Left-wing activist and Bollywood entertainer Swara Bhasker on Tuesday announced her pregnancy with her husband, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Fahad Ahmed. “Sometimes all your prayers are answered all together! Blessed, grateful, excited (and clueless! ) as we step into a whole new world!” she tweeted posting some pregnancy pictures on social media.
Swara Bhasker got married to Ahmed in February this year. She had said that her wedding was filed with the court on 6th January 2023 under the special marriage act. 5 months after her marriage and 4 months after the marriage announcement the actress has announced her pregnancy. She said in a post that her baby would be born in October.
Several Twitter users congratulated the couple on the news. One of the social media users congratulated saying, “May God bless you with a child who would love Bharat.” While another one indicated Swara was gifting Fahad the happiness of becoming an Uncle (Mamu) and Abbu (Father) at the same time.
Sceenshot from Twitter
One of the users hoped that Swara would announce her pregnancy every year. “Congratulations Swara Bhabhi and Fahad Bhai jaan for wonderful gift. Keep giving us good news every year,” he said.
Congratulations Swara Bhabhi? and Fahad? Bhai jaan for wonderful gift. Keep giving us good news every year. https://t.co/AQUXNHEZoJ
Swara and Fahad got married in January this year. However, a Chicago-based Islamic scholar Mufti Yasir Nadeem Al Wajidi denounced the marriage of Swara and Fahad as ‘Islamically invalid’ since Swara Bhasker is a ‘polytheistic woman’.
“If Swara Bhasker is not Muslim and her “supposed” husband is Muslim, this marriage is not Islamically valid. Allah says, do not to marry polytheistic women until they believe. 2:221. If she accepts Islam only for the sake of marriage, it is not accepted by Allah,” he had said.
Fahad Ahmad is the State President of the Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha, the Samajwadi Party’s Youth Wing. He was General Secretary of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences before joining the Samajwadi Party in July 2022. The 31-year-old holds a bachelor’s degree from Aligarh Muslim University.
Swara Bhasker is known for her controversial stands and ill-informed remarks over various socio-political issues. She was earlier in a relationship with novelist Himanshu Sharma.
On the intervening night of June 4 and June 5, a man identified as Usman Khan attempted to rape a pregnant cow named Nandini behind a hotel named Apulaki. Bajrang Dal activist Nilesh Vijay Chaskar owns Nandini. As per the complaint filed by Chaskar at Bhosari Police Station, Pune, Maharashtra, he received a call at around 2 AM that his cow was screaming. Chaskar and his friend Akshay Shinde rushed back to the hotel to check on Nandini and found her running around in excruciating pain.
Chaskar checked the footage of CCTV cameras installed in the area. In one of the footage, they noticed a man running from the scene who looked familiar. Upon searching, they found the man behind a wall at an empty plot.
Rope used to hang Nandini (left) Usman caught on camera (right)
Speaking to OpIndia, Chaskar said Usman changed clothes after attempting to rape and assault the cow. However, he was covered with the smell of cow dung and blood. Usman was sleeping when they found him. One of Chaskar’s friends checked his bag and found clothes and shoes covered in cow dung and blood. They apprehended Usman and questioned him about the incident. He then called the police and doctor, who checked Nandini and started her treatment.
In his complaint, Chaskar said that Usman entered the shed where Nandini, who was pregnant at the time of the assault, was kept at night. He tied Nandini’s neck to a rope and hanged her. He attempted to rape her but failed. He then picked a blade, inserted his hand in Nandini’s private part, and tried to pull her organs out. During the assault, Nandini got severely injured and lost a lot of blood. After the assault, Usman left the scene, changed clothes and hid at a plot where Chaskar and his friends apprehended him.
Usman was handed over to the police, and a formal complaint against him was filed the next day. Usman admitted to the crime and claimed he indulged in the heinous crime under the influence of alcohol. Chaskar said, “I am not sure why he did it. Someone provoked him, or he had enmity with me, I don’t know.” Speaking about the health of Nandini, Chaskar said, “She is unable to stand. She has stopped eating. I fed her a few chapatis, but she could not chew the food.” Nandini’s health is currently in bad shape, and she is being treated for the injuries.
On June 5, Nilesh Chaskar and other Hindu activists including Rushikesh Bhagwat, Nikunj Batra, Dudhaji Shinde, Akash Parde and Chaitanya Sude went to the local police station to file a complaint against Usman with the help of Advocate Mangesh Nedhe
Nilesh Chaskar and other Hindu activists filed complaint against Usman at Bhosri police station. Source: Nikunj
Cow raping incidents
This is not the first time rape on a cow has been attempted. On May 30, it was reported that Chhattisgarh Police arrested a man named Hasan Khan for raping a cow in the middle of the night. He was apprehended by Hindu outfits and handed over to the police.
On March 7, 18-year-old Mohammad Sahil and three others were arrested for having unnatural sex with a cow in Durg, Chhattisgarh. As per reports, the accused were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crime.
On Sunday, June 6, around midnight, a Muslim mob with weapons stormed the roads of Umreth and held the entire area hostage. The incident took place two days after the molestation of 2 Hindu minors by Muslim youths in the area.
According to reports, there was a dispute between the Hindu-Muslim community in Umreth, the taluka headquarters of Anand district, over the molestation of two Hindu minor girls, and around Sunday night, a Muslim mob stormed the area near the Chandramuleshwar Mahadev temple with swords and sticks, creating an atmosphere of fear in Umreth.
A complaint was registered at Umreth police station. The police have registered a case of rioting against 15-20 people in the Muslim mob and are conducting further investigation. At the same time, patrolling was intensified by the police team as the atmosphere of fear spread in the town. So far 8 arrests have been made in this regard.
On Saturday, Muslim youths molested Hindu minors, the police did not register a complaint
According to reports, an incident took place in the Odd Bazar area of Anand Umreth Municipality on Saturday night after which the situation worsened. On Saturday night, two Hindu girls went out on their mopeds in this area. As one of the girls was leaving the slum near the market, she was molested by 2 Muslim youths. When the Muslim youth on the bicycle grabbed her hand, the minor was shocked and a crowd gathered there as the minors shouted, seeing which the accused fled from there.
According to Divya Bhaskar’s report, the family of the minors later reached the Umreth police station with them and tried to lodge a complaint. But according to the minor victim, the police did not register their complaint. The victim’s family accused the police of harboring the accused.
Mob created terror by turning off the streetlights so they could not be identified
On Sunday night, a local Hindu youth Heer Pintubhai Patel and his friend were passing by Station Road. When the Muslim youths heard their discussion about the molestation incident, they got agitated and called their other friends and had a heated fight with Heer and his friend.
An atmosphere of fear was created in Anand’s Umreth Panth when the Muslim youths, along with a whole Muslim crowd, ran across the railway station road with swords and sticks around midnight.
The thing to be noted is that when this Muslim crowd ran on the road, the street lights on the entire road were suddenly switched off. It is suspected that the power supply was disrupted by the Muslim mob to prevent the faces of the rioters from being caught on camera and their identification.
After a complaint by Heer Patel, the Umreth police registered a case of rioting against the Muslim mob in which 15-20 Muslims were mentioned.
Hindus in the area planning an agitation against the violence
After the complaint, Umreth police arrested 8 people but Hindus of the area were enraged when even Hindu youths were falsely arrested by the police.
Agitated people surrounded the Umreth police station and accused PSI Alpesh Rabari of filing a false complaint. In this case, the people of Hindu society will send a complaint. At the same time, the people of Umreth village also talked about launching an agitation against the violence.
Karnataka’s energy costs and power tariffs increased by Rs 2.89 per unit in June despite Siddaramaiah’s state government’s free electricity pledge. Now the citizens will have to pay an additional Rs 2.89 per unit if their power usage exceeds the 200 units slab while paying the power bill.
According to the reports, the fuel and power purchase cost adjustment (FPPCA), which includes back payments from April, represents this additional expense. Due to billing complications and a lack of time, the FPPCA for this January could not be implemented in March. From June, the same FPPCA of Rs 1.49 per unit would continue to be charged. In addition, there is a 70 Paisa + 70 Paisa increase from April to June, which results in a total price increase of Rs 2.89 per unit if more than 200 units are used.
The Karnataka government released comprehensive instructions on Monday for the execution of the Gruha Jyothi scheme, which guarantees free electricity to all families with monthly electricity usage below 200 units. Additionally, the sharp increase in monthly power bills that Karnataka’s Electricity Supply Companies (Escoms) sent on Monday confused thousands of residents.
The ‘fixed costs’ in the electricity bills produced by Escoms for June experienced a significant hike, ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 75 depending on the usage load. According to a Senior Bescom official, the invoices were created by the price decision issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) notwithstanding widespread criticism of the Escoms.
A tariff increase of 70 paise was mandated by the KERC on May 13 with retroactive effect beginning on April 1, 2023. Similarly, the KERC updated the tariff a few days ago by including changes for gasoline and electricity purchase costs. “As KERC ordered us to collect the pending dues for April too along with that of May, the bill issued in June appears to be inflated. They will become normal from next month onwards,” a senior engineer with Bescom was quoted as saying.
Reportedly, Karnataka CM Siddharamaiah also commented on the issue and said that the decision was solely taken by the Karnataka electricity regulatory commission (KERC) and that the state government did not interfere. “We did not decide to hike the electricity tariff. There is Karnataka electricity regulatory authority, which has decided. It had been decided in the past. We have only implemented it,” he explained.
Following the June 2 cabinet meeting, CM Siddaramaiah said that no home using less than 200 units per month will be required to pay power bills. However, the administration unveiled qualifying requirements on Monday. Energy minister KJ George said that the scheme will require Rs 13,000 crore annually and 96 per cent of households with electricity connections will be covered under the scheme.
The government would figure up a household’s typical annual use and provide them a 10 per cent usage cushion. “If this falls within 200 units, the household is eligible for free electricity. If a household crosses its annual average consumption and the 10 per cent buffer, they will have to pay for the extra units,” the minister said.
Himachal Pradesh also raised power tariff by 86 paise and further by 22 paise per unit
The Congress party had promised this much-touted schemes of granting 200 units of free electricity to all the houses in its 2023 election manifesto. However, it was reported that in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress-led state government hiked 86 paise per unit in power tariff for the financial year 2023-24 after promising free units of electricity.
In February this year, the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) proposed a hike of 86 paisa per unit in power tariff for the financial year 2023-24. Electricity up to 125 units per month is free for domestic consumers in the state. The Congress government had promised to increase the free power up to 300 units but ended up putting an extra financial burden in the form of subsidy on HPSEBL.
Also, in April this year the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (HPERC) increased the electricity tariffs for all consumers by 22 paise per unit for the financial year 2023-24.
Punjab faces massive debt burden after govt rolled out 300 units of free power to the residents.
A similar situation could be seen in the state of Punjab ruled by AAP. On May 15, just two days after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered a thumping victory in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-poll, the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab Government increased the power tariff for all categories. After three years, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) announced an increase of 8.64 percent in the electricity rates. PSERC increased fixed charges as well. The average cost per unit is now Rs 7.04 compared to Rs 6.48 per unit earlier. Notably, compared to neighbor states, including Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, the consumers of Punjab pay anywhere between Re 1.01 to Rs 0.39 more per unit.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had said in a statement that the revised tariff would not put pressure on the consumers and the government would bear the cost for domestic and agriculture consumers. However, it was reported that the increase in tariff was introduced to meet the annual revenue requirement of the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. Several factors have increased the production cost, including higher prices for coal imports, increased rate of short-term power purchase from power exchange and normal inflation.
CM Mann in April last year had promised 300 units of free electricity to every household in the State. The same was provided to the citizens in July 2022. To note, the state is reeling under a massive debt burden. Three econimists in February this year had written to the CM highlighting that the state situation had worsened ever since the government had rolled out 300 units of free power to the residents.
On the 39th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, several pro-Khalistani elements gathered at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Tuesday, June 6, and raised pro-Khalistan slogans on the premises. The pro-Khalistani elements also brandished Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale posters and swords during the event.
Operation Bluestar was a military operation carried out to flush out the Khalistani terrorists from the Golden Temple in the year 1984. Reportedly, earlier, several racial Sikh outfits including the Dal Khalsa, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Akali Dal (United), and others had held a ‘remembrance march’ and had carried placards and banners in the city of Amritsar.
A sizable crowd gathered near the Golden Temple, raising pro-Khalistan cries and waving Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale posters and swords. On the grounds of the Sikh temple, ardas was also conducted. Simranjit Singh Mann, a leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and a member of parliament, address the masses. Meanwhile, Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Harpreet Singh asked all Sikh organisations to get together and conduct an awareness campaign on Sikhism throughout the state’s villages.
#WATCH | On the 39th anniversary of Operation Blue Star, Bhindranwale posters and pro-Khalistan slogans raised at the Golden Temple in Punjab's Amritsar pic.twitter.com/VapwQgyCWe
Police said that security was increased in Amritsar to prevent any untoward incidents. Arpit Shukla, Special Director General of Police (law and order), had inspected the security measures in Amritsar earlier on Sunday. The local police and paramilitary forces have intensified patrols, and there are strict security measures in place, according to Shukla. 68 checkpoints have been put up for 24-hour monitoring, and patrolling teams have been placed in the city’s major locations.
Shukla, while speaking to reporters in Amritsar, advised against falling for bogus messages on social media and warned stern action against anyone spreading misinformation. “Four companies of CAPF (central armed police forces) have been deployed in the district, in addition to 3,000 Punjab police personnel. Not only in Amritsar, security has been beefed up all over Punjab. Eleven companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the state, in addition to police force mobilisation”, Shukla was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, DCP (Law and order) Parminder Singh Bhandal also confirmed the security arrangements and added that the security forces had sounded a high alert in Amritsar earlier this week as multiple Sikh organisations had announced various programs citing the occasion of Operation Blue Star’s 39th anniversary.
The largest internal security mission the Indian Army has ever gone on was Operation Blue Star in 1984. The Operation was Indira Gandhi’s response to the law-and-order problems that were occurring in Punjab at the time as a result of the spread of the Khalistan movement. Under Operation Blue Star, which was conducted in Amritsar between June 1 and June 8, 1984, Indira Gandhi, the country’s prime minister at the time, gave the order for Indian soldiers to drive out Sikh militants who were stockpiling weapons in Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple).
Supporters of Khalistan had taken refuge at Amritsar’s Golden Temple’s Akal Takht complex in the 1980s. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who seized control of the Akal Takht complex in Amritsar’s Golden Temple, was the target of the Blue Star operation.
According to the official data, 492 civilians and at least 83 Army jawans died during the whole operation. The fire at this time included a shot at a copy of the sacred Sikh text that was put in the Golden Temple.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted searches at 10 locations in Punjab and Haryana in a case linked to banned terrorist organization Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).
The raids were being conducted at nine locations in Punjab and one in Haryana in connection with a criminal conspiracy hatched to raise funds for the banned terrorist outfit and also smuggle arms, ammunition and explosives for it from across the border. The NIA had registered a suo moto case on August 20 last year under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
In the same case, the NIA arrested two ‘wanted’ close associates of Canada-based ‘listed terrorist’ Arsh Dhalla on May 19 this year soon after they arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) from Manila, Philippines, where they had been living.
The duo, identified as Amritpal Singh alias Ammy and Amritk Singh, both hailing from Punjab, were nabbed in an early morning operation by the NIA, whose team was waiting at the Airport for their flight to land.
The NIA earlier informed that the two accused had non-bailable arrest warrants issued against them by the NIA Delhi Court in a case related to the unlawful and violent activities of banned organisations in India. The accused have several criminal cases registered against them in Punjab.
The NIA investigations have revealed that the accused had been working for individual designated terrorist Arshdeep Singh Dhalla to promote violent criminal activities of the KTF in India.
In association with another notorious wanted accused Manpreet Singh alias Peeta, the NIA has said, the two accused had been involved in smuggling weapons from Pakistan and recruitment of youth to carry out acts of violence and terror in the country at the behest of the KTF.
“They were also part of an extortion racket for raising funds for the banned outfit. The accused used to identify extortion targets, including businessmen, and then threaten them into parting with huge amounts. In case the identified targets refused, their homes and other premises would be fired at by the accused’s India-based associates,” the NIA said.
The arrests were part of NIA’s continuous crackdown on individual terrorists and terrorist outfits engaged in a criminal conspiracy to smuggle terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition and explosives, and raise funds for carrying out terrorist acts on the Indian soil.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo is planning to approach Vinai Kumar Saxena, Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi regarding the obstacles faced during their rescue operations at Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station targeting child labour.
Further going on about the matter, Kanoongo said that the NCPCR has been conducting rescue operations in 100 locations as World Day Against Child Labour is nearing. “World Day Against Child Labour is celebrated on June 12, over which rescue operations are conducted in almost 100 areas. We have informed all the DMs beforehand. However, the rescue operation was interrupted near the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station by the SDM. Similar incidents took place last year as well. We will file a complaint over the issue to Delhi LG,” Kanoongo said.
Notably, World Day Against Child Labour was adopted on June 12 in 2002 by the United Nations body, International Labour Organisation. The International Labour Organization supports and provides basic education, medical and other services to children.
On this occasion, many events, and campaigns are also organized showing concern for the children who become victims of child labour across the world. The ‘Universal Social Protection to End Child Labour’ is the theme dedicated to World Day Against Child Labour this year.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
On June 3, a dreadful case of murder of a 20-year-old birthday boy was reported from Govandi area of Shivaji Nagar, Mumbai. The boy identified as Sabir Ansari was murdered by his four friends including two minors on his birthday. The accused identified as Shahrukh, Nishar, Salamat and one another recreated a scene from Salman Khan starrer Bollywood movie named ‘Antim: The final truth’ and killed the deceased with the same knife he had used to cut the cake.
The Mumbai Police have registered a case under section 109 (punishment for abetment), 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code. Also, the police have arrested all four accused, two of which have been sent to a juvenile home given their minor ages. However, the other two identified as Shahrukh and Nishar have been sent to jail.
A 20-year-old youth named Sabir was allegedly murdered by four of his friends, two of whom were minors, following a dispute over sharing the food bill during Sabir's birthday party. The police arrested all four accused. Two accused- Shahrukh and Nishar were sent to jail and two…
The saga is said to have begun a couple of days earlier than the deceased’s birthday. A report by the Indian Express claims that the deceased was 18 and had gone to a Dhaba for a regular outing with his friends (the accused). The accused there asked Sabir to pay the entire food bill costing Rs 10,000. Sabir happened to refuse saying that he was saving for his birthday party. However, he paid the entire food bill after the accused promised to return the money.
Sabir after a couple of days approached the accused for money as he wanted to hire a DJ and a cake for his birthday. But the accused didn’t pay the amount. Sabir and his friends, the accused fought over this issue then. Sabir also returned home and told his father that his friends had threatened him.
Later on the day of his birthday party, the accused collected some money and threw him a party near the Ambedkar garden area of Shivaji Nagar, Govandi around 8 pm. At around 11:30 pm, the accused held the deceased by his jacket and confronted him over alleged abuses he had hurled earlier. They punched him and also assaulted him. One of them then grabbed the knife from the cake and stabbed the deceased several times.
As per the police, the accused could be heard saying ‘Isko Antim picture ka shot dikha (show him that scene from Antim movie)’. The deceased was taken to the Shatabdi Municipal Hospital where he was declared dead by the doctors.
Meanwhile, a slightly different version of the murder case has come to the fore. Report by News9live claims that the deceased had organized a birthday party where his friends hired a DJ and asked Sabir to pay for it. He refused as he had already spent Rs 10,000 and was out of money. His infuriated friends got into a fight with him and later one of his friends Salamat borrowed a knife from Shahrukh and stabbed Sabir in his chest.
As per the police, one of the passersby identified Sabir and saw him in a pool of blood. He immediately informed his father who later took him to the hospital where the doctors declared him already dead. One of the accused had also fled from the spot to Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and that a team from the Crime Branch (unit-6) had been sent out to arrest them.
The Police on June 6, confirmed that all the accused named in the murder case have been arrested and sent to jail. The two minor accused have been sent to the Juvenile facility. The case has been registered under IPC sections 302, 323, 109 and 34. Further investigations are underway.
On June 4, the minor wrestler who accused former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual assault has reportedly withdrawn her allegations. As per The Indian Express report, the minor athlete was among the seven wrestlers who levelled allegations against Singh. She had recorded two statements, one before the police and another before the magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Unnamed sources informed The Indian Express that she has recorded a fresh statement withdrawing the allegations. Earlier, several reports noted Sakshi Malik clarified no FIR was taken back while talking to ANI.
The statement recorded under Section 164 is deemed as evidence before the court. As she has withdrawn the statement and recorded a new one, it will be up to the court if the charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act can be pursued or not. The court will decide which statement of hers will be given precedence during the trial.
Reports suggest that in the FIR registered with the Delhi police, the father of the minor said the athlete was “completely disturbed and cannot be at peace anymore …sexual harassment by the accused (Singh) continues to haunt her”. It was claimed in the complaint that Singh held her tightly while pretending to get a picture clicked. The complaint further read that Singh “squeezed her towards himself, pressed hard on her shoulder and then deliberately…brushed his hands against her breasts”.
The first statement in front of the magistrate was registered on May 10 in a case pertaining to an FIR registered against Singh under Section 10 of the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and IPC Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 34 (common intention). If proven guilty, an accused faces up to seven years of jail time under Section 10 of the POCSO Act.
Wrestlers Protest
Several wrestlers led by Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are protesting against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh alleging he sexually harassed hundreds of female wrestlers. The wrestlers’ protest first started in January 2023 but was halted after a committee was formed to investigate the matter. The protests restarted in April 2023. An FIR was registered by Delhi Police and the investigation is underway. Recently, Home Minister Amit Shah met the protesting wrestlers and asked them to let the law take its course.
The protests have turned political as Khap Panchayats, opposition leaders and farmer unions along with left-liberals have extended support to the protesters. They used the platform to target PM Modi-led BJP government at the centre.
Delhi Police questioned staff at Brij Bhushan Singh’s houses
As per Dainik Bhaskar’s report, Delhi Police teams questioned staff at Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s houses in Delhi and Gonda. The police visited his house on Monday night and questioned 15 of his staff members for around 1.5 hours at Lucknow and 12 at Gonda. As per reports, the driver, guards, gardener and servants were questioned by the police. The police has already questioned Singh two times for 5-6 hours so he was not questioned again during a visit to Lucknow and Gonda houses.
Recently (on June 1), the website TheWire published a video denouncing the so-called ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’, a fictitious propaganda that is being run by Islamists to target Hindu men. In the video that they uploaded on their YouTube channel, they called the Bhagwa Love Trap a fictitious campaign, which it is, but being a Leftist propaganda rag which often acts as the backbone of Islamists, they used the fictitious campaign to whitewash ‘Love Jihad’, which has real victims, real stories, real FIRs, real conviction and real-life criminal implications.
Unrelated incidents from five cities have raked up a new phenomenon called the "Bhagwa Love Trap," where a group of Muslim youths would engage in moral policing by targeting Muslim women seen with non-Muslim boys or young men. | @TheOtherKaskar#Watch: https://t.co/hOhf47UHS2
However, even though TheWire tried to monkey-balance by denouncing Bhagwa Love Trap only to whitewash Islamist crimes against Hindu women (Love Jihad), their Muslim readership, which demands total submission to the Islamist agenda, got miffed with the ally-portal and starting trending the hashtag #BoycottTheWire on Twitter.
Islamists claim that Hindu men are trapping Muslim women. There have been several cases where a group of Islamists chased Hindu men travelling with their Muslim female friends and assaulted them. While targeting Hindus, Islamists also leaked information about Muslim women online who were seen with Hindu men. Several groups are active on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Telegram and WhatsApp running propaganda against Hindus.
It is pertinent to note that the only cases of so-called Bhagwa Love Trap that have come to the fore involve Muslim women merely being ‘seen’ with Hindu men. There is not even one case where the Islamists have been able to show that Hindu men were brainwashing Muslim women, trying to convert them to Hinduism, misrepresented their identity to trap the Muslim women or committed any religiously motivated crime against the Muslim women.
The Wire shenanigans
In the 7 minutes and 49 seconds video, The Wire’s Zeeshan Kaskar talked about women not being free in Indian society. The video started with a discussion on the so-called Bhagwa Love Trap cases. Kaskar said under the said phenomenon, Muslim men harass Muslim women seen with non-Muslim men. He pointed out five such cases came to the fore in May itself.
The Wire claimed that The Quint covered several cases of Bhagwa Love Trap where Muslim men would harass Muslim women roaming with non-Muslim men. They claimed the cases were “unlinked” and had nothing to do with each other. Interestingly, while Islamists are running propaganda to target Hindu men on multiple social media platforms, The Wire whitewashed the incidents claiming there was no link whatsoever.
Kaskar further said the only thing common among them was the modus operandi under which a group of Muslim men spot Muslim women roaming with non-Muslim men and target them. The funny thing was, within seconds Kaskar was seen explaining how they were actually “linked” to social media campaign against the so-called Bhagwa Love Trap.
It is also interesting that TheWire chose to highlight only 5 cases, thereby also whitewashing just how rampant this conspiracy theory is. OpIndia itself has documented several cases in a two part series where more than 20 cases of Hindu men being harassed by Muslim mobs have come to the fore.
‘The social fabric of India is in bad shape’ – Kaskar drew a parallel with Love Jihad
The Wire claimed that such cases are damaging the social fabric of India which is ‘already in bad shape’. It would be a stretch, however, to expect TheWire to call out the conspiracy theory of Bhagwa Love Trap, specifically made to target Hindu men and whitewash real religiously motivated crimes of Love Jihad.
After 4 minutes into the video, Kaskar said just like Bhagwa Love Trap a fabricated campaign called “Love Jihad” is being served to Hindus. The Wire named Hindu Janjagruti Samiti as the mastermind behind Love Jihad. He added that HJS is linked to Sanatan Sanstha, a Goa-based private organisation. He claimed Sanatan Sanstha is involved in terrorist activities including the murder of controversial journalist Gauri Lankesh.
Following the claims, The Wire got into full propaganda mode to target Hindus. They showed clips of news channels where it was claimed people linked to Hindu organisations attempted bomb blasts furthering the already debunked theory of ‘Saffron terror’.
Kaskar further claimed that cases like Bhagwa Love Trap gives more power to the right-wingers. “Maybe they [right wingers] are eyeing for such cases. That’s why organisations like Hindu Janjagriti Samiti keep provoking their followers. Everyone knows which political party gets benefitted from communalism,” Kaskar said.
Essentially, while denouncing Bhagwa Love Trap created by Islamists and Maulanas like Sajjad Nomani, TheWire could not resist blaming the Hindus for the theory being peddled by Muslims not only to target Hindu men but also to whitewash their own crimes against Hindu women.
The boycott call against The Wire
The Wire team might have expected brownie points from both Hindus and Muslims but their video backfired and now they are facing boycott calls from their loyal followers. Several Muslims who were subscribers of The Wire are unsubscribing from their channel. They are running hashtags like “BoycottTheWire” on social media. One of the main reasons behind the boycott calls is that The Wire used a photograph of prominent Islamic cleric Sajjad Nomani who has been at the forefront of the bogus campaign of Bhagwa Love Trap.
Twitter user Syed Nadeem questioned The Wire and Kaskar for using Nomani’s photograph in the thumbnail and demanded an explanation. Interestingly, Kaskar told him to ask Nomani not to spread hate and got more hate in return.
Twitter user Chaand said The Wire was paid to use Nomani’s photograph in the thumbnail and called Kaskar ‘Chomu Garbage’.
People of .@thewire_in have to collect weavers by putting the photo of our Shaikh Hazrat Maulana @msajjadnomani Sahab Damat Barkathum in the thumbnail. And @TheOtherKaskar like Chomu Garbage is writing against Hazrat, where do you get so much hypocrisy from?#BoycottTheWire
Twitter user Abu Hanzalah urged everyone to stand with the “scholars” of Islam and shut the mouth of “bigots” like The Wire who damage and attack Islam.
Stand for the scholars of Islam who represent the honor of Islam. Shut the mouths of vile bigots who act as saviours of Muslims but deviate Muslims from Islam, who damage Islam and who attack Islam#BoycottTheWirehttps://t.co/vf9Gz5g5cM
— Abu Sayed Dilwar Siddiqui (@DilwarSiddiqui) June 5, 2023
The Boycott campaign against The Wire by their Muslim readers and what it says about total submission to their agenda
As mentioned above, TheWire has on several occasions whitewashed the crimes of Muslims against non-Muslims and therefore, one should be rather surprised that their Muslim readership is today miffed enough with them to boycott them. If one recalls, it was The Wire that had tried to paint Tahir Hussain as an innocent victim, when in his disclosure statement he clearly mentions that he was one of the key conspirators of the Delhi anti-Hindu riots because he wanted to ‘teach Kafirs a lesson’. The Wire has on several occasions given covering fire to Islamists, whitewashed their crimes, covered up for their terrorism, tried to implicate Hindus for crimes committed by Islamists, hailed Islamists like Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam etc.
With such dedicated allegiance to the Islamist agenda, one has to wonder why the Muslims found the need to boycott The Wire, even though, the video for which they are now facing a boycott actually monkey balanced, gave the Muslims a ‘get out of jail free card’, blamed Hindus for their sins and whitewashed Islamist crimes against non-Muslim women.
Essentially, Islamists and Leftists alike demand total and utter submission to their agenda. For a portal to be an ally of the Islamists, they will have to basically morph themselves into the mouthpieces of ISIS for their Islamist readership to be happy. It has been proven on several such occasions that any deviation from the most radical discussions in the Muslim circle earns the ire of not just Islamists but also the average moderate Muslims. The Wire was an ally until they whitewashed the Delhi anti-Hindu riots and painted the worst elements in Muslim society as angels. However, the moment they even remotely denounced an Islamist conspiracy, even their monkey balancing blaming Hindus and whitewashing their crime was not enough. What their Muslim readership expected of TheWire was to accept that Bhagwa Love Trap is real, and then use it to claim that Hindus were terrorists and that Love Jihad was not real. Any deviation from that specific agenda invited their ire.
Love Jihad is real and The Wire cannot deny it
No matter how much The Wire and others try to whitewash Love Jihad (grooming jihad), it is real and there have been hundreds of cases to prove it. Over 150 cases from 2022 were compiled by OpIndia at the beginning of 2023 and it was just the tip of the iceberg. Almost every day several such cases are being reported where Muslim men pose and Hindu to lure Hindu women. They trap them and then force the Hindu women to convert. A notable percentage of such cases end up in the assault and murder of Hindu women after they refuse to convert or object to following Islamic practices. OpIndia’s detailed coverage of such cases can be seen here.
