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The Wire takes down another report after Delhi HC ordered it to remove article on Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, says allegations are “quite far-fetched”

OpIndia Staff
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The Wire takes down another report after Delhi HC ordered it to remove article on Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, says allegations are “quite far-fetched”

On Wednesday (22nd November), the Delhi High Court granted interim relief to Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar ordering ‘The Wire’ to remove an article that levelled corruption allegations against him in connection with the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) acquisition of land for the Dwarka Motorway project.

“The ad-interim injunction is granted. I have directed Respondent No. 1 (The Wire) and Respondent No. 2 (concerned reporter) to take down the article and the appending tweets,” said the bench led by Justice Sachin Datta.

The court agreed with Naresh Kumar that the article contained defamatory, libellous allegations against the govt official, and insinuations were made in a reckless manner against Kumar without regard to the truth, in order to cause injury to his reputation.

The Wire has taken down the controversial article following the orders of the Delhi High Court. A visit to the URL of the report shows the text, “This article is being taken down as per the ad-interim injunction ordered by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court.” However, it said that the media house “reserved the right to take appropriate recourse in this matter.”

Screenshot from The Wire

Notably, the court had reserved its decision in the interim application yesterday. The single-judge bench issued a summons in the suit while preserving the order in the application for an ad-interim injunction. Apart from ordering to take down the report, the court also ordered The Wire to remove tweets and other posts used to circulate the report, asking X (Twitter) to remove them if The Wire and the writer of the report fails to remove the posts.

“In the event that defendant nos. 1 & 2 fail to comply with the aforesaid directions within 48 hours of the pronouncement of this judgment, the defendant no. 3 is directed to take down the tweets/posts filed as Document nos. 4 & 5 of the documents filed alongwith the plaint, and the defendant no. 4 is directed to remove search result/s and/or de-index the web link of the article/publication dated 09.11.2023,” the court said.

Justice Sachin Datta said that while freedom of speech and expression is sacrosanct, the reputation of a person earned over several decades cannot be sacrificed at the altar of such freedom. The court noted that there was a political angle to the allegations against the chief secretary. The judgement said, “In the present case, the Court has also taken note of the crescendo of politically motivated tweets/posts/comments, virtually in sync with the publication of the aforesaid article/publication dated 09.11.2023, which further validate the necessity of urgent injunctive order/s. Incidentally, one such tweet is by the author of the “preliminary report” sought to be relied upon by the learned counsel for defendant nos. 1 and 2. The said report, which is dated 14.11.2023, ex-facie, cannot afford any justification for the impugned article dated 09.11.2023.”

The court also commented that the allegations against Kumar are “quite far-fetched”. The court stated,  “Further, the nexus sought to be drawn between the person which was the beneficiary of the arbitral award dated 15.05.2023 and the son of the plaintiff is also quite far-fetched, to say the least, contrary to what has been sought to be projected in the title/caption of the impugned article.”

Talking about the allegations The Wire made against Kumar, the court said that linking enhanced compensation awarded for acquiring land for Dwarka Expressway with Kumar’s “handling” of the matter is “completely misconceived”, because the enhancement of the compensation was done as per an arbitral award dated 15.05.2023.

“The said award was passed by another IAS Officer in his capacity as arbitrator. It cannot be said, by any stretch of imagination, that the plaintiff could have interfered with the discharge of quasi-judicial functions entrusted to another officer,” the Delhi High Court said in its order, making it clear that Naresh Kumar had no role in deciding the compensation paid for the land acquisition.

Senior Advocate Maninder Singh appearing for Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar contended that within no time of publication of the article, the social media began trolling and tarnishing his image.

“You build a connection in your dream, and then you concoct everything. The article was published so that social media gets active to target my reputation. I am not a political person… He was instrumental in getting these inquiries in the excise policy done, and the Supreme Court has now said that there seems to be at least ₹350 crore bribe which the ED has been able to show in the excise scam. I do not want to say anything, but this seems to be one of the foundations for the article,” he added.

However, Advocate Sarin Naved appearing for the Wire said that the media house intended to raise crucial questions. “The intention was not to defame Kumar in any manner,” he added.

According to The Wire’s report titled ‘Links of Delhi Chief Secretary’s Son to Beneficiary’s Family in Land Over-Valuation Case Raise Questions’ published on 9th November, Kumar’s son, Karan Chauhan, had associations with a family that benefited from higher compensation when NHAI obtained a plot of land for the Dwarka Motorway.

In addition to requesting that the article be removed, Kumar asked the court to prevent The Wire and its reporter, Meetu Jain, from publishing any further defamatory content.

Kumar had previously served The Wire and Meetu Jain with a legal notice, delivered through Advocate Bani Dikshit on 13th November, demanding that the article be removed within 48 hours. The report was labelled as defamatory, false, baseless, and misleading, according to the notice.

Kumar claimed that he proactively addressed the issue and prevented any wrongful loss to the public wallet. He claimed responsibility for recommending that the case be referred to the CBI on October 20, 2023.

The outrage surrounding Kumar grew when Delhi’s Vigilance Minister, Atishi, submitted an initial report to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleging that Kumar profited from a company linked to his son, totalling Rs. 897 crore. Atishi also suggested a CBI investigation and the suspension of Kumar and Divisional Commissioner Ashwani Kumar.

Kejriwal passed on the report to Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena, requesting that Kumar be suspended and removed as Chief Secretary immediately. However, Saxena rejected the report on 17th November, citing its prejudicial presumptions and potential interference with the ongoing investigation. Saxena emphasized that the case is already before the Supreme Court and being investigated by the CBI and that the leaked secret report is an attempt to start a media trial.

The Wire and forced to delete reports

This is the latest in the series of reports that The Wire has been forced to take down. In October last year, the propaganda outlet was forced to take down a series of articles alleging that BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya had some superpowers to remove posts from Meta-owned Instagram. The outlet was found to have used fake and doctored documents to make the claims but was forced to retract after its lies were exposed.

Soon after The Wire removed its earlier reports on the so-called ‘Tek Fog’, an alleged app used by BJP with supposed superpowers to manipulate all social media platforms. The app was fictitious, it didn’t exist and was only created by The Wire. The portal blamed the author of the articles for making the baseless allegations.

The portal also removed several videos it had posted ‘explaining’ the Meta and Tek Fog allegations.

Before that in February 2022, a court in Telangana had ordered leftist propaganda portal The Wire to take down as many as 14 articles it had published against Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech and the Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin developed by it. The order was passed after Bharat Biotech had filed an Rs100 crore defamation suit against The Wire and 12 persons associated with it.

‘Insulted for being a Brahmin’: Cartoonist shares how his poor father faced caste discrimination by a collectorate officer

OpIndia Staff
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‘Insulted for being a Brahmin’: Cartoonist shares how his poor father faced caste discrimination by a collectorate officer

Writer-director and cartoonist Alok Sharma narrated an incident on X, formerly Twitter, about how he was a victim of casteism in his youth. Sharma was replying to a post by an X user asking other users if they had faced casteism in their lives.

Recalling one such encounter, Sharma said that he was visiting the Durg collectorate office (then in Madhya Pradesh, now Chhattisgarh) along with his father to get his income certificate needed for his sister’s scholarship. He was 14 at the time and hailed from a poor financial background.

“The situation at home was such that without work during the day, there would be no food on the table in the evening,” Sharma wrote.

At the collectorate office, Sharma continued, an employee named Topo was seated in a department Sharma could not remember. “He (Topo) refused to sign on the income certificate and started misbehaving with us in a very crass manner,” he wrote.

Sharma wrote that while his father patiently kept listening to the insult, he could not bear it anymore and asked Topo why he was behaving with them in such a way. “Because you are Brahmin,” Topo said according to Sharma.

He further added that he held his father’s hand and left the collectorate office. He said that from that day till he was 20 years old, he supplied chocolates and biscuits to small shops in Bhilai, ran a comics library with his friend and used his hard-earned money to pay for his sister’s education.

“I will always remember this incident but I have no bitterness in my heart for Topo. Had he not been there then I would not have been the way I am,” Sharma wrote.

The cartoonist received an outpouring of support from his followers on X with many expressing anger against the reservation. A user commented, “More power to you Alok! Glad to hear we both hail from Bhilai.”

Another user replied, “Really touched my heart. Facing challenges, hard work and perseverance is the hallmark of a Brahman. Congratulations. That Cappie, I am sure has had lived him Karma. More than anything, thank you so much for your Hindi writeup. Shuddh Hindi with no haqhaq Urdu. A joy to read!”

The post to which Alok Sharma was replying also received several responses from people who had experienced casteism, which included Brahmins too.

A user wrote, “A reserved SC , Senior engineer, didn’t offer me a chair for about more 4 hours inside his cabin, he is sitting in his big chair, I’m standing to discuss about technical specifications. He is big 0 on tech. So is the treatment. He knows very well I’m from the upper class.”

Pakistani intelligence in panic mode, offers support to Canadian hoax claiming RAW is killing India’s enemies across the world

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistani intelligence in panic mode, offers support to Canadian hoax claiming RAW is killing India’s enemies across the world

On November 21 (local time), The Intercept published a report accusing the Indian government’s intelligence agency, RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), of assassinating Sikh and Kashmiri activists living on foreign lands. The basis of their accusations was, wait for it, intelligence documents provided by PAKISTAN! Yes, the same Pakistan is known for harbouring and nourishing terrorists and criminals aimed at harming India. However, India’s involvement in any extra-juridical killings is highly unlikely.

The authors of The Intercept’s report, Murtaza Hussain and Ryan Grim, claimed that “leaked” Pakistani intelligence assessments revealed a series of threats from RAW against individuals living in Pakistan. The “Pakistani intelligence” claimed the Indian agency is collaborating with local criminals and dissidents to kill and attack individuals wanted by the Indian government.

The targets include those supporting armed insurgency in Kashmir and Sikh “activists” who want Khalistan. In other words, The Intercept asserted that the recent killings in Pakistan by “unknown assailants” were carried on the behest of RAW.

Furthermore, The Intercept’s report claimed that information provided by their source in “Pakistani intelligence” was in sync with the accusations laid down by the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The report suggested that the leaked documents provided additional evidence that supported the claim that India has been conducting a transnational assassination program against its political enemies. It was further claimed that RAW is planning more such assassinations in Lahore and Pakistan. Those on India’s agency’s target include Lakhbir Singh Rode and his son Bhagat Singh. Notably, Rode is a relative of Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In 2021, Gurmukh Singh, the son of Jasbir Singh Rode, was arrested by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) for receiving tiffin boxes loaded with explosives from his uncle, Lakhbir Singh Rode, in Pakistan and distributing them within Indian territory.

Another unimaginable accusation that The Intercept came up with was that the information provided to them revealed India was operating from a militant training camp in Afghanistan. India, a country that is against any terrorist activity anywhere in the world, is accused of operating from a terrorist camp! Nothing more bizarre can come out of that report, or could there be more?

Furthermore, The Intercept claimed as per the documents they accessed that were leaked from the Pakistani Intelligence Bureau, there were concerns raised that Indian intelligence agents based in UAE and Afghanistan were being activated to carry out more operations in Pakistan.

What is interesting in the report is the clear panic visible across the “intelligence networks” or actually the conspiracy theorists about the assassinations that have been happening in Pakistan and other parts of the world. Coincidentally, some of those killed were wanted by India.

However, that does not mean a democratic country like India would indulge in any unlawful activity. Notably, the Indian leadership is meticulous about its image on the international platform. Any action that may go against that image would be highly unacceptable not only by the Indian leadership but also by the people of India.

The assassinations are nothing but failures of the local intelligence and law enforcement agencies of those respective countries where the incidents happened. Recent reports suggested Nijjar’s killers were wearing turbans. Furthermore, the investigating agencies in Canada did not check the security cameras for weeks after the murder, showing how lenient they were about the whole matter.

There is one more interesting aspect of the report by The Intercept. One of the authors, Murtaza Hussain, spoke volumes of the Pakistani intelligence in the report. However, in September 2023, he literally called Pakistani officials’ liars’ on social media. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he said, “This is one reason I would argue The Intercept’s reporting on Pakistan has been so important. Pakistani officials literally just lie. Not even half-truths or quarter-truths this is straight-up lying. It is based on an arrogant contempt for the public.” At that time, he was quoting a Washington Post report that cited the caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan, who denied the allegations that Pakistan was selling ammunition to Ukraine.

Source: X

It is unclear if Hussain had a change of heart that he started believing Pakistanis or if he just did some monkey-balancing for his previous reactions to X.

India has been consistently urging countries like Canada and Pakistan to extradite criminals, including terrorists and gangsters, to India. However, both countries have ignored the requests multiple times. When some of these criminals were killed over internal scuffles, the blame went to India, most probably to shadow the incompetency of their own law enforcement and intelligence agencies. In the end, Baby, Tiger, and movies like those are fiction. They have nothing to do with the reality. It looks like a Bollywood fan sitting in Pakistani intelligence created a script that he wanted to sell to Indian filmmakers but someone leaked it as “intelligence against India”.

OpIndia’s detailed coverage of Canada’s accusations against India in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar can be checked here.

OpIndia’s reports on assassinations carried out by unknown assailants in Pakistan can be checked here.

Foreign funding for mosques in India, settling Rohingya Muslims in metros: UP ATS uncovers sinister designs of terrorists linked to Darul Uloom Deoband

राहुल पाण्डेय
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Foreign funding for mosques in India, settling Rohingya Muslims in metros: UP ATS uncovers sinister designs of terrorists linked to Darul Uloom Deoband

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh Police registered an FIR against 10 suspected terrorists on 11th October 2023. They have been identified as Adil ur Rahman Ashrafi, Abu Hurairah Ghazi, Sheikh Nazibul Haq, Mohammad Rashid, Kafiluddin, Azeem, Abdul Awwal, Abu Saleh, Abdul Gaffar and Abdullah Ghazi. All of them are accused of illegally soliciting money from abroad to build mosques in India, settling Rohingya and Bangladeshi citizens in India and carrying out anti-national activities.

The special thing in this whole case is that most of the conspirators arrested by the UP ATS were found to be associated with Darul Uloom of Deoband. Of the 10 accused, Delhi resident Abdul Awwal illegally obtained documents of residents of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Assam and opened bank accounts. Later, he handed over the account to Abdul Gaffar of Delhi. Gaffar demanded money from abroad in these accounts. Abu Saleh also helped Gaffar in ordering this money.

The money, which was brought abroad and in many other parts of the country, was routed to Najibul Sheikh through hawala. Najibul Sheikh owns a cap and perfume shop near Darul Uloom Deoband in Saharanpur.

Najibul hails from Bengal and sells caps and perfumes in Deoband

According to the ATS, Najibul, originally living in West Bengal and temporarily in Deoband, had kept Bangladeshi citizen Atiq-ur-Rehman as his associate. Atiq ur Rehman had made India’s Aadhaar and PAN card etc. with fake documents. All of them were working as a gang that used to infiltrate Bangladeshis and Rohingya citizens into India and get their Indian papers made. These Bangladeshis were being settled in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and different parts of Northeast India.

On 11th October 2023, the ATS received information from an informer that some suspects associated with this network were present at Charbagh station in Lucknow. The ATS arrested Adilur Rehman Ashrafi there. On the same day, the Saharanpur unit of the ATS arrested Abu Hurairah and Najibul Sheikh.

All of them were brought to the ATS headquarters in Lucknow and questioned. Najibul, who identified himself as a resident of West Bengal, was currently running a perfume and cap shop in front of Darul Uloom in Deoband.

During interrogation, Najibul confessed that he used to get money from hawala. Adilur Rahman revealed his real name as Adil Ahmed Ashrafi, who is originally from Bangladesh. Adil Ahmed, who became an Indian with fake papers, was currently studying at Deoband Darul Uloom.

The network had recently illegally sold a Bangladeshi woman to an Indian man named Ibrahim for Rs 70,000. The woman has been arrested along with Ibrahim after recovery. Her papers are fake.

The third accused, Abu Hurairah, a resident of West Bengal, said that he currently lived in the Chhatta Mosque of Deoband in Darul Uloom. The UP ATS recovered electronics and electrical equipment, mobiles, ATM cards, UAE currency, Indian cash, SIM cards, Aadhaar cards, madrasa cards, PAN cards and passports from all of them.

All these accused have been prosecuted under sections 120-B, 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 370 of the IPC and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act 1946. Three accused have been arrested. Their names are Adil ur Rehman, Najibul Sheikh and Hurairah Ghazi. All others are on the run. At present, the case is being investigated by Inspector Dharmendra Yadav, in charge of the Meerut unit of the ATS. A copy of the FIR is with OpIndia.

According to information received from sources, the mosques were to be built in Punjab along the Pakistan border and in West Bengal near the Bangladesh border in the first phase. However, the ATS is currently engaged in tracing the root of this terrorist network and its economic sources. Also, the purpose of the construction of these mosques is yet to be revealed.

Darul Uloom was constantly helping Bangladeshi infiltrators

In the investigation of Uttar Pradesh ATS, the identity card of Darul Uloom Deoband was found from Adilur Rehman Ashrafi. He was originally from Bangladesh. However, later Darul Uloom refused to consider Adilur Rehman as its student. However, according to information received by OpIndia from sources, Adil ur Rehman used to frequently visit Deoband. He was also seen praying and teaching here several times.

Another accused arrested in the same case was also involved in anti-national acts. He called himself Ghazi. His name is Abu Hurairah. He was a resident of West Bengal’s 24 Parganas district, but he lived in the Chhatta Mosque of Darul Uloom Deoband. Sheikh Najibul, a resident of 24 Parganas in West Bengal, had been running a shop selling perfumes and caps in front of Darul Uloom Deoband for a long time.

Earlier on 19th July 2023, the UP ATS had registered another FIR. The ATS then arrested Habibullah Misbah and Ahmadullah. Habibullah, originally from Dinajpur in Bangladesh, was carrying an identity card of Darul Uloom Deoband. He lived in the Rukhsana building near Darul Uloom Deoband. Habibullah has also been Adilur Rehman’s room partner for some time. These illegal infiltrators had also faked Indian identity cards.

Apart from all these, the ATS had also registered an FIR on 28th April 2022. Then a terrorist named Talha Talukdar Bin Farooq was arrested. Talha, originally from Bangladesh, became an Indian with fake documents and lived in room number 61 of Dar-e-Jadid, a building in Darul Uloom Deoband. The ATS had also recovered a receipt of the scholarship of Darul Uloom Deoband from Talha talukdar. During interrogation, Talha Talukdar confessed that along with him, two other Bangladeshis named Salahuddin Salim and Iftakar were also studying Arabic illegally in Darul Uloom.

Baba Ramdev fumes after SC issues warning against Patanjali over ‘misleading ads’, says few doctors running propaganda against Yoga and Ayurveda

OpIndia Staff
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Baba Ramdev fumes after SC issues warning against Patanjali over ‘misleading ads’, says few doctors running propaganda against Yoga and Ayurveda

On Wednesday (22nd November), Yog Guru Baba Ramdev expressed displeasure over SC’s warning to Patanjali about making ‘false’ and ‘misleading’ claims in the commercials about its medicines as cures for various diseases. Ramdev Baba said that the medical mafia has been targeting him and running propaganda against him and the Ayurveda. 

“SC said that if you do false propaganda, then you will be fined… We respect SC. But we are not doing any false propaganda. A few doctors have formed a group that continuously does propaganda against yoga, Ayurveda,” Baba said adding that if Patanjali is a liar, it should be fined Rs 1000 crores.

“We are also ready for the death penalty. But if we are not liars, then punish the ones who are spreading the false propaganda. For the past 5 years, propaganda has been going on targeting Ramdev and Patanjali,” he said.

Addressing a press meeting on Wednesday (22nd November), Baba Ramdev further added that the few financially strong doctors are running propaganda against Patanjali for ‘curing’ the patients via Ayurveda. “Money cannot decide truth and lie. They (allopathy) may have more hospitals, doctors and their voices may be heard more, but we have the inheritance of the wisdom of sages, we are not poor,” he said.

The Supreme Court yesterday slammed Patanjali Ayurved for “publishing misleading claims and advertisements against modern systems of medicine”. A two-judge Supreme Court bench also issued a stern warning to the company stating that it would impose a Rs 1 crore fine on every product if the company made false claims that the product ‘cures’ a particular disease. 

 “All such false and misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurved have to stop immediately. The Court will take any such infraction very seriously, and the Court will also consider imposing costs to the extent of Rs. 1 crores on every product regarding which a false claim is made that it can “cure” a particular disease,” the bench led by Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra said.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against alleged misleading advertisements. In its writ petition, the IMA raised concerns which according to them are a “continuous, systematic, and unabated spread of misinformation” regarding allopathy and the modern system of medicine. 

The bench also directed Patanjali that it must refrain from making casual statements in the press and shall not make any such advertisements in the future. However, the bench asserted that it did not wish to make the issue an “Allopathy v. Ayurveda” debate rather it wanted real solutions to the problem of misleading medical advertisements. 

The bench has asked the Union government to come up with a viable solution to solve the problem of misleading medical advertisements. The next hearing in the case will now take place on 5th February 2024. 

India would have won the World Cup if the final match was held in Lucknow: Akhilesh Yadav takes bizarre dig at BJP

OpIndia Staff
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India would have won the World Cup if the final match was held in Lucknow: Akhilesh Yadav takes bizarre dig at BJP

The president of the Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav made an odd jab at the Bharatiya Janata Party on 21 November when he stated that if the World Cup final match was played in Lucknow rather than Ahmedabad, the Men in Blue would have lifted the esteemed trophy. Speaking at a public gathering in Etawah he claimed that Team India would have had the blessings of former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lord Vishnu if the match had taken place in Uttar Pradesh’s capital.

He declared, “The match that took place in Gujarat if it had happened in Lucknow, the Indian side would have got blessings of so many. The team would have been bestowed with the blessings of Lord Vishnu because the stadium is named ‘Ekana’ after the diety. However, the BJP changed it to Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium. If the match had been played there, Team India would have received the blessings of both Lord Vishnu and Atal Bihari Vajpayee and India would have won.”

The leader of the opposition in the UP assembly added, “Now, we have heard that there was some issue with the pitch and the preparation of the players was left incomplete. Hence, sometimes omens indicate that the time is not favourable to us but rather to someone else.”

The former Samajwadi Party government branded Lucknow’s cricket venue as ‘Ekana Stadium’ which is one of the many names of Lord Vishu. BJP’s Yogi Adityanath administration then renamed it ‘Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium’ in 2018 in remembrance of the late prime minister and party stalwart.

While it is true that Ahmedabad’s slow pitch has been cited as one reason for the low runs scored by India batting first, it is unlikely that the situation would have been different if the final was in Lucknow. This is because, just like the pitch in the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the pitch in Lucknow’s Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium is also known to be slow.

Shockingly, Congress Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi had earlier attributed India’s loss in the final match to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and referred to him as ‘Panauti’ (bad omen/unlucky charm) while addressing an election rally in Rajasthan’s Jalore. He alleged, “Modi comes on TV and says ‘Hindu- Muslim’ and sometimes goes to a cricket match. It is a different matter that the match was lost. Panauti. Our boys were almost winning the World Cup, but the ‘bad omen’ made them lose.

India concluded their World Cup campaign with a heartbreaking loss to Australia in a one-sided final on 19 November, succumbing by six wickets to the Australian side in the last encounter of the tournament after winning every match since the beginning of the almost two-month-long championship.

Ramesh Bidhuri and Danish Ali summoned by Lok Sabha privileges committee on 7 December over controversial comments in the house

OpIndia Staff
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Ramesh Bidhuri and Danish Ali summoned by Lok Sabha privileges committee on 7 December over controversial comments in the house

The Privileges Committee of Lok Sabha has summoned BSP MP Danish Ali and BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri to depose before the panel on 7th December over their complaints against each other. Both the Lok Sabha lawmakers will have to submit oral evidence before the Parliamentary panel. This is regarding Danish Ali’s objectionable comments during the discussion of the Chandrayaan 2 mission in parliament and Ramesh Bidhuri’s alleged anti-Muslim remarks in response.

The notice issued by the committee said, “Oral evidence of Kunwar Danish Ali, MP in respect of complaints received from various Members of Parliament against Shri Ramesh Bidhuri and Kunwar Danish Ali, MPs for alleged improper conduct during the discussion on Chandrayaan-III Mission in the House. (2) Oral evidence of Shri Ramesh Bidhuri, MP in respect of complaints received from various Members of Parliament against him and Kunwar Danish Ali, MPs for alleged improper conduct during the discussion on Chandrayaan-III Mission in the House.” 

The panel will hear complaints against Danish Ali for his running commentary when Bidhuri was addressing the House on Chandrayaan-3 in the special session of Parliament on 22nd September. Several Parliamentarians have alleged that he incessantly provoked Bidhuri triggering an outburst from the BJP MP which was later expunged from the House proceedings. 

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and others made shocking revelations alleging that Danish Ali made “highly objectionable and blasphemous” remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They asserted that the BSP leader called PM Modi “Neech” which triggered Ramesh Bidhuri and he fell into his trap.

While the panel will hear Ali who wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on 24th  September seeking a privilege probe against Bidhuri. In his complaint letter to the Speaker, Danish Ali wrote, “During the course of his (referring to BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri) speech, he directed the most foul, abusive invectives against me which are part of the record of the Lok Sabha. Among the words he directed against me were Bhadwa (pimp), Katwa (circumcised one), Mullah ugravadi (Muslim terrorist), atankvadi (terrorist) etc.” 

Subsequently, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla referred the MPs’ complaints to the Privileges Committee in September. 

Bidhuri was earlier called on 10th October but he didn’t appear before the Lok Sabha Panel citing political commitments in the Rajasthan election campaign.

The Lok Sabha privileges panel is led by BJP’s Sunil Singh and will hear Ali for the first time since he accused Bidhuri of making communally explicit remarks against him. 

Punjab CM appeals farm unions not to block roads as farmers sit-in protest, demand withdrawal of FIRs for stubble burning

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab CM appeals farm unions not to block roads as farmers sit-in protest, demand withdrawal of FIRs for stubble burning

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has appealed to protesting farmers’ unions to not block roads and approach the state government with their grievances. Taking to X, Mann wrote, “My request to the farmers’ unions is not to turn the common people against you by blocking the roads for everything. To talk to the government, Chandigarh’s Punjab Bhawan, Secretariat, the office of the Minister of Agriculture and my office are at home, not on the roads. If this attitude remains then the day is not far when you will not find people for picketing. Understand people’s feelings.”

Farmers have been protesting at 34 locations across Punjab since 20th November demanding the withdrawal of FIRs filed against stubble burning and seeking a long-term solution for paddy straw. Eighteen farmer unions reportedly arrived at the offices of deputy commissioners and sub-divisional magistrates with trollies filled with paddy stubble as a sign of protest.

In Jalandhar, farmers led by the Bharti Kisan Union (Doaba) blocked a stretch of the Jalandhar-Ludhiana highway including the service lanes. A total of 22 unions have joined the protest, according to Amar Ujala. The farmers have also been demanding that the government announce the price of sugarcane yields.

Farm union leader Balwinder Singh has warned the state government that if their demands are not met then a permanent demonstration will be staged. The protesting farmers have appealed to citizens to take an alternative route and have also announced that they will block railway tracks.

Meanwhile, the administration is engaged in diverting traffic and has urged citizens to venture out by taking the blockade into account. In view of the inconvenience caused to the common people, the Punjab CM has called on the farmers to not block the roads.

The soaring air quality index in the national capital has been attributed to the large-scale stubble burning, mostly in Punjab. Satellite images released from NASA showed severe stubble burning in Punjab owing to which the authorities were directed to take action against such farmers who were breaching permissible levels.

FIRs were also filed against such farmers while others were penalised.

Satara: Gorakshak attacked by smugglers with sharp knife in Phaltan for stopping truck carrying cattle illegally, 2 booked

Siddhi Somani
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Satara: Gorakshak attacked by smugglers with sharp knife in Phaltan for stopping truck carrying cattle illegally, 2 booked

On 20th November, a 29-year-old Gorakshak identified as Wagheshwar Adake was brutally assaulted by a group of ‘smugglers’ who were illegally transporting cattle for slaughter from the Barad Marketyard area of Phaltan in Maharashtra’s Satara district. The victim was attacked by a sharp knife after he stopped the truck carrying around 35-40 buffaloes illegally on the Phaltan-Pandharpur road.

The state police took cognizance of the event and filed an FIR in the case based on the complaint filed by Adake. The FIR has been filed under sections 324 (voluntarily hurt by the use of a dangerous weapon or means) and 34 (criminal act with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 against 2 unknown persons. However, team OpIndia talked to the local Hindu organization members to learn that the truck had been registered in the name of one Taufik Qureshi.

As per the FIR copy, the incident is said to have happened on Monday (20th November) at around 10:30 am in the Phaltan region of Satara district. Adake mentioned in the complaint that he and his other Gorakshak members had received a tip-off that a truck carrying buffaloes illegally for slaughter had left the Barad Marketyard and was on its way on the Phaltan-Pandharpur road.

Adake then reached the spot and inquired about the truck. He and the other Bajrang Dal members inspected the truck (MH 23 W 2670) to discover that around 35-40 buffaloes had been inhumanly stuffed inside the truck. As he engaged in inquiring about the incident, a white Swift car (MH 10 CA 2876) arrived at the spot from Pandharpur’s side and men from the car began abusing and pushing Adake to the ground.

“We have a license to carry the cattle. Why is our truck stopped in the middleway? Who are you to stop us,” around 4-5 men who got down from the car began ranting at the victim. Later one of the accused men took a knife out and attacked Adake on his arm resulting in a severe injury.

After this, as per the FIR, the truck carrying the cattle illegally fled on its way to Phaltan. Also, the accused men fled away to Phaltan in their Swift car.

More than 10 Buffaloes were inhumanly stuffed in the truck (Image obtained by OpIndia)

Truck license was issued to Taufik Qureshi; animal laws violated

OpIndia obtained detailed information about the incident and discovered that the truck carrying the cattle had been registered in the name of one Taufik Imtiyaz Qureshi. He had applied for the license in the year 2016 for transporting the cattle, however, on inspection the RTO referred to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and the Transport of Animals Rules, 1978 to allow transportation of 10 or less than 10 cattle. However, the FIR mentions that the truck illegally was transporting 30-35 cattle allegedly to a slaughterhouse.

As per rule 50 of the Transport of Animals Rules, 1978, the average space provided per cattle in a Railway wagon or vehicle shall not be less than two square meters. In the given case, the FIR mentions that the truck carried 35-40 buffaloes illegally.

Transport of Animals, Rules, 1978

‘Qureshi fabricated the documents, truck allowed to carry up to 10 cattle only’

OpIndia talked to the local Hindu organization member Akshay Taware who asserted that the truck registered in the name of Taufik Qureshi had violated the laws relating to the transportation of the cattle. “The license was obtained by the truck in the year 2016. Also, the area of the truck is around 11.13 square meters as mentioned in the license. So, as per the law, only 10 cattle can be allowed to be transported. However, the truck carried 35-40 cattle. Also, the local RTO officers confirmed that the license in such cases is issued only for a year. However, Qureshi has fabricated the documents to show the license is valid for up to 10 years,” he said.

RTO license document obtained by OpIndia

Taware also stated that a similar truck of Tahhuddin Qureshi was seized by the Police on 8th November this year. “In that case also the license of the truck was fabricated. The license was issued in 2016 and was valid till 2017. However, Qureshi had fabricated the document to show that the paper is valid till 2026. The Police at that time had issued a written statement saying that the license had been issued for one year and that the document by Qureshi had been fabricated. In this case, also, detailed inquiry is needed,” he said.

Police statement from 8th November in case of truck owned by Tahhuddin Qureshi

Second attack on Phaltan Gorakshak in the last three months

Taware further added that Gorakshaks are attacked by the ‘smugglers’ and face threats from them for saving cows and other cattle. “This is the second such attack in the last 3 months on a Gorakshak. Such illegal activities need to stop,” he added.

Meanwhile, OpIndia has obtained information that the accused who attacked the Gorakshak have been taken into custody and are being interrogated. The team also called the Phaltan rural police station, which confirmed the entire case. However, on asking about the alleged ‘illegal’ documents furthered by the truck owner, the officer said that the details would be provided by PSI Sagar Argade, the investigating officer. The PSI was not reachable while this report was being drafted. Details will be updated once we hear from the PSI.

Cow protection has been painted as a ‘communal’ issue where Gorakshaks are depicted as rogue groups that attack ‘innocent’ Muslims transporting cows to slaughterhouses. Cattle are a source of livelihood for millions in rural India and are loved as their family members. Cows, especially, are also considered holy by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs alike, and slaughtering them is considered to be a sin.

The government has imposed a ban on cow slaughter as per the Animal Welfare Act. Despite this, numerous cows, bullocks, cattle, and other animals are smuggled across Telangana state at night in both large and small vehicles from the state of Maharashtra.

Earlier, on Tuesday (10th October) Gorakshaks in Pune saved two cows from the clutches of cow smugglers who were taking the cows to a slaughterhouse in Pune. Iqbal Alam and other two smugglers were arrested in this case based on the complaint filed by Gorakshak Upendra Balkavde. In another incident in the Pune district, cow meat was seized from a car in Manchar on 9th October.

India resumes e-visa services for Canadian nationals after a pause of 2 months

OpIndia Staff
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India resumes e-visa services for Canadian nationals after a pause of 2 months

Amidst the ongoing diplomatic row with Canada, India has resumed Electronic visa services for Canadian nationals after a long gap of two months, Indian media widely reported on 22nd November (Wednesday), citing sources. The resumption of e-visas signals a potential thaw in the diplomatic strains between the two countries.  

Earlier in October, the Indian government had restored visa services for Canadians in four categories. These included entry visas, business visas, medical visas, and conference visas.

Notably, on 21st September, New Delhi suspended Visa services for Canadians in the wake of a diplomatic row that kicked off after Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau made allegations against India in the Canadian Parliament on 18th September. Accusing India of carrying out the execution on Canadian soil, he claimed that “agents of the Indian government” were involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, in June this year. 

Soon after, the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, issued a statement rejecting the allegations calling it absurd and motivated. The statement read, “We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. The MEA also added that Nijjar was a wanted criminal in India and Canada has been harboring terrorists.

More importantly, even two months after Trudeau aired those allegations against India, Canada hadn’t provided any proof of Indian involvement in Hardeep Nijjar’s killing. 

The detailed report on the ongoing diplomatic row and the sequence of events could be read by clicking here. 

Apart from the unfound allegations, the Canadian government also expelled Indian diplomats which was met with a similar response from the Indian side. Seeking parity, India asked Canada to cut down its diplomatic presence. On 20th October, 41 more Canadian diplomats and their families left India. 

Additionally, both nations also issued travel advisories to their citizens. In its travel advisory, India warned Indian nationals in Canada, and those planning to travel, to exercise “utmost caution” in view of “politically-condoned” hate crimes.

Meanwhile, US media reports revealed that the killers of Nijjar were Sikhs and there were at least six men and two vehicles involved in the murder, hinting that it was potentially gang violence. 

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