The Ethics Committee report on TMC MP Mahua Moitra was tabled in Lok Sabha on Friday by the panel’s chairperson and BJP MP Vijay Sonkar.
Rajendra Agarwal was chairing the session in the Lower House. The opposition led by members of the Trinamool Congress raised slogans against the Central government, shouting ‘Modi Sarkar Haye Haye’.
Amid the ruckus created by the opposition, the House was adjourned till 2 PM.
The report was mentioned in the agenda of the list of business of Lok Sabha for the opening day of the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. However, it could not be taken up.
Earlier before the commencement of the session, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said that now the people will see the battle of Mahabharata.
Speaking to the media, Mahua said “Mother Durga has arrived, we will see. These people who have started snatching clothes will now see the battle of Mahabharata.”
#WATCH | TMC MP Mahua Moitra says, "Maa Durga aa gayi hai, ab dekhenge…Jab naash manuj par chhata hai, pehle vivek mar jaata hai. They have started 'vastraharan' and now you will watch 'Mahabharat ka rann'."
Mahua Moitra is facing the heat of the “cash-for-query” allegations against her. The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee recently recommended her expulsion from the Lower House.
The draft report was adopted by a 6:4 majority in the panel last month.
As per the sources, the draft report on Mahua Moitra’s cash-for-questions case reveals that she visited the UAE four times from 2019 to 2023 while her login was accessed several times.”On 47 occasions, her member portal login credentials were accessed from Dubai,” sources said citing the draft report of the ethics committee.
Reacting to the oppositon demands to hold debates and discussions on the Ethics Panel report which is being tabled in Lok Sabha today, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Friday asked why the opposition has already decided on what action the Lok Sabha Speaker would take against TMC Mahua Moitra in the alleged “cash-for-query” case.
“Whether it will be discussed or not, who will speak on it – all of this will be decided by the Speaker. That is what the rules say. So how will the Speaker act on this issue, why are we anticipating that? The Constitution is clear on this issue. Whatever will happen in the House is the prerogative of the Speaker. If the party nominates my name on the issue and the Speaker goes against this, then I won’t be able to speak. Let it be done first (tabling of report), I will answer all the questions after that,” Nishikant Dubey told reporters.
The Ethics Committee, which investigated the allegations made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, adopted its 500-page report on November 9 recommending Moitra’s expulsion from the 17th Lok Sabha in view of her “highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal conduct.”
Moitra had appeared before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on November 2 over the cash-for-query allegations against her. Along with opposition members of the panel, she had “walked out” of the meeting. The opposition members who were part of the Ethics Committee raised questions over the line of questioning and alleged that “personal questions” were posed to the Trinamool Congress MP.
Earlier on November 10, Trinamool Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra alleged that the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee which was probing her role in the ‘Cash for Query’ case was functioning like a ‘Kangaroo’ court.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
In a case of Love Jihad and forceful conversion that was reported from the Rahuri region of Ahmednagar district in August 2023, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has issued summons to the state government for taking no action against the accused persons. NCPCR Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo has asked the Additional Chief Secretary of the state Home Department to appear in person on 13th December and submit the relevant action taken report in the case.
The notice has been issued under sections 13 and 14 of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005. As per the official letter, the matter was first taken up with the Chief Secretary of the Government of Maharashtra in October 2023, who was supposed to submit the action taken report within 7 days. However, the case was transferred to the home department.
NCPCR’s summon to Additional Chief Secretary of the state Home Department
“Thereafter the matter is pending with the Home Department. The Commission in pursuance of the functions and powers under sections 13 and 14 of the CPCR Act 2005, directs you to appear in person before the Commission on 13th December along with the relevant documents,” the letter directed to the Additional Chief Secretary of the state Home Department read.
Earlier on 24th October the NCPCR had come up with its final fact-finding report in which the Commission mentioned that the investigation by the local police in the case had several gaps, lacunas, and anomalies. It had directed the CBI to take over the case to provide justice to the minor Hindu girls who were trapped by the Muslim boys and their tuition teacher named Heena Pathan who further wanted to convert the girls to Islam.
Heena Shaikh introduced the victim to her 'relative' Avej, besides allowing other boys from her community to sit in the class (even though they were not students).
Avej initially displayed 'respect for women' and quickly forged friendship with the minor Hindu girl.
Team OpIndia had exclusively covered this case in the month of July this year. It was reported that one of the minor girls had registered an FIR against 8 individuals for trapping her in a love affair and then forcing them to convert their religion to Islam.
The accused persons were identified as Avej Nisar Sheikh, Kaif Sheikh, Sohail Sheikh, Heena Pathan, Alisha Sheikh, Salim Pathan, Altaf Sheikh, and Shakir Sayyed. The Police had also arrested four of these identified accused including two women. The others meanwhile had been booked under sections 354, 354D, 109, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and under sections 8 and 12 of the POCSO Act.
Police tampered evidence to favor accused: NCPCR
The NCPCR in its report stated that the Ahmednagar Police failed to gather pieces of evidence in the case after the complaints were lodged by the minor girls. The police also happened to tamper with the pieces of evidence provided by the victim girls and their respective families, NCPCR stated. “The police formatted the phone of the primary accused Avej and deleted all the photos of the victim girls,” the report mentioned.
Further, the NCPCR noted that the Ahmednagar Police used a tactic of lodging a counter-case on several members of the Hindu community who protested against the violations done by the accused boys.
“The role of police in the entire investigation is questionable. It is imperative and important that this matter requires a detailed and thorough probe by an external investigating agency such as the CBI,” the fact-finding report by the NCPCR noted.
Also, the commission recommended the immediate removal of the SP, Additional SP, and SHO from Ahmednagar Police until the completion of the CBI investigation in the case. The officers as per the NCPCR had conducted lax, improper, and misguided investigations.
What had happened in Rahuri in July?
Hindu minor girls in Ahmednagar’s Rahuri filed an FIR in the case saying that they were being harassed and forced to convert their religion by their tuition teacher Heena Pathan and her ‘relative’ Avej Sheikh.
The victim girl in the complaint copy said that she along with her friends who were studying in standard 10th had joined tuition classes at the accused Heena Pathan’s home. The girls had joined the tuition classes in the year 2021 and continued to attend the classes until the true face of the accused teacher was exposed.
The accused teacher allowed her ‘relatives’ Avej, Sohail, Kaif, and Nisar from her community to enter the tuition and also allowed them to gather around the classes in the presence of the Hindu girls. She used to ask the girls to be friends with them and speak in Hindi only. The local language spoken in Maharashtra is Marathi, people hardly prefer speaking Hindi. Heena however, forced the minor girls to speak Hindi saying that it was the culture and habit of Muslims.
The victim girl in the complaint said that the accused boys had nothing to do with the tuition but were allowed to sit with them given the permission of the accused Heena Pathan. The teacher also asked the girls to behave like Muslim girls and wear burqa. She also wanted the girls to stop wearing bangles and apply kumkum on their foreheads.
Avej trapped a minor girl and forced her to run away with him, wear burqa
The incident had come to the fore after one of the victims dared to come forward and file a police complaint against Avej and the tuition teacher. The girl in the complaint mentioned that Avej trapped many girls from his tuition and forced them to marry him. He would approach the girls in different time periods and none of the girls knew that they were being persuaded by the accused until he was exposed after the police case.
The girl in the complaint mentioned that accused Avej would approach the girls tactfully, carefully grooming them with sweet talking and winning their confidence. He would then develop relations with the girls and propose they marry and run away with him. OpIndia had covered this case on the ground and had exclusively learned that the accused was provided support by other Muslim people from the village.
Accused Avej Shekh
The accused also sexually assaulted the minor girls and captured derogatory photos of them which he used to blackmail them to convert to Islam. He further threatened the girls and said that they would be murdered if they opened their mouths regarding the assault.
Avej’s friends, and sister interfered and helped him trap Hindu girls
As per the FIR, accused Avej asked his sister Alisha to interfere and convince one of the victim girls to accept his ‘love’ proposal. Accordingly, Alisha one day met the victim girl and told her that Avej was madly in love with her and that he wanted to marry her. Avej also used to message the victim on Instagram and blackmail her saying that he would viral her photographs if she refused to talk to him. He also asked the girl to convert her religion to Islam and marry him.
He said to the girl that Salim Pathan, Altaf Sheikh, and Shakir Sayyed (other accused booked in the case) from the village knew about their ‘relation’ and were ready to provide them with a home and some money post-conversion and wedding.
The girl got scared and informed Heena Pathan. But the accused tuition teacher would also favor the accused and praise Islam in front of her. She would say that Islam is the purest and oldest of all the religions. She would ask the victim to be with Avej and listen to what he would propose or suggest.
The victim girl also complained that she was forced to wear a burqa by Alisha and Avej and told to behave like Muslim girls by her tuition teacher Heena. As per the exclusive details that were obtained by OpIndia, around 3-4 girls from the same tuition had come forward and accused Avej of trapping them in love affairs separately and then forcing them to respond to his ‘proposal’ leading to forced conversion.
Heena would feed the victim with some powder giving the ‘strength of Islam’
OpIndia in August this year, traveled to Rahuri to obtain the ground details on this case. The team talked to one of the victims in the case who first filed the FIR against the accused. The motherless girl informed the team that she was assaulted and also harassed by the accused identified as Avej.
She said that given her mother’s loss, Heena would take benefit of her vulnerable emotions and offer her food after the tuitions sometimes. “She would tell me to have meals at her home daily but I refused. I stay with my brother and my father and I love being with them. However, Heena would pity me and give me milk and rice sometimes after tuition. I would not want to have it but she would force me to eat,” the girl said.
She further informed that the Heena would mix some power in the milk and say that it was to provide her with some strength. “It used to taste bitter. And I would also feel a bit dizzy after having it. But I never complained as I thought Heena teacher was genuinely doing this for me out of love. Heena teacher said that the powder mixed with the milk was to give her the strength of Islam,” the girl said.
Also, it had come to the fore that the accused tuition teacher Heena had helped the boys in attaining the photographs of the Hindu girls from the tuition.
Hindus protested but were falsely booked by accused Salim Pathan
The victim girls filed the police complaint but the police failed to take action in the case. This irked the Hindu community who launched protests in the area. The Hindu community members met the victim girls and their respective families to offer help in the case. However, one of the accused Salim Pathan filed an FIR against the Hindu community members falsely accusing them of damaging the Masjid.
In the FIR, accused Pathan mentioned that the members of the Hindu organization attacked his place of work and barged into a nearby Masjid further creating a ruckus on the premises. He also claimed that the Hindu members damaged the Masjid using rods and sticks. Accordingly, the police booked around 25 in the case and arrested 13 on July 27.
Team OpIndia visited Umbre village on August 3 to learn that the 13 Hindu persons from Rahuri who were arrested by the police and released on bail on August 1 were in no way involved in damaging the Masjid as claimed by accused Salim Pathan. They were not present in Umbre when the Masjid was damaged as claimed by accused Pathan.
It was later learned that the members of the Hindu community were specifically targeted for extending help to the minor victim girls who were trapped in a Love Jihad case. The entire incident of the false case was exposed by OpIndia after the team talked to one of the Hindu members who was arrested in the false case and also to the police. The detailed account of the case can be read here.
Police refused to comment on wrongful arrest
OpIndia had contacted Rahuri Police Inspector Dhananjay Jadhav in the case who had refused to comment on the wrongful arrest of the Hindu members. On asking whether the 13 Hindu persons were present in Umbre when the ruckus around the Masjid happened, the PI had said, “Nothing can be commented on that now. Whether they were part of the villager’s mob who created a ruckus around the Masjid or not will be decided in and by the Court. It’s all part of an ongoing investigation that cannot be revealed at present.”
Meanwhile, the victim girls confirmed to OpIndia that the Hindu members had met them to help them and were unnecessarily beaten by the Police. “The Hindu brothers had come to help us. They did nothing. But the Police charged them and arrested them,” one of the girls had said while exclusively talking to OpIndia.
The incidents of love jihad are massively increasing in the state of Maharashtra where vulnerable Hindu girls, many of them minors are targeted. In the given case, one of the victim girls also confirmed that she was targeted by the teacher as the latter knew that the girl was suffering from her mother’s loss and that her social and emotional condition was vulnerable.
In several cases, if the accused has connections with some influential personalities, the victim girls remain unheard. In this case, though the influential connections remain untraced, the accused appeared to have the support of the Muslim community members who offered him with home and money to convert the Hindu girls.
Notably, after the exclusive reporting by OpIndia and efforts taken by the local Hindu community members, the accused men and the tuition teacher were arrested by the police. Also, the 13 Hindus who were wrongly arrested by the Police based on a false case filed by one of the accused booked by the girls were released.
Detailed reports regarding this case can be read here,here, and here.
A total of 10 infants have died in the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) ward at the government-run Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital between 6th and 7th December this year.
The hospital is located in Behrampore city in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. As per reports, a total of 9 newborns and a 2-year-old infant have died within a span of 24 hours.
Three of the deceased infants were born in the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital. Other infants, referred to the government-run hospital, were said to be in a critical condition.
Reportedly, the 2-year-old child who died at the hospital was being treated for neurological problems. Citing sources, Times Nowreported that the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) ward at Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital has a capacity of only 54 babies.
However, more than 100 newborns were admitted to the hospital. According to Times Now, this might have led to the possible spread of infections. As per a report by ABP Ananda, the deceased infants had extremely low birth weight and the mothers were malnourished.
Newborns referred to Murshidabad Hospital beyond its limit
“The children could not be saved as the golden hour had passed,” a hospital official told the news channel. Reportedly, renovation work is underway at the SNCU ward of the Jangipur Super Speciality Hospital for the past 6 weeks.
As such, the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital was forced to admit newborns beyond its capacity. Moreover, the government-run hospital had to admit infants in critical conditions who were referred by the sub-divisional hospitals in Domkal and Lal Bagh
According to reports, a whopping 380 newborns were referred to the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in November this year. Following an upheaval over the incident, the hospital administration constituted a committee to investigate the death of newborns. A report has been sent to the State Health Department.
Poor medical infrastructure of Murshidabad Hospital exposed
While speaking about the tragic incident, the Medical superintendent of the hospital Amit Kumar told Times Now, “We have set an initial enquiry committee and we have got a preliminary report.”
“Based on that I am saying most of the children were malnourished. One child had a severe heart disease for which we don’t have the infrastructure to treat. And we didn’t even get the time.”
He pointed out “…We are trying our best but some children are dying. Most of them are malnourished and underweight. It is becoming very difficult for us to save those children as they weigh around 600 grams. Hence it has become a big challenge.”
“We are forced to keep more than one patient in a bed,” Amit Kumar conceded. Despite setting up a referral system in June this year, the plight of patients remains miserable. The death of 10 infants has brought the spotlight on the poor state of medical infrastructure in Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal.
In a shocking turn of events, Patna witnessed a brutal crime on Thursday (7th December) morning, as unidentified criminals fatally shot 42-year-old land businessman Satyendra Singh. The attack occurred in an area under the Beur police station while victim Satyendra Singh was en route to his morning walk. The victim died on the spot. He is survived by his wife, son, and daughter. Upon receiving the information, police authorities arrived at the scene, launching an investigation into the case.
Satyendra Singh left his house for a morning walk on Thursday morning. At this time, the assailants who came on a motorcycle gunned him down. The incident was also confirmed by the Beur police station in charge. The reason behind the incident is yet to be ascertained, he said.
Satyendra Singh was a resident of the Betaura village. Every day he would go out for a walk with his friends in the morning. On Thursday, Satyendra had gone out for a morning walk with his companions Pramod and Nepali. As soon as they went to some distance from the house, three criminals on bikes, who were already hiding nearby, started firing at them.
Satyendra, Pramod and Nepali started running away to save themselves. The criminals fired several bullets at Satyendra Singh one after the other. The shooters chased him for almost 100 meters. Satyendra Singh was shot three times in the firing by criminals, due to which he died on the spot.
After the incident, people took him to the hospital where doctors declared him dead. As soon as the news of the murder was received, the police of Beur police station reached the spot and started investigating. Police recovered the body and sent it for postmortem. During the investigation, two boxes and three live bullets were recovered by the police from the spot.
According to reports, Ramjanam Singh, uncle of the deceased, said that three criminals were already sitting on a motorcycle. The criminals had come from Betaura village and after committing the incident, fled towards Beur. Satyendra Singh’s family members have denied having any dispute with anyone.
The police are suspecting that some contract killers might have executed this murder. The investigation team has scanned the footage of all the CCTV cameras around the spot. Efforts are on to identify the murderers so that the police can easily reach the mastermind behind this plot. Phulwari Sharif DSP Abhijit Kumar Singh said that Satyendra Singh’s close friends are being questioned. The police are investigating all aspects and trying to arrest the criminals.
Dehadrai’s latest post is in the context of an earlier post which he had deleted.
In a now-deleted post, Dehadrai had shared that he had witnessed Congress MP Shashi Tharoor molesting a woman and TMC MP Mahua Moitra chose to keep quiet about it.
Jai Anant’s deleted post
In a X post on 6th December, Jai Anant Dehadrai had shared, “Mahua’s remarks on misogyny are laughable and expose her for the raging hypocrite she is. She and I witnessed Shashi Tharoor molest a lady on 11th October 2022 at the Taj Chambers Delhi. She prevented me from reporting Shashi’s sickening behaviour. I am sure she can explain why.”
Dehadrai soon deleted the post after sharing. However, screenshots of the deleted post created quite a buzz on social media.
It is notable here that TMC MP Mahua Moitra is facing an investigation from the Lok Sabha ethics committee, and the CBI based on explosive allegations of bribery, corruption and possible violation of Parliamentary privilege in exchange for money. Dehadrai, who was earlier in a relationship with Moitra, had complained to the CBI that Moitra had misused her Parliamentart privilege to post questions that targeted Adani, to further the business interests of Darshan Hiranandani, Adani’s rival.
Soon after Dehadrai’s allegations were taken up by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey to formally complaint to Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani admitted that Mahua Moitra had shared her Lok Sabha log in credentials with him and his office used to post questions on her behalf. Hiranandani also stated that in exchange for the ‘favours’ he was made to shower lavish gifts on Mahua, including luxury items, foreign trips, and crores of cash to meet her demands.
Dehardrai had also alleged that Mahua had kidnapped his beloved pet dog Henry to emotionally harass him to take back his complaint.
Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, a controversial ‘journalist’ named Refaat Al-Areer was reportedly killed in an airstrike in Gaza on Thursday (7th December). During his lifetime, Refaat was known for peddling pro-Hamas propaganda and disseminating anti-Semitic tropes.
Following his death, Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair tried to garner sympathy for Refaat and demonise the State of Israel. The dubious ‘fact checker’ also made no references to the tweets and misleading claims of the deceased ‘journalist’.
Mohammed Zubair retweeted an emotional post of Refaat Al-Areer and attempted to pass him off as an ‘academic’ resisting the supposed ‘atrocities’ of the Jewish State. While sharing a recent interview of the ‘journalist’, Zubair wrote, “Refaat Al-Areer was killed by Israel today.”
In his recent interview in October, "There is no way out of Gaza. What should we do… drown? Commit mass suicide? Is this what Israel wants? And we're not going to do that.. I am an academic, Probably the toughest thing I have at… https://t.co/Ruoilvq3pFpic.twitter.com/Q1QytMiZYx
The Gaza-based Refaat Al-Areer had a history of mocking the death of Israeli civilians. On 29th October, a journalist named Dovid Efune reported that Hamas terrorists brutally murdered a Jewish child. “A baby was found in an oven, baked to death by Hamas terrorists…”he tweeted.
Without any visible semblance of sensitivity, Refaat inquired (archive), “With or Without baking powder.” This was not the first time that he had brazenly displayed his anti-Semitism.
Screengrab of the tweet by Refaat Al-Areer
He had posted multiple tweets comparing Israel with Nazi Germany, which killed 6 million Jews. “Hitler is as peaceful as any Israeli leader,” he said in one tweet.
During his lifetime, the controversial ‘journalist’ was seen actively eulogising Hamas and disseminating its falsehoods.
Hamas is the biggest or second biggest Palestinian party/faction. As big as fateh if not bigger sometimes (talking in terms of elections possiblities and popular support)
The promise of the article is faulty as it suggests the occupied, battered, and impoverished are to blame…
In a bid to shield Hamas, Refaat Al-Areer was seen claiming that Israel killed its own civilians to ‘implicate’ the Islamic terror outfit.
Israel systematically and deliberately murdered its soldiers and settlers including little ones who were held hostage by Hamas fighters for a prisoner swap. https://t.co/TMTxMDVydDhttps://t.co/vToTfRepi4
On Thursday (7th December), Russian President Vladimir Putin heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that PM Modi cannot be intimidated or forced to take any decision that would be against India’s interests. He lauded PM Modi’s tough stance regarding the issues of national interests. Putin made these remarks while addressing the 14th VTB Investment Forum ‘Russia Calling’.
According to a report by news agency ANI, Vladimir Putin said, “I cannot imagine that Modi could be intimidated, intimidated or forced to take any actions, steps and decisions that are contrary to the national interests of India and the people of India. And there is pressure against him, I am aware of that. By the way, he and I never even talked about this. I just look at what is happening from the outside, and sometimes, to be honest, I’m even surprised at his tough position on defending the national interests of the Indian state.”
Modi (@narendramodi) Pursues Tough Policy to Defend India's Interests Despite External Pressure: Russian President (@KremlinRussia_E)
"It is impossible to imagine that Modi could be intimidated or forced to take any actions, steps, decisions that are contrary to the national… pic.twitter.com/7aF1DgyNVy
About the bilateral relations between India and Russia, he said, “First of all, let me say that the relations between Russia and India are consistently developing in all the areas. And the main guarantor for that is the policy led by Prime Minister Modi. He is one of the politicians of the global scale that I was talking about previously without giving the names.”
Vladimir Putin also underlined that the trade between India and Russia is growing. He said, “Last year it was 35 billion dollars per year, and in the first half of this year it was already 33.5 billion. That is, the growth will be significant. Yes, we all understand that, to a large extent, India receives preferences due to discounts on Russian energy resources. Well, he’s actually doing the right thing.”
Vladimir Putin added, “If I were them, I would also do the same if the situation develops this way. They make money, and rightly so. But, of course, this is not enough. We have much more opportunities. In the global ranking of the world’s economies by purchasing power parity and by economic volume, India ranks third in this list and Russia fifth.”
Vladimir Putin further clarified that Russia is very interested in increasing trade with India. He said, “Let me remind you, China, the United States, India, Japan, Russia. The three. largest economies in the world by purchasing power parity. Of course, if our trade turnover with China this year is close to 200 billion, it would be right for us to increase it with India.”
Vladimir Putin has praised PM Narendra Modi and his policies earlier
This is not the first time that Vladimir Putin has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his various policies. On 4th October 2023, Vladimir Putin said, “We share very good political relations with Prime Minister Modi, he is a very wise man. And India has been making very great strides in development under his leadership. This fully meets the interest of both India and Russia to work on this agenda.”
On 12th September 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ policy while speaking at the 8th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia’s port town of Vladivostok. He noted that Russia should “learn from India” and that PM Modi was “doing just the right thing” by encouraging Indians to use products made in India and promoting the programme.
He said, “You know, we did not have domestically made cars then (in the 1990s) but we do now. They indeed look more modest than Mercedes or Audi cars, which we bought in vast amounts in the 1990s, but this is not an issue. I think that we should learn from many of our partners, for example, India. They are focused on the manufacture and use of Indian-made vehicles. I think that Prime Minister Modi is doing the right thing in promoting the Make in India program. He is right.”
Reacting to Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge’s comment suggesting the removal of the portrait of India’s freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar from the state Assembly building, BJP leader CT Ravi on Thursday warned of the removal of the portrait of “dynast” Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, when it comes to power in the state.
“If Veer Savarkar’s photo is removed from the Assembly or Council, we will protest strongly. And mark my words, we will ensure that Nehru’s photos will be removed when we return to power,” Ravi posted on X.
He said that while Nehru was getting “VIP treatment” in jails, the “great Nationalist” Veer Savarkar was subjected to untold torture by the British.
“I invite you to visit the Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands where the great Nationalist Veer Savarkar was subjected to untold torture by the British. All expenses will be borne by me. You can see the kind of pain and suffering Veer Savarkar went through while your Nehru was getting VIP treatment in jails from the same British,” The former BJP National general secretary posted on X.
He also challenged Priyank Kharge to a public debate with him on the subject of “who was a true Freedom Fighter, your Nehru or Veer Savarkar”.
“I challenge you to a public debate from the Cellular Jail itself about who was a true Freedom Fighter, your Nehru or Veer Savarkar. Veer Savarkar was not a Dynast like Nehru or you whose photo can be taken down by a bunch of Dynasty Worshippers,” He added in the post.
Priyank Kharge on Thursday told reporters that he was of the opinion that the photo of Savarkar should not be in the Karnataka Assembly as his “ideology incites hatred”.
“I am of the strong opinion that Savarkar’s photo should not be there in the Assembly or the Counsel. If BJP has a problem with it, it is their problem. It is my opinion that anybody whose ideology incites hatred, creates division should not be there, Savarkar’s portrait should not be there,” Priyank Kharge said.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Adish C Aggarwala on Thursday wrote to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud expressing “shock” at the practice of a senior lawyer to write letters to the CJI. In the letter, senior advocate Aggarwala requested Justice Chandrachud to ignore “such malicious, motivated and dubious attempts”, saying that these are nothing but “self-serving attacks on the independence of the judiciary”.
Aggarwala’s letter came a day after senior advocate Dushyant Dave wrote an open letter to CJI D Y Chandrachud expressing anguish over “certain happenings” in the listing of cases and their reallocation to other benches in the Supreme Court. Dave had sought immediate corrective measures in these matters. Responding to this letter, the SCBA president wrote, “To my utter shock, I have received a public letter which is stated to be ‘an open letter’ to your lordship by a senior member of the Bar.”
Adish C Aggarwala also cited past incidents when Dushyant Dave had written letters to the Supreme Court judges including the CJI. He mentioned how Dave had written to CJI Ranjan Gogoi in 2019 alleging irregular listing of two Adani Group cases before a vacation bench. Then in September 2020, Dushyant Dave wrote to Chief Justice SA Bobde alleging that he was not allowed to speak at the farewell of Justice Arun Mishra.
“If the Chief Justice of India succumbs to such pressure tactics, it would sound a death knell to the independence of this great institution at the hands of certain vested interests,” Aggarwala said in the letter. He wrote that a growing tendency has emerged to write such letters to sitting CJIs to “exert undue pressure” on the administration of justice. He added that such letters are written with respect to a few selected cases and at the behest of some influential litigants.
SCBA president Adish C Aggarwala further said that “undignified behavior” with judges by some counsel a few days before their retirement has become a common phenomenon and is aimed at attracting publicity and creating an element of uneasiness among the judges.
“Owing to this misbehaviour by some senior counsel, the Bar suffers disgrace and the harmony between the Bar and the Bench gets disturbed. The ill behaving lawyers still stand to benefit because they attract clients who want to put pressure on the courts to decide cases in a certain manner,” he wrote.
Aggarwala stressed that the administration cannot waste its precious time entertaining every letter making wild and imaginary accusations. He said that the assignment of cases to benches is not open to question, and the CJI is not required to justify such decisions nor need to respond to such allegations of improper bench allocation.
“The writing of such letters is therefore malicious, and calculated to embarrass the Administration”, he said, stressing the need to put an end to such ‘open letters’ to the top judiciary by senior lawyers. “The time has come where one should put an end to the practice of writing of such letters,” Aggarwala wrote.
“This will subserve the interest of the Bar and will strengthen the Administration of Justice. It is essential to curb every attempt to scandalize the court mechanisms with insinuations and falsehood, aimed at mischievously shaking the confidence of the public in our courts,” he further added.
“It is essential to curb every attempt to scandalise the court mechanisms with insinuations and falsehood, aimed at mischievously shaking the confidence of the public in our courts,” Aggarwala said.
He said the Bar has full faith and reposes full confidence in the neutrality and unprecedented administrative skill of the CJI and other judges of the Supreme Court. “After your lordship took over as Chief Justice of India, all administrative issues have been streamlined right from mentioning of matters, listing of cases and other issues concerning the registry,” he said.
“While heading one of the three organs of the State, the Chief Justice of India is bound to encounter some detractors who could be canvassing for disgruntled litigants who couldn’t secure the relief they desired,” the letter said.
It is notable that in his letter to the CJI, Dushyant Dave, a former SCBA president, had said he was deeply anguished at certain happenings about the listing and ‘sudden transfer’ of cases by the apex court registry.
He had added that some cases were sensitive in nature involving “human rights, freedom of speech, democracy, and functioning of statutory and constitutional institutions”. Dave had expressed regret that he had to write the open letter as efforts by some lawyers to meet the CJI personally did not yield any result.
The script for the assassination of Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi who was the national president of the Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena was written six years prior following the death of infamous Rajasthani mobster Anandpal Singh in a police confrontation, reported Aaj Tak. Lawrence Bishnoi and Anandpal Singh had a long-standing animosity while the latter and Sukhdev Singh were friends during that time. However, many similar occurrences transpired in the meantime which led to the enmity grow stronger and then what Sukhdev Singh had been dreading for a long time eventually materialized.
Sidhu Moose Wala died on 29th May 2022 and Raju Thehat on 3rd December of the same year. Duran Mandeep Singh Toofan and Manmohan Singh Mohana were killed on 25th February of this year whereas Tillu Tajpuria died a little over two months later on 2nd May. Sukhdool Singh alias Sukha Duneke lost his life on 5th September, Deepak Mann on 1st October and Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi on 5th December.
New trends from Sidhu Moose Wala to Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi
Those days are long gone when the murderer would hide their identity after the crime was committed. Now, the accused first kills and then boosts about the same and takes responsibility for his heinous deeds. This horrible trend started with Sidhu Moose Wala and continued with the death of Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi.
Gangster Rohit Godara’s post
The post read, “Ram Ram to all brothers. We are Rohit Godara Kapurisar and Goldie Brar. We take full responsibility for the murder that occurred today. It was committed by us. We want to tell you brothers that he was collaborating with our enemies and helping them. He was working to strengthen them. As for our adversaries, they better keep their biers ready on the doorsteps of their houses, as we will meet them soon.”
One killer and multiple killings
The individual accountable for each of these killings is the same, even though the names, addresses and cities of the deceased listed above with dates are different. However, he never owns up to his wrongdoings or accepts accountability and instead, his henchmen always take the fall for him. That person has been imprisoned for the past nine years and is India’s biggest Lawrence Bishnoi.
Dispute between Bishnoi andGogamedi
While other people were charged with the shooting of Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena national president Sukhdev Singh in his Jaipur home that fateful afternoon, Rohit Godara, a goon of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was the one who gave the order to pull the trigger. Rohit Godara who has a reward of one lakh rupees managed to flee the country on a fake passport in 2022.
Gogamedi’s name made headlines after Anandpal’s demise
The plot to eliminate Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi began around six years ago. It started with the killing of Rajasthan’s notorious gangster Anandpal Singh in an encounter. He was a Rajput and Gogamedi was a prominent leader of the same caste. After the former’s death on 24th June 2017, he sat on a protest with his corpse for the next 15 days. It was a major matter at the time. The incident had brought Sukhdev Singh into the limelight for the first time outside the state.
Gogamedibecame target of Bishnoi
Sukhdev Singh always advocated for Anandpal while he had a massive conflict with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Now, whether intentionally or not, he had also turned into the gang’s target. However, the risk was not as significant back then. Sukhdev Singh was a member of the Rajput outfit Rashtriya Karni Sena at the time. However, a disagreement arose within the organisation. He was already well-known due to the protests that followed Anandpal’s killing. He then created the Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena in 2017 after sensing the occasion and atmosphere and became its supremo.
Raju Thehat was murdered in his home
In addition to Rajput politics, Sukhdev Singh also worked in property dealing and gained a lot of nemesis because of this. Meanwhile, he became closer to a gangster named Raju Thehat after Anandpal’s demise. Raju Thehat, co-incidentally was on the target list of Lawrence Bishnoi gang. On 3rd December he was also shot dead in his residence just like Sukhdev Singh and Rohit Godara took responsibility for this murder as well.
Rohit Godara was angry with Sukhdev Singh
Sukhdev Singh’s own politics and property business were running smoothly amidst all the rivalries. Howvere, the land business placed him squarely in the Lawrence Bishnoi gang’s crosshairs. Rohit Godara believed that Sukhdev Singh only helped the Rajputs and did not do justice to the Jat community. Sukhdev Singh had backed the former group in a few of these land disputes which made Rohit Gadara furious with the Rajput leader. He initially threatened the former about a year and a half ago by making calls from numbers in Pakistan and Dubai. However, Sukhdev Singh dismissed it at the time.
Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for multiple murders
Meanwhile, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for several homicides and Sukhdev Singh was regularly threatened. Afterwards, Sukhdev Singh requested security for himself in March of this year after first alerting the Rajasthan Police to this threat. This demand was brought up in a letter from Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi to the state police.
Police could not provide security
Seven months went by between March and December and the authorities were unable to determine whether Sukhdev Singh needed security or not. Sukhdev Singh became irate with the Rajasthan Police and in the interim hired three security guards for his protection. He now left the house and attended gatherings under their watch unaware that a conspiracy was being hatched somewhere far away to end their lives.
Rohit Godara hatched a conspiracy to kill Sukhdev Singh
Sukhdev Singh was on Rohit Godara’s hit list for the last one and a half years and he was constantly looking for opportunities to kill him. He needed someone that Sukhdev Singh knew in order to reach him so that he could send his shooter to assassinate the man. He found the chance in the form of Naveen Shekhawat who belonged to the Rajputana region in Jaipur. He had a clothing store and was well acquainted with Sukhdev Singh. Rohit Godara was aware of the same. The marriage of Naveen Shekhawat’s cousin was fixed for the next month coincidentally. Rohit Godara knew that Naveen Shekhawat would visit Sukhdev Singh’s home to give him the wedding card. He kept this in mind and started to plan the murder.
Friendship with Naveen Shekhawat was part of the plan
Rohit Godara has two special shooters named Rohit Rathore and Nitin Fauji. Rohit hails from Nagaur in Rajasthan while Nitin is from Mahendragarh in Haryana but his in-laws are in Alwar. Nitin Fauji was employed in the Indian Army five years ago and he prefixes his name with ‘fauji’ for this reason. These two were chosen to shoot Sukhdev Singh. Nitin Fauji arrived on leave from his duty in the Army to do the job after which they both met Naveen Shekhawat and gradually won over his confidence.
Nitin Fauji worked for the Indian Army five years ago. He prefixes his name with “army” for this reason. These two were chosen to shoot Sukhdev Singh. Nitin Fauji then arrived from his duty on leave after which they both met Naveen Shekhawat and gradually won over his trust. On 5th December, it was decided that all three of them would go to deliver the invitation card. Nitin Fauji even hired a Scorpio for three days for Rs 5,000 per day. They consumed alcohol in the vehicle which then came to a stop close to Sukhdev Singh’s Jaipur residence.
Their conversation lasted ten minutes
Notably, two out of three guards of Sukhdev Singh were on leave on 5th December. Only the remaining one named Ajit was with him. Naveen Shekhawat first talked to Ajit after they reached Sukhdev Singh’s place. He informed him about giving the invitation card to Sukhdev Singh after which Naveen, Rohit and Nitin were allowed to enter the house. Sukhdev Singh was sitting on the sofa in the drawing room. Naveen Shekhawat presented the card to him and a casual conversation started between them which lasted around ten minutes.
Opened fire at Sukhdev Singh
Sukhdev Singh had CCTV cameras installed both inside and outside his home for security purposes. The entire scene of the meeting was recorded in the same camera. All of a sudden, Sukhdev Singh’s mobile phone rang after approximately 10 minutes. He picked up the phone and started talking. Naveen Shekhawat was sitting beside him while the two shooters were seated up front. Both shooters had their opportunity just as Sukhdev Singh’s attention was grabbed by his mobile. They immediately stood up and simultaneously started shooting at him. Ajit was also present there and was shot by them. However, the most shocking part was that they also fired upon Naveen Shekhawat.
A defenceless police force in front of Lawrence Bishnoi
Lawrence Bishnoi is incarcerated but for the past one and a half years, his accomplices have been executing their targets in his name. As a result, everyone who has been threatened by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang is terrified. There is a long list of such people. The law enforcement agencies and the police under the then Congress-ruled state always appeared powerless against the Lawrence Bishnoi gang despite their open threats. The morale of his gang is continuously spiking because of this reason. The fact that Lawrence Bishnoi is engaging in all of this criminal activity while confined in jail is the greatest insult to law and order.
Investigation under the supervision of Additional Director General of Police
The Haryana Police announced that Nitin Fauji was under arrest within a day of the murder of Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi. However, Rohit Rathore, the second shooter is still evading capture. The Rajasthan Police is currently looking into whether Naveen Shekhawat knew about the plot to murder Sukhdev Sikh and did he participate in the shootings or was he only a pawn in the game.
There is intense resentment among Karni Sena members in several parts of Rajasthan following the death of Sukhdev Singh. The police are under pressure to apprehend the murderers as soon as possible. Furthermore, Rajasthan Police Additional Director General (ADG) of Police Dinesh MN who was on leave has been called back. He is now supervising the completion of the inquiry into the murder case.
