubacorp
Suhaan has also been associated with Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co (AMSS) since 2002. Before AMSS, he was an analyst with the World Bank. AMSS was dissolved in 2015, and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas came into existence from it, founded by Cyril Shroff. AMSS was founded by Cyril’s grandfather, Amarchand Shroff, in 1917, and his father, Suresh Amarchand Shroff, was a managing partner in the company.
In 2010, two notable things happened. First, Mahua Moitra said goodbye to Congress that she had joined in 2009 to join Trinamool Congress. Second, she joined Villerville as director.
In May 2012, Suhaan was appointed as Adviser to Sam Pitroda, Office of Adviser to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations (PIII). In June 2013, he left his position at AMSS to concentrate on his advisor’s post at the PMO. A few months later, in November 2013, he set up Policy, Law and Regulation Chambers or PLR Chambers and continued to be an expert advisor to Pitroda’s office at PMO. According to the Legally India report, PLR Chambers was established to offer clients and NGOs legal, public policy, and legitimate lobbying services. While serving as PMO, Suhaan started a firm to provide lobbying services to NGOs.
As mentioned before, Moitra served as director of Suhaan’s company till March 2016. In May 2016, she submitted an abstract statement of her election expenses in which Suhaan was mentioned as her election agent. As per the Election Commission of India, every candidate is entitled to appoint an election agent who plays a crucial role in the elections. They can attend nomination scrutiny, submit withdrawal notices, appoint polling and counting agents, and revoke these appointments. Furthermore, election agents maintain the election expense account. It is safe to say Suhaan was a trustworthy person for Moitra.
Source: ECI
Though there were differences between Moitra and Suhaan, as suggested in the complaint of Dehadrai, Suhaan continued to work for the West Bengal government under the Trinamool Congress. He served as the Standing Counsel of West Bengal and defended Abhishek Banerjee in Bengal Coal Scam.
Adv Suhaan Mukerji: I am the standing counsel for the state. the department of health is the custodian of all death records.
Justice Bose: we are not concerned with numbers but how the figures compare to other states. how you manage it through administration is not our concern
Lersch worked with tech giants such as Instagram and Google. She earned her BSc in Economics from the University of Hong Kong and BA in European Studies from Maastricht University, followed by an MSc in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Mahuagate: Dehadrai’s complaint against Mahua on ‘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 Anant Dehadrai, who alleged that most of the questions asked by the TMC MP in Lok Sabha directly or indirectly benefit businessman Darshan Hiranandani.
Notably, Moitra has accepted that she had shared credentials with Darshan Hiranandani. Following this development, it was recently reported that PAs of Lok Sabha MPs have lost access to Digital Sansad login.
Meanwhile, it was also reported earlier that Darshan Hiranandani, an accused in this alleged scam, turned approver and accepted the allegations. In his affidavit, he said that Moitra gave him her Parliament username and password so he could post questions on her behalf. As reported earlier, the IT ministry had stated that it had sent a report to the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee confirming that the TMC leader’s parliamentary ID was accessed 49 times from Dubai. As reported earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiated an inquiry against the TMC MP.
As a result of the allegations, Moitra was expelled from Lok Sabha on 8th December 2023.
On 3rd January (Wednesday), the Supreme Court refused to order an SIT probe on the allegations made by short-selling firm Hindenburg Research against the Adani group. The Supreme Court in its order noted that third-party reports, without any verification, cannot be relied on as proof. The court observed that such reports can be treated as inputs but not conclusive evidence to doubt Indian authorities, in this case, it was the market regulator SEBI.
The opposition’s major ploy to corner the Adani group – and through him Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the so-called supporter of crony capitalists — based on reports of foreign entities – Hindenburg and OCCRP has fallen flat. The Supreme Court order also alludes to the fact that it was all bunkum from the outset as extensively reported and explained by OpIndia.
Conspicuously, this was yet another bogus issue that the opposition bloc had deployed to halt the proceedings of the parliament and leave the legislature paralysed. Over the years, there has been a striking pattern about opposition’s conduct.
First, a dubious or mystical foreign entity para drops a report/content that makes unsubstantiated allegations days or a week ahead of the Parliament session.
Despite the time zone difference, the foreign ‘media’ reports get amplified in the blink of an eye, overshadowing every real story of public concern for hours, days, and weeks at times.
The bombardment of unsubstantiated allegations at the crucial juncture of the beginning of a new Parliamentary session then gets reinforced by the opposition by pulling the safety and emergency lever of Parliament, the ‘Adjournment motion’.
As the old adage goes, ‘while the truth begins to pull its socks, lie has already traveled around the world’. Despite being unsubstantiated and in most cases, the Joseph Gobbel-esque hitjob reports, it gives fodder to the opposition to buttress their cliched and baseless tropes – “Free Speech, Democracy, and Idea of India” getting “strangulated” and “the corrupt government is selling out the country to crony capitalist”, which can’t be further from the truth. With the opposition taking extreme measures and creating an unhinged ruckus, the Parliamentary proceedings and entire sessions get washed away in the pit of baseless foreign media reports.
Here are five major examples to back this glaring pattern of how the opposition uses baseless issues to stall legislative work and has been repeating it for years. But these same issues couldn’t stand the basic scrutiny of law when it reached the apex court. These bogus issues strategically timed and planted by foreign entities were bereft of merit. However, they did prove to be a successful tool to disrupt the Parliament and create a legislative impasse.
Hindenburg Research Report: Hitjob on Adani Group days ahead of Budget Session 2023
The Hindenburg Research, a short-selling firm, published a report, on 24th January 2023, accusing the Adani Group of fraud and stock price manipulation. The report came days ahead of the 2023 Budget Session of the Parliament which began on 31st January.
Following the publication of the report, the Adani Group trashed the Hindenburg Research report as a ‘malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations’. However, the Hindenburg report eroded Rs 46,000 crores in Adani group’s market capitalisation.
The opposition disrupted the parliamentary proceedings and brought an Adjournment motion, as pointed out and explained earlier. They created a ruckus throughout the session demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Adani-Hindenburg controversy, impeding the normal legislative functioning of the Parliament.
Primarily based on foreign media reports, the opposition bloc, particularly Rahul Gandhi, has been leading the charge against the Adani group arguing that from pin to pen, from electricity to farm, a penny spent on anything is going into Adani’s account.
Whenever poor people switch on fan or tubelight, money goes into Adani's Pocket. pic.twitter.com/ZX8n9pXu3v
From Parliament to any election rally in any part of the country irrespective of local issues, the Gandhi scion repeated the allegations against Gautam Adani like a stuck gramophone, although goofing up here and there about the quantum of the alleged scam varying from Rs 20,000 to Rs 20,000 crores to Rs 32,000 crore. Now what warrants him to come up with these numbers – dubious reports, often from mysterious foreign entities, and depth of merit in the allegations is “trust me, bro”, which over the course of time doesn’t get any corroboration.
The opposition’s allegations — derived from the unsubstantiated reports by a third-party organisation that has a well-established vested interest in the matter at hand and is based outside India – fall flat before the Supreme Court.
Rejecting the petitioner’s demand to conduct the SIT probe, the Supreme Court, on 3rd January 2024, noted that third-party reports without any verification cannot be relied on as proof. It observed that such reports can be treated as inputs but not conclusive evidence.
The opposition, rather than doing the hard yard itself to raise issues of public concern, went ahead callously with dubious reports of Hindenburg and OCCRP to beat the dead horse and ended up impeding important parliamentary work. Meanwhile, as stated above, despite the allegations being baseless, the short-selling firm Hindenburg and its ilks ended up benefiting from the controversy, an intended outcome for these firms that was always written on the wall.
Pegasus snooping allegation aired just a day before 2021 Monsoon session
On 18th July 2021, the left-wing portal ‘The Wire’ claimed that the names of 40 Indian journalists were present in a list that contained names of people who were spied upon using Israeli spyware Pegasus. The 40 Indians were apparently among the thousands of people mentioned in the so-called leaked list, which was earlier reported by The Guardian.
The pegasus snooping allegations were made a day before the 2021 Monsoon session of Parliament which began on 19th July. The opposition created a hue and cry hurling accusations left, right, and centre, and rendered both the houses of Parliament virtually dysfunctional with its pandemonium.
Why the ‘Pegasus snooping’ allegation was all bluff and bluster, no substance
Pegasus, a software that can infect iOS and Android devices remotely was developed by Israeli cyber arms firm NSO Group, and reportedly it is only sold to governments.
The Wire report insinuated that as only governments could use the software, it meant that the Modi govt was spying on Indian journalists including Siddharth Varadarajan, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, M.K. Venu, Shishir Gupta, Rohini Singh, etc. The report included quotes from the allegedly targeted journalists who directly blamed the Modi government for ‘spying’ on them.
The government clarified both in RTI replies and in the Parliament that there had been no unauthorised interception by security agencies.
The NSO group had also refuted the claims by the Guardian report about the ‘leak’. Days later, Amnesty International stated in a statement that they had never claimed that the so-called list was that of people who were spied on, and asserted that their ‘list’ was merely a mention of people who may be “potential targets” of the clients of NSO.
It is important to note that the opposition picked the baseless issue which was dead on arrival.
The opposition has flogged this dead horse ever since without caring for the fact that this was yet another issue para-dropped to mar Parliamentary functioning and had its origin in dubious foreign sources.
Notably, the Wire and its partners were fed the information by two very dubious organisations – one was Amnesty International and the other was Forbidden Stories, click here, to read in detail about the report and these organisations’ controversial track records.
The vindication of the fact that there was no merit in the Pegasus snooping story and that it was all bunkum is that the Supreme Court on 25th August 2022, said that no conclusive proof had emerged to support the claim that the Indian govt was using the Pegasus spyware to snoop on people.
Rafale – The elaborate plan that set the tone for this pattern
The recurrent reports by dubious French portals like Media Part are another prominent example of how the baseless issue raised by the opposition subsumed the parliamentary proceedings and left Parliament, the decision-making body for the country, ineffective. Media part published unsubstantiated reports on multiple occasions, including in April, July, and November 2021.
The opposition created a ruckus demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe against the Rafale deal which is an inter-governmental deal between the governments of India and France for 36 Rafale fighter jets in flyaway condition. The opposition hampered the functioning of the Parliamentary sessions in 2021 with the dubious media organisation fanning falsehoods within a fortnight gap with that year’s Parliamentary sessions.
Additionally, the NGO that filed a complaint against Rafale Deal is partners with George Soros’ Open Society, Misereor, and Oxfam among others.
Congress-friendly career PILists like Prashant Bhushan and others filed a PIL in the Supreme Court and asked the SC to intervene and order a court-monitored probe into the deal. Click here, to read How N Ram of The Hindu manufactured the Rafale scam through digitally cropped documents.
The opposition took voters and Parliament for a ride crying hoarse based on baseless allegations as vindicated by the SC verdict on the Rafale deal which dismissed petitions for inquiry. The court also later dismissed review petitions in this matter.
BBC documentary on PM Modi
The BBC released a propaganda documentary about PM Modi’s role during the 2002 Gujarat riots citing claims that were already termed as lies by courts in India including the Supreme Court of India. The BBC documentary ignored multiple court orders to push its agenda and was immediately banned by the Government of India.
The propaganda documentary was aired on 17th January 2023, just days ahead of the 2023 Budget session which began on 31st January.
The opposition created a ruckus and disrupted Parliament proceedings while raising the issue of the government banning the BBC documentary on PM Modi. The issue, however, got coupled with the Adani-Hindenburg row and the 2023 Budget session took a huge hit.
The opposition faced another humiliation and didn’t get relief from the Supreme Court in this matter and the ban was not lifted. Yet, the opposition parties and its ecosystem spent their energy screening the propaganda documentary by a foreign entity that challenged the sovereignty of Indian courts.
Apple threat notification fiasco dropped just before the 2023 Winter Session
On 31st October 2023, some iPhone-using Opposition leaders claimed that they received mysterious “threat alerts” from Apple. “ALERT: State-sponsored attackers may be targeting your iPhone,” the threat notification sent on iMessage and Apple Mail read.
It was quickly turned into a political outrage and the opposition blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for trying a so-called cyber attack on their Apple devices, including iPhones. It lead to a hue and cry to rekindle the dead hoarse – Pegasus snooping 2.0.
However, the ecosystem failed to drag the issue when things started to unravel and the issue died a premature death before the 2023 Winter Session could begin on 4th December.
Notably, Apple itself on its website stated that the so-called “state-sponsored threats” to their users’ devices are not reliable. Additionally, It came to light that the security threat messages were from a dubious Soros-linked NGO named Access Now, based out of India.
Conclusion
The opposition has failed to smell the coffee that their baseless allegations only get traction, praise, and amplification from its echo chamber of sycophants. These people have entrenched themselves deep in the digital world, and getting more likes is winning for them and a success/vindication of their allegations.
Click here, to read how the grand old party has been rejoicing in rehashing the same allegations with caricatures like MODANI, etc on key issues on which it had invested all its political capital rather than adding depth of merit to their case.
It is important to note that in all these baseless issues lies one underlying thing – to target the incorruptible image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ironically, Rahul Gandhi had once admitted in an interview that his “persistent” efforts would be to destroy PM Modi’s image. He argued that he learned that PM Modi’s greatest strength is his incorruptible image and replied, “Okay, I’m going to rip that strength to pieces. I am going to take it and shred it”.
The least Indian voters can expect from the opposition is to exercise Atmanirbharta in picking and setting the agenda/narrative and rooting their claims, allegations from Indian sources, doing the hard mile on their own. Rather than outsourcing their job of finding issues to corner the ruling dispensation to dubious foreign entities, which by the way are doing a shoddy job, and making blatant, defamatory, and unsubstantiated allegations on their ‘opponents’. While they get away with it unharmed for their attempt to manipulate Indian democratic discourse, it leaves the grand old party, its alliance partners, and the ecosystem humiliated when the litany of lies and propaganda comes crashing down on its weight.
