On Saturday, 15th April 2023, the OCI (overseas citizenship of India) card of Kannada actor Chetan Kumar was revoked by the Union government. This action was taken against him for allegedly indulging in anti-national activities and for derogating judges.
Due to his remarks that Hindutva “is built on lies,” the controversial actor was recently detained. The OCI card was revoked in response to a letter from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) dated April 14 ordering him to surrender his card within 15 days or provide justification for why it shouldn’t be revoked.
Kannada actor and activist Chetan Ahimsa claims that his Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card has been revoked by the Government of India.
He is currently on bail after his recent arrest by Bengaluru Police over his 'offensive' tweet on Hindutva.
Chetan Kumar, a resident of Chicago and a citizen of the United States, obtained his OCI card in 2018. The actor’s lengthy residence in India, his contributions to film, and his marriage to an Indian national were all mentioned in his response. But, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) deemed his response unsatisfactory and moved forward with the decision to cancel his OCI card.
According to the Home Ministry’s letter, Chetan Kumar’s OCI card was revoked as a result of his disparaging remarks about judges and indulging in anti-national acts. Notably, the artist was detained by Bengaluru police on March 21 after he had posted offensive posts on the microblogging website Twitter. He is currently out on bail.
Chetan Kumar was charged with violating IPC sections 505 (B) and 295 (A), which set out penalties for willful and intentional conduct intended to offend someone’s religious sensibilities by disparaging their religion or religious beliefs and disturbing the harmony between two groups. He was detained as a result of a complaint made by one Shiva Kumar of the Bajrang Dal regarding the reported tweet that claimed various things about the Hindu religion were false.
When the hijab controversy erupted across the country in February 2022, Chetan Kumar made remarks questioning Justice Krishna Dixit of the Karnataka High Court. He was detained under IPC section 504 for punishing intentional provocation and insults to any person with the purpose to disturb public peace and section 505(2) for utterances that create or promote animosity, hostility, or ill-will between classes.
A day after the Uttar Pradesh Police, in its charge sheet, confirmed that Atiq Ahmed had connections with Pakistan’s ISI and terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba, reports have emerged revealing that the gangster-turned-politician also had connections with dreaded underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company.
According to reports, intelligence agencies that got information about Atiq’s underworld connections revealed that Dawood Ibrahim’s network was used to deliver weapons to Atiq Ahmed.
Times Now also reported that a close aide of deceased gangster Chhota Shakeel was responsible for the supply of weapons. The henchman was in constant touch with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Atiq’s gang. D-Company used to deliver weapons at the behest of ISI to Atiq Ahmed.
According to reports, Atiq Ahmed came in contact with the D-Company through former Mau MLA and mafia Mukhtar Ansari who was, last year, convicted and sentenced to 10 years in jail in the 1996 gangster case.
Atiq Ahmed reportedly admitted during questioning that gangster Mukhtar Ansari had assisted him in getting in touch with the D gang. Atiq and his brother Ashraf got along well with Abu Salem, a don for D Gang. After the Umesh Pal murder case, Asad, who was running from one city to another, was asked to come to Pune and then to Nashik by Abu Salem’s aides. A former MP is also alleged to have assisted in keeping Asad and the shooter Ghulam hidden in Pune, in addition to Abu Salem.
Additionally, reports have also emerged suggesting that Dawood’s aide Abu Salem’s henchmen provided shelter and money to Atiq Ahmed’s son Asad Ahmed and gunman Mohammad Ghulam, who was killed in a police encounter at Jhansi.
TOI reported that after Asad Ahmed and Mohammad Ghulam were killed in an encounter in Jhansi on Thursday the STF started preparing a list of all those who helped them in evading arrest. STF sources were quoted by TOI as saying that on the top of the list are henchmen of Abu Salem who had helped Atiq earlier.
A senior official, who has been working on the case since February 24, was quoted as saying that a list of such people is being made. “STF had made the first breakthrough when it had arrested Atiq’s brother-in-law Akhlaq and got the footage in which he is spotted making payments to the aides of the don.”
Some suspects have been zeroed in from Delhi and Mumbai. “We are also coordinating with the agencies in Rajasthan, West Bengal and with the police of bordering districts,” said an officer.
Atiq Ahmed has admitted to links with ISI, Lashkar
Notably, the Uttar Pradesh Police, in its charge sheet against Atiq Ahmed, had said that he had connections with Pakistani terrorist organisations. The UP Police also said that Atiq Ahmed had confessed to having been in regular touch with the Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
In his recorded statement, Atiq Ahmed is quoted by the police as saying: “…I have no dearth of weapons because I have direct connections with Pakistan’s ISI and terror org Lashkar-e-Taiba. Weapons from Pakistan are dropped on the Punjab border with the help of drones and local connection collects them. Terrorists in J&K get weapons from this consignment. If you take me with you, I can help you recover that money and arms & ammunition used in the incident.”
Meanwhile, Asad Ahmed, son of gangster turned politician Atiq Ahmed, was killed in a police encounter at Jhansi on Thursday (April 13). Asad Ahmed was wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case. Along with Asad, his associate Ghulam Muhammad has also been killed in the encounter with UP Police STF. Ghulam Muhammad, son of Maksudan, was a gunman who fired shots during the Umesh Pal murder.
United Kingdom House of Lords Member Baroness Verma on Saturday called the attack on Indian High Commission in London “unacceptable”, adding that the vandalism of any mission in her country would not be tolerated.
“I think first of all it is unacceptable that any mission should be attacked and I’m glad that they’ve taken some very strong steps to making sure that that message is out there loud and clear. We will not tolerate the behaviour that was seen against any mission and particularly a mission that I’m so closely connected with because of my own roots,” Baroness Verma told ANI.
The House of Lords member added that the government has taken the incident seriously. “The police have taken it exceptionally seriously and I’m glad that there will be no tolerance of this kind of behaviour from anyone,” she said.
In March this year, the Indian community in Britain erupted in anger following the vandalism of the Indian High Commission in London and the desecration of the Tricolour by Khalistani supporters. This led to an unprecedented outpouring of support from the diverse Indian community in Britain.
Born in Amritsar, Baroness Sandip Verma was part of the UK Parliamentary delegation that called on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and held discussions over historical, business, and people-to-people ties between both nations.
Talking about the meeting, Baroness Verma said Vice President Dhankhar is an incredibly knowledgeable person. They discussed moving closer ties with new technologies and collaboration with UK and India.
“There was a lot of positive talk around, all of the opportunities that are arising in India the trajectory that India is on, which is wonderful to see and the growth pattern for India allows all of us to see how we can have greater stronger relationships. It was a very positive meeting, and I know that my colleagues and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting His Excellency, the Vice President,” she added.
Baroness Verma made the above remarks at a business conference — ‘Breaking Barriers To Trade: Delhi Chapter’ — an event where women entrepreneurs from India, UK and Uganda, gathered in New Delhi on Saturday.
She also expressed her views on the recent telephonic conversation between PM Narendra Modi and UK PM Rishi Sunak and believes both leaders know how to build stronger closer relationships.
“I think both value each other’s country’s contributions. I think we have a wonderfully large diaspora in the UK. It’s a living bridge between India and UK and of course, our own Prime Minister in the UK is of Indian origin, but he governs the country. He has to look at the best interests of the whole country. And I think both Prime Ministers understand that and that’s why working together working and closely building and strengthening those ties is critical. And I have faith that we will actually genuinely go from strength to strength,” she added.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
The Bihar police on Saturday confirmed that four people have died after consuming spurious liquor in the East Champaran district of the state. The incident reportedly happened on the intervening night of Friday (April 15, 2023) and Saturday (April 15, 2023).
The Bihar police confirmed that the deaths took place in areas under the Turkauliya and Paharpur police stations of East Champaran. It also confirmed that seven persons have so far been detained as part of the investigation into the incident.
The police confirmed that the people who died in the incident were identified as Tuntun Singh (35), Bhutan Manjhi (40), Chotu Paswan (25) and Ashok Paswan (45).
“The district police is investigating the matter and trying to ascertain those involved in the illegal liquor trade. Excise department officials are also probing the incident,” the Bihar police said, adding that the forensic team has also been sent to the scene of the incident.
It’s worth noting that while the Bihar police have said that 4 people died in the incident, several media outlets have given varying fatality numbers. According to The New Indian Express, the Bihar hooch tragedy claimed 20 lives. As per the report published by Hindustan Times, 6 people have reportedly died in the incident. Jagran, meanwhile, claimed that as many as 14 people were left dead in the hooch incident in Bihar’s East Champaran district.
Meanwhile, taking note of the tragedy, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that he has asked the officials concerned to collect all information related to the incident.
Notably, Bihar has been a dry state since April 2016, when the Nitish Kumar government banned the sale and consumption of alcohol. However, despite the ban, Bihar has been marred with hooch tragedies claiming hundreds of lives.
Notably, last year, a similar incident happened in Bihar’s Chhapra district which claimed as many as 72 lives. Additionally, in Chhapra’s adjoining district, Siwan at least 5 people died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor. All five deceased are residents of Brahsthan and Sondhani villages of the Bhagwanpur Police Station area.
Following the incidents, five police officers including the Isuapur Police Station House Officer were suspended. The matter was taken up in Bihar Assembly. The Opposition, led by the BJP, took on the ruling JD(U)-RJD combined over the rising hooch deaths despite a ban on the sale and consumption of liquor in the state.
Amid severe criticism from the Opposition, led by the BJP, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had then said that no compensation will be given if a person dies after consuming spurious liquor.
Days after Mamata Banerjee suggested Hindus not celebrate their festivals in so-called Muslim areas, a video of an incident has gone viral on social media in which a journalist is hackled by Muslims in a similar so-called Muslim area and is forced to stop the reporting. The incident took place in Ghaziabad’s Khoda colony where Keshav Malan, who works with ‘Khabar India’ had visited to get reactions of Muslim people on Asad Ahmed’s encounter and subsequent statements by politicians like Asaduddin Owaisi and Akhilesh Yadav.
On February 24, 2023, goons killed Umesh Pal. The faces of the shooters were revealed on the CCTV. Not only Umesh Pal but his two bodyguards were also killed. Umesh Pal was a witness in the murder of MLA Raju Pal in 2005. Prayagraj mafia Atiq Ahmed was associated with both incidents.
On 13th April 2023, the Special Task Force team of the Uttar Pradesh police killed Asad Ahmed in an encounter near Jhansi. Asad Ahmed was the son of the mafia Atiq Ahmed. Asad Ahmed was wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case and carried a reward of Rs. five lakhs on his head. His accomplice Mohammad Ghulam who was also a wanted criminal in this case was also killed in this encounter.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi condemned this and said that the incidents of encounters reduce people’s faith in the Constitution of the country. Journalist Keshav Malan, who works with ‘Khabar India’, faced a fierce mob of Muslims when he reached Ghaziabad’s Khoda Colony to get the reaction of Muslims to this statement of Asaduddin Owaisi on 14th April 2023. From “You take this camera to your house” to “How dare you speak up”, the journalist faced questions in the middle of a crowd of Muslims.
One Muslim in the mob even asked him, “How did you come here today?” suggesting that a journalist should avoid Fridays to go into Muslim areas for reporting. Another Muslim in the mob threatened the journalist and said, “You’re standing in front of my house, you get out of here.”
In the video, it can be seen that some Muslims gathered and started asking him to leave, shouting at him. In the street near Noorani Masjid, people talking to the journalist protested against Asad Ahmed’s encounter and supported Owaisi’s statement. The Muslim youths said the law should have punished Asad and not the police. One of them blamed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government for the murder of Umesh Pal. Most Muslim youths were seen calling it a one-sided action and asking why the court judges are there.
One of the Muslims talked about ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and said that the culprits will be released here and innocents will be encountered. One Muslim even demanded the arrest of cow protector Monu Manesar and started referring to other incidents. Meanwhile, a Muslim man with a skull cap got angry and said that we have nothing to do with Assad or anyone. After this, he grabbed the journalist’s hand and started pushing him.
A young kid also told Keshav Malan ‘Quietly go away’, which can be seen in the video. Some Muslims were seen shaking the mic. One of them even said, ‘The biggest mafia is Yogi, he has 150 cases registered against him’. Most Muslims were seen avoiding speaking on this, saying that it was time for prayers. “You can’t stand within 100 metres of a mosque” – this statement of a fanatic Muslim youth in the video is becoming quite viral on social media.
The OpIndia team talked to Keshav Malan after this whole incident came to the surface. He said that he saw 3 big mosques in that area within 300 meters. He said that as Owaisi said on Asad Ahmed’s encounter that this was being done on the basis of religion, so he felt that it was necessary to take the reaction of Muslims on this. Keshav Malan said that it is important for Muslims to have a public opinion because it can also be a case that leaders like Owaisi are misleading. With this very thought, he reached the mosque.
He said that he sensed the difference in the situation as soon as he reached there. He did not anticipate it to be so hot of a discussion. He also confirmed the scuffle with him and cameraman Mohit Singh. He said that as they were carrying the camera, there was less misbehaviour, otherwise anything could have happened to them. Keshav Malan said that when he returned after the coverage, people from his channel also asked him to be careful, and that there is no need to take such a risk.
However, Keshav Malan believes that there is no such thing as a risk in this because there is fear while reporting many times in Delhi and in Rajasthan too, there is similar fear. However, with regard to Uttar Pradesh, he said that he is not afraid to go to Muslim-dominated areas for reporting. He credits Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government for this. Keshav Malan says that there is a rule of law under Yogi Adityanath and if anything happens, he is confident that justice will be done.
He said that even in Muslim-dominated areas in UP, he reports easily without fear. He said that the things that were said to him in Ghaziabad’s Khoda Colony were in a way a threat to him. Keshav Malan said that most of the Muslims he spoke to in that locality were saying that Asad Ahmed had been persecuted. They were also denying the fact that Asad was seen in the CCTV footage of Umesh Pal’s murder.
Mohit Singh was the cameraman during this entire episode. The OpIndia team also talked to him. He told that he was constantly being asked to turn off the camera, so he flipped the camera but did not turn it off. He informed us that he was also being hit. As soon as Atiq Ahmed’s name was mentioned, people were getting agitated. According to Mohit, there was a fear that how would he get out of there. He said that Muslims were fairly large in number.
It is clear from this episode that a direct message is being given to journalists that they should not report in these so-called ‘Muslim areas’. Will only the ‘Shariat’ law be applicable in the area around the mosque? Roads or other public properties belong to the government, and no one can claim them. Are there many small Pakistans already formed in the country? If so, it’s definitely a wake-up call. What will happen if Hindus start talking about the ‘Hindu areas’ like this?
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday attacked the Congress in Rajasthan for its internal strife, saying the party will always give Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot preference over Sachin Pilot because of the greater amount of corruption money he contributes to the party’s finances.
“Pilot sits on dharna on any pretext, but his number will not come because his contribution in filling the coffers of Congress party is less and Gehlot’s contribution is higher,” Shah said while addressing booth-level party workers meeting in Bharatpur.
Gehlot has enriched himself by turning the Rajasthani administration into a centre of corruption. The Congress party’s coffers now contain this dirty money, the senior BJP leader said.
Regarding the acquittal of the defendants in the 2008 Jaipur bomb blast case, Shah contended that vote-bank politics prevented the Congress government from making a strong case before the high court. “The government is doing vote bank politics on the deaths of blast victims,” he noted.
“A 3-D administration in Rajasthan,” he said, “stands for ‘dange’ (riots), ‘durvyavhar’ (women’s mistreatment), and ‘Dalit’ horrors.” People are going to vote out the government in elections, Shah stated, predicting that the BJP will win all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan and a 2/3 majority in the state’s assembly polls.
According to him, the BJP would run in the elections based on the achievements of the Modi administration, the party’s philosophy, and the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress administration led by Asok Gehlot is one of Rajasthan’s most corrupt regimes. People are tired of it, he remarked.
Earlier yesterday, (April 14) the leftist media portal The Wire published a video of its senior ‘journalist’ Karan Thapar interviewing former governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik, wherein the duo wholeheartedly shared their deep-seated hate for the ruling dispensation. In his interview, Satya Pal Malik pushed the Congress ecosystem’s contention that the Modi government was responsible for the 2019 Pulwama attack.
A day after the interview, which clearly appeared nothing more than a hit job to malign the ruling regime before the upcoming 2024 general elections, went on air, Pakistan quickly used it to deny its role in the dreadful Pulwama incident.
Despite knowing that terrorists and Pakistan-based terror organisations were to blame for the suicide bombing attack in February 2019 that claimed the lives of 40 members of the CRPF, PTV World, the state-sponsored media outlet in Pakistan, today (April 15) shared excerpts of the interview and used certain statements made by the former governor of Jammu and Kashmir to exonerate their country from the 2019 attack on the CRPF jawans.
“India’s Pulwama drama further exposed: Ex-governor occupied Kashmir breaks silence* The ‘tell-all’ shocking revelations in the interview given by former Governor of Occupied Kashmir Satyapal Malik to anchor Karan Thapar have badly exposed the Modi government,” wrote PTV World as it shared a snippet of the interview where Satyapal claimed that the Home Ministry under the Modi government refused permission for airlifting of the CRPF personnel to Kashmir, which he claimed ultimately led to the ensuing tragedy.
India's Pulwama drama further exposed: Ex-governor occupied Kashmir breaks silence*
The ‘tell-all’ shocking revelations in the interview given by former Governor of Occupied Kashmir Satyapal Malik to anchor Karan Thapar have badly exposed the Modi government.
In the next Tweet, the Pakistan state media shared a portion of the interview where Satyapal, rather despicably, claimed that the BJP government wanted to ‘shift the onus on Pakistan to absolve itself from the lapses leading to the Pulwama attack.’
“The former governor says that in February 2019, Modi prevented him from revealing the truth about the Pulwama attack and it was immediately clear from the Pulwama attack that the attack was aimed at blaming Pakistan and benefiting the BJP in the elections,” read the tweet.
Satya Pal Malik blames Centre for the Pulwama attack
In his interview, Malik blamed the Modi government for the Pulwama attack—a line of argument long parroted by the Left—describing it as a false flag operation months before the 2019 general elections. Malik hewed to the liberal narrative, claiming that the Home Ministry under the Modi government refused permission for airlifting of the CRPF personnel to Kashmir, which he claimed ultimately led to the ensuing tragedy.
“The CRPF people had asked for aircraft to ferry their people,” said Malik, to which Thapar promptly asks if they asked him for providing an aeroplane for the transfer of the soldiers. “No, they did not ask me. They asked the concerned departments, which are the Home Ministry and the Defence Ministry, which refused to provide them with aircraft to ferry the soldiers.”
“That very same evening I told the Prime Minister that the attack has taken place because of our fault. If we had provided aircraft to the CRPF convoy, this attack could have been avoided. But he asked me to remain silent,” Malik goes on to say.
“Even Ajit Doval, the National Security Advisor who was once my classmate, told me to remain silent on the issue. I then realised that the onus of the attack will now be shifted to Pakistan,” Malik added.
“So it was the policy of the government to blame Pakistan for the attack and it will help us in elections,” said Thapar, elaborating upon Malik’s claims.
Insinuating that the Pulwama attack was an inside job, Malik claimed that the road meant for the CRPF convoy was not properly sanitised. “There were 8-10 link roads on that specific stretch where the tragedy took place, and none of them was manned by police or Indian armed forces,” he said.
Subsequently, Thapar tries to absolve Pakistan of the attack, slyly asking Malik if they were indeed involved in the attack or wrongly blamed by the Centre for electoral gains in the upcoming general elections.
“Pakistan was involved in the attack. The amount of RDX that car was carrying could not have been internal, but we are responsible for not locating the car that was laden with such quantities of explosives running around in Kashmir,” Malik said.
In response to explosions and gunfire in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, as paramilitaries and the regular army waged attacks on each other’s bases, India’s embassy in Sudan has asked Indians in the country to seek refuge.
NOTICE TO ALL INDIANS
IN VIEW OF REPORTED FIRINGS AND CLASHES, ALL INDIANS ARE ADVISED TO TAKE UTMOST PRECAUTIONS, STAY INDOORS AND STOP VENTURING OUTSIDE WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT. PLEASE ALSO STAY CALM AND WAIT FOR UPDATES.
After weeks of escalating tensions between military head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo over the intended integration of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the regular army, violence broke out in the country, on Saturday. Witnesses reported hearing loud explosions, gunfire, and confrontations close to an RSF base in south Khartoum.
#Sudan ??: residents of #Khartoum woke up this morning to the sound of gunfire and plumes of smoke rising into the air as clashes appear to have erupted in the capital city.
These armed confrontations follow weeks of rising tensions between the SAF and RSF military factions. pic.twitter.com/QXQXRsGnzi
Following reports of fighters entering the airport compound in truckloads, the RSF claimed that its forces had taken control of Khartoum Airport. There were accounts of gunfire near the airport, close to Burhan’s home, and also in Khartoum North. As artillery engagements shook the streets, civilians were allegedly spotted scurrying for cover. Both sides traded accusations of instigating the conflict.
RSF declared to have ‘complete control’ of the presidential palace and two other airports, one in the southern city of El-Obeid and one in the northern city of Merowe.
“We are hearing gunfire in the capital near the vicinity of the presidential palace in the northern part of the capital. Lots of confusion here with regard to what is happening at the moment. People are terrified,” confirmed an Al Jazeera journalist.
“The Rapid Support Forces were surprised Saturday with a large force from the army entering camps in Soba in Khartoum and laying siege to paramilitaries there,” the RSF said in a statement. It claimed, a ‘sweeping attack with all kinds of heavy and light weapons’ was underway.
Brigadier-General Nabil Abdallah, a Sudanese army spokesman, however, asserted that paramilitary forces targeted military installations. “Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces attacked several army camps in Khartoum and elsewhere around Sudan. Clashes are ongoing and the army is carrying out its duty to safeguard the country,” he noted.
After a coup in October 2021, generals have been ruling the nation through the Sovereign Council. The vice-president of the council, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, is in charge of the RSF. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sovereign Council, is in charge of the army.
A plan to transition to a civilian-led government has failed due to delays in RSF integration into the national army. The army claimed it should happen in two years while the RSF wanted to put it off for ten.
As tensions intensified this week, the RSF moved troops close to the Merowe military base on Thursday. In order to settle the disagreement over who would be in charge of a unified army under a planned civilian administration, Gen. Burhan stated that he was ready to speak with his second in command.
The two sides have been urged to de-escalate hostilities and return to negotiations aimed at restoring civilian authority by both Western powers and regional leaders.
While interviewing the former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satyapal Malik, Karan Thapar from the leftist propaganda portal The Wire brazenly made some false accusations against PM Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah to project them as anti-Muslims. The interview was shared by The Wire on Friday, April 14.
At around 54 minutes into the interview, Karan Thapar assailed the BJP government by asking the former governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satyapal Malik about the alleged anti-Muslim rhetorics peddled by BJP ministers and Chief Ministers.
He questioned Satyapal Malik, “I want to talk to you about three-four more thing about the Prime Minister. Let’s first talk about the fact that his ministers, his chief ministers are constantly taunting Muslims. Muslims ko Babur ki aulaad bulaya jaata hain (Muslims are referred to as Babur’s children), Yogi ji jab unki zikar karte hain toh abba jaan abba jaan kehete hain (Whenever Yogi talks about them he refers to them as Abba Jaan). Amit Shah ek zamaane main unhe dimak bulate the, termites bulate the (Amit Shah once called them termites) and have asked them to go back to Pakistan, aur hakikat yeh bhi hain ki Prime Minister sahab bhi aksar raise lafaz istemaal karte hai (the fact is that even the PM has often used such derogatory terms for the Muslims). Unhone kahan that ‘kapde se pehchan sakte ho,’ unhone kahan tha ‘kabristan aur shamshan ghat.’ (he has said that they are recognised by their clothing and made remarks on Muslim graveyards and Hindu cemeteries) Is it proper for the PM? he questioned.
Amit Shah’s ‘termite’ remark
Karan Thapar, the ‘journalist’ associated with the leftist propaganda website The Wire, who has an obvious bias against the current administration, selected some old statements from BJP leaders and deftly used them out of context to portray the BJP leadership as anti-Muslim, but here is how he lied blatantly in an attempt to paint the BJP leadership as anti-Muslim. Let’s expose each of his lies one at a time.
While castigating the Modi government for its bias against Muslims, Thapar claimed that HM Amit Shah had previously referred to Muslims as ‘termites.’ This, however, is a flagrant lie that was solely said to paint the Modi government as the enemy of Muslims. The truth is that Amit Shah did not refer to members of the Muslim community as termites; rather, he did so in reference to illegal immigrants who pose a threat to national security.
Amit Shah made the aforementioned remark in support of the National Register of Citizens (NCR) in September 2018, which The Wire journalist brought up five years later to discreetly incite Muslims against the current administration. Replying to a question on NRC, Shah had then said, that illegal immigrants should be identified first and their names should be deleted from the electoral roll.
Karan Thapar rakes Yogi Adityanath’s old statement to portray BJP as anti-Muslim
In order to further support his claim that the BJP party’s members despise Muslims, Karan Thapar also dug up an old statement made by Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He claimed that Yogi often mocks India’s Muslim populace by referring to them as ‘Abba Jaan.’
Contrary to Thapar’s claim, Yogi Adityanath has used the ‘Abba Jaan’ jibe not to mock Muslims but to target opposition parties for engaging in appeasement politics in the state. In 2021, Yogi Adityanath in an address at Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh took a jibe at opposition parties for engaging in appeasement politics in the state. The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh said that during previous governments, the ration used to be usurped by those who say ‘Abba jaan’.
He asked the gathering whether they received rations before 2017. When the crowd answered no, he said, “…because then, those who say ‘abba jaan’ used to usurp the rations.
Again in November last year, Yogi Adityanath used the term “abba jaan” as a jibe, threatening strict action against those who incite passion over the Citizenship Amendment Act. His main target was AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi who demanded the withdrawal of the law.
CM Yogi said, “I want to warn that person who is provoking people in the name of the Citizen Amendment Act. I want to warn the followers of Chacha Jaan and Abba Jaan to listen carefully. If you try to spoil the atmosphere by inciting the feelings of the people of Uttar Pradesh, the state government knows how to deal strictly with you.”
Modi’s Kabristan/Shamshan remark
Karan Thapar went on to say that Modi also targeted Muslims with the ‘kabristan-shamshan’ remark he made in 2017. As was to be expected, Thapar followed in the footsteps of Rahul Gandhi, the blue-eyed boy of the Congress party, who had previously twisted this remark to promote his anti-Modi narrative prior to the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
For the uninitiated, while addressing a poll rally at Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in 2017 accused the Akhilesh Yadav government of indulging in discrimination on the basis of religion.
Modi said, “Gaon me kabristan banta hai to shamshaan bhi banna chahiye. Ramzan me bijli aati hai to Diwali me bhi aani chahiye. Bhedbhav nhi hona chahiye (If land is given for cemetery in a village, it should be given for cremation ground also. If electricity is supplied during Ramazan, it should be supplied during Diwali also. There should not be discrimination.”Modi further said, “There should not be any discrimination on the basis of religion and caste.”
Anyone with normal intelligence would understand that Modi was targeting the Samajwadi Party in his statement for playing appeasement politics rather than Muslims. However, out of their insane hatred for Modi, Rahul Gandhi and his accomplices in the media have been continuously attempting to twist and distort the statement in order to disseminate lies.
Besides, the false accusations meted out at the BJP government, another interesting aspect of the interview was Karan Thapar and Satyapal Malik’s apparent admiration for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, both of whom asserted that his popularity has skyrocketed after the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
To cut the long story short, the entire 1 hour and 10-minute interview hosted by Karan Thapar was either filled with gushing over the Congress or allegations and condemnation of the Modi administration. It appeared like just another rant against PM Modi and his government, which the media house he associates himself with performs on a daily basis.
The Wire’s purposeful attempt to discredit Modi and his party is no secret, whether it is through itsmalicious article published to defame Modi’s ambitious BharatNet project in 2018, or be it the media house’s not-so-long-ago manufactured story about Meta and BJP leader Amit Malviya or its invented imaginary app ‘tek fog‘ to target the BJP.
For the soon-to-be-held Karnataka assembly elections, the Congress party issued its third list of candidates on Saturday, comprising of 43 names. After much anticipation, former chief minister Siddaramaiah dropped from the race in Kolar as he had previously declared, and the party instead happened to nominate Kothur G Manjunath for the said constituency.
In the absence of Siddaramaiah, K. Srinivasa Gowda, who switched from the JD(S) to the Congress, anticipated receiving the Kolar ticket, but the party chose to nominate Manjunath, an ex-MLA from the Mulbagal constituency. Siddaramaiah will be contesting the election from the Varuna seat.
Third list of Congress candidates finalised by the CEC for the Karnataka assembly elections 2023. pic.twitter.com/BXeEs9pgSz
Laxman Savadi, a former BJP minister and the newest addition to the Congress, received a ticket from Athani after the BJP refused him one from there. Savadhi just joined the Congress following conversations with the head of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), DK Shivakumar.
On Friday, the BJP responded strongly to the Congress’ choice to nominate Laxman Savadi who just switched to the party. “Even after losing the election, BJP made him deputy CM and then MLC, even after that, he is going to a party (Congress) with such quarrels where the leaders are divided into two groups. He has made a big mistake & will regret it later,” said Arun Singh, BJP Karnataka in-charge.
A number of well-known politicians from the Belagavi region, according to DK Shivakumar, would be joining the Congress party in the upcoming days. Congress has so far announced candidates for 209 out of 224 assembly seats in the state. 15 further candidates for the assembly elections are still to be announced by the Congress.
The new list includes some well-known individuals, such as HC Yogeesh from Shimoga City, Nivedith Alva from Kumta, Nayana Motamma from Mudigere, Dr Srinivas Kariyanna from Shimoga Rural, Shinde Bhimsen Rao from Aurad, and Shivalinge Gowda from Arsikere.
Later today, the BJP is also anticipated to disclose its final list. Elections for the Karnataka legislature will take place on May 10 and the results will be announced on May 13.
