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BCCI drags Byju’s to NCLT over pending dues of nearly Rs 160 crore, edtech firm says hope to settle matter soon

OpIndia Staff
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BCCI drags Byju’s to NCLT over pending dues of nearly Rs 160 crore, edtech firm says hope to settle matter soon

The Board of Control and Cricket in India (BCCI) has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against edtech major Byju’s over pending dues related to the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team.

A hearing was reportedly held between BCCI and Byju’s parent company, Think and Learn on Tuesday (28th November). The next hearing has been scheduled for 22nd December.

A Byju’s spokesperson was quoted as saying, “In discussions with BCCI to settle the matter and we hope to achieve that soon.”

The case was filed on 8th September and officially registered on 15th November over pending dues amounting to nearly Rs 160 crore pertaining to the dispute around sponsorship rights of the Indian cricket team’s jerseys.

Byju’s has been a partner of the Indian cricket team since 2019 and its branding has been featured on the team’s jersey.

Byju’s sponsorship rights with BCCI were extended in June 2022 and ended this month. The company had reportedly asked the board to encash Rs 140 crore bank guarantee and the remaining Rs 160 crore was to be paid in installments.

Reports quoting sources in the BCCI cited that the board confirmed the development but added that they have not arrived at any solution.

Along with BCCI, Byju’s also had branding partnerships with International Cricket Council (ICC) and FIFA. All three were up for renewal this year but the company confirmed that it would not renew any partnership.

Recently, reports claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a notice to the firm asking it to pay Rs 9,000 crore for allegedly violating foreign funding laws.

The company has also failed to clear the dues of its employees who were laid off.

Meanwhile, Byju’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Anil Goel is staging an exit after three years with the firm and will be replaced by Jiny Thattil.

Support for blasphemy killers, dehumanisation of non-Muslims and more: Meet Khadim Rizvi, the Pakistani Islamist cleric who inspired Prayagraj attacker

Dibakar Dutta
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Support for blasphemy killers, dehumanisation of non-Muslims and more: Meet Khadim Rizvi, the Pakistani Islamist cleric who inspired Prayagraj attacker

On Friday (25th November) morning, a man named Lareb Hashmi attacked a 24-year-old Hindu bus conductor with a cleaver after accusing the latter of committing ‘blasphemy’. He was inspired by the teachings of a Pakistani Islamic preacher named Khadim Hussain Rizvi

As per reports, the victim was identified as Harikesh Vishwakarma. He suffered grievous injuries to his neck and body after Hashmi hacked him with the sharp weapon over a ticket fare dispute. The incident took place in the Prayagraj city of Uttar Pradesh.

Following the brutal attack, the Islamist jumped out of the bus and sought refuge in a nearby college campus. He recorded a video, justifying the attack on the bus conductor.

“(The bus conductor) was abusing Muslims. So I attacked him with a cleaver. He will not survive. He will be dead soon. From India to France, whoever insults our Prophet will be exterminated,” the Islamist was heard saying.

“We are ready to die for you and go to jail, O Prophet Muhammad. Dear Muslims, rise about this world’s materialism and be ready to sacrifice your life for the Prophet,” Lareb Hashmi went on to abuse the victim with the choicest of expletives.

He chanted ‘Allah hu Akbar, and ‘La ilaha illallah muhammadur rasulullah” as he went about justifying the brutal attack on the Hindu bus conductor.

Prayagraj attacker inspired by Khadim Hussain Rizvi

In his video, Lareb Hashmi also made references to ‘Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP)’ and its founder Khadim Hussain Rizvi. “You (Rizvi) had told us that angels would come if we tread the path of Allah. You have said to not just kill 1 individual but make a pile of dead bodies of the enemies of Islam,” he sought inspiration from Rizvi.

It must be mentioned that Khadim Hussain Rizvi (1955-2020) was a notorious Islamic cleric, who launched a campaign to preserve the draconian blasphemy laws in Pakistan. He was popular across the country, especially in Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab.

Khadim Hussain Rizvi was a follower of 19th-century Islamic preacher, Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi – the founder of the Barelvi sect.

Pakistani preacher led several violent protests in the name of ‘blasphemy’

Rizvi was the founder of ‘Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP)’, known for its role in violent protests in Pakistan. In 2017, he organised widespread demonstrations that led to the death of at least six people and injured 200 others.

They were organised in response to a minor change to the oath taken by candidates in elections involving a declaration that revolved around Prophet Muhammad. This change was interpreted as benefiting the Ahmadi sect.

Sensing public anger, the Pakistani government immediately rescinded its decision deeming it to be a ‘clerical error’. The protests continued and were called off only after the then Law Minister submitted his resignation.

Under Rizvi’s supervision in 2018, the TLP staged protests in response to the acquittal of Asia Bibi by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. She was falsely accused of blasphemy and spent 8 years on death row. Rizvi was thereafter taken into custody and booked for treason and sedition.

The Islamic cleric had held demonstrations against Dutch politician Geert Wilders for announcing a ‘Prophet Muhammad cartoon competition.’ He also demanded the expulsion of the Dutch ambassador from the country and the cessation of all diplomatic relations with the Netherlands.

In 2020, Rizvi was at the forefront of protests against France for the publication of cartoons of Prophet Mohammed by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The Islamic cleric had also called for a boycott of French products and demanded Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan send back the French ambassador from Islamabad.

During these protests, Rizvi had called Pakistan to launch nuclear attacks against France for its alleged act of ‘Islamophobia’ after the European country had vowed to fight radical Islamic terrorism.

Even after his death, ‘Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP)’ continued Khadim Rizvi’s legacy of violence in the name of blasphemy. His son, Saad Hussain Rizvi, is now leading the radical Islamist party and further plunging the country into the dark ages.

Khadim Hussain Rizvi and dehumanisation of non-Muslims

During his lifetime, the radical Islamic preacher was at the helm of vicious anti-Hindu and anti-Sikh rhetoric that led to the marginalisation and ostracism of these religious communities in Pakistan.

In an undated video, Khadim Hussain Rizvi was seen comparing Kafirs (a derogatory term for non-Muslims) to ‘faecal matter.’ He was heard saying, “The relation of a Muslim to a Kafir is an obligation just like going to the latrine…You go to the latrine because you need to…You do not go there to smell odour.“

In another video, the Islamic preacher was seen eulogising Mahmud Ghaznavi, who plundered the sacred Somnath temple. He also claimed that Hindu women had miscarriages after hearing the hoofbeats of the horses of the Islamic invader

In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Pakistan Untold, Khadim Hussain Rizvi was seen justifying attacks on Hindus and desecration of temples and idols.

“Mahmud Ghaznavi started breaking Somnath idol. Hindus went to him and begged – O Mahmud! Don’t break our god. We will give you more gold than weight of this idol. Mahmud told – My prophet taught me to break idols. He didn’t teach me to save them,” he was heard saying.

He was also seen dubbing the Sikh shrine of ‘Kartarpur Sahib’ in Pakistan as ‘dirty’ and delivering hate speech against the Sikh community.

As such, it comes as no wonder why the Prayagraj attacker Lareb Hashmi was inspired by Khadim Hussain Rizvi.

Khadim Rizvi justified blasphemy killings

It must be mentioned that Khadim Hussain Rizvi had rallied in support of the killer of Salman Taseer, a prominent Pakistani politician and the then Governor of Punjab. Taseer had publicly extended his support to Asia Bibi who was falsely framed in a blasphemy case.

He was declared as ‘murtad’ and gunned down by none other than his bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri. Khadim Rizvi and his supporters threw their weight behind Qadri and hailed him as a ‘hero.’

Interestingly, it was only after the execution of Qadri that the Islamic preacher laid the foundation of ‘Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).’

Khadim Rizvi had also extended his support to a Pakistani man named Tanveer Ahmed, who murdered an Ahmadi shopkeeper on allegations of blasphemy in Glasgow city of Scotland.

“I’m proud of the fact that we are in contact – and this pride will remain until the day of judgement and beyond,” he said after Ahmed was handed a 27-year-long prison sentence.

In August 2022, Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen recounted how Khadim Rizvi wanted her executed for committing blasphemy through her book ‘Lajja (Shame).’

“This religious leader wanted to kill me and he inspired millions of Pakistani extremists to kill me in the name of Islam. He claimed he read my book, but of course, he didn’t. He lied,” she said in a tweet.

Inspiration for blasphemy killers

Khadim Hussain Rizvi has been the inspiration for several criminals, who committed murders of alleged blasphemers. In March 2019, a Muslim student named Khateeb Hussain stabbed his English Professor in Bahawalpur City of Pakistan after falsely accusing the latter of blasphemy.

“Hussain’s eagerness to take credit for the murder paints an alarming picture of a boy who was inspired by videos of preacher Khadim Hussain Rizvi and possibly radicalised through social media,” a report in Dawn stated.

In 2018, another student in Chārsadda town of Pakistan shot dead his school Principal after accusing him of committing blasphemy. “I committed this murder and I accepted it. It was ordered by God (Allah),” the unnamed student confessed. He had attended meetings conducted by TLP in 2017.

Blasphemy, STSJ sloganeering and Pakistani origins

Interestingly, the murderous chant of ‘Sar Tan se Juda (STSJ)’ which has been weaponised by Islamists in India against Hindus such as Kamlesh Tiwari, Yati Narsighanand Saraswati and Nupur Sharma, has been the gift of Khadim Hussain Rizvi.

After Salman Taseer was assassinated by Qadri in 2011, Rizvi took out a march to mobilise support for the assassin. Two slogans were chiefly chanted during the procession. One was “Rasool Allah, Rasool Allah” and the other, “Gustakh-e-Rasool Ki Ek Hi Zaza, Sar Tan Se Juda, Sar Tan Se Juda.”

Rizvi would ask the audience during the mass demonstrations, “Gustakh-e-Rasool ki Ek hi Saza?” The protestors would respond by chanting “Sar Tan Se Juda, Sar Tan Se Juda”.

While Rizvi died in 2020, his slogans have assumed a life of their own, living through murderous Islamists in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, who routinely invoke the call for the beheading of those perceived to have blasphemed against Prophet Muhammad.

In a sense, the Islamic cleric set a template for his radical co-religionists to follow, sanctioning the murder of those considered “guilty” of blaspheming against Prophet Muhammad. 

Greece wants its ‘stolen’ sculptures from the Parthenon back, Britain says no: Read why a diplomatic row started between Greek PM Mitsotakis and British PM Sunak

Paurush Gupta
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Greece wants its ‘stolen’ sculptures from the Parthenon back, Britain says no: Read why a diplomatic row started between Greek PM Mitsotakis and British PM Sunak

A diplomatic row is deepening between NATO allies United Kingdom and Greece over the possession or re-unification of the Parthenon Sculptures during the Greek Prime Minister’s visit to the UK. As per the scheduled visit, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was slated to meet with UK PM Rishi Sunak on Tuesday afternoon (28th November).

However, Rishi Sunak cancelled his meeting at the eleventh hour after Mitsotakis raised the issue of the return of Parthenon sculptures to Athens while talking with the state-run British media house, BBC. 

The UK government believed that it had assurances from the Greek Prime Minister that he would not speak publicly about the Parthenon Sculptures on his UK visit, as reported by BBC. However, the Greek sources denied giving any such assurances to the UK side. 

They said discussions preparing for the meeting with the UK PM had been smooth until late afternoon on Monday. This happened long after Mitsotakis’s BBC interview with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday (26th Sunday). In his BBC interview, the Greek Prime Minister said that he would push for the return of the Parthenon Marbles when he meets UK leader Rishi Sunak in Britain this week.

Official responses after the meeting got cancelled

On Monday evening, while speaking with reporters about the cancellation, Mitsotakis said that he was “deeply disappointed by the abrupt cancellation” of the meeting, which had been planned for Tuesday lunchtime. 

Taking a jibe at the UK government, he said, “Those who firmly believe in the correctness and justice of their positions are never hesitant to engage in constructive argumentation and debate.” 

Additionally, Greek government sources suggested that Mitsotakis was both “baffled” and “annoyed” after Rishi Sunak cancelled the meeting. 

Later on Tuesday morning (28th November), Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis told SKAI TV that “Britain’s attitude shows no respect for the prime minister and our country”, as reported by BBC.  

However, he hinted that the Greek government didn’t want to escalate the issue considering their good relations with the United Kingdom.

He added that although cancelling a meeting was not “common”, the Greek government did not want “to escalate the issue with a country with which we have good relations.”

Additionally, a former member of the advisory committee for the Greek Minister of Culture, Professor Irene Stamatoudi said that the row made “Rishi Sunak look no better than Lord Elgin”. The Greek official accused the (UK) diplomat of smuggling artifacts “to decorate his country house in Scotland”. 

Speaking with British media, she said that it was “not possible” for the Greek PM not to respond to questions about the Parthenon Sculptures.

Is the UK side acting ‘rude’?

On Tuesday (28th November), Speaking with BBC Breakfast, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said that it was a “matter of regret” that no meeting would take place between the two countries after Mitsotakis declined a secondary offer to meet Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden instead. 

Responding to the query ‘whether the government’s treatment of the Greek leader was rude’, Harper said the Greeks had been offered a senior-level meeting but (the Greek side was) entitled to take their own view.

The chairperson of the advisory board of the Parthenon Project dedicated to returning the “Elgin Marbles” to Greece, Lord Vaizey told the Today programme that it was “odd” for the PM to cancel the meeting. 

The ex-culture minister said, “It is tied up to a certain extent in the traditional culture wars, where anyone who dares to say that British history wasn’t perfect is somehow unpatriotic. The trouble with that is that, from what I can gather, every opinion poll that surveys the British public says that they do think that the sculptures should be returned.”

The key Opposition party in the UK, Labour Party’s response over the issue

During his visit to the UK, Greek PM Mitsotakis met Labour leader Keir Starmer on Monday (27th November). UK’s Labour party tried to exploit the diplomatic row for political gains and called the ongoing development ‘pathetic’. 

However, it was caught in a fix after a Greek newspaper claimed that Labour was open to “a legal formula” for the return of the sculptures to Greece. Following the reports in Greek media, Labour distanced itself stating its position is that if the British Museum and the Greek government came to a loan agreement, a Labour government would not stand in the way. 

Meanwhile, the UK government’s spokesperson said that there were “no plans” to change the 1963 British Museum Act. The act prohibits the removal of objects from the institution’s collection. However, a loan could happen irrespective of the position the UK PM takes as it does not require a change in the law.

How Britain got the Parthenon temple sculptures from Athens

It is important to note that the sculptures were taken from the Parthenon temple (built 447-432 BC) at the Acropolis in Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Thomas Bruce who was the earl of Elgin. Elgin claimed that the sculptures were better off in Britain than the then-dilapidated Parthenon. As per British media, in 1801, he negotiated what he claimed was permission from the Ottoman Empire – which then controlled Athens. The so-called permission was to “remove” statues from the classical temple built by the Ancient Greeks. In doing so, it caused some damage to the sculptures as well. 

Notorious for its appropriation, the British side started referring to the Parthenon sculptures as “Elgin Marbles”. 

(Parthenon sculptures on display, Image Source – Reuters)

The sculptures include Friezes and pediment figures, about a half (some 75 metres) of the sculpted Frieze, and 17 life-sized marble figures. Reportedly, nearly half of the surviving sculptures are equally divided between London and Athens. Additionally, Fragments from the Parthenon alone ended up in around 10 European countries or were lost.

(Parthenon sculptures in ‘British museum’, Image Source – Daniel LEAL /France 24)

Since 1832, the Parthenon sculptures have been in the British Museum, barring a stint in Aldwych Tube station to prevent World War 2 damage. One sculpture was loaned to a Russian museum in 2014. Strikingly, three marble fragments of the Parthenon temple were returned to Greece earlier this year. They had been held by the Vatican for centuries. 

The issue of these Parthenon sculptures had been a long-standing issue between Greece and the UK as the former maintains that the Parthenon sculptures were “stolen”. 

(Athens’ artifacts on display in British museum, Image Source – BBC)

However, the latest row erupted when the Greek PM raised the issue while speaking with BBC. 

Speaking with Laura Kuenssberg the day before his meeting with UK PM Rishi Sunak which was cancelled, the Greek PM had called for the sculptures to be returned. 

(Video courtesy – BBC)

He said they were “essentially stolen”. He, however, called for a partnership with the British Museum so people could “appreciate” the works “in their original setting”, as reported by BBC.

He said, “They do look better in the Acropolis Museum, a state-of-the-art museum that was built for that purpose.” 

Citing Mona Lisa, he noted, “It’s as if I told you that you would cut the Mona Lisa in half, and you will have half of it at the Louvre and half of it at the British Museum, do you think your viewers would appreciate the beauty of the painting in such a way? This is exactly what happened with the Parthenon sculptures”. 

However, his remarks didn’t go well with the UK government and Rishi Sunak cancelled the scheduled meeting with Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis initiating the recent diplomatic row between the two nations. 

Bihar caste census and its aftermath: How RJD-JDU govt’s divisive politics is based on a sinister numbers game

अनुपम कुमार सिंह
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Bihar caste census and its aftermath: How RJD-JDU govt’s divisive politics is based on a sinister numbers game

The RJD-JDU alliance government in Bihar on Tuesday (28th November) released the school holiday calendar for 2024 excluding several Hindu festivals like Makar Sankranti, Ram Navami, Janmashtami, Rakshabandhan, Shivaratri and more. At the same time, holidays for Islamic festivals have been increased and special provisions for Urdu language schools have been made wherein Friday will be the new Sunday.

This controversial move has come a day after Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, while addressing the extremely backward Nonia community mocked UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s Hindu attire, calling Hindu symbols and sentiments as “dikhawa” (show off).

The controversies clearly indicate how the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government has used the caste census – released in October – to further its already casteist agenda. In an attempt to use the numbers to its advantage, appeasement politics is now at an all-time high and that too at the cost of the Hindu faith.

The contentious caste census data released

Caste-based census data was released in Bihar amid an atmosphere of celebration among the supporters of RJD and JDU, the two main ruling parties of Bihar. It was projected as if the state government had delivered some huge public welfare scheme.

According to the figures released by the Bihar government, 36.01% of the population in the state belongs to the extremely backward class. Whereas 27.12% population belongs to the backward class. The population of people belonging to unreserved or general category is stated to be 15.52%.

Keep in mind here that ‘Extremely Backward Class’ means the EBC community comprising 130 castes and sub-castes in Bihar, which has been on Nitish Kumar’s agenda for a long time. He had categorized it separately with the aim of mobilising non-Yadav backward castes.

It does not include OBC castes like Yadav and Kurmi. So now will two groups named EBC and OBC be formed and their mobilisation will be different? Only time will answer these questions but now joint fronts of different castes will start forming against the more influential castes in OBC as well. Such experiments have been done before, this may happen even faster now.

This way, if OBC and EBC are combined in Bihar, they comprise 63%. A total of 203 castes have been mentioned in this ‘Caste Census’ report. Of these, there are 196 castes which are getting reservations.

Till now, in the jobs of Bihar, EBC has got 18% reservation, SC has got 16%, BC has got 12% and EWS has got 10% reservation. Except for EWS, there is a 3% reservation for women in other reserved categories. Whereas 1% of seats are reserved for the ST community.

Another important point to note from the caste-based census of Bihar is that the Muslim community has also been divided into general, EBC and BC categories. For example, Syed, Shaikh and Pathan (Khan) have been kept in the general category.

Madaria, Nalband, Surjapuri and Malik Muslims have been placed in BC. There are about 31 Muslim castes in EBC. 10% of the total population of Muslims is EBC. Now it remains to be seen how these Muslims will benefit in the upcoming schemes ranging from reservation.

Bihar: What are the figures of caste-based census?

The Scheduled Caste (SC) population in Bihar is 19.65% and the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population is 01.68%. In this census, the total population of Bihar has been found to be 13.07 crores, out of which 6.41 crores are males.

Women are 30 lakh less than men. There are 953 females per 1000 males in the state. There are a total of 2.83 crore families, which are divided into 215 castes and sub-castes. If we look at the previous caste census conducted in 1971, the population of the upper castes has decreased.

Releasing the figures on behalf of the Bihar government, Development Commissioner Vivek Kumar Singh has said that these figures will be kept in mind in the future plans for ‘balanced development of all sections’.

It is also mentioned in these figures that 53.72% of people from other states are living temporarily in Bihar. There are some figures which the government has refused to publish, terming them confidential.

The big thing is that apart from the backward and extremely backward classes, the government has also included various groups of Muslims in the upper caste category.

While the population of Hindus in the state is 81.99%, the population of Muslims has reached 17.70%. The population of all other religions is not even 0.1%. Nothing has been said clearly regarding how the release of these data will help in policy-making, how the outline of the schemes will change and how the poor will benefit.

Let us also look at the population of castes in Bihar. Yadavs comprise 14.26%; Ravidas 5.2%; Koeri 4.2%; Brahmin 3.65%; Rajput 3.45%; Musahar 3.08%; Bhumihar 2.86%; Kurmi 2.80%; Mallah 2.60%; Bania 2.31% and Kayastha 0.60%.

The makers of the Constitution and the first cabinet of the country had decided not to conduct a caste-based census because it would create division in the society. Notably, this census has been conducted by those who cite the Constitution in every conversation.

Bihar’s ruling party RJD has also confirmed that this data includes general, backward and extremely backward classes of all religions. That is, not only Muslims but also Christians and Buddhists have been adjusted in General, BC and EBC.

The party said that 10.60% of the extremely backward class population are Muslims. It is not being made clear what was the criteria for assigning categories to these religions.

Caste census is a priority in a backward and poor state

It has definitely become clear that the data will be used politically in the time to come. The biggest thing is that the entire government machinery was put to work just for the sake of conducting a caste-based census in a backward state. Many officers were given different responsibilities. For this, 2.34 lakh census workers and 40,726 observers were appointed. If you are thinking that separate temporary recruitments were made for this, then you are wrong.

The responsibility was given to those teachers, whose job is to teach children and prepare a better future for the country and society. However, these teachers were assigned the work of asking people about their castes. District and sub-division level officers were given responsibilities. More than Rs 500 crore was spent on this. That too in a state that is at the bottom in terms of GST collection. Not only this, Bihar is the only state where GST collection is in negative in terms of growth.

Talking about the figures of GST collection for September 2023, it was Rs 1.62 lakh crore for the country. Most of the states saw a double-digit jump percentage compared to last year, while in Bihar it declined by -5%. This shows that the state is lagging behind in terms of development. Instead of working on this, the RJD-JDU coalition government gave priority to the caste census. The leaders of the state, who do not want development to take place, do not show any seriousness about development, now their priorities are also clearly visible.

The emergence of caste-based parties and casteist mentality

Now let’s talk about where this caste-based census mentality came from. In fact, it started when regional parties started forming in India on the basis of caste. RJD and SP – take these two parties. Both these parties, established in the nineties, made the Yadav caste their vote bank. Similarly, RLD, formed in the nineties, made the Jat community its vote bank. Today many such parties have been formed.

Take Bihar itself where Upendra Kushwaha has formed a new party several times to woo the Koeri voters. Mukesh Sahni takes a dig at the Nishad community by calling himself ‘Son of Mallah’. The big turning point in the politics of Nitish Kumar himself came when he reached ‘Kurmi Chetna Rally’.

Ram Vilas Paswan kept a large section of Paswan voters associated with his party LJP. If we talk about UP, while SVSP stakes claim on Rajbhar society, Apna Dal focuses on keeping Kurmi voters in its fold. It now has been divided into two parts.

Not to forget the BSP in UP, which made the Jatav community its main vote bank and later added other Dalits. Similarly, Sanjay Nishad keeps trying to improve the seafaring community through his ‘Nishad Party’. Dushyant Chautala’s JJP in Haryana also attracts Jat voters there.

Earlier, INLD founded by Devi Lal was considered to be the party of Jat voters in Haryana. In this way, there was a glut of caste-based parties in India and everyone started appeasing their respective castes.

Now since parties like RJD and JDU have progressed on the basis of caste, it is an impossible task to remove caste from their functioning. RJD enjoyed the cream of power by forming the Muslim+Yadav (MY) alliance for a long time. JDU continued doing politics through the ‘Luv-Kush’ (Kurmi-Koeri) pitch. In such a situation, they got a caste census conducted to understand and brainstorm their vote banks. Now they will play the game of appeasement accordingly and strengthen their vote bank.

Conspiracy of caste-based census to divide Hindus

Another reason for conducting a caste-based census is to divide Hindus. In the Modi wave, the air of casteism went away and in 2014 and 2019 it has been seen that people of all castes rose above caste and voted in the name of Narendra Modi. The same thing happened in Bihar, that’s why RJD-JDU lost in 2014 and RJD in 2019. These parties were looking for a way to deal with this and have used caste-based census as a weapon to divide Hindus.

It is not that there are no castes among Muslims, but the fight over caste in the Muslim community has not been the same as that within the Hindu community. Therefore, it is clear that a game of dividing Hindus has been played through caste census. The major castes of Muslims are Shaikh 3.82%, Ansari 3.54%, Surjapuri 1.87% and Duniya 1.43%. But, there is no possibility that Muslims will be divided on the basis of caste, especially in Bihar.

The question can also be asked that the state has been ruled by the same leaders for the last 33 years who are talking about caste census today, how did the state lag behind so much? Why were the castes left so far behind? What was the impact of ‘social justice’ in the last 33 years? 33 years is a long time.

If everything is not fine in this, then what is the guarantee that everything will be fine with the new manoeuvres of these ruling parties? Power has been in their hands for 3 and a half decades, do they have any positive results to show from what they have done so far?

If you see Rahul Gandhi’s tweet, everything becomes clear. He wrote that the population of ‘OBC + SC + ST’ in Bihar is 84%. He took special care that the population of Hindus should not be mentioned, nor should this word be used. Rahul Gandhi termed the pledge of Congress as ‘As many populations, as many rights’. Now many Muslims are asking that after their share in the population is 18%, why is no one talking about their share in resources and positions?

Politics of sowing poison in social media with the help of caste census

The leaders who are shouting ‘IT cell-IT cell’ for BJP should go on social media and see what IT cell is. As soon as the caste-based census data was made public, there was a barrage of tweets calling Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav as messiahs. Here let us look at some such handles that presented it as if a new ‘Silicon Valley’ has been created in Bihar, where lakhs of people have got jobs in big companies.

Alok Chikku, associated with RJD IT cell, started the trend with the hashtag ‘Jio Tejasvi’. He raised the question that despite such a small population, why are there upper castes everywhere? He announced that now ‘there will be social justice’, the classes that have been ruling for centuries have lost their senses.

However, Lalu Yadav and his supporters have also been saying that ‘social justice’ happened during his 15 years of tenure. Then was that a lie? Alok Chikku announced that everything would be snatched from the upper castes and distributed among the backward classes.

Similarly, see the tweets of Jackie Yadav, who calls himself a socialist, who counts the caste of the players after every match of the Indian cricket team. Describing these figures as historical, he enumerated its entire history. Giving the slogan ’15 vs 85′, he threatened that if you don’t give your rights then OBC will snatch them away.

He also gave a party to his friends. Also posted a tweet saying that the sales of Burnol have increased. He also complained about the presence of more people from the general category in the central government secretaries and judiciary.

Similarly, propaganda journalist turned RLD leader Prashant Kanojia, while talking about the removal of encroachment on resources and land, wrote that ‘war has been declared’. Another RJD activist Priyanshu Kushwaha called a special session of the Bihar government and demanded to increase the reservation limit. He gave the slogan ’15 is divided, 85 is our share’.

Casteist leader Dilip Mandal, while demanding immediate all-party consensus on increasing SC reservation, said in a threatening manner that neither any party will oppose it, nor will any court have the courage to get involved in it.

You can now see how the atmosphere for all this was created. RJD’s Manoj Jha, while reciting the poem ‘Thakur ka Kuan’ in Parliament, talked about killing the ‘Thakur within’. Chetan Anand of his own party opposed him. After this, a series of statements and reactions started.

RJD added fuel to the fire by calling Bhikhari Thakur and Karpoori Thakur as ‘real Thakur’. Caste census data was made public by creating an atmosphere of fighting between Brahmin vs Rajput.

Can the threats from the supporters of these parties be taken seriously? The question is – what do they mean by ‘every snatching’ or ‘removing control over resources’? Because, whatever society educated and rich people are in, they have resources.

Suppose, if someone is a golden person and he spent his entire life and bought land with his hard-earned money, will his land be snatched away in the name of ‘share’ and ‘removal of encroachment’? This will again be the Bihar of the nineties, where Naxalites used to openly commit massacres.

Uttarakhand tunnel rescue: Operation successful, all 41 trapped workers evacuated safely

OpIndia Staff
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Uttarakhand tunnel rescue: Operation successful, all 41 trapped workers evacuated safely

On the 17th day of the rescue operation, all the 41 trapped workers have been safely evacuated from the Silkyara tunnel. As per media reports, the workers were rescued from the tunnel, authorities at the spot said. Initially, there were reports that workers had started coming out of the tunnel, but it was later revealed that during mock drill, there had been a minor bend in some pipe which somewhat delayed their exit from the tunnel.

Moments before the successful evacuation, a team of health experts went inside the tunnel to check on the vital health parameters of the rescued workers. Additionally, Union Minister General VK Singh (Retd), former advisor of PMO Bhaskar Khulbe, and former Engineer-In-Chief and BRO DG Lieutenant General Harpal Singh (Retd) had also entered inside the tunnel to keep the morale of the trapped workers high and ensure that the rescue operation is in final leg. They had also brought 41 garlands to greet the rescued workers.

Earlier, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister delivered the much-awaited great news that all the 41 trapped workers would soon be safely evacuated. He noted that the work of laying pipes inside the tunnel to rescue workers has been completed and they could be evacuated anytime soon. 

He tweeted, “As a result of the immense grace of Baba Baukh Nag Ji, prayers of crores of countrymen and the tireless work of all the rescue teams engaged in the rescue operation, the work of laying pipes in the tunnel to take out the workers has been completed. Soon all the labor brothers will be taken out.”

The rescue operation had been ongoing since 12th November when the debris fell in the 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel trapping 41 labourers inside the under-construction structure. To make the rescue operation a success, the officials had inserted pipes to provide essentials like food, water, medicine, and sufficient oxygen supply for the trapped workers. They had also sent communication devices and maintained regular communications with the trapped workers to keep their morale high. 

On a regular basis, their family members were allowed to talk with their trapped relative and communicate about the rescue efforts.

The operations saw a major breakthrough on the 16th day of the rescue mission hours after the rescue team had started rat hole mining. 

After many efforts and 25-tonne Auger machines repeatedly facing technical snags, the officials decided to deploy the rat hole mining technique. A team of 6 specialists reached the site to undertake the manual drilling work. They had to go inside the 800 mm pipe of the tunnel to remove the debris manually. The team included engineers from the Indian Army’s Madras Engineering Group as well as civilians.

In this, Rat-hole mining experts manually drilled through the remainder of a 10-12-metre stretch of debris and cleared it. 

Rat miners are specialists in digging and drilling manually in narrow passages, including tube mines, who mostly work in mines and have the experience of drilling for hours. The rat hole mining technique is generally used in coal mining, especially in regions that have difficult terrain.

In the final leg of the mission, the last pipe was pushed through and welded, before trapped workers were evacuated safely. 

During the last phase, a team of NDRF personnel could be seen at the entrance of the Slikyara tunnel while stretchers, ambulances, and mattresses were taken inside the tunnel, media reported. 

Ashneer Grover apologises in Delhi HC for defamatory posts against BharatPe; fined Rs 2 lakhs for violating an earlier court order 

OpIndia Staff
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Ashneer Grover apologises in Delhi HC for defamatory posts against BharatPe; fined Rs 2 lakhs for violating an earlier court order 

On 28th November (Tuesday), BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover apologised before the Delhi High Court in connection with his social media posts against BharatPe. Appearing for Grover, Advocate Giriraj Subramanium told the High Court that Grover is tendering an apology. His counsel also gave an undertaking that he would not take any actions in violation of the Court’s orders. 

Subramanium also apprised the Court that Grover had taken down his tweets as well. Nonetheless, Justice Rekha Palli pulled him up stating that Grover’s conduct was ‘appalling’. Subsequently, the court also imposed a fine of ₹2 lakh on Ashneer Grover for violating an earlier court order.

Notably, in May 2023, the Delhi High Court passed an order in which it asked both Grover and BharatPe not to use ‘unparliamentary’ and ‘defamatory’ language against each other. 

However, BharatPe later submitted an application in its pending suit, highlighting that Grover had made some social media posts earlier this month in which he allegedly made ‘defamatory’ remarks against the company. It was submitted before the court that he was a habitual offender and had been violating the Court’s orders repeatedly.

BharatPe’s counsel, Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal argued that by the time he deleted his tweets, the posts had been picked up by the media and the damage was already done. 

After examining the application as well as the apology, Justice Palli observed that she was appalled to see Grover’s conduct. Resultantly, the High Court bound Grover to his undertaking and asked him to pay ₹2 lakh to the Delhi High Court Clerks Association.

During the conclusion of the hearing, Grover’s counsel said that there are nearly 15 proceedings pending between BharatPe and Grover. He urged the court to refer the court to mediation. However, opposing counsel Sibal rejected his suggestions.  

Meanwhile, on 16th November, Shark Tank India fame Ashneer Grover and his spouse Madhuri Jain were stopped at terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport while they were travelling to New York. The action was taken based on a lookout circular (LOC) that the Delhi Police’s Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) issued against them earlier that week. An investigation is ongoing against the two for alleged fraud at BharatPe that had caused a loss of Rs 81 crore to the company.

Ashneer Grover and his wife were booked for fraud

In May this year, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi police registered a case against former BharatPe managing Director Ashneer Grover, his wife and others “for using company funds inappropriately based on various forged documents”. 

It was alleged that they had embezzled money and caused losses to Resilient Innovations Private Limited, the company that manages BharatPe, totalling Rs 81 crore.

The FIR had been registered under 20/406/408/409/467/468/471/120B sections of IPC.

Ashneer Grover sent an e-mail to the company board late on 28th February 2022, informing them about their resignation amid the ongoing investigation into the financial fraud at the company. 

Ashneer’s resignation had come a day after Ashneer Grover lost the arbitration in Singapore. He had filed the arbitration case against the fintech platform for launching a probe against him and almost a week after the firm sacked his wife, Madhuri Jain, who was the company’s head of controls, for alleged financial irregularities including creating bogus invoices and billing the company for personal beauty treatments and vacations overseas.

Who is Mohammed Hijab? The Islamic preacher who provoked Muslims during the 2022 anti-Hindu violence in Leicester

Anurag
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Who is Mohammed Hijab? The Islamic preacher who provoked Muslims during the 2022 anti-Hindu violence in Leicester

Since Hindus were attacked in Leicester in August 2022, one name has prominently appeared in reports. Mohammed Hijab, a prominent Islamist YouTuber and influencer, is one of the main instigators of violence against Hindus in Leicester. Hijab is a British-Egyptian “public speaker” who gained notoriety for his inflammatory speeches. His controversial views on various issues, including the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, have brought him to the forefront. In the mainstream media, he is a debater who discusses religion, politics and society. However, the videos of provocative speeches given in public tell a different story about him.

When the Hindu community was attacked following the Asia Cup T20 match between India and Pakistan in August 2022, Hijab was identified as a chief instigator. He led patrols and made disparaging remarks against Hindus during the violence. On his website, Hijab describes himself as a political philosopher and philosopher of religion. He co-founded Sapience Institute to spread Islamic education. Furthermore, he is an academic co-ordinator at Islam.Net and a lecturer at Mishkah University.

Hijab’s controversial stance is not limited to the local clashes but extends to international matters. In recent times, he has expressed pro-Palestine and pro-Hamas sentiments. He condoned the 7th October terrorist attack of Hamas against Israel. Interestingly, while saying his views on the Israel-Hamas war, he attempted to play the victim card and accused others of lacking morality and not condemning Israel’s actions.

Mainstream media gave space to Mohammed Hijab

Despite being controversial, he has been provided platforms by major publications, media channels and prominent hosts like Piers Morgan. On 17th October, Hijab was a guest on Piers Morgan Uncensored. On 21st October, he spoke on the topic “Reviving Roots’Roots’ at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, and on 23rd October, he was provided a platform to speak at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.

During his time with Piers Morgan on his show, Hijab kept questioning the authenticity of the reports about the atrocities of Hamas against the people of Israel on 7th October. When Morgan asked him about his views on the reports of the elderly being kidnapped and toddlers being killed by the Hamas terrorists, the only thing Hijab said was, “Where is the proof?”. Morgan informed him that several mainstream media reports, including from the United Kingdom, verified and published the reports of the atrocities, but the Hijab called them “second source”. He said that as a “scholar”, he needs “academic” proof of the atrocities. Morgan said there were reports citing experts in the media, but he categorically denied accepting.

Hijab also tried to justify the horrific actions of Hamas terrorists on 7th October by claiming that Israeli forces have been killing Palestinians for decades and that what Hamas did was “resistance”. He also objected to the comparison of Hamas to ISIS, again for the same reason that Hamas was only showing a form of “resistance”. He failed to provide a base for his theory that resistance would include the killing of civilians.

Hijab continued to lie about the Hospital bombing

On 17th October, a rocket fell on Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital in Gaza. Palestinian Authority claimed around 500 people died and accused Israel of the bombing. Israel countered with footage from Al Jazeera showing a missile originating from Gaza to attack Israel, falling short and hitting the hospital. Further reports showed the rocket fell in the parking lot, and there were apprehensions about the death toll claims.

Hijab vouched for enslaving non-Muslim women

Just two days after the terrorist attack on Israel, an old post of Hijab went viral on social media where he suggested that non-Muslim women somehow loved to be taken as ‘sex slaves’ by the Islamic captors. “I believe certain anti-Muslim women would wish they lived in the medieval period. It was a period where if the opposing side won a war, it was conventional that people could be taken as booty. Some historical accounts actually say some women would dress up for the captor,” his post read.

Leicester violence: Mohammed Hijab incited Muslims to attack Hindus

In September 2022, Mohammed Hijab was found inciting violence against Hindus in Leicester, UK. In his speeches, he mocked Hinduism and provoked Muslims to attack Hindus. Videos of his speeches were shared widely on social media. He claimed that Hindus were fearful of Muslims. He further suggested that the fear was due to Muslims holding the “truth”.

Furthermore, he made derogatory remarks against Hindus and warned them not to protest. He threatened that he and his supporters would attend the Hindus’ protest sites. He was also seen leading a group of masked Islamists in Leicester.

In a video, was seen mocking Hinduism and inciting Muslims to attack the Hindus. In a video that has now surfaced on social media, he was seen interacting with mask-clad Muslim men and encouraging them to teach the local Hindu population ‘a lesson’. “When I was on social media, I saw these people (Hindus) getting brave. How come today it is like pin-drop silence?” the British Egyptian ‘scholar’ was heard as saying. He claimed that no Hindus were in sight after realising that Muslim mobs were coming at them in hordes. “Cause they (Hindus) fear us when they are near us”, responded an Islamist from the crowd. Pumped by the support of the like-minded people in the crowd, Hijab said, “Deep down, they know we got the truth. If you want respect, then learn to respect.”

In an Instagram post, Hijab was seen leading a frenzied mob of Islamists, with their faces covered in masks. “Muslim patrol in Leicester,” he wrote in his post.

He led similar fringe mobs following the Israel-Hamas war. In the video, his followers were seen raising pro-Palestine slogans. During the anti-Jew protest, they attacked a Jewish boy walking his dog. When police saved the boy, Hijab warned the police official that bringing a dog to the protest site was “an act of aggression” and if they saw the dog again, they would kill it.

Mohammed Hijab also worked alongside hate preacher and fugitive Zakir Naik, during the fundraising for the construction of a grand mosque and Dawah (proselytism) centre in Oslo, Norway.

Shortly after the results of assembly elections will be announced in 5 states, Rahul Gandhi set to travel to 3 foreign countries

OpIndia Staff
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Shortly after the results of assembly elections will be announced in 5 states, Rahul Gandhi set to travel to 3 foreign countries

Rahul Gandhi, the former president of the Congress, is scheduled to visit three nations between 8th December and 15th December. Gandhi has been currently actively campaigning in five states for the assembly elections. 

According to the reports, Rahul Gandhi will visit Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia from 8th December to 15th December. He will meet with the Indian diaspora and also visit universities during his trip. 

Rahul Gandhi has visited many countries earlier this year, including Norway, the Netherlands, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Belgium, and held interaction programs with the Indian diaspora as well as interactive sessions with students at various universities.

Reports mention that the Indian Overseas Congress will coordinate all of the programs of the Congress MP from Kerala’s Wayanad. Rahul Gandhi has campaigned extensively for the ongoing assembly elections in 5 states, however, looks like he will leave India shortly after the results are announced for the same. In addition, he had visited the sacred shrine of Kedarnath earlier this month amid his campaign schedule across the five states.

It is notable here that Rahul Gandhi’s foreign visits are always shrouded in mystery. Besides political speculations, there is often little to no news about his foreign travels. The Congress scion has a history of going on vacations without informing the public during election season or at times when his party needs him the most.

Rahul Gandhi and his secret trips

In April 2022, after poll strategist Prashant Kishor had rejected Congress’ offer to join the party, and at that time, Rahul Gandhi had become untraceable. Reports mentioned that Gandhi went missing for over 10 days and had been unreachable, leaving the party to act alone in action during the crisis.

Earlier in December 2021, the Wayanad MP had gone for a personal trip to Italy ahead of the campaigns and rallies for the then-upcoming Assembly elections in five states scheduled for 2022. He had forced the party to postpone his already scheduled rally in Punjab and had flown to Italy for a ‘personal visit’.

Just before Diwali 2021, Rahul Gandhi vanished, reportedly to London. On November 5 of that year, it was reported that Gandhi was on a ‘long vacation’. He returned after almost a month, just before the winter session commenced in the Parliament. At that time, the BJP took a dig at Gandhi and questioned his trip to London.

In September 2021, while the Congress party in Punjab was facing a crisis with Amarinder Singh’s resignation, the Gandhi family was vacationing in Shimla. In December 2020, Rahul Gandhi left for Italy on the 136th foundation day of his party. His party leaders could not settle on one explanation and further made themselves a target of media questions. 

In October 2019, fifteen days before the assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, Gandhi had left, reportedly for Bangkok. In June of that year, before the counting of votes of the parliamentary elections, Rahul Gandhi skipped an important meeting held by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and flew to London for a holiday.

Notably, Gandhi has a history of spreading hate against the ruling government and India while on trips abroad. On his recent trip to the US, he could be seen targeting the current government and making anti-India statements.

Supreme Court dismisses plea demanding a total ban on Pakistani artists in India, says ‘one must not be so narrow-minded’

OpIndia Staff
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Supreme Court dismisses plea demanding a total ban on Pakistani artists in India, says ‘one must not be so narrow-minded’

On Tuesday (28th November), the Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition asking for a total ban on the employment of Pakistani artists in India.

A Bombay High Court decision was upheld by a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti. The petition requested that Indian citizens be prohibited from hiring or soliciting work or performances from Pakistani artists.

Before dismissing the case, Justice Khanna remarked that the petitioner’s thinking should not be so narrow. The bench stated that in order to be a patriot, one must not be hostile to those from abroad, particularly those from a neighboring country.

“A true patriot is a person who is selfless, who is devoted to the cause of his country, which he cannot be unless he is a person who is good at heart,” the Court said. The Bombay High Court had previously dismissed a petition in October, prompting the appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Bombay High Court ruled that the petition lacked merit because it sought a backward step that was detrimental to cultural harmony, unity, and peace.

Notably, the High Court also mentioned Pakistan’s recent participation in the now-completed Cricket World Cup tournament in India. The High Court observed that this was possible due to appreciable positive steps taken by the Government of India in the interest of overall peace and harmony.

The petitioner’s sense of patriotism, according to the High Court, was misplaced. Furthermore, imposing such bans would violate Indian citizens’ fundamental right to conduct business and trade, according to the Bombay High Court.

Faaiz Anwar Qureshi, a film worker, had filed the petition. He was referring to a ban imposed by the All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) on hiring Pakistani actors in the Indian film industry.

The AICWA resolution was allegedly published in several newspapers and on social media accounts. Qureshi claimed that denying him relief would lead to discrimination against Indian artists, who he claims are not treated well in Pakistan.

He also claimed that Pakistani artists would try to take advantage of commercial opportunities in India, which would prejudice Indian citizens by reducing or eliminating such opportunities.

UK: Hindu families living in perpetual fear of persecution by Islamists, netizens reveal chilling details of harassment and police inaction

OpIndia Staff
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UK: Hindu families living in perpetual fear of persecution by Islamists, netizens reveal chilling details of harassment and police inaction

Reports are doing rounds about attacks on a Hindu family in the UK’s West Midlands county by Islamists. The incident was first reported early in November. The family has been attacked several times by Islamists since July this year but the local police refused to take action demanded by the complainants.

The incident was again reported this time by GB News and shared by British journalist Martin Daubney on X, formerly Twitter. Daubney’s post was reshared by another X user prompting several UK citizens to share the horrifying experiences of several Hindu families they knew living in the UK.

One such user named Bo shared an experience of their Hindu friend. The user wrote that their Hindu friend stopped wearing bindi (a Hindu symbol worn by Hindu women on the forehead between the eyebrows) owing to the hatred that she had been subjected to.

“She’d had dog poo put through her letter box, she and her husband’s cars had been keyed, they’d been spat at, and a whole host of other things,” Bo wrote on X.

Bo added, “Thinking it was locals, I was just pushing up my proverbial sleeves to start having words with people before she told me who it was and begged me not to do anything as the police didn’t seem to care. In the end, they just moved away. Beautiful family, with great kids. I think this is more common than we realise.”

Replying to this post, another user named Boudicca and Viriato wrote that their son had a Hindu friend in school and they all got on well with each other. However, the school had a majority Pakistani students and the Hindu girl “experienced abuse from some of the mums”.

“It was stuff like telling her to ‘go home’ and this was ‘their’ school. They moved away also,” Boudicca and Viriato wrote.

A user named klownShowz wrote that their friends don’t wear bindi and have been advised by the police not to draw attention by putting rangoli or flowers on the doorway in Hindu festival style.

When a user replied to Bo’s post pointing at a possible lack of support from non-Muslims, Bo replied by saying that the aggrieved couple was a quiet couple and “it was only after they left and people asked where they went, and I said, that people were furious and wished they’d known.”

X user R Hilton said that moderate Muslims also get targeted in the UK including Ahmadi Muslims.

“Ahmadi Muslim information stalls often attacked in Kingston and occasionally in Merton, where I was a Councillor. They were accused by other Muslims of not being ‘real Muslims’. Their motto “Love for All – Hatred for None” incensed the radicals,” R Hilton wrote.

Bo replied to the user saying that they have Muslim friends in Cornwall who moved to get away from the other Muslims.

An X user by the name of Becks also mentioned that her Hindu colleagues working with her in a majority-Muslim hospital pharmacy were verbally abused and bullied on a daily basis while the hospital management did not care.

The West Midlands Hindu family harassment case

In the West Midlands county of England, a Hindu couple – identified as Ramana Nagumalli, his wife Radhika Kulkarni and their 8-year-old daughter – were harassed at least five times.

The Hindu family had reported 5 instances of harassment to the West Midlands police in July this year. In one incident, the couple and their minor daughter were surrounded by a mob outside a local leisure centre.

Recently, the same men came to their house and began kicking their front door. The victims were also called ‘Kafirs’, a dehumanising term used by radical Islamists to refer to non-Muslims.

The situation has become so grim that the Indian Hindu family is now afraid to leave their house and step outside. While speaking about their ordeal, Radhika Kulkarni stated, “I was shivering outside, I was just crying. I wasn’t able to sleep. We didn’t do anything to anyone. Why is this hate there?”

But their complaint to the West Midlands police failed to elicit any meaningful action. While responding to an email by the BBC, the cops said that there was no sufficient evidence to treat the crime as ‘racially aggravated offence.’

Although the police informed that the accused men confessed to harassing the couple and their 8-year-old daughter and a ‘detailed investigation’ was underway, the criminal offence was not regarded as a ‘hate crime.’

Hindu harassment is common in the United Kingdom. And it is compounded even more by inaction from the authorities including the police. In fact, in a recent case, the harassment itself was perpetrated by a British Muslim cop.

On 19th September, a British police officer identified as Adam Ahmed used excessive force on an elderly Hindu priest of Indian origin during the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Leicester in the UK.

The videos of the incident went viral on social media, where Ahmed was seen behaving rudely with the priest and the Hindu devotees who tried to stop him.

A study revealed by a UK-based think tank in April exposed that Hindu students in the country are being subjected to bullying and racial discrimination in classrooms.

The study was carried out by a research fellow named Charlotte Littlewood, who interviewed 988 Hindu parents and surveyed more than 1000 schools in the United Kingdom.

As per a report by The Telegraph, Littlewood noted that Hindu students were being bullied by their Muslim classmates and repeatedly asked to convert to Islam and in one case a female pupil had beef thrown on her.

However unfortunate and dangerous these incidents may be, there is no point expecting action from the British authorities for their sheer unwillingness and incapability to defend their own daughters from the clutches of grooming gangs largely run by Pakistani Muslims.

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