Home Blog Page 2118

UP ULB polls: AIMIM candidates secure five chairman and 78 councillor seats, hints Muslim voters’ consolidation across state

OpIndia Staff
-
0
UP ULB polls: AIMIM candidates secure five chairman and 78 councillor seats, hints Muslim voters’ consolidation across state

On May 13, the results of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Local Bodies elections were announced. While Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the maximum number of seats, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) registered a total of 83 wins. The Party led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi now has five chairmen in UP Nagar Palika Parishad and 75 councillors in municipal corporations.

The Party has won Nagar Palika Parishad seats in Sambhal, Sikardra Rao in Hathras, Ghatampur in Kanpur, Kundarki Nagar Panchayat in Moradabad and Thiria Nizawat Khan Nagar Panchayat in Bareilly.

Though all except Meerut candidates for Mayor elections lost deposits, it is notable that in Meerut AIMIM candidate secured the second position in terms of votes. BJP’s Harikan Ahluwalia won the Meerut seat with over 2.3 lakh votes, while AIMIM’s Mohammed Anas got around 1.2 lakh votes. Analysing the results, it appears that Muslim voters’ consolidation worked in favour of AIMIM and went against Samajwadi Party and Congress in several districts.

Speaking to Indian Express, Anas said, “The Samajwadi Party, which had always been labelling the AIMIM as the BJP’s B team, is, in fact, playing the second fiddle to the lotus party. And it was because of the SP that our candidates could not defeat their BJP counterparts at a majority of seats in the Urban Local Body polls in the state.”

A senior SP leader said it should be a wake-up call for the party leadership. He said, “In the previous ULB polls, the AIMIM could wrest only one seat of the chairman in Nagar Palika parishad, and 32 councillors were elected, but this time, the Party has not only improved its performance but also dealt a major blow to the SP. Our leadership should at least wake up from the slumber, or else we are near political obliteration by the next general elections in Uttar Pradesh.”

Muslim consolidation worked in Congress’s favour in Karnataka

In the recent Karnataka elections, Muslim voters consolidated that resulted in a thumping victory for the Congress party. Notably, the election campaign witnessed dangerous levels of polarisation, with the opposition parties raking up the issue of hijab as well as the Congress party promising to ban the Hindu activist group, Bajrang Dal; it is worth analysing how polarisation helped Congress to consolidate Muslim voters and divide Hindu votes to emerge as victorious in the assembly polls.

The analysis of the electoral results hints that Muslims rallied behind the Congress party, possibly to secure their religious interests, and voted en masse for the candidates fielded by the grand old Party. However, by contrast, the Hindus voted largely based on individual loyalties and local issues, with religion being the least of the concerns, as witnessed by the lack of reverse mobilisation to counter Muslim consolidation and the division of its votes among Congress, JDS, and the BJP.

Furthermore, SDPI had clearly stated their intention of campaigning for Congress in the Karnataka elections, thus rallying more hardliner Muslims behind Congress.

Uttar Pradesh: Computer instructor Mohammad Ali arrested for molesting 12 minor students, his assistant and school headmaster also booked

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Uttar Pradesh: Computer instructor Mohammad Ali arrested for molesting 12 minor students, his assistant and school headmaster also booked

The Uttar Pradesh police on Sunday, May 14, arrested one Mohammad Ali, a computer teacher working in a junior school in a village in the Tilhar area of UP’s Shahjahanpur area. Ali has been accused of sexually assaulting as many as 12 minor students, including some Dalit students. The headmaster of the school and Ali’s assistant have also been booked in connection with the case.

“Around 12 girl students, including Dalits, studying in a junior government school in Tilhar police station area, were allegedly molested by computer instructor Mohammad Ali”, Circle Officer (Tilhar) Priyank Jain said, adding that a case has been filed and the matter is being investigated.

The issue came to the fore after one of the victims told her father about the harassment she was facing in school. She revealed how her computer teacher, Mohammad Ali, touched her and her classmates inappropriately during and after class hours.

After hearing this, the victim’s father along with other parents raided the school and recovered used condoms in the school’s toilet. The police were informed and a complaint was lodged against Mohammad Ali on Saturday (May 13).

The headmaster of the school Anil Kumar and the assistant teacher Sajia have also been booked in this connection. The duo was accused of not taking any action against the accused computer teacher and “aiding the behaviour of the accused”.

The police said that when some girls complained about this to Headmaster Kumar, he did not take any action.

The police booked the trio under sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the IPC, and the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.

Shahjahanpur Senior Superintendent of Police said, “The allegations are grave as all the girls are aged between 12 to 15 years and they had given their statements against the accused teacher. Circle officer of Tilhar, Priyank Jain, is carrying out the investigation. The accused has been sent to jail. We are also investigating the role of two other teachers.”

Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Kumar Gaurav said, “The head teacher and the assistant teacher have been suspended with immediate effect, and a departmental enquiry has been ordered against them. The teacher was sent to jail on Sunday after the statements of all the girls were recorded by police in the presence of their guardians.”

The BSA said that prima facie, the computer instructor seems to be at fault. He added that the matter is being investigated and strict action will be taken against those found guilty.

The Economist praises the Modi govt for reviving the banking sector, and exposes how the UPA-era policy of hiding losses proved disastrous

Dibakar Dutta
-
0
The Economist praises the Modi govt for reviving the banking sector, and exposes how the UPA-era policy of hiding losses proved disastrous

On Thursday (May 11), the British weekly newspaper The Economist praised the Modi government for reviving the banking sector in India and turning around its profitability.

In an article titled ‘India’s once-troubled banks are generating huge profits’, it said, “…Indian banks’ recent annual earnings have been spectacular…India’s state-owned banks generate, on average, over 11% and private banks almost 15%. In a development few, if any, predicted, Indian banks are among the world’s most profitable.”

The Economist noted that the bankruptcy reforms [pdf] introduced by the Narendra Modi government in 2016 helped in the rapid liquidation of failing companies and also forced ‘delinquent businesses to pay up.’

The British newspaper pointed out that the merger of 27 nationalised banks into just 12 and capital infusion in the struggling banking sector paved the way for their revival.

“In 2019, as part of the seemingly endless mop-up of Indira Gandhi’s banking nationalisation half a century ago, the government announced that 27 state-owned banks would become 12, with many branches closing,” it said.

“According to Boston Consulting Group, state banks have also written off $91bn in bad loans in the past five years—just a little less than their combined worth. Many survived thanks to an infusion of 2.6trn rupees ($31bn) from the state, in return for shares, over the past three years. Such infusions have more recently been curtailed, as banks have learned how to stand on their own feet,” the article added.

The Economist emphasised that these measures introduced by the Modi government helped in the overall acceleration of Indian economic growth. “As the system has become healthier, banks have lent more. Annual credit growth slowed to 3% in 2017. It is now up to 18%. Interest rates have risen less sharply than in America, helping limit stress,” it said.

Indian banks showed improvement even during Covid-19 pandemic: Report

The British weekly newspaper also hailed the system of ‘asset-quality review’, which was introduced by former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan in 2015. While it led to failures and write-downs initially, the review proved beneficial 5 years down the line.

The Economist pointed out that Indian banks showed early signs of improvement during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite mass lockdowns. It stated, “Non-performing loans peaked at 16% of corporate lending in 2018. They have since fallen sharply. By early 2024, predicts Crisil, a ratings agency, they should drop below 2%.”

Screengrab of the news report by The Economist

The Economist slams UPA-era system of rolling over bad loans

The British weekly newspaper pointed out how the practice of ‘rolling over bad loans’ was rampant during the first half of the 2010s (aka the Congress-led UPA era).

“During the first half of the 2010s, Indian banks reported numbers that were strong—but unbelievably so. The practice of rolling over bad loans to avoid recognising losses was rampant, particularly with those made by state banks to borrowers with political connections,” it underlined.

The Economist stated, “Reality would have intruded eventually; an accelerant came in the form of scandals over the allocation of government licences in industries including coal, which concluded with the Supreme Court cancelling hundreds of mining permits in 2014, and telecoms, with the surprising exoneration of defendants in 2017. Approvals for projects froze, undermining their financial viability,” it observed.

Bihari Dalit worker’s lynching in Kerala: Mohd Afsal, Fasil, Sharafuddin, Habeeb, Zainul Abid among 9 arrested

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Bihari Dalit worker’s lynching in Kerala: Mohd Afsal, Fasil, Sharafuddin, Habeeb, Zainul Abid among 9 arrested

Thirty-six-year-old Rajesh Manjhi, a Dalit migrant labourer from Bihar’s East Champaran district, was lynched to death on Saturday, May 13, in the Mallapuram district of Kerala. Following the murder, Kerala police arrested 9 individuals, Mohd Afsal, Fasil, Sharafuddin, Mehboob, Abdussamad, Nasar, Habeeb, Ayoob, and Zainul Abid, all hailing from Kizhissery in Mallapuram district.

The matter pertains to the Kondutty Police Station precinct in Mallapuram. The accused persons captured Manjhi from a house along the Kizhissery-Thavanur road on Saturday at around 1:00 am. The police learned about the incident at 3:25 am.

Out of the 9 arrested, 1 has been arrested for tampering with the evidence and deleting surveillance camera footage, police said on Sunday.

The victim Manjhi had only recently arrived in Kondotty, according to Kondotty ASP B V Vijaya Bharath Reddy, “The people detained claim that the migrant worker fell from the first floor of a house after a failed theft attempt.” The accused apprehended and attacked the boy for over an hour after he fell from the building.

The accused used pipes and wooden sticks to thrash Rajesh Manjhi, injuring him in the chest, ribs, and hips. Rajesh Manjhi’s body was found in Kizhissery on the night of May 12.

“The accused bound and assaulted the victim with sticks and plastic pipes. We have gathered evidence, including pictures, from the accused’s phones. They attempted to destroy evidence, including CCTV footage,” Malappuram district police chief Sujit Das said.

According to ASP Reddy, the police are verifying the house owner’s claim that the migrant worker fell from the building during a break-in attempt. ASP Reddy added that the family of the deceased migrant worker has been informed about his death. 

Further investigations into the case are currently underway.

Saurabh Rajvaidya becomes Mohammad Salim, forces wife to convert to Islam: Professor at Asaddudin Owaisi’s college and the chief of a terror group

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Saurabh Rajvaidya becomes Mohammad Salim, forces wife to convert to Islam: Professor at Asaddudin Owaisi’s college and the chief of a terror group

The Madhya Pradesh anti-terrorist squad (ATS) which recently dismantled a Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) module and apprehended 16 people from Madhya Pradesh and Telangana revealed that as many as 8 of these terrorists had converted to Islam. There are three arrested from Bhopal who married Hindu girls and later forced them to convert to Islam.

The arrested chief of this module, Mohammad Salim aka Saurabh Rajvaidya was a professor at Asaduddin Owaisi-owned Deccan Medical College in Hyderabad. While some reports identify him as ‘Saurabh Rajvaidya’, a report in the Dainik Bhaskar identifies him as Saurabh Rajvaidya Jain.

ATS asserted that the organization’s strategy was to identify susceptible and vulnerable non-Muslims and influence them to convert to Islam by brainwashing them with provocative speeches and lectures. They intended to foment terrorism and wage war against the country.

According to reports, ATS sources revealed that Yasin Khan, who was apprehended in Bhopal and Mohammad Salim who was arrested from Hyderabad were believed to be heading this group. While Yasin Khan was working as a gym trainer in Bhopal, Salim, living in the Golconda area in Hyderabad was working as a professor in Asaduddin Owaisi-owned Deccan Medical College. Mohammad Salim originally hails from Berasia in Bhopal. His real name is Saurabh Rajvaidya. Saurabh got married in the year 2009.

In the year 2010, Saurabh converted to Islam. His parents and the community were against his conversion. Later, in 2012, Saurabh’s wife also embraced Islam. Saurabh aka Salim first tried to get a conversion certificate made in Bhopal but when his attempts failed he travelled to Maharashtra to procure the certificate. He later relocated to Hyderabad, where he worked as a professor in the Biotechnical Department of the Deccan College of Medical Sciences. Salim used to give provocative speeches and lectures to brainwash others to embrace Islam and join the terrorist organisation.

Likewise, two other arrested accused Abdul Rehman and Mohammad Abbas were also originally Hindus who were brainwashed into converting to Islam. Abdul Rehman, a resident of Odisha was Devi Prasad Panda before he converted to Islam. Similarly, Mohammad Abbas, a resident of Hyderabad was Bux Venu Kumar before he embraced Islam.

Accused Yasir Khan and two others forced their Hindu wives to embrace Islam: ATS

According to ATS sources, Shahjahanabad-based gym instructor Yasir Khan got married to a Hindu woman. After that, he forced her to adopt Islam. Likewise, two other arrested Hizb ut-Tahrir members had also forced their respective wives to convert from Hinduism to Islam.

The ATS team meanwhile have taken some of the arrested accused, namely Mohammad Salim, Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Abbas Ali, Sheikh Junaid and Mohammad Hamid to Hyderabad. The team would be conducting raids and the terrorist’s other hideouts based on the information provided by the arrested youths.

BJP accuses AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi of sheltering terrorists in Hyderabad

Expressing concerns that arrested Mohammad Salim was working as a professor in the Biotechnical Department of the Deccan College of Medical Sciences owned by AIMIM party chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said that Hyderabad has become a shelter for terrorists with the Majlis party providing support as one of the arrested Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) activists turning out to be an employee of Owaisi hospital.

“What we have always been stating and feared is turning out to be true with the latest arrest of the most dangerous terrorists. Earlier, Majlis leader Asaduddin Owaisi had offered to help those living illegally, like Rohingyas, when they were arrested. He has gone a step further by providing shelter to terrorists from Pakistan and Bangladesh,” said Sanjay while addressing the media in BJP’s state office on May 10, a day after Madhya Pradesh busted the HuT module are arrested 16 individuals having links with the radical organisation.

Deccan College of Medical Science(DCMS) is a medical school situated in Hyderabad. DCMS is established and administered by Muslim Minority Trust, i.e., Dar-us-salam Educational Trust under the provision of Article 30(1) of the constitution of India. Dar-us-Salam Educational Trust is an autonomous body with Asaduddin Owaisi as its chairman. In fact, in February 2014, Owaisi had taken to Facebook to promote the college.

Meanwhile, National Investigation Agency (NIA) is set to take over the investigation of the recently busted Bhopal-Hyderabad module of the radical Islamic organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT).

The Madhya Pradesh ATS and IB had initiated the probe, but the case has interstate and international ramifications, necessitating the involvement of NIA, officials have revealed.

On May 9, in a joint operation with the Intelligence Bureau and the Telangana Police, the Madhya Pradesh anti-terrorist squad (ATS) conducted early-morning raids and seized five individuals with links to Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) in Hyderabad and 11 from two cities in Madhya Pradesh.

Hindi daily Bhaskar has quoted sources as saying that the son of a Bhopal gas tragedy activist is also included in those taken into custody.

The offenders were employed as teachers, fitness instructors, computer technicians, tailors, vehicle drivers, and labourers, among other occupations.

According to the police, the perpetrators’ possessions included radical literature, laptops, pen drives, hard drives, money, and other items.

The apprehended men were secretly practising shooting and receiving combat training at camps in remote jungle locations, where jihadi material was also passed out and provocative speeches were delivered during private religious gatherings.

The MP Police has registered a case against the accused under sections 13, 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and other relevant sections. They have been remanded to ATS custody until May 19 by a special court.

Hizb ut-Tahrir

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international pan-Islamist and fundamentalist political organization whose stated aim is the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate to unite the Muslim community and implement sharia globally. The group’s aim is to unify all Muslim countries to form an Islamic state or caliphate. After establishing the Islamic State, they plan to expand the caliphate into non-Muslim areas, through “invitation” and through military jihad.

HuT has managed to extend its doctrine and support base to at least 50 nations. The outfit has been training its cadres in chemical and biological warfare while evading international inspection. The group is banned in 16 countries.

The HuT was last active in India in 2010, but recent information on its expansion plans in the country, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, where it has been covertly recruiting and training members, was provided by international security agencies.

Young individuals eager to give their lives for the cause of Islamism were known to be identified and recruited by the accused. They exchanged messages using a variety of encrypted applications, including Threema, Rocket Chat, and other programmes that are akin to those used by ISIS and other terrorist organisations on the dark web.

George Soros-funded Vice Media files for bankruptcy to facilitate sale

OpIndia Staff
-
0
George Soros-funded Vice Media files for bankruptcy to facilitate sale

Vice and Motherboard, the websites known for their unique content, are facing financial difficulties and have initiated bankruptcy proceedings in the United States. As part of the restructuring process, the company is expected to be acquired by a consortium of its lenders.

Vice Media Group, formerly valued at $5.7 billion, is now facing the possibility of being acquired for $225 million. Despite this financial setback, the youth-focused digital publisher has confirmed that it will continue its operations uninterrupted throughout the bankruptcy proceedings.

The company expressed optimism and stated that it anticipates emerging as a financially robust and more resilient organization within a span of two to three months.

Originally established in 1994 as Voice of Montreal, a niche magazine by Shane Smith, Gavin McInnes, and Suroosh Alvi, Vice has grown significantly and currently operates in over 30 countries.

Vice enthralled its audience with its daring, youth-centric content across a wide range of mediums, including print, events, music, online platforms, television, and feature films.

Among the investors backing Vice Media Group are Fortress Investment Group, Monroe Capital, and Soros Fund Management. The latter is the investment firm established by renowned fund manager and billionaire George Soros.

To ensure the continuity of Vice Media throughout the bankruptcy process, the lenders have granted approval for $20 million in funding. Meanwhile, the company has opened the opportunity for other firms to submit “higher or better” bids, providing the possibility of alternative offers for the media company.

In the event that alternative offers do not succeed, Vice Media’s lenders will proceed with the acquisition of the publisher for $225 million.

Over the past few years, the company has faced stagnant revenues and challenges in achieving profitability.

Additionally, Vice’s attempts to go public through a merger were unsuccessful.Recently, the company faced setbacks, including the discontinuation of its flagship TV program, leading to announced layoffs last month.

In a parallel development, BuzzFeed, another online platform, has recently revealed plans to shut down its news division and initiate layoffs affecting 15% of its workforce. These actions come as a response to significant financial difficulties and a decline in advertising revenue experienced by the company.

From Bihar, Karnataka to Kashmir and role of converted Muslims: ‘The Kerala Story’ and its ISIS tentacles in several other states

Gopal Tiwari
-
0
From Bihar, Karnataka to Kashmir and role of converted Muslims: ‘The Kerala Story’ and its ISIS tentacles in several other states

Though there is a buzz about the film titled ‘The Kerala Story’, it does not only refer just to the topic of the film – love jihad and subsequently deploying victim women to ISIS – but it also refers to the way Kerala has become a new epicentre of terrorist recruitment in the Indian peninsula. The Kerala Story here essentially implies to the Kerala ISIS module.

The Kerala ISIS module busted by NIA has so far unfolded multiple layers of the story showing connections with other states in India. This shows how Islamic jihad and terrorism it inspires are not a problem of a particular territory but they seed, root, spread, operate, and destruct defying the limitations of borders between different states and nations. Islamists may be divided by borders, but they are united by the ideology behind jihad.

Story of Yasmin Ahmed Jahid of Bihar

Yasmin Ahmed Jahid hails from Muroul village in Sitamarhi in Bihar. According to some reports, she was married to Syed Ahmed and both lived in Saudi Arabia. In 2011, they came to Kerala. Yasmin Ahmed Jahid started living in Malappuram which was already a hotbed of forced Islamic conversions with the intent of jihad. In Malappuram, Yasmin Ahmed Jahid started to work as an English teacher. She joined the ‘Peace International School’.

This Peace International School has 12 branches in India. It also had a branch in Dhaka of Bangladesh. That branch was shut down after people associated with the school were suspected to be involved in the Dhaka bomb blast that took place on 1st July 2016. This Peace International School is inspired by Dr Zakir Naik’s Islamic International School. The fugitive preacher used to run this school in the Mazgaon area of Mumbai. MM Akbar founded this Peace International School in 2006 under Niche Group, an independent religious body aiming to propagate Islam. This school has 10 franchises in Kerala and one each in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. These schools had classes up to 12th standard and according to a report in 2016, the number of enrolled students was over 7000.

On 3rd May 2016, Yasmin Ahmed Jahid married Abdul Rashid Abdulla. This marriage was solemnized on a phone call. This is the same Abdul Rashid Abdulla who lured an engineering graduate Sonia Sebastian. Sonia converted to Islam for marriage. She became Ayisha. This couple used to conduct the coaching classes of Islamic Jihad in Kerala. Yasmin not only attended these classes but also brought in other students aspiring to become ISIS terrorists.

During interrogation in 2016, Yasmin revealed that till then she had recruited into ISIS 22 people from Kerala, including six women and three children. Many areas of Afghanistan were under the control of ISIS, where these people were sent. She had claimed that Abdul Rashid had brainwashed 40 youths in Kerala by then. Yasmin herself used to attend the religious classes of Abdul Rashid and his wife Ayisha. There she was taught about ‘Hijr’, ‘Jihad’ and ISIS.

Abdul also used to send money to Yasmin, from which she used to arrange air tickets for Afghanistan. Yasmin was accused of recruiting 15 people from the Kasaragod district alone to the terrorist organization ISIS. The Kerala Police had initially taken it as a missing complaint, but the real case was revealed after the NIA investigation.

During interrogation, Yasmin Ahmed Jahid informed that people from Kerala were recruited to ISIS and sent to Kuwait, Dubai, Muscat and Abu Dhabi from Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai airports. From there they were sent to Afghanistan via Iran. This revelation was about the same ISIS recruitment case of 2016 in Kerala in which 21 Indians were sent to Iran and Afghanistan to join ISIS.

This group included the four women terrorists who urged the Indian government to come back to India after surrendering in Afghanistan but were denied entry into India by the Union government due to their ISIS-related past. The detailed story can be read here. Abdul Rashid Abdulla had also gone in this group with his wife Sonia Sebastian alias Ayisha.

Abdul Rashid would call Yasmin through Telegram. These terrorists were aiming to establish a caliphate in support of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In July 2016, Rashid told her that the men he had sent had reached ISIS territory in Afghanistan. Rashid had made an ATM card in the name of his first wife Ayisha and gave it to Yasmin. In mid-July 2016, Rs 1.5 lakh was also sent to her. Some of the people recruited by him to ISIS were even killed while fighting for the terrorist organization.

Yasmin Ahmed Jahid was arrested from the New Delhi International Airport on July 30, 2016, while trying to escape to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, with her minor child. On 24th March 2018, the NIA Court in Kochi awarded seven years of rigorous imprisonment to her. She was 30 years old when the court awarded her the sentence. Yasmin was also handed a Rs 25,000 fine.

NIA Judge S Santhosh Kumar said, “Considering the nature and circumstances of the case, the court doesn’t find any reason to invoke the Probation of Offenders Act. At the time of arrest, the son of the accused was with her and now he is in the custody of his father. However, considering the fact that the accused is a lady aged about 30 years, a lenient view is taken.”

The Kashmir and Karnataka Connection of the Kerala Story

As part of the investigation into the Kerala-ISIS module case, on 4th August 2021, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted raids at five different locations across Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, and Kerala. The purpose of these raids was to gather more evidence and information related to the case.

During the operation, the NIA apprehended four individuals: Obaid Hamid from Bemina in Srinagar, Muzammil Hassan Bhat from Bandipora in Kashmir, Ammar Abdul Rahman from Ullal Mangalore, and Shankar Venkatesh Perumal, also known as Ali Muaviya, from Bangalore. This Shankar Venkatesh Perumal alias Ali Muaviya is an important character in the male version of the real-life Kerala Story.

Besides, similar ISIS modules have also been identified and busted in states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh which indicates that the terrorists do not recognize the borders of states and nations. All they recognize is Jihad while walking on the path of their religiously motivated terrorist ideology. Anyone subscribing to it, however unknown in their prior life, is a friend to them. Anyone except those who believe in that ideology is a foe for them.

Conclusion

National integrity, interests of mutual prosperity, and civilizational identity usually motivate persons from different states to come together and initiate an activity. In a large country like India where there are so many different cultures, languages, regions, etc. people come together for these reasons and perform in unison to achieve better. But pan-Islamism is one such concept that defies even international borders and inspires religiously motivated Muslims from one nation to take a stand for a similar lot in other nations.

This is why the Kerala module of ISIS readily attracted Muslims from other parts of the country. This is why Muslims staged violent protests in Azad Maidan in 2012 to stand in solidarity with some so-called religiously persecuted Muslims of Myanmar. This is why an attacker attacked Salman Rushdie in the USA to comply with a Fatwa issued in Iran against the writer even before the attacker was born, proving that this pan-Islamism also transcends time. Thus, for countering this religiously motivated terrorist ideology it is necessary to first understand how Islamic terrorism seeds, roots, spreads, operates and finally destructs beyond the borders.

While Congress vows to reinstate Muslim reservations, old video of Gulbarga Waqf Board district chairman saying Muslims do not need reservation goes viral

OpIndia Staff
-
0
While Congress vows to reinstate Muslim reservations, old video of Gulbarga Waqf Board district chairman saying Muslims do not need reservation goes viral

On Sunday, May 14, an old video of Gulbarga Waqf Board district committee chairman Syed Habeeb Sarmast (Aslam Baba) went viral on social media in which he said Muslims do not need reservations or loans, provided Waqf board manages to monetize the land under its control. The video went viral after Congress won the Karnataka Assembly Elections with a thumping majority. It was originally posted on Sarmast’s Facebook Page on April 29.

Congress had vowed to reinstate the Muslim reservation of 4 percent that the Bharatiya Janta Party-ruled Karnataka government had scrapped. Notably, in a statement, a Congress leader said there is a chance that the reservation for Muslims could be increased to 6 percent in the state. In March this year, the then-BJP government scrapped the 4 percent reservation for Muslims and divided that quota into Vokkaligas and Lingayats.

Aslam Baba said, “Muslims do not need reservations. Muslims do not need loans. If Muslims run their Waqf Board properly, they can give loans to the government. There are 27,000 acres of land under Waqf Board in Gulbarga. Out of this, 17,000 acres are being encroached upon by our people (Muslims). Since taking charge (of District Waqf Board Committee), I have taken back control of 1,100-acre land encroached for over 40 years.”

He added, “Pray that we take back control of our land. If we manage to do so, we will brighten the future of our younger generation. Our girls will not have to stand outside the Minority Committee office to take loans. The Minority Committee office is in front of the Waqf Board office. Girls wearing Burqa stand in queue for 2-3 hours to get loans of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.”

Amit Shah had questioned Congress’s promise to increase reservation

Despite Muslim leaders saying that Muslims do not need reservations, Congress promised to reinstate it and increase it to 6 percent. Earlier, Congress leader, and former Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, K Rahman Khan told the media that if the party comes to power in Karnataka, Muslim reservation can be increased from 4 percent to 6 percent.

Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah had said the Congress is committed “to increasing the reservation limit from 50 percent to 75 percent and extend reservation to all castes based on their population”.

In an interview with ANI, Union Home Minister Amit Shah raised questions over Congress’s intentions. He had said, “Reservation within reservation done with a lot of thought…Before the end of campaigning for Karnataka elections, Siddaramaiah must clarify that if Congress increases the reservation for Muslims from 4 percent to 6 percent, whose reservation would they decrease – OBCs, SCs or STs or Lingayats, or Vokkaligas?”

Supporting the then-BJP government’s decision to scrap 4 percent reservation for Muslims, Amit Shah called the Congress party’s decision to give reservation to the Muslim community “unconstitutional”.

Waqf Board land was encroached upon by the Muslim community

Interestingly, Sarmast categorically said that over 62 percent of the Waqf Board land in the Gulbarga district is encroached upon by Muslim community members. Sarmast took charge of the District Waqf Board committee in August 2022. Since then, he has claimed to have taken back control of 1,100 acres of encroached land.

Kaneez Fatima won a Congress seat from Gulbarga North

Incumbent Congress MLA Kaneez Fatima has won from the Gulbarga North seat. Kaneez won the seat with 80,973 votes against BJP’s Chandrakant B Patil, who got 78,261 votes. Fatima made headlines in 2022 for leading hijab protests in her constituency. As per the 2011 census, the district’s population was 25,66,326, out of which 20,11,014 (78.36%) were Hindus and 5,13,125 (19.99%) were Muslims. However, the Gulbarga North assembly seat has over 50% Muslim population, according to pollster Chanakya.

Congress won the Karnataka Assembly elections

On May 13, the results of the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections were announced. Congress returned to power as the single largest party by winning 135 out of 224 Assembly seats. BJP won 66 seats, and JD(S) grabbed 19 seats. Two seats went to the independent candidates, while Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha and Sarvodya Karnataka Paksha won 1-1 seat each.

Karnataka assembly results: How Muslim consolidation and division of Hindu votes contributed to Congress victory in the state

Jinit Jain
-
0
Karnataka assembly results: How Muslim consolidation and division of Hindu votes contributed to Congress victory in the state

On Saturday, the results of the high-voltage assembly state elections in Karnataka were announced. The Congress emerged as the single-largest party with 135 seats—well past the majority mark—to form a government in the state. The BJP came a distant second with 66 seats, while the JD(S) was third with 19 seats in the 224-seat Legislative Assembly.

Congress registered an emphatic victory in the Karnataka assembly polls, perhaps the first one in months where the party does not depend on regional allies to form a government in the state. While the election campaign witnessed dangerous levels of polarisation, with the opposition parties raking up the issue of hijab as well as the Congress party promising to ban the Hindu activist group, Bajrang Dal, it is worth analysing how polarisation helped Congress to consolidate Muslim voters and divide Hindu votes to emerge as victorious in the assembly polls.

For instance, Kameez Fatima from the Indian National Congress won from the Gulbarga North constituency, a Muslim-dominated region, with over 52 per cent of the total voters being Muslims, as per voter analysis conducted by Chanakya. Fatima, an ardent advocate of the hijab, secured over 45 per cent of the overall votes, triumphantly winning the Gulbarga North seat.

In 2018 too, Fatima won the Gulbarga North seat, polling about 43 per cent of votes as compared to 45 per cent this year. However, interestingly, the BJP candidate had in 2018 polled 39.3 per cent of votes, while this year, the number increased by 4 percentage points.

This demolishes the myth peddled by Congress supporters and Islamists that Fatima’s victory is the rejection of the hijab ban by the people of Karnataka. In fact, the increase in Fatima’s vote share this year may indicate a possibility of Muslim consolidation at work, but the corresponding increase in the BJP candidate’s vote share in her constituency reveals that for a large section of the population in Gulbarga North, hijab ban in schools and educational institutes may not be a poll issue which had informed their voting preference.

Bhatkal, a constituency with a sizeable Muslim population (25 per cent), elected Congress’ Mankal Vaidya with 57 per cent of the total votes polled. The BJP’s Sunil Naik came in second with approximately 39 per cent vote share. 

In Bidar, another district with a considerable Muslim population (30 per cent), INC’s Rahim Khan polled the maximum votes followed by JDS’ Suryakanth Nagamarpalli and BJP’s Ishwar Singh Thakur.

While constituencies with significant Muslim populations largely elected Congress leaders to power, a large number of Hindu-majority constituencies did not vote for BJP candidates. For example, BC Nagesh, the Karnataka Education Minister lost the seat to Congress’ K Shadakshari from Tiptur, an assembly constituency with a staggering 91 per cent of Hindu majority.

In the 2018 assembly elections, Nagesh polled 40 per cent of the total votes polled then as compared to 35 per cent in this year’s election, reflecting that he has lost vote share to the Congress candidate, which means that either Nagesh’s supporters switched over or Congress supporters came out in huge numbers to support their candidate.

The above examples and the analysis of the electoral results hint that Muslims rallied behind the Congress party, possibly to secure their religious interests, and voted en masse for the candidates fielded by the grand old party. However, by contrast, the Hindus voted largely based on individual loyalties and local issues, with religion being the least of the concerns, as witnessed by the lack of reverse mobilisation to counter Muslim consolidation and the division of its votes among Congress, JDS, and the BJP.

While the Muslim community called behind Congress, it is pertinent to also note that BJP faced no serious loss in vote share in 2023 compared to 2018. In 2023, BJP managed to secure 36% of the total votes polled whereas Congress raked in a staggering 42.9%. JDS got 13.3%.

In 2018, BJP raked in 36.22% with 104 seats, Congress won 38.61% with 78 seats and JDS won 18.36% with 37 seats.

While BJP has managed to retain its vote share, it has lost 38 seats and JDS lost about 5% of the vote and 17 seats. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that the entire vote share dip of JDS shifted to Congress and BJP’s loss in seats (38 seats) including JDS’ seats (17) has entirely shifted to Congress.

When we talk about Muslim consolidation in favour of the Congress party, it is also pertinent to note that before the Karnataka Assembly Elections, SDPI had clearly stated their intention of campaigning for the Congress in the Karnataka elections. Besides Muslim consolidation, it is now becoming apparent that Vokkaliga and Lingayat votes shifted en masse to Congress, thus dividing Hindu votes. While Congress projected a Vokkaliga face, DK Shivakumar as their CM candidate, BS Yediyurappa, a strong Lingayat face of the BJP announced his retirement from politics. It is also being speculated that Congress could have secretly revived the promise of giving Lingayats separate religious status, however, these are mere speculations.

It therefore seems evident that while the Muslim community consolidated behind Congress, a part of Lingayat and Vokkaliga votes also consolidated behind Congress eventhough BJP managed to hold on to its traditional vote base with perhaps some shift in their favour, making up for the loss in Vokkaliga and Lingayat votes.

As ‘The Kerala Story’ enters 100 crore club, here is how it is making more money than Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan despite lower Box Office collection

OpIndia Staff
-
0
As ‘The Kerala Story’ enters 100 crore club, here is how it is making more money than Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan despite lower Box Office collection

Though the recently released Bollywood movie named ‘The Kerala Story’ continues to be criticized by the left-liberal cabal, it has attained unimaginable success at the box office as it entered the Rs 100 crore club on Day 9 of its theatrical release on May 5. The Adah Sharma starrer movie earned Rs 112.99 crore by May 13 at the box office ultimately pocketing Return On Investment (ROI) of 276%.

The movie directed by Director Sudipto Sen has also become the fourth Hind film to cross the Rs 100 crores club at the box office. The other Bollywood movies which crossed the Rs 100 crores club recently are Pathaan, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar and Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan.

Interestingly, ‘The Kerala Story’ which narrates the story of Hindu and Christian women who are trapped, forced to convert their religion to Islam and then are forced to serve as sex slaves has been made on a budget of 30 crores. And by the 9th day of its release, it has brought in Rs 112.92 crore nett. Therefore, its ROI (return on investment) now stands at Rs. 82.92 crore which is 276%.

However, Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan which was released in January this year earned a massive Rs 543.22 crore nett at the Indian box office and reaped in profits of Rs 293.22 crores. The budget of the film was Rs 250 crores and its ROI stood at 117.28%. Also, the movie named ‘Tu Jhooti Mai Makkar’ which was a Rs 200 crore budget film, earned Rs 220.1 crore globally, remarking a lower ROI. ‘The Kerala Story’ has surpassed the earning of ‘Pathaan’ and also other Bollywood movies recording an ROI of 276% on the 9th day of its release.

The movie, which had a relatively modest budget, proceeded to grow in momentum and managed to earn 81.36 crores in its initial seven days of release.

It garnered Rs 8.03 crore on its first day which was Friday. This put the opening day collection of the multilingual project ahead of The Kashmir Files which minted 3.55 crore and progressed to become a huge blockbuster. The Kerala Story went on to make 11.22 crore on Saturday, 16.40 crore on Sunday, 10.07 crore on Monday, 11.14 crore on Tuesday, 12 crore on Wednesday and 12.50 crore on Thursday. It ultimately crossed the Rs 100 crore bracket on the 9th day of its release and is expected to make more decent numbers at the box office.

The multilingual project, featuring Adah Sharma and written and directed by Sudipto Sen, has garnered a lot of attention since the makers released its trailer. Liberals and the opposition particularly the Left and the Congress have labelled it as a propaganda piece and demanded a ban on its screening.

The movie revolves around Shalini Unnikrishnan, played by Adah Sharma, an innocent Hindu woman from Kerala, who is brainwashed by her Muslim friend and gets converted to Islam and marries a Muslim man. The lead actress soon realises that she has been trapped in a huge terrorist web after she is raped, separated from her only child and then forced to serve as a sex slave.

The movie has been released on over 200 screens freely in spite of strong objections from Muslims, liberals and the opposition parties.

1...2,1172,1182,119...7,575Page 2,118 of 7,575