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Mob that assaulted journalist Ruchi Tiwari for being a Brahmin at Delhi University included participants of pro-Naxal protests and Hidma sympathisers: What we know so far

Shraddha Pandey
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Mob that assaulted journalist Ruchi Tiwari for being a Brahmin at Delhi University included participants of pro-Naxal protests and Hidma sympathisers: What we know so far

In the North Campus of the Delhi University, a pro-UGC protest took a disturbing turn on 13th February. A journalist, Ruchi Tiwari, associated with the YouTube channel ‘Breaking Opinion’, was mercilessly assaulted by the caste activists, including Leftist elements. The incident took place at the Arts Faculty when the Brahmin woman had gone to cover the protests by SC-ST-OBC activists.

On 13th February, a protest was organised by left-wing student groups like the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), All India Students’ Association (AISA), and the newly formed All India Forum for Equity. The protestors demanded the implementation of the University Grants Commission (2026) “Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions” regulations stayed by the Supreme Court. The caste discrimination-related guidelines have caused significant outrage over the 2026 regulation, which ruled out the general castes as victims of caste-based violence by restricting the category of victims to SCs, STs, and OBCs.

Amidst the tensions among student groups in the Delhi University, YouTuber Ruchi Tiwari had arrived on campus to cover the pro-UGC protests. However, she was soon surrounded and cornered by a pro-UGC mob comprising 50-100 men and women. It has been alleged that upon learning her surname “Tiwari”, a common Brahmin identifier, several among the mob shouted phrases like “Yeh Brahmin hai, isko pakdo” (She is a Brahmin, catch her). A man can be heard saying in a video, “mar isko pata chalega” (beat her she will learn a lesson). Another voice was saying repeatedly ‘Koi bol na dena yahan pe, kaat ke phenk denge” (Don’t say a word yere, else would cut and through you). Someone said the protests were peaceful when she appeared.

Several videos capturing the horror have emerged on social media, which show Ruchi Tiwari being surrounded, grabbed, beaten, and nearly disrobed by a large group of men and women.

Ruchi Tiwari recounts how the pro-UGC mob hounded her for being a Brahmin

In a video, Ruchi Tiwari narrated the incident, stating that while she was speaking with a reporter at the protest site, a large group of men and women suddenly confronted her. The caste activists claimed that she was the same woman who was present at Jantar Mantar yesterday, and proceeded to assault her.

“They held my hands, held my neck, pulled my hair, and tried to strangle me,” Tiwari said. She added that when her coworkers tried to intervene, the mob of men and women assaulted them too, and falsely accused them of touching the women protestors inappropriately.

After Ruchi Tiwari escaped from the attackers and went to the road searching for her friends, she was again surrounded and assaulted. She said that there was a large group of 100-150 protestors, and many of them, including several women, assaulted her, tore her clothes, while others were making videos.

“They attacked me only because I am a Brahmin”, Tiwari stated. She added that the mob said, ‘She is Brahmin, catch her, tear her clothes, undress her.’ Ruchi Tiwari asked whether it is feminism where no single person came forward to protect her when she was being assaulted. She added that while attempts were being made to tear her clothes and undress her, several men in the mob were making videos.

ABVP comes out in Ruchi Tiwari’s support

Amidst the outrage over a female journalist getting mobbed and harassed for her Brahmin caste, the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has extended support to Ruchi Tiwari. ABVP Delhi State Secretary Sarthak Sharma condemned the attack by leftist student groups.

“I would like to make a few things clear. The Left was protesting and a woman journalist, with a YouTube channel, was present there. She was covering the protest during which she asked them a few questions. Perhaps they didn’t like those questions, or they didn’t like the woman journalist, and they indulged in a flight…The videos show that even their male cadre was slapping her, that the crowd was gathering around her, and they were dragging her away. They have been exposed that how they misbehave with women. I have not met with the journalist so far, but I have come to know that she has filed a Police complaint. SFI, AISA and other Left student organisations have lost their relevance…So, they want to stay in the news by making false accusations. But the students of DU are intelligent enough…” Sharma told ANI.

Left- and right-wing student groups clash, and both parties file police complaints

Clashes erupted between leftist and right-wing student organisations on Friday after several YouTubers, including Ruchi Tiwari, were allegedly assaulted by the protestors. The tensions escalated at around 1 pm, as pro-UGC leftist protestors clashed with right-wing students who arrived at the spot after hearing of the disturbance.

While the right-wing student groups stated that journalist Ruchi Tiwari was assaulted, molested and subjected to caste-based insults by the left student group members, the latter denied the allegation, claiming that no caste-related questions were asked. 

Moreover, AISA has claimed that its DU Secretary and student, Anjali, was assaulted by YouTuber Ruchi Shandilya and some ABVP workers.

“AISU DU Secretary and student, Anjali, was assaulted by a YouTuber named Ruchi Shandilya, and the ABVP workers attacked the students while they were protesting at the Arts Faculty, DU, demanding the UGC Regulations to eliminate caste discrimination from campuses in India …AISA activists had gone to register an FIR against the attackers. As they did so, more than 50 ABVP members surrounded the police station, broke windows and chanted slogans against these students… ” AISA claimed.

Meanwhile, both parties have filed complaints against each other at the Maurice Nagar Police Station. The police have confirmed that they have received complaints from both the clashing parties, adding that an investigation into the allegations made by both complainants is underway.

All India Forum for Equity: The outfit behind pro-UGC protests

The pro-UGC regulations protest was organised by “All India Forum for Equity”, this outfit was formed on 8th February 2026, for what they describe as “UGC Regulations Samta Andolan”. The Forum was launched at Delhi’s HKS Surjeet Bhavan, in attendance of representatives from various leftist student organisations, including the SFI.

Among the constituent members of this forum are Urban Naxals like Dr Jitendra Meena, Dr Laxman Yadav, Mahesh Chaudhary, Bhanwar Meghvanshi, JNUSU, AISA, SFI, NSUI, AISF, MSF, RYA, DSF, ASA, AIOBCSA, CRJD, Collective India, BAPSA, Samajik Nyay Andolan Bihar, Rihaai Manch, Social Justice Army, FTII Students Union President, OBC Arakshan Sangharh Samiti, JAYS, BPVM, Gondwana Student Union and others.

Women who grabbed Ruchi Tiwari as seen in the video also participated in pro-naxal protests in November 2025

Ironically, the so-called ‘equity’ protests devolved into anti-Brahmin violence; however, given the involvement of those glorifying Naxalite terrorists in the assault, such violence is not entirely surprising.

As seen in the viral videos of the Friday incident, among the girls who surrounded and grabbed Ruchi Tiwari was Gurkirat Kaur, the president of the radical left student group Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (bsCEM).

Previously, Gurkirat had openly glorified the Radical Students’ Union (RSU), a banned student outfit, through which Maoists used to recruit terrorists who were then deployed to fight against the Indian Armed Forces. In fact, Basavaraju, the top Maoist leader and General Secretary of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), was also an RSU product.

“RSU has given so many revolutionaries to the movement, the State still shakes with fear, even with the name of RSU, even with the thought of students again coming together and bringing that revolutionary politics,” she said.

In addition to the videos, several eyewitness accounts place Gurkirat prominently in the protesting mob, alongside Neha, who holds the post of ‘president’ in AISA.

Another one was Anjali from AISA, who recently lost the presidential election.

In the videos, a girl was allegedly seen pulling Ruchi Tiwari’s hair. She has reportedly been identified as Tanvi, a Master’s student from DU.

Notably, all these girls have also participated in the pro-Naxal protests in November 2025 under the pretext of anti-pollution agitation. The demonstration, involving mostly Delhi University students linked to Leftist groups like Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (BSCEM) and so-called environmental collective ‘Himkhand’, escalated when participants started raising slogans hailing slain Maoist commander Madvi Hidma and used chilli and pepper spray on police, injuring several personnel.

The radical leftist participants of this protest had raised “Comrade Hidma Amar Rahe” and “Har Ghar Se Hidma Niklega” slogans.  When the police tried to intervene, the protesters not only attacked police personnel but also used pepper spray on them, causing injuries to the eyes and face.

As a result, two FIRs were registered against 22 protesters, of whom 16 were arrested. Fifteen were sent to judicial remand by Patiala House Court on Monday, while one was sent to a juvenile safe house after claiming to be a minor. Furthermore, Section 197 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was added to the FIRs, which deals with acts, statements or communications that threaten India’s sovereignty, unity, integrity or security.

In December 2025, a Delhi court granted bail to Gurkirat Kaur, Ravjot Kaur, Kranti alias Priyanshu, Aiyashah Wafiya, Abhinash Satapathy and Ilakliya. After getting bail in the pro-Naxal protests case, bsCEM’s Gurkirat has now participated in pro-UGC protests and allegedly joined the leftist that harassed Ruchi Tiwari.

Notably, in 2024, bsCEM vandalised the walls of DU with graffiti prior to the Lok Sabha elections, telling people to abstain from the polls. The bsCEM members proclaimed, “Ek hi raasta Naxalbari” (the only way is Naxalbari), the place which sparked the inception of red terror in India. In addition, the radical left outfit has also been peddling anti-Brahmin hatred.

Days after Disha Wadekar, lawyer representing petitioners in UGC case said caste discrimination/harassment against ‘upper castes’ can never happen, pro-UGC mob proves her wrong

Earlier this month, Disha Wadekar, the lawyer representing petitioners in the UGC case, said in several interviews that if caste-based discrimination guidelines are made caste-neutral, then “What is the point of that provision of discrimination?”

“Now everyone is pointing out that there is a separate definition of caste discrimination. Section 3(C) defines caste discrimination as caste-based discrimination, based on caste or race against Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and OBCs. The caste-based discrimination definition that everyone has a problem with, who should it include? If that should be a caste-neutral definition is what the question is, then are you saying that alongside SC, ST, and OBCs, caste-based discrimination definition should also include other categories, and it should be caste neutral, then what is the point of that provision of discrimination then? Then there is no discrimination, right? That actually means that there is no discrimination,” she told The Telegraph India.

In another interview, Wadekar claimed that she does not suggest that upper-caste students do not experience harassment or victimisation at all, but cases are “typically individual-specific and not rooted in ascriptive group identity.”

This came even as there have been incidents of on-campus anti-Brahmin and Baniya sloganeering, painting of college walls with genocidal slogans like “Brahmin-Baniyas, we are coming for you. We will avenge”, “Go back to Shakha”, “Brahmins Leave the Campus”, “Brahmin Bharat Chhodo”, “Now there will be blood” as well as incidents of the forced cutting of Janeu of Brahmin students, etc.

While these incidents are enough to prove that Wadekar’s contention was divorced from reality, the alleged harassment and assault against Ruchi Tiwari by a radical leftist student mob due to her Brahmin caste prove her wrong, again.

The irony is undeniable. Disha Wadekar, along with advocates Prasanna S. and Indira Jaising, drafted the 10 suggestions to be included in the UGC Bill, including the caste discrimination-related point. Wadekar’s whole argument behind excluding upper castes or general category caste groups from caste discrimination definition is rooted in the belief that Brahmins, Thakurs or other GCs can never face discrimination based on their caste, Ruchi Tiwari’s alleged caste-driven harassment contradicts this framing.

Tiwari’s harassment was based on her ascriptive Brahmin identity; it was not an ‘individual-specific’ case. Contrary to the assertion of Wadekar, the Ruchi Tiwari incident proves that upper castes can and do face targeted, group-based caste hostility and violence, not only in campus settings but also otherwise as well. The possibility of the occurrence of such incidents surges when leftist mobs and self-proclaimed ‘equity’ champions feel emboldened to unleash casteist slurs and violence against general category individuals and then conveniently deny it, saying that ‘upper caste’ folks can never face caste-based harassment.

Rape is normalised within the patriarchal ‘norms’ of Hindu society: IIT Patna professor Dr Priyanka Tripathi’s another research paper storms new controversy

Rukma Rathore
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Rape is normalised within the patriarchal ‘norms’ of Hindu society: IIT Patna professor Dr Priyanka Tripathi’s another research paper storms new controversy

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Patna’s English Professor Dr. Priyanka Tripathi, who was recently called out for abusing the Hindu faith and fundamentals to push her agenda has again drawn attention with another of her provocative research paper, “Gendered and Casteist Body: Cast(e)ing and Castigating the Female Body in select Bollywood Films,” which was also written by Bidisha Pal and Partha Bhattacharjee.

Tripathi has persisted in her reference to malevolent anti-Hindu individuals to substantiate her dubious argument in this piece as well, citing Hinduphobic Suraj Yengde, who is notorious for his connections to Khalistani elements.

The trio further denigrated the Hindu society by invoking a similar figure, Meena Kandasamy, quoting, “For a man, the woman is the Dalit of the house (qt. in Zecchini 62). Women are frequently viewed as the vulnerable gender, regardless of caste, class, and status. Patriarchy confines women within a limited gendered framework that compels them into an objectified mode of existence,” and argued that womanhood is essentially linked to “Dalithood.”

This paper, which used Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen (1994) and Article 15 of Anubhav Sinha, who is another member of the leftist cabal, did not even hesitate to address the sensitive topic of rape with its distorted caste perspective.

The writers not only blatantly neglected the substantial efforts made to advance the Dalit community in India, including through reservations but even drew astounding parallels between their situation and the apartheid in South Africa.

“Apartheid was a resultant condition of racial segregation and economic and political discrimination against non-white citizens of South Africa. Dalits in India are also victims of the politics of segregation. There is hidden apartheid within mainstream Indian society which precipitates that very idea of segregation. This is nothing but a kind of physical apartheid which owes its origin to the hierarchical ladder of the caste system. However, Dalit women face separate identity politics and existential crises due to their reduction as ‘impure’ bodies,” they insisted.

The authors, however, swiftly arrived at their real objective which was to denounce Hinduism and they did this with great audacity by declaring that rape is a regular phenomenon in the patriarchal Hindu society. “The act of rape is normalised within the patriarchal ‘norms’ of Hindu society and is associated with the inevitable outcome of staunch orthodoxy. Jean Chapman (2014) argues that Brahmanical Hinduism normalises subtleties of misogynistic activities and this leads him into saying that rape is not random. It is structured,” the paper alleged.

“The spectacle of cinema depicts a sustained form of Savarna patriarchy in the act of public rape,” it shockingly read while referring to Bandit Queen, while further vilifying the upper caste community.

Interestingly, the obnoxious claims presented in the paper seemingly do not require any empirical data or facts and those who concoct such theories under the guise of research apparently do not encounter any repercussions either.

Dr Priyanka Tripathi has a contentious history

OpIndia previously disclosed how Tripathi has repeatedly belittled the Hindu religion or misused it to promote her sinister agenda throughout the years, ranging from making offensive associations between Shakti and lesbianism to charging that women are viewed as inferior to men in Hinduism while simultaneously criticising the “Hindu patriarchal society” to validate her deranged viewpoints.

Moreover, she has been discovered to have strong connections with the United Kingdom’s publishing company “Taylor & Francis,” which has relentlessly criticised India, Hindutva, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and has even gone so far as to make a mockery of Indian democracy.

Tripathi’s ideology, work and ties are deeply rooted in Hindumisia and such a person has been given the important role of teaching the Indian top minds in a distinguished institution of the country. The significantly more alarming issue is that there are numerous others in educational establishments whose minds have been tainted by Hindu animosity.

It is unnecessary to even mention what they must be instilling in the future generations in the name of education as well as the degree of bias they exhibit towards their students based on caste or religion. Furthermore, their objective is not to elevate the issues of genuinely downtrodden communities but rather to exploit them as a prop to attack Hindus and propagate their narrative.

Thus, this is clearly not the first instance in which the Hindu religion has been ridiculed, derided and misused for personal agendas within academia nor will it be the last. Tripathi and others like her represent the decay prevalent in the Indian education system and they will continue to proliferate in the absence of stringent measures for rectification or course correction, both by the institutions and the government, but even more so by the community whose faith is transformed into a joke or a punching bag by these individuals.

Anti-Brahmin hate, mockery of Kashmiri Hindu genocide and perpetual victim card: Meet Lakshya Lakey, the ‘Ambedkarite activist’ exposed for making derogatory comments against women

Shraddha Pandey
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Anti-Brahmin hate, mockery of Kashmiri Hindu genocide and perpetual victim card: Meet Lakshya Lakey, the ‘Ambedkarite activist’ exposed for making derogatory comments against women

A social media controversy has erupted between self-proclaimed Ambedkarite anti-caste activist Lakhshya Lakey and criminal lawyer Tulip Sharma. A cyber complaint has been filed by Sharma, who is also an Instagram content creator, against Lakhshya Lakey, accusing him of harassment, caste-based abuse towards Brahmins, and sending derogatory messages.

Lakhshya Lakey is a graduate from IIM Indore and a TEDx speaker, who runs an Instagram page and a YouTube channel with the name “Lakhshya Speaks”. Lakey boasts around 553k followers on Instagram and over 14k subscribers on YouTube.

Failed to counter questions by Tulip Sharma on his claims about Bharatnatyam and Devadasis, Lakhshya Lakey resorted to anti-Brahmin abuse: What Tulip Sharma said

On 12th February, Tulip Sharma uploaded a video on her Instagram handle @_tulipsharma, in which she narrated that while Lakhshya Lakey has been hating on the Brahmin community on social media for a while under the pretext of anti-caste activism, he resorted to throwing anti-Brahmin casteist abuse at her after she posted comments criticising his video on Bharatnatyam and Devadasis.

“Let us expose a social media influencer called the ‘Lakhshya Speaks’. This man is known to spread hate towards the Brahmin community on the internet, and I have no problem with that since you have your freedom to expression, and if you spread hate, then it’s not a new thing on the net. But the problem arises when you can’t take dissenting opinions. He is the kind of influencer who will dm you and will speak rubbish if you try to post a dissenting comment on his post,” Sharma said.

It all began after Lakhshya Lakey uploaded a video on his Instagram page on 11th February, wherein he claimed that the Bharatnatyam dance was ‘appropriated’ by Brahmins. In the video, Lakey claimed that Bharatnatyam is a Brahminical cultural appropriation, and that the original dance form was Sadir Attam or Dasi Attam performed by Devadasis. He further claimed that a Tamil Brahmin woman named Rukmini Devi separated the ‘sexual/erotic’ element of the original dance form, whitewashed it, but in the process, alienated the cultural roots of Sadir Attam from what became Bharatnatyam.

In response to this, Sharma commented, “As per your logic, the “Brahmin” woman Rukmini Devi ended the cycle of sexual exploitation of those dev dasis. Where’s the problem now? On one hand, you see this as an oppressive system and then if someone reformed it, you have a problem with that just because the reformer happens to be a “Brahmin.” LOL. Gain some clarity in life and don’t rely on WhatsApp knowledge.”

However, instead of sticking to the subject and countering Sharma’s argument with facts, the lawyer said that Lakey slid into her DM and hurled caste-based abuses against her. To back her claims, Sharma attached screenshots and screen recordings of her conversation with Lakey.

Tulip Sharma informed that while the topic was not even about Brahmin girls, Laskhshya Lakey boasted of having dated many Brahmin girls. “The topic was not even about Brahmin girls but Lakhshya Lakey went on to flex about all of his exes being Brahmins, using the girls of a specific community to win an argument. The topic about the entire community shows how big of a casteist he is,” Sharma said.

Further exposing Lakey’s casteist mindset objectifying Brahmin girls, Sharma informed that he claimed to be ‘annihilating’ caste by “making intercaste babies”.

Source: Tulip Sharma’s video

“His entire profession is grounded on hurling abuses to Brahmins and then he goes on to flex about his Brahmin exes. He even went on further to say he is annihilating caste by making intercaste babies,” Sharma said in the video and shared the screenshot of their conversation as well.

While in one of his videos, Lakhshya Lakey claimed that he is not “brave enough to date outside his SC/ST community”, he replied, “Brahmin gf sucks me off, problem?” to the DM of a female follower of Tulip Sharma, who criticised him for his casteist and misogynistic messages to Sharma.

Tulip Sharma’s Instagram story.

As per the many publicly shared screenshots, Lakhshya Lakey wrote to Tulip Sharma in her DM, “Holy chopped, you’re ugly for a Brahmin girl.” In another such message to Sharma, he wrote, “My girlfriend is way prettier than you. You don’t even look like you have a boyfriend”.

In a similar message sent to Sharma, Lakey wrote, “4 Brahmin exes, all prettier than you”.

Meanwhile, Sharma informed her followers on Instagram that she has filed a cyber complaint against Lakhshya Lakey under the provisions of the IT Act and relevant BNS sections.

Amidst the backlash, Lakhshya Lakey claimed that the screenshots shared by Tulip Sharma exposing the casteist and derogatory messages he sent to her are fake. He claimed that attempts are being made to falsely implicate him in a bogus case.

In another video, Lakey reiterated his claim that all the screenshots of his chat with Sharma are fake. The Ambedkarite caste activist played the victim card and equated himself to Rohith Vemula.

Lakey claimed that such tactics were used with Rohith Vemula as well. It was quite audacious of Lakey to equate himself with Rohith Vemula and claim that narratives were peddled against his caste, even as in reality, the Telangana Police’s closure report in the Vemula case stated that he did not belong to the SC caste group.

 ‘Pure vegetarian Brahmins are bad’, ‘Brahmins rejected Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’ and more of Lakhshya Lakey’s shenanigans

As is the case with most anti-caste ‘activists’, Lakhshya Lakey has also indulged in Brahmin-bashing in the name of opposing caste supremacism. In one of his videos, he claimed that while other countries have vegetarians, India has ‘pure vegetarians’. Attacking Brahmins for their religious beliefs associated with vegetarianism, he said, “Only in India do you find the idea of a ‘pure vegetarian. Because here vegetarianism is not just about animals. It is about purity, superiority, and caste. It is about saying, “I am closer to God, and you Dalits who eat meat are lesser.” That Brahmanical gaze even appears when some vegans look at Dalit activists and shame them for not being vegan.”

While Lakey peddled the narrative that the term ‘pure’ in pure vegetarianism implies caste superiority or higher closeness to God, it in reality, simply implies the strictness in adherence to vegetarianism.

In July 2025, Lakey appeared in a podcast wherein he claimed that Brahmins discriminated against Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He claimed that Brahmins refused to crown Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj due to his caste and that he had to call priests from Banaras to perform his coronation.

This claim is a part of the anti-Brahmin narrative concocted by the radical ‘anti-caste’ activists. However, in reality, the local Brahmins did not refuse to crown Shivaji Maharaj due to their bias against his caste, but because they did not know how to conduct Aindreya Rajabhishek; thus, Gagabhatt, a Brahmin, was called from Banaras. It is essential to note that Gagabhatt was also a Marathi Brahmin, as his family hailed from Paithan in modern-day Maharashtra. The dispute pertaining to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s coronation was over the rites to be conducted as per Vedic customs against Tantrik rituals.

In one of his X posts, Lakshya incited Yadavs to abandon Hinduism because somehow Brahmins and Thakurs are not establishing marital relations with them. “And Yadavs, despite their political power and claims of Kshatriyata, are still not accepted as equals by Thakurs or Brahmins. No intermarriage. No respect. Only graded inequality. To my Yadav brothers and sisters – don’t aspire to be part of this caste pyramid,” he wrote.

Unsurprisingly, Lakhshya Lakey is a fanboy of the 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi Riots accused mastermind Umar Khalid. He peddled the Muslim victimhood bogey and compared how Kanhaiya Kumar became a politician, while Umar Khalid is languishing in jail just because he is a Muslim.

In a post lamenting Khalid’s prolonged incarceration, Lakey wrote, “Two student leaders. Same campus. Similar accusations. But two very different fates. Kanhaiya Kumar walks free, joins mainstream politics. Umar Khalid, a Muslim, has spent 5 years in jail without bail. This is not ca oincidence. This is the price of being a Muslim in India.”

Interestingly, while Lakey suggested that Umar Khalid is ‘paying the price of being a Muslim’, Khalid has maintained that he is an atheist.

Contrary to the false narrative peddled by Islamo-leftists to garner support and sympathy for Umar Khalid, OpIndia has reported earlier that out of the 14 adjournments in 2023 and 2024, 7 delays and adjournments were sought by Umar Khalid himself. It therefore becomes evident that the withdrawal was certainly not because of the famed “delay” in hearing. While the Islamo-leftist ecosystem continues to cry ‘injustice’, it is the alleged failed forum shopping attempts of the accused’s lawyer that have Khalid rotting in jail for so long.

In fact, former Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, had also said earlier this year that the real problem lies in the mindset of some lawyers and political groups who want their cases heard only by certain judges. Highlighting what OpIndia has reported multiple times, the former CJI said that court records showed that Khalid’s legal team, led by Sibal, had sought at least seven adjournments before finally withdrawing the bail plea in February 2024, citing “a change in circumstances.”

As per the screenshots shared by several social media users, Lakhshya Lakey also has mocked Kashmiri Pandits who were subjected to mass killings and exodus in the early 1990s by Islamic terrorists. In reply to a comment, Lakey wrote, “Kashmir Brahmano ka yehi halat tha.” In another one he wrote, “Mujhe kuch nahi hoga, unlike your Kashmiri Pandit brethren.”

India-US trade deal framework: Why the numbers involved tell a different story than the political noise

Dhruv Mishra
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India-US trade deal framework: Why the numbers involved tell a different story than the political noise

For the past few days, the interim India–US trade framework outlined in a joint statement has been portrayed as everything from a strategic ‘surrender’ to an economic sellout by the Opposition. Critics argue that India has been forced to commit to buying $500 billion worth of American goods, that Indian industry has been ‘exposed’ to risks, and that the government secretly bartered away leverage under duress.

Even in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi and other opposition parties cried about how India’s interests have been ‘sold out’. In the midst of political fury and prime-time drama, the framework has been reduced to slogans rather than figures. However, when the rhetoric is removed and the facts are analysed, these statements disintegrate rapidly.

A detailed assessment by SBI Research, grounded in tariffs, trade flows, sectoral impacts and macroeconomic consequences, paints a considerably more realistic picture of what India gained, what it gave up, and why the balance is decisively in India’s favour. The SBI research report tells a different story from the one being shouted by television or social media platforms.

What was actually agreed upon in the joint statement

Despite the claims, there is no full-fledged India-US trade agreement in place as of yet. What exists instead is an interim trade framework outlined in a joint statement, a limited understanding reached during ongoing trade talks, ahead of negotiations on a larger and more detailed bilateral trade agreement. Its scope is limited, specific, and clearly defined. At the centre of the interim trade framework is a reciprocal US tax of 18% on Indian goods, a significant reduction from the 50% tariff regime that had severely harmed export competitiveness. This reset places India among the lowest-tariffed Asian exporters to the United States, restoring parity with, and in some circumstances outperforming, regional counterparts.

The often-repeated assertion that India has committed to purchasing $500 billion worth of American goods is false. The joint statement contains the phrase “India intends to purchase” over a five-year period, which indicates business aspiration rather than a legally enforceable commitment. The interim framework contains no penalties, binding timelines, or procurement mandates.

Moreover, with a trade deal in place, bilateral trade is going to increase manyfold. The increase in purchases of US goods is going to be a natural outcome of increased bilateral trade, because exports are going to increase too.

Why the 18% tariff is a strategic win

The significance of the 18 per cent reciprocal tariff lies not in the number itself, but in where India stands in comparison to its competitors. Under the revised interim trade framework, India’s tariff rate is lower than or comparable to the major Asian exporters such as Vietnam (20%), Bangladesh (19%), and Indonesia (19%). In a market as price-sensitive as the United States, this tight band is important. Even a one or two percentage-point difference can determine sourcing contracts in textiles, electronics, footwear, and engineering goods. More notably, the revised tariff restores export competitiveness, which had been artificially depressed during the previous 50% system. Tariffs distorted relative prices, not inefficiency or cost overruns, causing Indian exporters to lose market share. The reset corrects the distortion and returns Indian goods to a level market footing.

Finally, the 18% conclusion indicates that India avoided being assigned to a punitive tariff category intended for politically or strategically marginal partners. Instead, it bargained its way into the mainstream trading bracket, maintaining bargaining power for future discussions while immediately enhancing export viability.

Export upside: Where India gains real money

If the debate is to move beyond rhetoric, it must move toward arithmetic. The real question is simple: where does the money flow?

Core export sectors

The tariff reset directly benefits sectors that already anchor India’s export basket to the United States. Electronics and electrical machinery account for nearly half of India’s exports in that category to the US. Pharmaceuticals, particularly generics, derive over a third of their global export revenue from the American market. Textiles and apparel, including both knitted and non-knitted segments, send roughly 30–45 per cent of their output to the US. Gems and jewellery, chemicals, engineering goods and seafood similarly maintain deep exposure to US demand. Under the earlier 50 per cent tariff regime, these sectors were operating under artificial price suppression. With tariffs reset to 18 per cent under the interim framework, they regain pricing competitiveness without requiring structural cost reductions. This is not about discovering new sectors; it is about unlocking suppressed capacity in sectors that already exist at scale.

The demand–supply gap

The larger opportunity is in size. The United States imports over $3 trillion worth of goods each year. India now supplies only about 3% of that market. The disparity between US demand and Indian supply in major areas is in the trillions. According to the SBI research report, Indian exports of the top 15 product categories alone could expand by nearly $97 billion annually under the revised tariff regime; including the broader export basket, the potential comfortably crosses $100 billion per year. Even partial realisation of this upside would significantly alter India’s external trade profile. This is not speculative optimism, but it is arithmetic based on existing demand patterns.

Trade surplus expansion

India’s trade surplus with the US stood at roughly $40.9 billion in FY25 and about $26 billion in FY26 (April–December). If the current interim trade framework progresses toward a broader bilateral agreement, it suggests that the surplus could exceed $90 billion annually if export expansion materialises alongside increased imports. In other words, even after accounting for higher imports from the US, the balance tilts decisively toward India. The surplus does not shrink, but it expands.

Farmers & Agri exports: The quiet winner

Trade arguments frequently assume that farmers will suffer collateral damage. The data suggests otherwise. India already has an agricultural trade surplus of almost $1.3 billion with the US. Under the revised tariff framework, over 75% of India’s agricultural exports to the US will be subject to zero reciprocal tariffs. Rice, in which India accounts for nearly a fifth of US imports, stands to benefit from improved pricing positioning. Tariff reductions support the export of spices, tea, and coffee by strengthening plantations. The fisheries sector, which had previously been under pressure from rising tariffs, has regained competitive access to a valuable market. Rather than undermining rural export chains, it boosts them by providing greater access to a premium consumption market. For agricultural exporters, scalability in the US market means bigger margins and greater resilience.

What India conceded and what it hasn’t

India agreed to reduce or eliminate tariffs on selected US industrial and agricultural products within the scope of interim trade framework. This includes categories such as energy imports, certain agricultural  commodities like almonds and soybean oil, and industrial goods, including aircraft and advanced machinery. Increased imports from the US, particularly in energy, aviation and technology, are expected over time.

These are calculated trade-offs designed to balance negotiations and secure tariff relief on the export side. There is no binding obligation to purchase $500 billion worth of American goods. The language reflects intent, not enforceable procurement mandates. There is no blanket acceptance of free cross-border data flows. 

Why the Bangladesh comparison is overhyped

The comparison with Bangladesh’s trade arrangement has generated more anxiety than evidence. India faces an 18 per cent tariff, while Bangladesh faces a 19 per cent tariff. The difference is marginal. Bangladesh does receive conditional zero-tariff access for certain textile categories, but this is tied to sourcing US cotton and man-made fibres inputs that are generally costlier than regional alternatives. Moreover, India’s textile exporters have secured zero-duty access to the European Union under a separate arrangement, opening a market far larger than the incremental US textile differential. The competitive equation remains broadly intact. Alarmism does not alter cost structures.

Macro impact: GDP, Forex, Credit Flow

At the macro level, the projections are measurable. SBI Research estimates that the net impact of export expansion under the interim trade framework could add roughly 1.1% to GDP. Reduced import duties on select US goods may yield approximately $3 billion in annual foreign-exchange savings. Export growth also has strong spillover effects. Historical correlation suggests that a 1% increase in exports leads to roughly a 1.28 per cent increase in export credit. As export volumes rise, credit flows to manufacturing sectors tend to strengthen, reinforcing job creation and industrial capacity. In this case, trade policy links directly to domestic credit expansion and production momentum.

Conclusion: From noise to numbers 

Without political gimmicks, the interim trade framework presents a simple equation: enhanced tariff parity, increased export potential, expanding trade surplus, and preserved regulatory autonomy. Crucially, this framework does not constitute a signed trade agreement. It reflects the current state of negotiations as articulated in a joint statement, with several elements still subject to further discussion, clarification, and formalisation.

It does not indicate ideological affiliation with Washington. It symbolises the transactional advantage gained through negotiation. The outcome increases surplus, protects sovereignty, and broadens strategic alternatives in a changing global trade scenario. The real test now lies ahead. Much will depend on how negotiations evolve, what additional details emerge, and whether exporters, manufacturers, and policymakers are able to translate provisional tariff relief into a durable market share. In trade, as in economics, outcomes are ultimately measured in numbers, not narratives.

What does BNP’s Tarique Rahman becoming Bangladeshi PM mean for India? Read how ‘lesser evil’ phenomenon may mean improved relations and a more ‘workable’ neighbour

Raju Das
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What does BNP’s Tarique Rahman becoming Bangladeshi PM mean for India? Read how ‘lesser evil’ phenomenon may mean improved relations and a more ‘workable’ neighbour

After one and a half years of the interim government led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh will finally have a democratically elected government. Bangladesh Nationalist Party is set to form the government after a decisive win at the national elections held on 12 February 2026. Former PM Khaled Zia’s son, Tarique Rahma,n will become the prime minister, who returned to Bangladesh just weeks before the election after a long exile in the UK.

With results for 297 out of 299 seats declared, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has secured a sweeping landslide, clinching a two-thirds majority in the 300-seat Jatiya Sangsad. As per the latest numbers, BNP and its allies are winning over 210 seats, while the main opposition, the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance, is set to manage around 70 seats.

BNP chairman Tarique Rahman, who returned from 17 years in UK exile in December 2025, won both seats he contested (Dhaka-17 and Bogura-6) and is now set to be sworn in as the next Prime Minister, likely as early as this weekend. The BNP has already called for nationwide prayers of gratitude instead of victory celebrations, signalling a return to power after two decades in the opposition.

The election results are important for neighbouring India, as it is closely tied to India’s security. A chorus of scepticism is already rising in India over the results. People are cautioning that India has reasons to worry with BNP in power, given the party’s anti-India history. When Khaleda Zia was the prime minister of Bangladesh, the country had become a safe haven for separatist forces in North-Eastern India, most notably the ULFA. It is alleged that during BNP’s 2001-2006 stint in power, the party turned a blind eye to massive arms hauls destined for India. The party also presided over a coalition that tolerated anti-India rhetoric and violence against minorities.

BNP ruling Bangladesh was a low point in bilateral ties with India, marked by border skirmishes, smuggling, and a tilt toward Pakistan. The ties improved significantly after the Awami League won the elections and Sheikh Hasina became the prime minister. Indian separatist groups were evicted, forcing them to move to Myanmar and other places in the region. Bilateral trade also thrived under the Hasina government.

Therefore, it is correct that BNP forming the Bangladesh government is not very good news for India; however, it is the best outcome of the results from India’s perspective. There were only two possible outcomes of these elections, and the actual outcome is definitely much better.

The Awami League, India’s most reliable partner for over a decade, was banned from the polls. The contest was between just two fronts: the BNP and a Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance. The latter is a coalition heavy on Islamists, Jamaat itself, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan, Nizam-e-Islam Party, and student radicals rebranded as the National Citizen Party, among others. Many of the parties in the alliance have Islamic ideologies with goals of establishing an Islamic state run according to Sharia.

Jamaat opposed Bangladesh’s very creation in 1971, aligning with Pakistan’s genocidal campaign. It has long been an advocate of radical ideology, with roots in the vision of Sharia supremacy and a soft spot for Islamabad. The organisation was banned and was not allowed to contest elections, which were revoked after the fall of the Hasina govt.

A Jamaat-led government would have been a strategic nightmare for India. It would have meant a Dhaka tilting hard toward Pakistan and China, spreading terror networks to India through the porous border, escalating attacks on Hindus and other minorities, disputes over water-sharing and other issues, and a general “India Out” hysteria. Under Jamaat, the Bay of Bengal would tilt further into Beijing’s grasp, with Pakistan gaining a proxy entry to the region.

Radical Islam on India’s eastern front, fuelled by the same forces that run Pakistan and destabilised Afghanistan and Myanmar, would export instability straight into West Bengal, Assam, and the entire country.

The BNP, for all its flaws, is different. It is a nationalist party, not theocratic. The party, with its experience in governance, is expected to be pragmatic enough to recognise that Bangladesh’s economy cannot thrive in isolation from India.

In short, BNP’s win may not be positive for India, but Jamaat’s loss is a big positive from the Indian point of view.

Moreover, Tarique Rahman has given some encouraging signals. His “Bangladesh First” policy emphasises equidistance from big powers, but not direct hostility. In recent weeks, he has spoken of “mutual respect” and economic partnerships, a far cry from openly anti-India campaigns during the Yunus-led interim government.

Another important fact is New Delhi’s diplomacy and proactive action, as the government didn’t sit idle during the turmoil in Bangladesh. After Tarique returned from 17 years in UK exile in December 2025, India quickly moved ahead to connect with him. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited Dhaka to offer condolences on Khaleda Zia’s death. The minister met Tarirque during the visit and delivered a personal letter from Prime Minister Modi.

India gave a clear signal, while we have sheltered Sheikh Hasina, we are ready to work with the new govt in Bangladesh. And after it became clear that BNP would win the elections, PM Narendra Modi didn’t delay in congratulating Tarique Rahman and BNP, he didn’t wait for the official results to be out.

Therefore, while BNP’s past makes it an unreliable partner for India, it is the new reality, and the much better outcome, as the alternative was an Islamist bloc that could have dragged Bangladesh into the Pakistan-China axis, escalating anti-India hostilities. Moreover, the National Citizen Party formed by students who threw out the Hasina government didn’t perform well in the elections. It was part of the coalition led the Jamaat, and contested in 30 seats, but won only 6. As NCP is openly anti-India, its dismal performance is positive for India.

Another important point is that Bangladeshi voters have given a clear mandate to the BNP with a massive majority, and the party is not dependent on any coalition partner. A stable BNP govt potentially means better border security with better coordination against smuggling and infiltration.

India-Bangladesh ties can now move ahead, with the resumption of talks on various issues, including Teesta waters, connectivity via the India-Bangladesh-Myanmar-Thailand highway, and bilateral trade. It can also be expected that Dhaka won’t become a full-fledged “string of pearls” outpost of China under the BNP.

However, the relations will still be linked to Sheikh Hasina’s shelter in India. If BNP presses on for her return, she has been sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh for ‘crimes against humanity’, the relationship will be complicated, and the ball will be in the Indian court. Before the elections, BNP, along with other parties, had urged India to hand her over to Bangladesh.

The new govt will have its plate full after taking the oath, and Sheikh Hasina will not be at the top of the priority list. As the Bangladeshi voters have accepted the referendum for the July Charter, the new government and the parliament will have to implement the charter in first 150 days. This includes the establishment of a new upper house and several other institutional changes that will require substantial changes to the constitution.

‘Caste by birth remains the same even if one changes religion’: How Allahabad HC’s verdict on a case under SC-ST Act can lead to misinterpretations and misuse

Rukma Rathore
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‘Caste by birth remains the same even if one changes religion’: How Allahabad HC’s verdict on a case under SC-ST Act can lead to misinterpretations and misuse

On 10th February (Tuesday), the Allahabad High Court declared that caste, which is conferred by birth, does not change in spite of intercaste marriage or religious conversion. Justice Anil Kumar was hearing a criminal case concerning atrocities under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. It concerned a SC woman who married a man outside the community.

Dinesh and eight other individuals had moved a criminal appeal against the order of the Special Judge under the SC/ST Act who had ordered them to stand trial for violations under Sections 323, 506, 452 and 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 3(1)(R) of the SC/ST Act but the plea has been denied.

The woman accused these persons of attacking, abusing and hurling casteist slurs at her during a confrontation. She registered a criminal complaint against them and expressed that three persons including herself were wounded in the instance. The occurrence transpired in the Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh.

The court noted that both the events detailed in the First Information Report (FIR) and specified in the complaint happened simultaneously on the same day. It emphasised, “The allegation in the complaint is that the informant was assaulted and abused by the appellants. The complainant has also stated that the appellants used casteist slurs during the altercation. Three persons, including the informant, were injured in the incident. Hence, the claim of the appellants that the present complaint was lodged as a counterblast is untenable. Therefore, this criminal appeal lacks merit and is liable to be dismissed.”

The court listens to arguments and pronounces its verdict

The plaintiffs contended that they had been wrongfully implicated and an FIR had been launched against the woman before the current complaint. They maintained that the injury reports are on file confirming that other members of their family had also been hurt.

They further argued that she is “a resident of West Bengal, where she belongs to the SC/ST community. She has now married a person belonging to the Jat community. However, she has concealed this fact and has claimed herself to be a woman belonging to the SC/ST community. Once she married a person belonging to the Jat community, she cannot claim herself to be a woman belonging to the SC/ST community.”

They then highlighted that a woman who marries someone from a different caste loses her original caste. She transforms into a member of her spouse’s caste. Therefore, it is unsustainable and subject to revocation to call them for the purported infractions as well as under the SC/ST Act.

“The existence of a cross-case does not constitute a ground to discard a complaint filed by the opposite party on a rival version. Hence, it cannot be said that the learned trial court has committed any illegality in summoning the appellants for the alleged offences,” the court observed.

Afterwards, it concluded, “So far as the contention that the informant has lost her caste after marrying a person belonging to the Jat community is concerned, the said contention has no force. Though a person may change religion, his or her caste remains the same despite conversion to another religion. Hence, marriage does not change a person’s caste. Therefore, the said contention is unsustainable. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed.”

The order of special judge, SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act

On 27th July 2022, Special Judge Sanjeev Kumar Singh, presiding over the court of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act pronounced the verdict following a complaint lodged by Jyotirai Devi. She prayed that defendants, Dinesh, Mahendra, Satish, Lotan, Bharat Bhushan, Tikesh, Ajit, Subhash, Rinku, Rajesh Devi and Manju Devi should be summoned for trial and face punishment.

Jyotirai Devi claimed to be a SC and asserted that they are influential members of the Jat community. The court order read that she had contested the village chief’s election the previous year which led to animosity from the accused. It further reported that she was preparing food in her courtyard when some bricks fell into her space on 6th September 2021.

She objected but Dinesh and Mahendra entered the house brandishing sticks. Bharat Bhushan had a country-made pistol, Tikesh was equipped with an iron pipe, Ajit had a sickle and Subham as well as Rinku were holding bricks and sticks. Rajesh Devi had a brick in his hand and Manju Devi was also armed with a stick.

The complainant and her family members were assaulted and abused by them. The accused wanted to teach her a lesson because she had been quite vocal in the community and was attempting to establish herself as a leader. These individuals pushed her down while making these remarks and Dinesh grabbed her private parts.

Meanwhile, Mahendra, Satish, Rajesh Devi and Manju Devi battered Jyotirai Devi with sticks and bricks. Bharat Bhushan discharged a firearm at her family members with the intent to kill, resulting in them narrowly escaping harm but she endured injuries. On the other hand, Dharamveer and Sitaram from the neighbourhood heard the chaos and landed at the scene to try to help her. However, the accused issued threats to kill her as the two departed.

No action on the police complaint and the court’s decision

Jyotirai Devi attempted to file a report at the police station but it was not accepted. She subsequently submitted an application to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Aligarh on 21st September 2021. Nevertheless. no action was taken.

The complainant had been examined in oral evidence in accordance with sections 200 and 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Photocopies of medical examination reports pertaining to her, Vishnu Kumar and Ramesh had been given to the SSP.

An application was previously put forward by the complainant under section 156 (3) CrPC in respect of which a report was summoned from the police station. It highlighted that Dinesh had registered an FIR under sections 147, 323, 308, 504 and 506 of the IPC against her husband Vishnu Kumar and 8 others in the Khair police station of the Aligarh district.

Jyotirai Devi’s statement outlined that the aforementioned medical analysis had also been provided. She stressed that all the opposing parties were responsible for the incident but the witness called by her, Vishnu Kumar who is her husband, did not state that Rajesh Devi Manju Devi were implicated in the crime. Hence, summoning the duo for trial was unwarranted.

However, the order added that a prima facie case had been lodged under sections 323, 506, 452 and 354 of the IPC and Section 3(1)(R) of the SC/ST Act which justified their presence for trial based on the examination of the proof associated with the complaint.

The court instructed Dinesh, Mahendra, Satish, Lotan, Bharat Bhushan, Tikesh, Ajit, Subhash and Rinku to stand trial under sections 323, 506, 452 and 354 of the Indian Penal Code along with section 3(1)(r) of the SC/ST Act and urged the complainant to submit the necessary defence within a week. It added that the accused must attend the hearing scheduled for 18th September 2022.

Lotan Singh’s FIR accuses Vishnu and his companions

On 7th September 2021, an FIR was initiated by Lotan Singh son of Bhagwan Sahay of Mathna hamlet with the officer-in-charge of the Khair Police Station. He conveyed that Vishnu and others had an issue with him because he did not support them through his vote during the election of village head (pradhan). OpIndia has a copy of the official complaint.

He stated, “Shyam Singh son of a moneylender Ramesh, Jugendra Singh son of Ramlal Vishnu and Sitaram, Mahendra Singh, Lal Singh alias Lalu who are sons of Yashveer along with Harikishan (Kalu) and Shyam Singh (Shyam) forcibly entered my residence armed with sticks and bricks and commenced to assault me at around 6:30 pm on 6th September.”

He mentioned that Dinesh son of Girraj and Satish son of Devdutt, rushed to intervene owing to the commotion, however, they were also thrashed by the attackers. “My sons, Bharat and Dinesh, endured a severe beating. They have sustained serious head injuries and I have also suffered wounds,” the complainant charged.

“The level of brutality has exceeded all bounds. I arrived at the police station in a critical state and since I was unable to file a report yesterday, I have come today,” he added, demanding strict action in the matter. The authorities invoked sections 147, 323, 308 and 452 of the IPC.

Judgement could open the door to the Dalit Christian reservation

The decision, although made to address a conflict between two sides, might lead to significant implications for the broader society. Its reference to the maintenance of SC/ST caste status for women even when they marry outside their community and the assertion that religion does not influence caste has the potential to open a Pandora’s box.

This could cause numerous people who have converted to Christianity and even other faiths to seek a stake in the reservations that are intended solely for SC/ST individuals affiliated with Indic religions like Hinduism and others.

Notably, the Supreme Court earlier clarified that an individual loses their caste immediately upon embracing Christianity and expressed, “In any case, upon conversion to Christianity, one loses her caste and cannot be identified by it.” The court further underscored the sensitivities linked to the reservation and the fundamental motive behind the action, pointing out that even entering the fold of Hinduism to gain caste benefits is a deception against the Constitution. It added that reservations are meant to rectify historical injustice and advance social justice.

Additionally, Indian courts have consistently maintained that the reservation is not for those who have left Hinduism and become Christians. Interestingly, the Allahabad High Court last year directed the district magistrates of the state to identify those who have converted yet continue to reap the benefits of SC status, deeming it a “fraud on the Constitution.”

On the other hand, the concept of caste does not exist in Christianity or any other religion. Nonetheless, there is a caste system within the Indian Christian community. Many Christians follow the same even though the Vatican and other religious organisations do not support it. These people adhere to the caste that they or their ancestors were a part of prior to their conversion. This is utilised as a foundation to often demand reservations for them.

However, it seems very outlandish to renounce the Hindu religion while retaining its fundamental aspects when embarking on a new spiritual journey. Furthermore, Christian missionaries have been known to target Hindus from lower castes in an effort to convert them by ensuring that there is “no place for discrimination” in their religion. Nonetheless, if the promise is revealed to be untrue, then they can easily do “ghar wapsi” and become a Hindu.

More importantly, considering them for reservation represents a grave injustice inflicted upon SC/ST Hindus who have not been swayed to abandon their faith in the name of bogus promises and hold a valid right to the reservations.

If the category is expanded to include Christians, it will result in fewer seats in jobs and educational institutions for bona fide members of the SC/ST community, as thousands of new candidates are going to compete for the opportunities reserved for the latter, making it more difficult for the already marginalised sections of the demographic to ascend the economic ladder.

Moreover, the government exclusively seizes donations from Hindu temples and sacred sites under the pretext of taxes. Therefore, reservations serve as a means to elevate the marginalised members of the Hindu community. Universalising reservations will also result in a loss of their real character and the purpose for which they were originally introduced. This situation will also be exploited by the vested interests groups and several will jump ship to switch religious allegiances as per convenience, thus defeating the whole purpose of the laws.

Hence, the remarks in the recent judgment of the Allahabad High Court could introduce several new challenges for a developing India and carry extensive outcomes, particularly in relation to the Hindu SC/ST community.

Health Insurance plans for family explained through recent reforms

OpIndia Staff
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Health Insurance plans for family explained through recent reforms

With healthcare costs skyrocketing each year, an unexpected medical emergency can quickly deplete your finances. Health insurance plans for families can effectively protect multiple individuals without the need for separate policies for each family member.

With recent reforms in the insurance sector, many family health insurance plans have become more affordable, transparent, and consumer-friendly, with greater flexibility in several cases. Read on to learn everything about the best health insurance plans, how they have been affected by recent reforms, and the factors to consider when choosing a health insurance plan.

What is a Family Health Insurance Plan?

Family health policy plans are commonly known as family floater plans. They cover multiple family members with a single sum insured. The number of family members who can be insured under a family health plan includes:

  • Self
  • Spouse
  • Dependent Children
  • Parents

This shared family health cover helps families get broader protection at a lower cost than buying separate policies.

What are the recent reforms introduced in Family Health Insurance?

Family health insurance has undergone several policy-level reforms. These reforms are aimed at protecting consumers. Let’s learn how health insurance plans for family are affected by recent reforms:

1. 0% GST on Health Insurance

With the recent GST update, the GST on health insurance policies has been reduced to 0%. Hence, health insurance premiums are much cheaper than before.

2. Standardisation of policy wordings

Insurance companies are now using standardised policy wordings for terms such as waiting periods, exclusions, and room rents. This has made it easier for individuals to compare health insurance plans for their families.

3. Reduced claim rejections for minor errors

Recent guidelines encourage insurance companies to take a more practical approach while assessing claims. Insurers are advised not to reject claims for minor or non-material errors, especially when such errors do not affect the validity of the policy or the claim itself. 

4. Coverage for modern treatments

Many policies now cover advanced treatments, daycare treatments, and digital consultations, which is a big plus point for families with different age groups in the household.

5. Faster claim settlements

Regulatory guidelines have introduced clearer timelines for the processing and settlement of health insurance claims once all required documents are submitted. These timelines are intended to improve efficiency and reduce delays. 

Why family plans make financial sense

In addition to saving time and effort, opting for a single-family plan can help families save money. One premium payment, one renewal date, and one policy are definitely easier to manage and track. Some family health insurance policies also offer cumulative bonuses, in which the sum assured increases each year without a claim. This is definitely a welcome feature since healthcare costs are known to increase over time, especially in older age groups.

Covering parents under a family plan

Many insurance buyers in India look for mediclaim for a family with parents, since caring for elderly parents can make you incur higher healthcare expenses later. Some family floater health insurance policies allow parents to be covered under the same policy. While others recommend that parents be covered separately due to health risks.

The sections regarding senior citizen coverage, pre-existing disease waiting periods, and co-payment clauses are now more transparent. When selecting a family health insurance policy for parents, it’s essential to carefully review these sections before deciding to include them.

How to choose the right Family Health Insurance Plan?

Instead of trying to find “cheap” health insurance policies, families must always aim to get the most value for money. Here are some of the key points to consider while choosing the right health insurance mediclaim policy for the family:

  • Adequate Sum Insured: The sum assured must be adequate to cover the hospital bills of all family members in one year.
  • Reasonable Waiting Periods: The waiting periods for pre-existing conditions must be minimal to ensure future security.
  • Wide Hospital Network: The cashless network of hospitals must be extensive to prevent out-of-pocket expenses.
  • Premium Flexibility: A health insurance plan’s premium calculator helps estimate costs based on age and coverage.

By following the above steps, you can easily narrow down the best health insurance plans for families.

Are there affordable Family Medical Insurance Plans?

Due to increased competition and regulatory reforms, insurance companies are providing affordable health insurance plans for families. Voluntary deductibles, no-claim bonuses, and wellness programs help reduce premium costs over time.

Another important factor is that buying insurance plans for families at the right time is crucial. Young families can enjoy lower premium costs and less restrictive policies. However, affordability should be weighed against coverage adequacy, not just the lowest premium.

Conclusion

Regulatory reforms have made health insurance plans for families more affordable and transparent. Families can enjoy better control over their healthcare needs. However, before you buy a policy, read all insurance-related documents carefully and choose the plan that offers the best value for money. Choosing the best health insurance plan for your family can protect both your health and your long-term finances.

No, Kamruddin, who has been arrested by Delhi Police in a triple-murder case, is not a ‘Tantrik’: Here’s how the media gives a Hindu spin to Muslim-perpetrated crimes

Shraddha Pandey
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No, Kamruddin, who has been arrested by Delhi Police in a triple-murder case, is not a ‘Tantrik’: Here’s how the media gives a Hindu spin to Muslim-perpetrated crimes

The Delhi Police arrested a Muslim occultist named Kamruddin on 11th February for killing two men and a woman by giving them poisoned laddus as part of a ceremony that promised them a windfall called “Dhanvarsha.” The arrest of Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad resident came days after three dead bodies were found in a car on the Peeragarhi flyover of Outer Delhi.  The mainstream media outlets widely covered the news; however, they described Kamruddin as a ‘Tantrik’, giving the impression that the perpetrator is a Hindu.

Kamruddin promised ‘Dhanvarsha’, delivered death: Media headlines turned a murderer, Muslim occultist, into a ‘Tantrik’

The action against Kamruddin was taken by the Delhi Police after three people, identified as Laxmi, Randhir (76), (40) and Shiv Naresh (42), were found unconscious inside a white automobile in Peeragarhi, after which cops rushed to the scene and found out that they were dead.

During the investigation, it turned out that one of the victims, Laxmi, was in touch with an occultist. The probe revealed that Kamruddin had communicated with the deceased and had promised them cash benefits through certain ‘rituals’. Kamruddin had an accomplice named Salim, who introduced Laxmi, Randhir and Shiv Naresh to him. The Muslim occultist, or Aleem and his three victims recently met in Ghaziabad’s Loni.

The police said that Kamruddin persuaded the victims to perform a rite for “Dhanvarsha” and directed them to set aside 2 lakhs in cash for the ceremony, along with cold beverages and alcohol. Kamruddin then gave them poisoned sweets and took their cash.

While the criminal and his accomplice are both Muslims, a significant section of the mainstream media used the Hindu identifiers ‘Tantrik’ or ‘self-styled Tantrik’ for Kamruddin. Although the body of these news reports mentions the name of the arrested perpetrator, the headline and main content primarily use the Hindu identifiers, leaving their readers with the impression that the arrested occultist is Hindu.

In this vein, Hindustan Times published a report with the headline: “Tantrik held in Delhi triple murder was linked to similar crimes in UP, Rajasthan.”

An India Today report’s headline reads: “Tantrik arrested in Delhi car deaths linked to 5 more murders in UP, Rajasthan.”

Another leading newspaper, Indian Express, wrote the headline: “A tantrik who promised to double money — and served ‘poisoned laddoos’: Cracking the Delhi flyover triple murder.”

DNA India published a profile of Kamruddin, mentioning his name in the headline; however, it chose not to use the appropriate term and used the term ‘Tantrik’. “Who is Baba Kamruddin, Tantrik held in Delhi triple murder? How did he lure victims with poison ‘laddu’?” the headline reads.

Meanwhile, The Print also used the term ‘Tantrik’ and did not mention Kamruddin’s name in their report’s headline or excerpt. “Delhi cops crack triple murder. ‘Tantrik’ out on bail fed trio poisoned laddoos in name of prasad,” The Print report’s headline reads.

The Hindi media was no different, as they also followed the pattern of using misleading identifiers for the Muslim occultist.

In this vein, Aaj Tak headlined its report as: “पिछले साल डबल मर्डर, इस साल ट्रिपल…, दिल्ली के इस ‘तांत्रिक’ ने पहले भी लोगों को खिलाए हैं जहरीले लड्डू.”

Similarly, Dainik Jagran wrote, “ट्रिपल मर्डर का आरोपी तांत्रिक कौन? बचने के लिए लगाया था शातिर दिमाग; अब पुलिस की जांच में खुली क्राइम कुंडली.”

Muslim faith healers and occultists become ‘Tantriks’ in media headlines: Mainstream media conditioning people into associating occult-related crimes with Hinduism

This is not the first time that mainstream media has used misleading Hindu identifiers for Muslim occultists involved in criminal activities, including financial fraud, rape, and murder.  There have been concerted attempts by many media outlets to not only conceal the names of Muslim perpetrators but also give them a Hindu spin to depict that the crime was committed by Hindus.

Over the years, OpIndia has on many occasions called media outlets for using Hindu identifiers for Muslim Pir or Aamils defrauding people in the name of Sihr (an Islamic term for Black Magic).

Back in 2020, a Moulvi named Aslam Faizi was arrested for raping a woman who was facing family issues, on the pretext of reconciling the woman with her estranged husband. After an FIR was filed in this case, several media outfits like ‘Nayi Dunia’, gave the entire incident a Hindu spin by describing the alleged rapist as “Tantrik”– a practitioner of the “tantra vidya“, who is mainly associated with Hinduism.

In 2019, NDTV attributed the death of a 10-year-old boy because of the rituals performed by a Muslim healer to a “Tantrik”, giving a Hindu slant to the headline.

There have been several times in the past when the media has resorted to such chicanery. As per a Hindu report, a woman had accused a “tantrik” of raping her in Ajmer, after taking her there on the “pretext of offering prayers at a Dargah“.

In one case, The Times of India had carried an article titled, “Tantrik gets 10 years in jail for rape and extortion”. Like the reports mentioned above, the name of the accused was “Warsi”.

Sometimes, the mainstream media also attempts creativity even in describing crime-accused Muslim occultists. In one such case, Dainik Jagran once called a Muslim accused named Aftab, in a harassment case, “Tantrik Sufi Baba” in the headline.

In one case, Hindi News18 in its article carried the headline, “Tantrik arrested for committing misdemeanour with a minor, under the pretext of chasing away ghosts”. In this case, the perpetrator was a Muslim man named Hafiz Sajid.

In May 2025, Dainik Bhaskar calleda Muslim faith healer named Mubarik Mansuri, who trapped and raped 40-50 women under the pretence of exorcisms and ritual healing, a ‘Tantrik’ in its report.

There has been an ongoing attempt to condition people into associating heinous crimes like sexual exploitation and black magic not with the actual perpetrators, but with the Hindu identity that the media implants in their minds. The deliberate habit of concealing or downplaying the Muslim identity of the crime-accused occultists or exorcists is also found in the case of Christian priests, who are often called pūjāris, subtly transferring blame and stigma onto Hindu figures.

Criminal or not, a Muslim Pir/Aleem/occultist cannot be called a Tantrik: Why media’s ‘tantrik’ labelling of Muslim occultists is outrageously problematic

Irrespective of the fact that a self-styled Muslim faith healer, exorcist or occultist is involved in crimes like sexual exploitation or black magic, etc., or not, they cannot, in any context, be described as ‘Tantriks’. The term ‘Tantrik’ cannot be turned into a religion-neutral identifier of occultists across all religions.

A Tantrik is someone who follows the teachings and practices outlined in the Tantras, which are a large body of Hindu scriptures. Some Tantriks belong to the Shaiv tradition, some to Shakt or the one where Goddess Shakti is the main deity, and other such Hindu traditions. While the mainstream media is reducing the term Tantrik to a religion-neutral synonym for criminal occultist, true Tantriks use Tantra Vidya for spiritual liberation through mantra, yantra, Kundalini, and other sacred practices. Contrary to the notion popularised by television dramas, movies, and media propaganda, is a sophisticated esoteric path rooted in Hindu scriptures, and not generic ‘magic’.

In fact, not all Hindu occultists are Tantriks, let alone Muslim occultists being Tantriks. Yet, the media houses indulge in sloppy, misleading and essentially anti-Hindu journalism. By using selective and misleading terminology, ‘Tantrik’ for Muslim or any other non-Hindu mystic, faith healer, occultist or exorcist, especially in crime-related reports, media outlets are deceiving readers by shaping perception.

Most of the time, people may not open and read the complete report. In fact, people usually form impressions from headlines and visuals. “Tantrik arrested for killing three people”, “Another Tantrik arrested for sexually exploiting women”,  and similar headlines, especially in cases where the perpetrator(s) do not belong to Hindu religion, reinforce the stereotype that superstition-driven crime is a ‘Hindu problem’ wherein, both perpetrators and victims are mostly Hindus even as the ‘Jadu-Tona’, ‘Vashikaran’, ‘Jinn-manipulation’, and other such superstition-related crimes happen with Muslims are other non-Hindu communities as well.

In occult-related crimes, where the perpetrator essentially exploits the vulnerabilities of the victims and offers fake religion-based solutions, mentioning the correct religious identity of the accused is even more important. Not everything needs to be ‘secularised’.

Besides ideological biases, the offensive usage of the term ‘Tantrik’ in cases of Muslim occultists like Kamruddin indulging in criminal activities also reflects colloquialism and laziness. This laziness and insensitivity towards Hindu sentiments are not confined to media headlines but are also often found in police FIRs.

Who is Dr Priyanka Tripathi: Meet the IIT Patna professor who misuses Hindu scriptures and uses Shakti to circulate her agenda via research papers

Rukma Rathore
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Who is Dr Priyanka Tripathi: Meet the IIT Patna professor who misuses Hindu scriptures and uses Shakti to circulate her agenda via research papers

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Patna has come under fire after it was found that its employee, Dr Priyanka Tripathi, distorted Hindu scriptures to advance her appalling agenda. “Since ages, Prakriti has been believed in Hindu mythology to be closely associated with femininity in India, and the present article will elaborate on how it energises lesbian experiences as an alternative source of Shakti (i.e., power) beyond the heteronormative Prakriti and Purusha (literal meaning man) dualism,” the research paper alleged.

The obnoxious statement was written by her and Chhandita Das in the “(En)Queering Prakriti: Decolonial Ecofeminism and Lesbian Subjectivity in Out! Stories from the New Queer India,” and published by the international journal “Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics.” The authors also claimed, “Shakti in the decolonial context of queer eco-feminism can not only offer resistance to fixed heterosexual categories, but also can shape potential pathways of queer subjectivity and sustainability.”

“It is primarily the shared emphasis on fluidity and interconnectivity among species beyond any binary mechanism, that the decolonial Indian concept Prakriti and queer ecofeminism are deeply related,” the paper added and then declared that “reconstructing lesbian ecofeminism through the decolonial lens of Prakriti and its associated spiritual belief of Shakti can be effective, as it offer possibilities that can eulogise the existence of every woman and her impending relationships on the earth beyond the traditional method of othering.”

It likewise read, “The provocation of these identifications of lesbians in or as Prakriti, in turn, empowers them with Shakti.” The paper was saturated with such flagrant attacks on the core values of Hinduism, a freedom that cannot be exercised with any other religion due to the “Sar Tan Se Juda” backlash.

Moreover, the writers did not miss the chance to assail Hindutva while mocking Hinduism and mentioned, “In such cases, it is often expected that the freedom of individual choice and pre-set social standards have to be forcefully reconciled. This will, in turn, ensure pseudo-familial respectability and the making of heterosexual Indianness under the rising codes of Hindutva (Bharucha, 1995; Juluri, 1999).”

“Their unification, though in death, in the lap of Prakriti, marks the heightened Shakti of lesbianism to reject every compulsory pressure to conform, so that even death is preferable to convention. This construction does draw upon the tragic motif of the doomed lesbian story seen so commonly in western literature of the mid-twentieth century, however, here we are also arguing that for these young women, death is liberation, not just annihilation. The reconfiguration of a queer Prakriti, particularly in the natural spaces in the selected stories, is done very purposely,” asserted Das and Tripathi in repeated violations of the fundamental principles of the Hindu faith.

Who is Priyanka Tripathi

Priyanka Tripathi, who did her PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) from IIT Kharagpur, is an associate professor of English at IIT Patna and earlier served as the head of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences there. She is also the Fellowship Coordinator for the Journal of International Women’s Studies produced by Bridgewater State University in the United States of America.

“Additionally, she holds the position of Associate Editor for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics (Taylor & Francis) and Global South Literary Studies (Taylor & Francis),” conveyed the official website.

It outlined that Tripathi has previously been awarded distinguished fellowships such as Charles Wallace India Trust Visiting Fellowship (2024-25) at the School of History, University of Leeds and IPD (Institute for Peace and Dialogue) Visiting Research Fellowship (2022-23) at Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH), University of Edinburgh.

The website highlighted, “Her monograph with Bloomsbury is titled The Gendered War: Evaluating Feminist Ethnographic Narratives of the 1971 War of Bangladesh (2022). Her forthcoming monograph with the National Book Trust of India is titled Mann Ki Baat & Bharatiya Art, Culture and Heritage. She works in the areas of Medical Humanities, Gender Studies, South Asian Fiction, and Graphic Novels.”

Ridiculing Hinduism under the guise of opposing patriarchy

Tripathi, with her insightful perspective, announced that Hindu men started to venerate the Shivling (the phallus) once they understood their involvement in nurturing life within the traditionally matriarchal Hindu society. Thereafter, she initiated a vitriolic discourse on the Hindu marriage system and the subjugation of women in her piece, “Women and Wounded Self: Exploring Indian Women’s Short Fiction in English.”

She expectedly invoked Hindu mythology and scriptures to prove her twisted narrative of considering women as inferior to men and relegating them to an inferior role of being dominated and subdued. These allegations which included references to feelings of anxiety with the birth of girls in the Vedic period and the treatment of the news as disastrous in the post-Vedic period, were made while engaging in a discussion about the vital subject of domestic violence.

Tripathi similarly appeared to harbour significant animosity towards the “patriarchal” Hindu society as well which she criticised while extolling the exploitative and anti-women kotha culture in “Exploring the Margins of Kotha Culture: Reconstructing a Courtesan’s Life in Neelum Saran Gour’s Requiem in Raga Janki,” which had been co-authored with Das.

The two charged, “Such othering of women is also an innate part of Hindu patriarchal societies which believe that women are unable to address their own issues of which Manusmriti, ancient text completely boasts off stating that a woman belongs to her father in childhood, to her husband in youth and in her old age she belongs to her son only (Ghosh, Manusmriti).”

The paper even declared, “Unlike Indian households where lessons of adjustment are tutored to girls, in kotha women are more familiar with taking their own decisions, reversing the constraints imposed on (Oldenburg 278),” in a startling glorification of the deeply troubled lives of the courtesans.

The IIT professor and her relationship with anti-India “Taylor & Francis”

The aforementioned is just the surface of the monstrous building that is Tripathi’s corrupt ideology and her body of work as she is clearly a habitual offender who revels in the scornful derision of Hinduism, its traditions and customs unafraid of any repercussions. She has profound ties with the United Kingdom’s Taylor & Francis, a company that has regularly disseminated anti-India and Hindu-bashing material which held “Hindu nationalist politics” also known as Hindutva accountable for supposed assaults on the Christian community.

The firm has even undermined Indian democracy as an “electoral autocracy” while admonishing the country regarding human rights asking “for adherence to, and provision of, constitutionally guaranteed rights to prevent the ongoing erosion of Indian democracy,” via another release.

It granted space to similar content which tried to interfere in the internal matters of the nation and demonised the Citizenship Amendment Act as discriminatory. Taylor & Francis’s publication did not approve of India’s sovereign approach to Ukraine and linked its strong connection with Russia to “domestic political theatre.”

Conclusion

The truth of Tripathi’s conduct has now been unveiled, however, the fact remains that she has been engaged in these antics for a long time. More importantly, the most worrying aspect is that prestigious institutions like IIT are populated with elements like her who seek to associate Hinduism with every evil in the world while simultaneously utilising it as a platform to advance their sinister agendas.

The same is apparent with the persons who have contributed to her research papers and work. Hence, this should raise concerns not only for the government but for the entire nation as its future is being shaped by individuals with such a problematic mindset.

SC reserves verdict on appeal against Karnataka HC decision of striking down Karnataka Hindu Endowments Act: Read how the law violated the Constitution

Aditi
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SC reserves verdict on appeal against Karnataka HC decision of striking down Karnataka Hindu Endowments Act: Read how the law violated the Constitution

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (11th February) reserved judgment in an appeal filed by the Karnataka government challenging a 2006 Karnataka High Court verdict which struck down the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997. A bench of Justice P B Narasimha and Alokh Aradhe was hearing the appeal, which was filed by the Congress-JDU coalition government in Karnataka seeking reversal of the High Court decision and upholding the Act.

The 1967 Act was struck down in its entirety by the Karnataka High Court in September 2006 on the ground that it violated Articles 14 and 26 of the Constitution. The High Court, however, held that its decision to strike down the Act would operate prospectively, and thus protect the actions taken under the Act.

The Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997, was enacted by the then Congress government in Karnataka with the stated objective of fulfilling “a long-standing public demand to bring about a uniform law to provide for the regulation of all Charitable Endowments and Hindu Religious Institutions in the State.”

The Act replaced a bunch of earlier laws that regulated Hindu religious institutions and charitable endowments across the state. Before the Act was passed, several distinct statutes regulated the Hindu religious institutions and charitable endowments. Charitable Endowments and Hindu Religious Institutions, which were earlier governed by the Religious Endowments Act, 1863, the Charitable Endowments Act, 1890, and the Charitable and Religious Trusts Act, 1920, came to be governed by the 1967 Act.

It also repealed the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950, the Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1951, the Coorg Temple Funds Management Regulation, 1892, the Mysore (Karnataka) Religious and Charitable Institutions Act, 1927, and the Hyderabad Endowment Regulations, 1349F, the Renuka Yellamma Devasthana (Administration) Act, 1974, and the Coorg Temples Fund Management Act, 1956.

The 1967 Act applied to Hindu religious institutions and charitable endowments, but it expressly excluded maths or temples attached thereto and any Hindu religious institution or charitable endowment founded, organised, run or managed by a Hindu religious denomination. Besides, it excluded Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs from the definition of Hindus.

How the case came up before the Supreme Court

Several writ petitions were filed before the Karnataka High Court questioning the constitutional validity of the Act and the notifications issued under it. A Single Bench of the High Court upheld the Act in a judgment dated September 9, 2005. The decision of the Single Bench was challenged before a Division Bench of the High Court. The appellants argued that the exclusion of maths and denomination temples under the Act and the exclusion of Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs from the definition of Hindus under the Act amounted to discrimination under Article 14. They added that the earlier statutes applied to the maths and to institutions of Jains and Sikhs as well, and that the state failed to justify the exclusion under the 1997 Act.

The state government, on the other hand, argued that the 1997 Act was regulatory in nature and that it did not interfere with the observance of any customs, usage, ceremony and practice. It justified the exclusions under the 1997 Act as being based on a reasonable classification. The state government’s contentions were not accepted by the Division Bench of the High Court. In September 2006, the Division Bench held that the exclusion of maths and the denomination of temples lacked justification and defeated the stated objective of uniform legislation. The High Court struck down the entire legislation, and criticised the state government for attemtping to further divide the already fragmented Hindu religion.

Observations of the Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court examined two essential arguments put forward by the appellants with respect to the constitutional validity of the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act, 1997. The first argument was that the Act discriminated in the matter of applicability, by excluding maths and the Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs and thus violated Article 14 of the Constitution. The second argument was that the Act violated the religious rights guaranteed in terms of Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution. (118)

With respect to the first argument, the Court explained that Article 14 of the Constitution permitted reasonable classification by the state, provided it satisfied the two tests laid down by the Supreme Court. The two tests were: (i) that the classification must be founded on an intelligible differentia which distinguishes persons or things that are grouped together from others left out of the group, and (ii) that differentiae must have a rational relation to the object sought to be achieved by the statute in question. The court further explained that there must be a nexus between the basis of classification and the object of the Act under consideration.

Exclusion of Maths and religious denomination temples from the application of the 1997 Act

After analysing the Act in the light of Article 14, the High Court observed that even though the statement of objects and reasons of the Act states that it is “uniform law” to govern Hindu religious institutions and charitable endowments, the state has failed to justify the exclusion of maths and religious denomination temples from the purview of the Act. “That being the object, the State ought to have enacted a uniform law in terms of the statement of objects, but in the guise of uniform religion law to the State, the State has chosen to exclude a Math or temple attached thereto for the purpose of applicability of the Act,” the High Court stated.

“Though math may stand slightly different footing from that of a temple administration in terms of religious practice/rituals, etc., but still the basic objective of religion and religious activities is being carried on in Hindu maths also. Temples are controlled, governed and managed by the maths in some cases,” the Court noted, adding that “reasonable classification is permissible, but the State has to satisfy that the classification being reasonable in the case at hand. At the cost of repetition, we would say that a state of religious institutions which were otherwise governed by the earlier local acts now stands totally excluded, and no law governs these maths.”

The High Court said that the 1997 Act failed to fulfil the objective of better management and administration of Hindu religious institutions by excluding the maths and thus violated Article 14 of the Constitution. Furthermore, the Court held that the inapplicability of the Act to a Hindu Religious institution or a charitable Endowment founded, organised, run or managed by a Hindu religious denomination is also hit by Article 14. Citing several precedents, the High Court said that religious denomination temples do not in any way stand on a different footing than the other Hindu temples.

Exclusion of Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs from the definition of ‘Hindus’ under the 1997 Act

The Division Bench of Justices R Gururajan and CR Kumaraswamy criticised the exclusion of Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs from the definition of Hindus under the Act. The court said that such an exclusion directly went against the Constitution, which recognised the Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs as part of the Hindu fold. It pointed out that the personal laws governing Hindus also apply to the Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. Besides, the court highlighted that the Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs were being governed as Hindus by the earlier local acts replaced by the 1997 Act.

“The Constitution has recognised the Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, forming part of Hindus, and their institutions are also construed to be as Hindu religious institutions. Even the personal laws in terms of Hindu law of succession, Hindu succession Act, Hindu adoption and maintenance, etc., would not exclude Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists, and on the other hand, the Hindu personal laws are equally made applicable to Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists,” the Division Bench said.

“At this stage, we must again reiterate that Jains and Sikhs were also governed by the earlier local acts as Hindus, and now they have been totally excluded while framing a uniform law in terms of the impugned legislation. Learned Single Judge, in our view, has not properly appreciated the impact of Article 14 in the matter of exclusion of Sikhs, Jains, etc., for the purpose of Article 14 of the Constitution,” the Court added.

“In fact, at this stage, we must also notice that there is no request also from Jains, Sikhs, etc., to exclude them on the ground of differences, if at all, as sought to be argued before us. The state cannot justify this exclusion in this manner without any foundation whatsoever. We cannot help but observe that the Hindu religion is already divided by way of castes and subcastes. Now tha State also wants to divide Hindus by excluding Jaing, Sikhs in terms of a Statute,” the Court sternly remarked.

The 1997 Act violates Constitutional provisions

The appellants challenged the provisions relating to the appointment of archakas and servants (Sections 9-16) and the establishment of the Common Pool Fund (Sections 17-19) under the 1997 Act as being in contravention of Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution. The appellants argued that the 1997 Act puts some restrictions in terms of the service condition of the archakas and servants, thereby affecting their hereditary/religious rights. Regarding the establishment of the Common Pool Fund, the appellants argued that it would interfere with the administration of the temple. They further contended that the appointment of the Minister as Chairman of the Advisory Committee would result in the politicisation of temple affairs.

Under the 1997 Act, the Common Pool Fund was to be created out 5%-10% the gross annual income of the concerned temples and was to be used for Hindu religious activities and charitable purposes. The appellants argued that this would violate the right of Hindus to manage their own religious institutions and would impose an arbitrary financial burden on the temples.

Regarding the provisions related to the appointment of archakas and servants, the High Court held that they were not in violation of Article 25 of the Constitution. However, regarding the Common Pool Fund, the court remarked that a Hindu religious institution cannot be compelled to provide funds to poor institutions of other religions.

Additionally, the court said that taking the fixed amount of money out of the total income of a temple would make it difficult to manage temple expenses. “If 5% is taken from the gross annual turnover, it may be difficult to manage the temple and meet the expenses. Even the administration of the Cammon Fool Fund is in the hands of the Commissioner. Laudable objects are provided in the matter of the administration of gommen pool fund. But a careful reading of certain purposes would show that the said purpose seems to be arbitrary in character,” the High Court said.

“It cannot be forgotten that money is taken out of the Hindu temple. Money is poured by Hindus. It may be a laudable object to provide to a poor institution of other religions. But it cannot be only from the funds of the Hindu temple alone. The State has to provide such assistance as is necessary to such institutions, but there can be no compulsion only from the Hindu temple to provide assistance to such institutions,” the Court added.

“This Court is not for a moment suggesting that poor institutions of other religions are not to be helped, but who is to help is the question and how to help those institutions. After all, devotees of Hindu temples provide kanike or money to that Hindu temple for temple purposes, and it cannot be spent for other non-Hindu causes without any relevance to the Hindus,” the Court remarked.

After examining the impugned provisions of the 1997 Act, the High Court noted that it was not possible to separate the provisions held to be unconstitutional from the rest of the statute and therefore struck down the entire Act. The High Court called out the state government for trying to divide the Hindu religion in the guise of creating a “uniform law”.

“The State has to draw a balance in maintaining temple discipline/temple administration in terms of the Constitution of India. The State, unfortunately, in the case at hand, in the guise of having a uniform law, has chosen to divide the religion itself in terms of our earlier discussion. Since the very Act is held to be discriminatory in this application, it is not possible to sever other parts, and hence the entire Act has to be struck down as unconstitutional, and we do so in the case at hand. We also deem it proper to observe that the intention of the Legislature seems to be a uniform law for all Hindu religious institutions,” the court said, striking down the Act.

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