TMC’s Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra has been expelled from the Lok Sabha after the Ethics Committee tabled its report on her corruption and bribery. She was expelled after the tabled report was debated and a vote was sought from MPs. After Moitra’s expulsion by the Lok Sabha, Opposition leaders, including Congress MPs, staged a walkout.
Following the expulsion, Mahua Moitra, known for her noisy rants in the parliament, launched another noisy rant outside the Parliament as an ex-MP.
#WATCH | "The Ethics Committee has no power to expel….This is the beginning of your(BJP) end," says Mahua Moitra after her expulsion as TMC MP. pic.twitter.com/WZsnqiucoE
Speaking to the media with Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi standing behind her, Mahua Moitra screamed that there was no evidence of any cash or any gifts being taken by her. She even brazened out sharing her login credentials with Darshan Hiranandani, stating that there is no rule specified against sharing login credentials. She then shouted that an MP sharing her credentials with a businessman so that he could pose questions targeted on his rival business entity is not wrong, because MPs are there to raise questions on behalf of the public anyway.
Moitra then claimed that she was thrown out of the Lok Sabha because the Modi government wanted to hush up the ‘Adani issue’. Repeating her allegations against the Adani Group, she said that they have ignored the ‘13,000 crore coal scam’ but have chosen to harass a single woman MP.
Mahua then claimed that Adani is buying all ports and airports of the country, but the government is only focusing on throwing her out of the Lok Sabha.
Moitra then brought up Ramesh Bidhuri calling Samajwadi MP Danish Ali ‘K*twa and Bh*dwa’, and claimed that it was persecution of minorities.
Mahua stated that she will keep fighting the Modi government. She then quoted lines from the National Anthem and said that the BJP doesn’t have Punjab, Sindh, Dravida, Utkala, and Banga. She added that she would fight the Modi government even in the gutter.
It was interesting to see that Mahua Moitra was shouting at the top of her voice before dozens of journalists, having her statement telecast live all over the country, but was screaming that the Modi government is ‘shutting her up’.
The Southwestern State of New Mexico in the United States has filed a civil lawsuit against Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms, and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday (5th December), reportedThe Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
An investigation conducted by the office of New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez found that sexual content is being recommended to minors on both Facebook and Instagram. It also discovered that accounts of underage users are being promoted to child sexual predators.
The civil lawsuit read, “Meta has allowed Facebook and Instagram to become a marketplace for predators in search of children upon whom to prey.” The office of the New Mexico attorney general pointed out that Meta prioritised its advertising revenue and thus left minor users vulnerable to abuse.
EXCLUSIVE: New Mexico's attorney general has filed a lawsuit accusing social media giant Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg of enabling child sex abuse and trafficking on its platforms. pic.twitter.com/wiyafNCUIP
It squarely blamed Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg for aggravating risks to children using Facebook and Instagram. As per the report by The Wall Street Journal, the New Mexico attorney general’s office set up Facebook and Instagram test accounts for 4 ‘fictional children’.
And it used ‘adult birth dates’ for some of the accounts to mimic the behaviour of some underage users. One of the accounts was named ‘Issa Bee’. An AI-generated photograph of a child was used as the Display Picture (DP). The birth year was registered as 2002.
The account was used to create posts about ‘losing her baby tooth’ and ‘experiencing the first day of 7th grade.’ The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office noticed that Meta began recommending sex content to the account.
Meet This“Issa Bee,” a 14 year old from Albuquerque who opened a Facebook account earlier this year. Issa Bee was AI-generated, created by investigators for New Mexico’s attorney general. The state alleges Meta’s platforms actively funnel children to sex predators. pic.twitter.com/HMJWBaqtZI
It also received explicit messages and pictures of genitalia from other users at least 3-4 times per week on the messenger app. Potential sexual predators also sent invite requests to the account to join private chat groups and watch sexual content involving children and adults.
Similarly, other test accounts created by Raúl Torrez’s office saw Meta recommending a handle, posting adult pornography, despite the age of the user being marked as 13 years old.
The civil lawsuit pointed out that underage users who showed interest in sexual content on Facebook were approached on the platform by sexual predators. Interestingly, the test accounts were allowed to join dating groups on Facebook without the need for age verification.
Per New Mexico, Meta didn’t take down that wildly inappropriate and illegal content that she was sent. Even when she reported it. Instead, Meta’s systems noticed her rapid follower growth and suggested she set up a professional account with access to monetization features.
The Office of the Attorney General found that those groups were often administered by adults. It highlighted how the ‘minor’ test accounts were inundated with follower requests from adults, who also solicited sex in exchanged for money.
This is contrary to the claims by Meta that it prevents ‘malicious’ adults from contacting children. One of the minor accounts that joined a ‘job seeking group’ was approached by a man requesting participation in child pornography for a specific price.
There were also attempts by sexual predators to convince the minor users to join prostitution. Despite flagging the sexually inappropriate content through Meta’s reporting systems, the tech giant reviewed the content and declared that it was ‘acceptable.’
Per the suit, Meta started recommending porn to 13 year old who wasn’t looking for it within a few days of account creation.
As with our past reporting, New Mexico found enforcement issues, too. This suit suggests that Meta’s AI can't reliably recognize an erect penis.
In the lawsuit, the Office of the New Mexico attorney general pointed out criminal cases in the State where sexual predators used Meta Platforms to groom and recruit 100s of underage victims for human trafficking.
While speaking about the civil lawsuit, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez told WSJ, “The features of the platform itself are not engineered in a way to prevent this matchmaking from likely predators and likely victims…“I incorrectly assumed, like a lot of parents, that a big, well-funded company like Meta would not have allowed itself to become an alternative venue for that activity.”
Response of Meta on the lawsuit
In a statement, Meta said, “We use sophisticated technology, hire child safety experts, report content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and share information and tools with other companies and law enforcement, including state attorneys general, to help root out predators.”
Earlier in a Facebook post on 6th October, 2021, Mark Zuckerberg had vowed to protect kids using the platform.
“I’m particularly focused on the questions raised about our work with kids. I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on the kinds of experiences I want my kids and others to have online, and it’s very important to me that everything we build is safe and good for kids,” he had said then.
In June this year, Meta claimed to have created a child-safety task forced to crack down on pedophilic accounts on Instagram. According to an investigation conducted by WSJ, the number of users and groups trading child pornography has increased on Meta’s platforms.
In its defence, the social media giant has claimed to have removed 16000 Facebook groups in this regard. Earlier in October 2023, a total of 41 US States filed a lawsuit against Meta for misleading the public about the dangers of its platforms for the youth.
On 7th December, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared that no one could prevent a young man and woman from getting married if they decided to do so out of love for each other regardless of their caste or religious beliefs. His statement came in light of the accusation made by a popular Islamic leader Nasar Faizy Koodathai that the ruling Left party in the southern state was promoting inter-faith marraiges.
According to the chief minister, parents on both sides or in both families have always rejected these kinds of unions however that hasn’t stopped them. He stated that the SFI (Students Federation of India) which is the student wing of the CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) and the DYFI (Democratic Youth Federation of India) which is the Left party’s youth outfit were not acting as “inter-caste marriage bureaus.”
He asserted, “Such changes are happening in the state in accordance with the times and no organisation or the government is doing anything to bring about these changes. If a young man and woman like each other and decide to get married, no one in the world can prevent that. If someone thinks they can prevent it, they need to realise it is not possible,” while responding to the queries regarding the charges levelled by the Islamic scholar.
Reverse Love Jihad: Controversial statement made by the Islamic leader
On 6th December at the community meeting in Kozhikode, Nasar Faizy Koodathai, secretary of the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham which is the youth wing of the powerful Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama held CPI-M responsible for the promotion of interfaith marriages among the Muslim women. He claimed that the party along with its youth and student divisions are supporting the ‘abduction and marriage off to non-Muslims’ of Muslim girls. He cautioned his community to ‘beware’ of these kinds of instances and advised them to be on the lookout for the party’s ‘tactics with the label of secularism.’
He alleged, “Some people believe that marriages between Muslim and Hindu communities are secularism. They are widely promoting interfaith marriages. Even the party leaders are supporting this and party offices are being used for this. Young Muslim women are being ‘abducted’ with the support of SFI, DYFI and CPM and married off to non-Muslims. Mahallu committees should be vigilant against those trying to destroy the identity of Muslim women, and they should join hands to fight the denouncement of religion.” Interestingly, the Islamic outfit is associated with the Indian Union Muslim League, a political ally of the Kerala Congress.
This is the first time a prominent Muslim figure connected to the powerful group of Sunni Muslim clerics has spoken out against interfaith unions in a state. Kerala is particularly infamous for multiple Love Jihad occurrences against Hindu women. Muslims have been exposed by Hindus repeatedly for engaging in the abhorrent practice. The Catholic organisations there have also voiced grievances on numerous occasions regarding incidences of love jihad in which Christian females are singled out, seduced and eventually converted to Islam.
In a recent ruling, the Allahabad High Court refused to quash a chargesheet lodged in 2019 against a man named Sahil Mehra who was booked for posting derogatory content on Facebook regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian Army.
The bench of Justice JJ Munir observed that the statement, taken as a whole, seemed divisive and could incite insecurity within communities. The court held that such statements could incite illegal actions against public order or the state.
“Prima facie, given the totality of the context, the statements are divisive of the community and tend to promote insecurity in the minds of one community against another. These also tend to create fear or alarm amongst the public that may induce one Section of the public to commit offences against public tranquillity or the State,” the Allahabad High Court order dated 24th November reads.
Pointing to one of the statements made by accused Sahil Mehra, a native of Kiratpur and a resident of Mohalla Chauhanan, the Court stated that it may have “some kind of bearing on the morale of the Armed Forces,” adding that it “would require a more detailed probe.”
It is worth recalling that an FIR at Kiratpur police station in Bijnor was filed against Sahil Mehra in 2019 under Section 505 IPC and Section 66 of the IT Act on accusations that he was posting derogatory words against the Indian Army on his Facebook account, which could demoralise the armed forces, in addition to using disrespectful words for Prime Minister Modi.
According to the informant, Mehra’s posts fuelled enmity in society, resulting in disputes between different parts of town. After an inquiry, the police filed a chargesheet. The magistrate accepted the charges and ordered the accused to stand trial. Mehra sought remedy by petitioning the High Court to quash the chargesheet.
The Court reviewed the contents of the case diary, which included printed copies of screenshots of the offending Facebook posts, and determined that the alleged posts were made and shared with the intent to incite one class or community of persons to commit an offence against another class or community.
The Court, however, emphasised that its views were based on a prima facie impression based on a reading of the statement and were in no way a conclusion or expression of opinion on the merits of the subject, which, according to the Court, must be tried under the law.
“It is only prima facie that we are convinced that an offence not worth quashing the impugned charge sheet in the exercise of our jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C. is made out insofar as the case under Section 505 IPC is concerned,” the Court observed.
However, in terms of the offence under Section 66 of the IT Act, the court stated that it did not appear to be prima facie made out, because none of the acts relating to a computer or computer system, such as damaging it, disrupting it, or denying access to any person, as envisaged under Section 43 of the I.T. Act, were prima facie disclosed.
As a result, the court ruled that a notice confined to the offence alleged under Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 be sent to the opposing parties, with a return date of 14.12.2023. The case will now be heard on December 14.
TMC’s Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra has been expelled from the Lok Sabha after the Ethics Committee tabled its report on her corruption and bribery. She was expelled after the tabled report was debated and a vote was sought from MPs.
Mahua Moitra reportedly requested to speak on behalf of her party but she was denied.
Opposition leaders have staged a walkout, as usual, after Lok Sabha adopted the motion to expel the scam-tainted MP. Moitra was seen reading the prepared speech outside the parliament. She even tried to brazen it out saying there is no rule of expelling an MP for sharing login credentials with a businessman, and there is no evidence of her taking lavish gifts from Hiranandani.
Opposition stages walk out after Lok Sabha adopts motion to expel Mahua Moitra as TMC MP pic.twitter.com/QwWt2i8s84
Earlier today, the Ethics Committee report probing ‘Unethical Conduct’ of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra in the “cash for query” case that was tabled in the Lok Sabha recommended that Moitra “may be expelled” from the Lok Sabha and called for an “intense, legal, institutional inquiry” by the central government in a “time-bound manner”.
Moitra is facing a CBI inquiry over serious allegations of corruption, bribery where she has herself admitted that she had given her login credentials to businessman Darshan Hiranandani to pose questions on her behalf, questions that were related to Hiranandani’s business interests and were targeted to his rival Adani Group.
Hiranandani has admitted to paying cash, lavish gifts to Moitra, and having access to her Lok Sabha login credentials.
In continuance of numerous dowry deaths over the years, yet another girl lost her life to the exorbitant dowry demand of the groom and his family. In Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, a 26-year-old doctor named Shahana died by suicide after her boyfriend Dr EA Ruvais refused to have nikah with her as her family could not fulfil the dowry demand. Shahana, a resident doctor in the surgery department of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, was found dead in her rented room on December 5.
Dr Ruvais proposed Shahana for marriage but with an added “terms and conditions apply” as he demanded a substantial dowry. It has been alleged that Ruvais’s family had demanded gold, land and a BMW car as dowry. Being parents of a girl, Shahana’s family gave into the dowry demands and agreed to ‘gift’ 50 sovereigns of gold, properties worth Rs 50 lakhs, and a car. Even after this, Shahana’s family could not satiate the unending greed of the groom’s family and the 26-year-old girl was left heartbroken, emotionally fragile and humiliated after the man who proposed to her for marriage walked away as he could not fetch ‘enough’ dowry.
In July this year, a man named Atiq Ahmed had threatened to burn his wife Saba Bano alive over failing to give dowry in Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi. After perpetual physical and mental abuse, Atiq Ahmed gave triple talaq to his wife as she was unable to give Rs 5 lakh and other ‘gifts’ to her husband and in-laws.
Back in February 2021, a 23-year-old girl named Ayesha had committed suicide by jumping off the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Before ending her life, Ayesha had recorded a video in which she revealed her ordeal accusing her husband Arif Khan and his family of dowry, harassment and domestic violence. Her video back then had sparked discussion of the prevalence of dowry and related abuse even in present times. Last year, the court sentenced Ayesha’s husband Arif to 10 years in prison.
Dowry: The perennial malediction on marriages in India
It is paramount to understand that the practice of dowry is neither new nor limited to any particular religion. This social evil extends over all religions in some or the other manner. This perennial abuse of women and their families in the name of seeking ‘gifts’ has claimed numerous lives over the years. An IndiaToday report from the year 1988 highlighted that in 1986 around 1319 dowry deaths were reported with cases concentrated not in one or two states or limited to any particular religion but from Jammu and Kashmir to Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and so on.
“For the first time, 10 were reported burned in Jammu & Kashmir last year. The southward spread has been much more dramatic. In Andhra Pradesh, the number reported rose sixfold from 13 in 1985 to 79 in 1986. And by July of 1987, the year’s tally had already leapt to 166. In Tamil Nadu, the graph jumped threefold from 12 in 1985 to 38 in 1986. And these government figures might be only the tip of the iceberg,” the report reads highlighting dowry death cases pertaining to adherents of different religions.
A World Bank blog published in 2021 says that dowry is not just a Hindu phenomenon rather average net dowry in Muslim marriages is only slightly lower than among Hindus. In contrast, Christians and Sikhs exhibited a striking increase in dowry over the period of 1960-2008, leading to higher average dowries than Hindus and Muslims.
Trends in real net and gross dowry, by Year of Marriage (Graph via WorldBank)
Despite the laws in place, the giving and taking of dowry and related violence has been prevalent in the country. According to a Parliamentary Committee report published in 2021 and an NCRB report issued in the same year, in 2021 alone, 6,589 dowry-related deaths were recorded, as well as 13,568 dowry-related incidents, and 136,243 incidents of cruelty by husbands or their relatives.
(Graph via WorldBank)
Recently, the NCRB published its annual crime report for the year 2022. The report said that 13,479 cases were registered in 2022 under the Dowry Prohibition Act, of 1961. During the same period in 2022, 6,450 dowry deaths were reported. The number of dowry deaths has fallen by 4.5% in 2022, while the number of cases registered under the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 has dropped by 0.6%. Up to 4,594 cases (the highest in the country) were registered in Uttar Pradesh.
Number of cases registered under the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 (Image via NCRB website)
With 4,807 cases, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of cases reported under the Dowry Prohibition Act, of 1961 followed by Bihar with 3580 cases and, Karnataka with 2,224.
A video recently went viral online featuring a ‘display’ of dowry items at a wedding, including a car, utensils crockery sets, almirah, television set, refrigerator, air conditioner, and whatnot. This boastful impunity demonstrates the prevalence and normalisation of dowry practice even among the ‘educated’ and ‘modern’ masses.
Usually dismissed as a practice prevalent among so-called upper caste Hindus, giving and receiving of dowry in reality is a menace that transcends caste and religions in addition to regional boundaries. Instead, it reflects a broader cultural phenomenon ingrained in the social fabric. The above discussion demonstrates the same. Dowry deaths often result from the intersection of traditional customs, economic factors, and gender dynamics. The dowry system fosters the idea that a woman’s worth is judged by the monetary assets she brings into a marriage, resulting in their commodification. This dehumanising behaviour crosses religious bounds as seen in countless such cases over the decades.
To tackle this issue comprehensively, society must prioritise education and awareness efforts that combat archaic mindsets. Furthermore, severe enforcement of dowry prohibition laws is required to dissuade those who commit dowry-related violence. Moreover, the authorities must rigorously investigate and prosecute cases of dowry-related violence.
To summarise, combating dowry-related deaths in India necessitates a diversified approach that recognises the issue as a society problem rather than that of a particular caste, religion or regional group. As long as the mindset that “girls are a liability and boys are assets” does not change, this practice will prevail unabated.
Nalanda, the home district of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is currently in the news due to allegations of sexual exploitation at the Vardhman Institute of Medical Sciences in Pawapuri. Several female students of this institute have come forward, accusing five individuals, including the Head of Department (HOD), of engaging in molestation.
Bihar Police has said through a post on X that a case has been registered against HOD Vijender Prasad, Dr Nirmal Kumar, Dr Jitesh, Dr Ajay Kumar and Clerk Niranjan Kumar and further action is being taken.
पावापुरी ओ०पी अंतर्गत अवस्थित V.I.M.S पावापुरी मेडिकल कॉलेज की छात्रा के द्वारा आरोप लगाया गया कि दिनांक 06.12.23 को प्रायोगिक एवं मौखिक परीक्षा के दौरान अस्पताल के निश्चेतना विभाग में वहां के डॉक्टरों एवं अन्य के द्वारा छेड़खानी किया गया है। pic.twitter.com/4zNu0a7ghD
According to reports, the students allege that the HOD attempted to kiss them in his room, insisting it was necessary to pass the exams. The accused individuals also allegedly directed the students to go to the bathroom and suggested that the female students would pass the exams if they reciprocated with sexual favours to the accused. The students have further accused them of coercing inappropriate conversations.
On 6th December 2023, there was an oral examination at the medical college. After the exams, the female students returned to their rooms. Subsequently, they were called to the college via phone. Upon their arrival, the HOD individually summoned each student to his room and engaged in inappropriate behaviour.
A student said, “Sir said that you have got such low marks. What will you do? Will you pass or fail? I said I wanted to pass. He said, ‘Let’s go to the bathroom’. When I refused, he grabbed me forcefully. I started crying and he left me. Dr. Ajay Kumar and Dr. Jitesh Kumar held me.”
According to another student, the accused were in an inebriated state at the time of the incident. She was asked what she would do in return if she was declared the topper of the exam. Dr Nirmal Kumar allegedly asked her to touch his feet and seek blessings. But as soon as she bent down to touch the feet, he tried to kiss her. The aggrieved students are studying the course of OT Assistant.
The students also alleged that initially their allegations were not taken seriously. The police sent them back from the police station. However, the local outpost in charge Anita Kumari has denied the allegation. She said that the police are investigating the case, after which further action will be taken. College principal Dr Ashok Kumar said the district magistrate has formed a team to investigate the matter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, 8th December 2023, said that every penny looted from the public will be recovered. He was referring to the reports of Income Tax raids on Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu, in which cash worth over Rs 300 crores has been seized.
Posting an image of Hindi daily Dainik Jagaran’s first page with the report and images of the piles of cash, PM Modi urged people to look at the images and then listen to the speeches of opposition leaders. Tweeting in Hindi, he wrote, “The countrymen should look at the pile of these notes and then listen to the honest ‘speeches’ of their leaders…”
देशवासी इन नोटों के ढेर को देखें और फिर इनके नेताओं के ईमानदारी के 'भाषणों' को सुनें… ???
जनता से जो लूटा है, उसकी पाई-पाई लौटानी पड़ेगी, यह मोदी की गारंटी है।
He then added promised that all the money looted from the public will be recovered by his government. ‘Whatever has been looted from the public, every penny will have to be returned, this is Modi’s guarantee,’ he added.
PM Modi also added several emojis in the tweet, which has been his recent practice after the assembly election results.
It is notable that on Thursday (December 7), the Income Tax Department conducted raids at Boudh Distilleries Private Limited (BDPL) in Odisha and Jharkhand. This firm is reportedly connected to Jharkhand Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu. The raid is still going on as the officials recovered huge cash which is taking time for counting. According to reports, cash worth over Rs 300 crores has been seized in this raid.
Simultaneous raids at the MP’s premises in Ranchi, Lohardaga and Odisha have led to the recovery of so much cash that trucks were needed to carry it to the bank.
The IT sleuths raided the house of Dheeraj Sahu, Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, who is said to be linked to several liquor companies. Almirahs full of cash were reportedly seized at the premises linked to the MP in Lohardaga and Ranchi. Raids were also carried out simultaneously at Sambalpur, Bolangir, Titilagarh, Boudh, Sundargarh, Rourkela and Bhubaneswar.
Detaled reports on the I-T raids on the Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu and liquor companies linked with him can be read here and here.
The Ethics Committee report probing ‘Unethical Conduct’ of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra in the “cash for query” case that was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday recommended that Moitra “may be expelled” from the Lok Sabha and called for an “intense, legal, institutional inquiry” by the central government in a “time-bound manner”.
“The serious misdemeanours on the part of Mahua Moitra calls for severe punishment. The Committee, therefore, recommend that Mahua Moitra, MP may be expelled from the Membership of the Seventeenth Lok Sabha,” the report read.
Calling for a government enquiry it said, “In view of highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal conduct of Mahua Moitra, the Committee recommends for an intense, legal, institutional inquiry by the Government of India in a time-bound manner.”
The Committee also recommended an investigation by the government into the ‘money trail’ of cash transactions between Mahua Moitra and Darshan Hiranandani as a part of ‘quid pro quo’.
“The ‘money trail’ of cash transaction between Smt Mahua Moitra and Shri Darshan Hiranandani as a part of ‘quid pro quo’ should be investigated by the Government of India in a legal, institutional and time-bound manner,” the report said.
On unruly conduct and rumours spread by Bahujan Samaj Party MP Kunwar Danish Ali, the committee recommended that he be ‘admonished’ for twisting or moulding the intent of question put forth by the Ethics Committee Chairperson to Moitra on November 2.
“Kunwar Danish Ali, MP and Member of the Committee on Ethics should be ‘admonished’ for twisting/moulding the intent of question put forth by the Chairperson, Committee on Ethics to Smt Mahua Moitra during her deposition on 2 November, 2023 with the objective of fomenting the sentiments of public, at large, as well as, disparaging the self-esteem of Chairperson and other Members as well as breaching Rule 275(2) contained in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha,” the recommendation read.
The Ethics Committee report was submitted amid a ruckus created by TMC MPs raising slogans like “haye, haye…”
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.”
The draft report was adopted by a 6:4 majority in the panel last month. The report on 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.
Six members of the panel voted in favour of the report, including Congress MP Preneet Kaur who had earlier been suspended from the party. Four members of the panel belonging to opposition parties submitted dissent notes.
The opposition members termed the report a “fixed match” and said the complaint filed by Dubey, which the panel reviewed, was not supported by a “shred of evidence”.
Moitra can be expelled only if the House votes in favour of the panel’s recommendation. The TMC has demanded that Moitra be given a chance to put forth her defence.
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.
(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 an update to the anti-nuclear protests from the year 2012 that were led by church groups who allegedly received illegal foreign funds for the purpose in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu, the MP of Narasapuram Lok Sabha Constituency, Raghu Ramakrishna Raju has written to the Home Ministry seeking action against large scale violation of FCRA rules and misuse of foreign funds by the Christian organizations.
The letter dated 7th December demanded an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate into the matter of receipt of foreign funds by the organizations named ‘the Tuticorin Diocesan Association’ (FCRA No: 076030031) and ‘the Tuticorin Multipurpose Social Service Society’ (FCRA No: 76030038). The complaint stated that these organizations continue to receive overseas ‘donations’ despite cancelling their FCRA registrations and freezing bank accounts by the Government of India in 2015.
In the year 2015, the then Minister of State for the Ministry of Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju suspended the FCRA registration of the Tuticorin Diocesan, Association and 2 other NGOs based on the adverse reports received from the intelligence agencies. The government then froze the bank accounts of the said NGOs and stated that the organizations were using foreign funds for anti-national activities.
In a most significant move, the Hon'ble MP of Narasapuram Lok Sabha Constituency Sri Raghu Ramakrishna Raju wrote to Sri Amit Shah and Home Secretary for action against large scale violation of FCRA rules & misuse of foreign funds by Tuticorin Diocesan Association & its ally NGO pic.twitter.com/wy8gJbXFAV
However, Raghu Ramakrishna Raju revealed in the complaint to the Home Ministry on 7th December that the NGOs continue to receive foreign funds in their respective FCRA-designated bank accounts which were said to have been frozen by the government. As per the complaint the Tuticorin Diocesan Association is said to have received Rs. 4,45,07,214 in its Bank of Baroda account designated to receive foreign funds.
The said funds were received by the NGO from the financial year 2015-16 to 2017-18 in the name of the Welfare of Children, maintenance and construction of Orphanages. Some transactions were also made in the name of ‘Mass Intention’ which has no specific description.
Document exclusively obtained by OpIndia
“A large amount of foreign funds received by the Tuticorin Diocesan Association to its ‘Frozen’ bank accounts were transferred to the individual accounts of its office bearers. The NGO also transferred the illegal money to another account with Syndicate Bank at the Tuticorin Branch. In addition, Rs. 1,25,00,000 out of the foreign funds were transferred to a few construction companies from the frozen bank account of the Tuticorin Diocesan Association post cancellation of its FCRA license. The reasons for such a transfer of amount are to be investigated,” the complaint read.
Notably, it has also come to the fore that a large portion of foreign funds, around Rs 1.6 crores, received by the Tuticorin Diocesan Association after the suspension if its FCRA license has come from Apostolic Nunciature India, a diplomatic entity of the Vatican government having its office in New Delhi. The amount transferred by Apostolic Nunciature India from 2016 to 2018 was shown as a foreign contribution by the NGO in question.
As per the letter copy, the Tuticorin Multipurpose Social Service Society which claims to be a sub-entity or social wing of the Tuticorin Diocesan Association (FCRA: 076030038) also received Rs 34,81,691 as foreign funds in its account after it’s FCRA license had been suspended.
Documents exclusively obtained by OpIndia
“The intention of the diplomatic organization to fund the NGO which has lost its FCRA license and its bank accounts were frozen by the Government of India by declaring its activities as ‘Anti-National’ should be investigated,” the MP noted in the complaint.
The bank accounts of the NGO which were frozen by the government are operational even after the government action and most of the foreign funds are being obtained in the name of Child welfare activities. “This raises concerns. We request you take the necessary action by referring the matter to the Enforcement Directorate to immediately register a case in this matter and to conduct a detailed investigation of the activities of the Tuticorin Diocesan Association and Tuticorin Multipurpose Social Service Society,” the complaint read.
It is important to note that these NGOs had a major role to play in organizing and leading the protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, which was developed in collaboration with Russia in the year 2011-12. The NGOs were associated with Bishop Yvon Ambroise, the Tuticorin church leader, who had been active in mobilizing popular support for the protests at Kudankulam back then.
Church-backed activism fueled the Kudankulam protest in Tamil Nadu
In the year 2011, the Church-sponsored rabble-rousers and hooligans delayed the critical Kudankulam power plant, hitting the country at a time when energy requirements were rapidly increasing. The majority of those who took part in the Nagercoil protest marches were from various Catholic churches. Several churches and NGOs including the Tuticorin Diocese Association (TDA) and the Tuticorin Multipurpose Social Service Society (TMSSS) drew fear among the people against the nuclear facility and advised people to participate in the protests against the Kudankulam project.
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power situated in the state of Tamil Nadu was conceptualized as the largest Nuclear Power plant in India with a total capacity of 6000 MW. The construction of the plant began way back in 2002 but it was marred by constant protests.
This protest reached a boiling point in 2011 when the villagers reportedly feared that a Fukushima-type disaster might befall the Nuclear plant. As reported earlier, one of the prominent leaders of the anti-Kudankulam movement was the then SP Udayakumar, who led the People’s Movement against Nuclear Energy.
Incidentally, this whole protest had come under suspicion way back in 2012 when there were reports about the protest being allegedly backed by the Church and various foreign parties emerged. In 2014 there were further allegations after an alleged IB report had claimed that Udayakumar had been working on the behest of various American and German entities to subvert the development of India.
The then-Union Minister V Narayanasamy asserted that Bishop Yavon Ambroise of Tuticorin had received Rs 54 crore and was the driving force behind the demonstrations. Many Christian organizations, such as People’s Education for Action and Liberation and Good Vision, were identified as troublemakers by the Home Ministry. The list also included the Tuticorin Diocese Association (TDA) and the Tuticorin Multipurpose Social Service Society (TMSSS).
The Union Home Secretary said in 2012 that four non-governmental organizations’ bank accounts including the Tuticorin Diocese Association (TDA) and the Tuticorin Multipurpose Social Service Society (TMSSS) had been seized after it was determined that they had been utilizing money from foreign sources to fund anti-nuclear protests. The CBI filed two cases, while the Tamil Nadu police Crime Branch filed two.
Moreover, in 2017, Republic TV came up with a sting operation on Udyakumar and various members of the Tamil Nadu Church, which seemed to further corroborate the “foreign-funded protest theory”.
The reporters then followed the Church-backed protest angle and zeroed in on a Church in Idinthakarai which according to them was a hub of anti-nuclear protests. They reportedly stung a Parish priest named Jayakumar who managed the money used in the protest. He had selected 70 people who were set up as a front while he and the Diocese controlled things from behind the curtains. Apparently, he took care of all the protests in Idinthakarai and there were 13 other Fathers who similarly managed 13 other villages.
The report also claimed that this whole church involvement was orchestrated by a Bishop who had suggested that Jayakumar operates from the background. The Bishop was incidentally the person who was withstanding all the external ‘pressure’ like the cancellation of their FCRA license.
The reporters also interviewed a villager who claimed that all the NGOs were run by Bishops who paid money to Christian people if they took part in the protests. Through these sting operations, it appeared that the main motivation for the whole protest was not an aversion to Nuclear Power but a desire to earn money.
LRPF confirms NGO’s anti-national activities to OpIndia
The Legal Rights Protection Forum while talking to OpIndia confirmed that “the bank accounts of these NGOs were frozen by the government in the year 2015. Their FCRA license had also been canceled. However, they continue to receive foreign funding under the name of child care or ‘mass intention’ which nobody knows what it means. These NGOs undertake anti-national activities and the same was noted by the government. Strict action against such NGOs is a must,” LRPF said.
