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Congress has been seeking foreign interference for years and all their attempts at firefighting are failing: Here is a timeline

Shraddha Pandey
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Congress has been seeking foreign interference for years and all their attempts at firefighting are failing: Here is a timeline

The Congress party is desperately seeking sympathy and support from all around the world after Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha. They are claiming that the Narendra Modi-led Central government is ‘persecuting’ the Congress scion. The controversial Congress leader Digvijay Singh’s most recent tweet, in which he expressed gratitude to the German foreign ministry for “taking note” of Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, has put the party in a difficult spot as it has already come under fire for its pleas seeking foreign intervention in India’s political matters.

On Thursday, March 30, Digvijay Singh thanked the German foreign ministry and Richard Walker, Chief International Editor of Deutsche Welle and wrote, “Thank you Germany Foreign Affairs Ministry and Richard Walker for taking note of how the Democracy is being compromised in India through the persecution of Rahul Gandhi.”

Singh wrote this quoting a tweet by Richard Walker in which the DW journalist had posted a video of a German foreign ministry spokesperson speaking on Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification.

Reacting to this tweet, senior Congress leader and a close aide of Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter on Friday to express his ‘thoughts’ on Singh’s tweet. Sibal’s tweet asserting that the Congress party does not need crutches or foreign endorsement to walk ahead seemed more like a damage control move than a mere expression of thoughts as the Bhartiya Janata Party has slammed Singh over the said tweet. 

“Digvijaya Singh: Thanked Berlin for “taking note of how democracy is being compromised in India.” My thought: We don’t need crutches to walk ahead. We don’t need endorsements from abroad. Our fight is our own and in that we are together,” Sibal tweeted.

While Sibal is claiming that his party does not need foreign endorsements, the actions of the Congress party suggest otherwise.

Congress flaunts foreign media coverage of Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification 

Recently, the Congress party was flaunting the foreign media coverage of Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his derogatory comments against the people with the ‘Modi’ surname and the automatic disqualification as a Member of Parliament that followed under section 8(3) of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951. 

On March 25, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate shared the coverage of Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification by the foreign media outlets Guardian Australia, Spanish Telemundo, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine, Saudi Arabia’s Ashraq News, France’s RFI, CNN Brasil and tried to insinuate that the Congress scion’s disqualification was somehow done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

“Truth has an odd quality. The more you suppress it, the even more powerfully it comes out. Well done Mr Modi,” Shrinate tweeted in Hindi.

On similar lines, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also claimed that ‘they’ tried to suppress a voice, but now every corner of the world hears the ‘voice of India’.

Rahul Gandhi sought foreign intervention to ‘restore’ democracy in India

Notably, Rahul Gandhi had invited severe backlash after he sought foreign intervention in India’s political matters during his controversial London visit earlier this month. Rahul Gandhi had urged the US and Europe to intervene to “restore” democracy in India. Rahul claimed that Europe and the US are not doing enough to restore democracy in India as they are getting trade and money from the country.

In a long speech made at Cambridge earlier this month, Rahul Gandhi resorted to blatant lies, misinformation and baseless claims to make a case for himself as the ‘ideal leader’ of India. Completely ignoring India’s electoral and democratic process, the Congress prince was seen desperately pleading with Western powers to intervene in India’s politics for a regime change operation against Modi. The speech is explained here.

However, during an interview with India Today, Indian Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda bluntly denied Gandhi sought western countries’ intervention in India’s matters. Pitroda said, “This is our challenge, and we will deal with it”, is what Gandhi had said. When Sardesai asked about his comment that countries like the US and the UK are not doing anything about the situation of democracy in India, Pitroda claimed that India’s democracy is not just a matter of India but of the whole world. “It is not about Hindustan but Manavta”, he added.

Although Congress leaders like Supriya Shrinate did try to defend the statements made by Rahul Gandhi over television debates and in her tweets, saying that Rahul Gandhi had called the Indian democracy a ‘global public good’. However, the insinuation that the Indian democracy is somehow on the verge of collapse merely because things are not going the Congress way is indefensible. 

While today, under the political pressure ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections the Congress party is defending-denying Rahul Gandhi’s desperate plea seeking foreign intervention, the party has a long history of seeking foreign intervention for its own gains. Here is a timeline of Congress’s moves seeking foreign help.

Congress opened its office in Turkey

India and Turkey’s relationships have over the years been strained owing to Turkey’s pro-Pakistan stand on Kashmir. Despite this, the Congress opened its overseas office in Turkey in 2019. This move by the Congress party aimed at as what its press release reportedly stated was “to polish bilateral relations between India and Turkey’. This came just days after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while at the United Nations General Assembly had mirrored Pakistan’s lines on the Kashmir issue.

Rahul Gandhi secretly met the Chinese Ambassador during the Doklam standoff

Rahul Gandhi and Luo Zhaohui, the Chinese ambassador to India, met on July 8th, 2017, but their conversation was private. The Congress party referred to several media reports of the meeting as fake news. Yet, the Chinese embassy afterwards posted a statement on its website confirming the meeting. Eventually, Rahul Gandhi came to his own rescue as he confirmed his meeting with the Chinese Ambassador.

It is pertinent to mention here that the meeting between Rahul Gandhi and the Chinese Ambassador transpired when both countries were engaged in the Doklam Standoff, which lasted till August 2017.

When Rahul Gandhi admitted that he had a secret meeting with Chinese ministers in 2018

In September 2018, the Gandhi scion visited Kailash Mansarovar and a year later admitted to having secretly met the Chinese ministers during his visit. The word secretly is used here as there were no media reports about his meeting with the Chinese. 

On a question regarding concerns of automation in job creation, Rahul Gandhi while speaking at a meeting in Odisha said that a couple of Chinese ministers told him during his Kailash visit that China is facing no problem in job creation due to automation. He said “how can China, in a world which is automated, is producing 50,000 new jobs in every 24 hours? Why? Why is it that automation is a problem in Europe, and automation is a problem in India, but automation does not seem to bother the Chinese? When I had gone to Kailash, I met a couple of their ministers, and they said no job creation is not a problem in China at all. We have plenty of jobs.”

‘Ladakh is to China what Ukraine is to Russia’: When Rahul Gandhi signaled his desire for foreign intervention 

In May 2022, Rahul Gandhi at a Congress Party event in the United Kingdom had signalled his desire for foreign intervention during his controversial address. 

Rahul Gandhi remarked that Ladakh is to China what Ukraine is to Russia in response to a question about India’s role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Congress leader argued that it was important to comprehend the “parallels” between the crisis in Ukraine and the current state of affairs in India. Rahul Gandhi called on the western nations to approach India’s internal affairs similarly to how they treat the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, while indirectly requesting that the US get involved in India’s political affairs.

In the same address, Gandhi also lamented over the fact that the Indian diplomats no longer adhere to the diktats of the west. “I was talking to some bureaucrats from Europe, and they said that the Indian Foreign Service has completely changed, they do not listen to anything. They are arrogant. Now they are telling us what orders they are getting, there is no conversation,” Rahul Gandhi said.

When Rahul Gandhi met Jeremy Corbyn, the British politician known for his anti-India, anti-semitic, terror-sympathizing and pro-Pakistan views

During his UK visit in May 2022, Rahul Gandhi met Jeremy Corbyn, the anti-India and pro-Pakistan leader, who formerly led the Labour Party in Britain. It is notable that Jeremy Corbyn has always backed Kashmiri separatists and echoed Pakistan’s stance on the issue. When he was the leader of the Labour Party, his party’s MPs repeatedly attempted to get involved in the Kashmir issue by reiterating Pakistan’s political rhetoric. During Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour Party even passed a motion calling for international involvement in Kashmir and an UN-led plebiscite.

When Rahul Gandhi sought US intervention in India’s internal matters

In April 2021, Rahul Gandhi during an online interaction with Ambassador Nicholas Burns of the Harvard Kennedy School asked for American interference in India. “I don’t hear anything from the US establishment about what is happening in India. If you are saying partnership in democracy is, I mean, what’s your view on what is happening here?” Rahul Gandhi said. He also asserted that America somehow needs to defend the ‘idea of freedom’.

Rajiv Gandhi Foundation received funds from China

In 2020, details about the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation’s (RGF) monetary operations emerged. Back then, OpIndia had extensively reported on how the Chinese government donated funds to RGF in 2006 and subsequent years. The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Congress party inked a contract in Beijing during UPA1 in 2008 for the exchange of high-level information and cooperation between them. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) also provided the two parties with the “opportunity to consult each other on important bilateral, regional and international developments”. It is worth noting that Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, and the trustees have been Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra since 2005. In October 2022, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of RGF was revoked by the Centre for alleged violation of the foreign funding law.

While these are contemporary examples, back in 2010 it was reported that Rahul Gandhi had told US ambassador Timothy Roemer that radicalized Hindu groups are a greater threat than the support of some Indian Muslims to Islamist terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba. According to the whistleblowing website Wikileaks, Rahul Gandhi informed the then US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer that “there was evidence of some support for Islamist terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba among certain elements in India’s indigenous Muslim community; the bigger threat may be the growth of radicalized Hindu groups, which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community.”

CM Bhagwant Mann’s US-based daughter Seerat gets threat, abusive calls from Khalistani elements, DCW ask the embassy in the US to ensure safety

OpIndia Staff
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CM Bhagwant Mann’s US-based daughter Seerat gets threat, abusive calls from Khalistani elements, DCW ask the embassy in the US to ensure safety

Seerat Kaur Mann, the daughter of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann who resides in the US, is said to have received calls from pro-Khalistan elements who verbally harassed her, according to a Patiala-based lawyer.

Seerat, her brother Dilshan, and their mother Inderpreet Kaur Grewal, who divorced Mann in 2015, reside in Seattle, Washington. Attorney Harmeet Brar, a Patiala-based lawyer revealed the information in a Facebook post and questioned the pro-Khalistani elements, “will threatening and abusing children get you Khalistan?”

The post claimed that pro-Khalistan organisations planned to gherao and harass the chief minister’s kids in the US and that Mann’s daughter had received harassing calls from these groups. “Are you going to get Khalistan this way by threatening and abusing children… Such people are a blot on Sikhism,” wrote Brar.

Screenshot of the Facebook post

Inderpreet Kaur Grewal further confirmed the incident by sharing the Facebook post and writing, “Thanks, I really appreciate.” Brar further was quoted by the Indian Express where he said, “Seerat received threat calls from pro-Khalistan elements. They abused her using extremely derogatory words. Some resolution has also been passed in a gurdwara in the US asking pro-Khalistan supporters to gherao both children over the situation in Punjab. Who has given such elements the right to harass Mann’s children? What do they have to do with what’s happening here?”

Commenting on the issue, Seerat Kaur Mann said that she was clueless why she and her brother were being targeted. “I’d like to reiterate that we are NOT at all involved with the decision- making of any politician in india, particularly the CM of punjab, so I really don’t understand why we are being targeted,” she said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal took cognizance of the incident and appealed to the Indian Embassy in the United Nations to ensure safety of Seerat.

“Read reports of Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s daughter receiving death threats in the USA. It is an act of extreme cowardice. I appeal to the Indian Embassy of US to ensure her safety,” Swati Maliwal said in a tweet.

The Indian embassy in San Francisco was recently attacked and vandalised by a gang of pro-Khalistan demonstrators. They dismantled the temporary security barriers put up by the local police and erected two “Khalistani flags” on the grounds of the embassy. These flags were promptly removed by two consular staff members.

Vedant Patel, the chief deputy spokesman for the US Department of State, stated on Thursday that the US has been “taking pretty seriously” the safety and security of the diplomatic missions functioning in the nation. According to Patel, the US and India are still in constant contact over a wide range of issues.

“We are in close touch with our Indian partners on a number of issues, but including on this we made sure to remain in close touch with them as well as the appropriate local entities, depending on where these various missions and consulates were located,” Patel was quoted.

The attacks on Ram Navami processions are because Lord Ram became the symbol of modern Hindu resistance, and why we must not cede any ground

Jinit Jain
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The attacks on Ram Navami processions are because Lord Ram became the symbol of modern Hindu resistance, and why we must not cede any ground

Violence swept different parts of the country on Thursday, March 30, on the occasion of Ram Navami, as Islamic supremacists provoked and attacked Lord Ram devotees in the Shobha Yatras, many of which were organised for the first time since COVID-19 restrictions came into force in 2020.

From Vadodara in Gujarat to Howrah in West Bengal, from Mumbai to Sambhaji Nagar, cities and towns across the length and breadth of the country were smouldering with the fire of religious zealotry as Islamists attacked Ram Navami processions while they were traversing through Muslim-majority regions or as the ‘liberals’ call them ‘Muslim areas’.

On Thursday, a Ram Navami procession near Panjrigar mohalla in the Vadodara district of Gujarat was attacked by Islamists who pelted stones at the procession. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, confirming the attack stated that the attack was massive but the idol of Lord Rama was saved.

According to the reports, around 200-500 Muslims arrived on the street during the procession and began pelting stones at the procession and the Hindu participants. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)’s local office bearer Vishnubhai Prajapati stated that some vehicles including big cars were also damaged.

Howrah, the twin city of Kolkata witnessed a similar spate of violent attacks on the occasion of Ram Navami as stones were pelted on the procession from the terraces of the buildings in the Shibpur neighbourhood. 

Vehicles and shops were also torched during the violence. Videos from the place show several vehicles on fire on the road, while many other vehicles were lying overturned. The damaged vehicles include a police vehicle. The neighbourhood where the violence was reported is dominated by Muslims.

Similar violence was reported from Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district on Ram Navami. Violent clashes broke between two groups at the Kiradpura area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, videos of which have emerged showing that the decorations outside Ram Mandir in the area were attacked by a violent mob on Wednesday night.

The mob attacked the outer side of the Ram Mandir and also vandalised several vehicles parked in the area including the police vehicles. As reported earlier, the mob executed the attack in presence of the police officers and also set police vans on fire.

Several injuries were reported after a Ram Navami procession in the Malvai region of Mumbai’s Malad suburb was attacked by an Islamist mob as it passed by a Masjid near gate no. 7 area. The Islamists attacked the procession by pelting stones and also forced the loudspeakers to be shut in the area.

Also in the Paldhi region in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra, a fight broke out between two groups when DJ music was played as a religious procession passed by a mosque in Paldhi. The police have made 45 arrests and registered two FIRs in the case.

The alarmingly routine attacks on Ram Navami are an attempt to assail the symbol of the modern Hindu renaissance, Lord Ram

Such attacks, especially when the procession passes through Muslim-majority regions, have become alarmingly common in the last few years, especially on the occasions of Hindu festivities, in particular, Ram Navami, the birth anniversary of Lord Rama. For Hindus, Ram Navami remains one of the foremost festivals and a preeminently auspicious occasion in the Hindu calendar year. On this day, Hindus seek blessings from Lord Rama, provide food to the needy, perform rituals, and take out processions among other things.

The attacks are not just on the religious beliefs of Hindus but also an attempt to extinguish their resistance. Lord Ram, one of the most popular Gods of Hindus, has emerged as the most potent symbol of the modern Hindu renaissance against western decadence and middle eastern orthodoxy. The attacks on Ram Navami processions aim to chip away at the symbolism personified by Lord Ram.

In response to Christian colonialism and centuries of tyranny under Islamic marauders, several Indian intellectuals and reformers in the 19th century endeavoured to revitalise and reform Hinduism, giving rise to the concept of the modern Hindu renaissance. Lord Ram thus became an important figure to mobilise an otherwise fragmentary Hindu society, riven by infighting and numerous cultural differences. He has been a source of inspiration for many Hindus and is revered for his virtues of righteousness, courage, and devotion to duty, and is seen as a personification of the ideal human being. In this sense, Lord Ram embodies an ideal that modern Hindus strive to emulate in their own lives.

In addition, the celebration of Ram Navami and the recitals of Ramayana paths keep alive the values and principles Lord Ram stood for and embodied, which is anathema to the supremacists wanting to homogenise the entire world and bring them under one religious fold. Lord Ram is a lodestar of moral guidance and has inspired a generation of Hindus to live a virtuous and ethical life. In this way, the celebration of his birth, Ram Navami, has naturally contributed to cementing and reinforcing a distinct Hindu identity that has survived despite centuries of Christian colonialism and Muslim conquests.

Furthermore, the figure of Lord Ram was also used by freedom fighters to galvanise the larger Hindu population against British colonial rule. Several leaders invoked Lord Ram to inspire and unite Hindus in their fight to overthrow the British regime. To this end, Lord Ram became a symbol of national pride and resistance and helped to mobilise the Indian people in their struggle for freedom.

Overall, Lord Ram’s widespread appeal, values and principles propagated, and his enduring significance in shaping Hindu resilience against foreign supremacism turned him into an emblem of the modern Hindu renaissance that stoutly opposed Christian missionaries, Islamic tyrants, and seminaries, which sought to alter and continue to do so the cultural and religious fabric of the country.

Therefore, the Islamist attacks on Ram Navami processions should be viewed from this prism. The ultimate motive of the Islamists is to deracinate India from its millennia-old moorings and convert it into ‘Dar al-Islam’ (The House of Islam) from the current ‘Dar al-Harb’ (The House of War, where Islam is not the state religion) through the agency of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’. But Lord Ram and his socio-cultural significance remain impediments to the supremacist fantasy of turning India into an Islamic country as they continue to animate the religious and moral conscience of the majority of the country, which is why Ram Navami processions are vilified, and branded as a congregation of extremist elements so that attacks on them can be justified and rationalised. 

This is why absurd and irrational explanations are put forth by the Islamists and their allies in the Left ecosystem in their attempt to demonise Ram Navami processions. Instead of blaming the supremacists living in Muslim ghettos, the Ram Navami processions are held responsible for the ensuing violence because they chose to traverse through ‘Muslim areas’—arbitrarily created Muslim enclaves—where the presence of Ram Navami Shobha Yatras and Lord Ram devotees is enough justification for the Islamist attacks on them.

Whether by design or destiny, the attacks on Ram Navami processions are nothing but attempts to create grounds to associate violence with the festival and justify the curbs till it is eventually stopped altogether. This is what the Diwali festival faced when a posse of ‘liberals’ and ‘environmentalists’ ran motivated campaigns against it, associating it with pollution even though the bursting of firecrackers scientifically contributed an insignificant amount of pollution to the environment.

The Left’s attempt to vilify Jai Shri Ram slogans

More worryingly, the attacks on Ram Navami processions are an extension of the Islamist attempts of perverting a pious slogan of Jai Shri Ram as a war cry and a portend of religious fanaticism. For months now, Islamists and their supporters on social media are involved in vilifying ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans, most notably by Alt News’ Mohammed Zubair, who falsely claimed that an elderly Muslim man in Ghaziabad was assaulted for refusing to chant the slogan. It later came to the fore that the assault occurred because of personal animosity and an occult practice having gone wrong. But legions of ‘liberals’ made a beeline to smear the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan and spread the fake news. 

Similar attempts to vilify Jai Shri Ram slogans have been witnessed, where the ‘liberals’ and ‘Islamists’ paint the benign slogan as a war cry to drive pious Hindus away from chanting the slogan and guilt-trip them into eschewing another of their customs and move them away from their millennia-old tradition.

Why Hindus must not cede ground to religious supremacists

But practices such as taking out Ram Navami processions and chanting slogans such as Jai Shri Ram played a critical role in keeping Indians moored to their culture, even in the face of centuries of Islamic oppression and British colonialism. The Hindus owe their cultural and religious indigeneity and consciousness to the celebrations of festivals such as Ram Navami, Durga Puja, Dussehra, Diwali, and many others. The one reason foreign rulers and tyrants could not strip India of its religious consciousness is the piety and resilience of its population in following its customs and traditions. 

As Islamists within the country try to ramrod a cultural change in the country, it is time for Hindus to stand up for their practices and jealously guard them, ceding no inch, no ground to the expansionists who seek to alter the socio-religious fabric of the country by using violence as a tool to instil terror and propaganda as an instrument to demonise the victims.

Uttar Pradesh: Muslim woman in Aligarh booked for forcing her Hindu husband and his family to convert to Islam

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Muslim woman in Aligarh booked for forcing her Hindu husband and his family to convert to Islam

A 26-year-old Hindu man, Ajay Kumar Singh s/o Jaipal Singh of Faridpur village who married a Muslim woman, Muskaan, of Jullupur village, a few months ago approached the Uttar Pradesh Police accusing his wife and her relatives of pressurizing him to convert to Islam. They both were in a relationship prior to their marriage last December against the wishes of their respective families.

He asserted that during Durga Puja (Chaitra Navratri), his wife vandalized the goddess idol installed in their house. He also reported that she has been harassing him and his family to embrace Islam for the last 15 days.

A clip of the altercation is going viral on social media. Muskaan is seen intimidating her in-laws in the video. She can be heard threatening, “You all will die,” in response to Ajay’s declaration that he is willing to die but will not renounce his Hindu faith.

The victim’s family is the sole Hindu household in the otherwise Muslim hamlet. He claimed that his wife was provoked by the women in the area. He stated that she began pressing the family, including her husband, to convert a few days after their marriage after she came in contact with the neighbouring Muslim ladies.

In his complaint to the Aligarh police, he said that his wife threatened to commit suicide and pin the blame of abetment on him if he did not convert to her religion. The Aligarh police on Wednesday booked Muskaan, her mother Shehanshah along with her father Yunus Ali, brother Furquan Ali, and brother-in-law Suhel Khan based on the charges.

A case has been registered by the Aligarh police under sections 295 (damages or defiles worship, or any object sacred by any class), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 298 (deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings), 506 criminal intimidation of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“An FIR has been lodged against his wife and her four family members. We are investigating the allegations. Legal action will be taken only after we find that the claims made in the complaint are true,” said Sarjana Singh, the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Barla in Aligarh.

She added, “I have called the couple and will try for a patch-up between them. The police will take action if the woman and her family members continue to put pressure on the man to convert.”

Ajay first went to Gyanendra Singh Chauhan, national vice-president of the Karni Sena, who then brought him to Sarjana Singh. The Hindu leader reported that on March 26, the husband and wife got into a heated argument over preparing meat at home. Ajay had requested his wife to refrain from cooking meat on the auspicious day of Chaitra Navratri.

Chauhan observed, “The man is terrified and we will come to his rescue because we cannot allow a Hindu to embrace Islam if he or she is not willing to change the religion.”

Muskaan’s family filed a charge of kidnapping and forced marriage against Ajay at the Akbarabad police station after the couple’s wedding. She, however, affirmed to have married him of her own free will in the court. Hence, the case was dismissed.

Mamata Banerjee blames ‘outsiders’ for violence in Howrah during Ram Navami

OpIndia Staff
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Mamata Banerjee blames ‘outsiders’ for violence in Howrah during Ram Navami

Hours after Islamists ran riots against Hindus celebrating Ram Navami in Howrah, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attempted to blame the violence on ‘outsiders.’

“You bring goons-on-hire from outside of Bengal, carry out arson, and orchestrate riots here…We have never stopped you from conducting rallies… Who permitted you to hold rallies with swords and bulldozers?” she said during a protest rally against the Union government.

“I heard that today they used bulldozers in Howrah…What is this audacity? We will give a befitting reply…Why did you change the route (of the Ram Navami procession)? You chose an unauthorised route to provoke a community,” Mamata Banerjee said.

On Thursday (March 30), stones were pelted on a Ram Navami procession from the terraces of the buildings in the Shibpur area of Howrah. This led to a clash between the Hindu and Muslim groups, leading to violence and arson. Vehicles and shops were also torched during the attack.

Several disturbing videos of the incident went viral on social media. A large contingent of police was deployed to contain the law and order situation in the area. The cops conducted a flag march, fired tear gas shells and chased away the rioters.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier insinuated that violence occurs when Hindus take out Ram Navami processions through ‘Muslim areas’ and also attempted to give a clean chit to the Islamists by invoking their Faith and Ramzan.

The deliberate reference to ‘outsiders’ in the context of the violence, which took place in Howrah, is a ploy by Mamata Banerjee to absolve the role of Islamists in the violence and the failure of law and order in the state.

Mamata Banerjee and her prejudiced remarks against outsiders

She used similar tactics in 2019 when relatives of one deceased Mohammed Sayeed attacked doctors at the NRS Medical College and hospital in Kolkata. When other doctors and hospital staff staged a protest, demanding security and safety, Mamata Banerjee was quick to accuse them of being ‘outsiders.’

“They are outsiders. The government will not support them in any way. I condemn doctors who have gone on strike. Policemen die in the line of duty but the police don’t go on a strike,” she had said.

In the run-up to the 2021 West Bengal Vidhan Sabha polls, Mamata Banerjee used the ‘outsider’ jibe for political gains. She tried to consolidate the Bengali vote by first labelling the BJP as a party of ‘outsiders‘ (Bohiragoto).

While addressing an election rally in March last year, she alleged, “They (BJP) have the plan to kill a woman from their party. As you know, they had brought goons from Uttar Pradesh (to Bengal). They will make those goons torture her, blame the State and divide the Hindus and Muslims. Remember this is the plan of the thugs from Bihar, and Rajasthan.”

“Baira thaka goondara aisa bangla ke dhokhol kora nibe, Banglar sanskriti ke dhokhol kore nabe, banglar asthitya dhokhol kore nabe.(Goons from other States will come here and take over Bengal, destroy its culture and identity),” the incumbent West Bengal Chief Minister alleged during another election rally in Nandigram.

In December 2021, Banerjee visited Goa and claimed that she did not want ‘outsiders’ to control Goa. “We want BJP to end in Goa. Everyone needs to unite to defeat BJP in Goa. I didn’t come to counter you, I don’t want outsiders to control Goa,” she had said.

A Hindu doctor shot dead by anonymous assailants in another targeted killing in Pakistan, second such incident in one month

OpIndia Staff
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A Hindu doctor shot dead by anonymous assailants in another targeted killing in Pakistan, second such incident in one month

A Pakistani Hindu Dr. Beerbal Genani (62) became the latest victim of the targeted killing of minorities in Pakistan, on Thursday evening. The retired senior director of Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) and ophthalmologist, was shot dead near Layari Expressway in Karachi while he was returning home from his clinic.

According to the police, unidentified individuals targeted him and his female assistant Dr. Qurutulain (35) as they were driving from Ramswamy to Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The doctor passed away on the spot and his assistant sustained bullet wounds. The police and the rescue officials arrived at the scene after learning about the incident and took the injured and the deceased to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

He received two head wounds from bullets, stated police surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed. She also informed that he had already passed away when he was brought to the hospital at 6:46 pm. She mentioned that the female doctor was shot in the shoulder, but her condition was stable. She added that the latter was also a member of staff at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD).

Although authorities have not yet established the precise motivation, South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Irfan Ali Baloch remarked that the crime appeared to be a targeted killing. He revealed that the doctor had left his private clinic near Anklesaria and was on his way to drop his assistant home when the gunmen opened fire.

City Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Arif Aziz, observed that Dr. Beerbal would regularly drop his assistant home. Affirming that it appeared to be a targeted homicide, the official proclaimed that the precise motive would be determined following a proper inquiry. He reported that the injured doctor was being questioned about what happened and asserted that it was still too early to speculate on the reason which led to the shooting.

Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, the secretary general of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), called for an unbiased investigation into the occurrence. He denounced the act and noted that Dr. Beerbal had been the director of the KMC’s health services as well as the medical superintendent of Spencer Eye Hospital in Lyari.

Dharam Dev Rathi, a doctor from Hyderabad, Pakistan, was murdered inside his residence earlier this month by his driver, Hanif Leghari. His throat was slashed by the perpetrator. The latter was apprehended by the police at his house in Khairpur. The doctor’s cook told the police that the two had an altercation on their way home. Once home, the driver took a knife from the kitchen and killed the doctor.

For allegedly ‘violating the Ramzan Ordinance’ by preparing meals for delivery, Hindu shopkeepers in Pakistan’s Bahawalpur Division were assaulted by the Police recently.

‘O Nandalal’: Mamata Banerjee babbles something in Hindi in an attempt to insult PM Modi; amidst jokes, here is what we could make out

Raju Das
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‘O Nandalal’: Mamata Banerjee babbles something in Hindi in an attempt to insult PM Modi; amidst jokes, here is what we could make out

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a protest rally against the central govt alleging the non-release of funds to the state on Wednesday. A large washing machine, labelled BJP, was on display at the event, where the Trinamool chief said that BJP has become a washing machine.

While the speech by Mamata Banerjee was filled with familiar rhetoric against the Modi government, a clip from the speech emerged where the WB CM was seen struggling while trying to mock PM Modi in Hindi. She tried to attack PM Modi for rising LPG prices with a couple of lines in Hindi, but she struggled to read the lines from her phone, uttering some incomprehensible words instead.

She reads it like this, “Arrey O… Arrey O Nandalal, Arrey Ooo Nandalal… (long pause) 1149 ke, mayenga gas me, bek… noho.. uno”. After then she gets stuck, and repeats the line, “Arrey O Nandalal, 1149 ke mahanga ka gas me mukka bech raha hai, muft bik raha hai, mukt ka chawl”.

She then realises what she is saying not making any sense, gauging the silence of the audience, and then adds, “ban raha hai, muft ka chal.”

She then makes a third attempt, and this time she says, “Oye O Nandalal, 1149 rupaya ka gas mei, bante hain, pak raha hain, muft ka chal.” She then adds, ‘and Sarkar, how this happens, we will tell in the coming days’.

While what she says is still not easily decipherable, what she wanted to mean is that while the central govt is distributing free rice, the gas needed to cook it costs Rs 1149 per cylinder. She used the Bangla term Chal for rice instead of Chawal in Hindi.

Sharing the clip, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said on Twitter, ‘Didi, when you don’t know how to speak Hindi, then why are you making fun of yourself and insulting our official language.’ He then added his own lines, offering to help her. He added, ‘Oh Nandlal, Trinamool leaders and ministers have looted how much wealth by selling government jobs? Arrey O Nandlal, when will ED CBI reach Kalighat, this is the question of the people of Bengal!’

While Mamata Banerjee didn’t name Narendra Modi and used the term Nandalal, it is understood she used it to address the PM only. The term ‘O Nandalal’ is from a famous song by Salil Chowdhury. The song goes like this, ‘Ohe Nandalal, heard that your daughter’s wedding has been fixed? How did you find the groom?’

The Bengal chief minister has started to use the term ‘O Nandalal’ to address PM Modi as a counter to ‘Didi O Didi’ used by the PM to address her. The TMC chief and other leaders have been using the term Nandalal to refer to PM Modi, and also others like Gautam Adani to target them for some time.

In Bengali, Nanda or Nandalal is sometimes used to mock. Like the idiom ‘Jata Dosh, Nanda Ghosh’, which means whenever a mistake happens, it is by Nanda Ghosh, or alternatively, Nanda Ghosh is blamed for every mistake.

The exact Bengali phrase that TMC has devised in this regard is, ‘Ohe Nandalal, 1149 Takai phutse bina paisar chal’ (Ohe Nandalal, free rice is being cooked for Rs 1149). But the CM struggled to recite this line properly in Hindi. Another line being used by TMC is, ‘Ohe Nandalal, they will not give anything to Bangla, won’t pay for hundred days of work? Sold LIC to Adani’.

Apart from the song, Nandalal is found in a famous poem by Dwijendralal Ray. In Hindi, Nandalal refers to Lord Krishna, which means the son of Nanda, who was the foster father of Krishna.

Muslims don’t commit ‘injustice’ during Ramzan: Mamata Banerjee claims as Islamists run riots in Howrah on Ram Navami

OpIndia Staff
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Muslims don’t commit ‘injustice’ during Ramzan: Mamata Banerjee claims as Islamists run riots in Howrah on Ram Navami

Hours after Islamists orchestrated violence in Howrah, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attempted to give them a clean chit by invoking their faith.

While acknowledging the riots in Howrah on Thursday (March 30), she claimed, “I have said several times that I will not stop public processions of Ram Navami. You go and do it peacefully. I have instructed the same to my party.”

“The police were given direct instructions – There was Annapurna Puja on one side and Muslims were observing Ramzan fast (Roja) on the other. We have 33% Muslims in the State. Their families observe fast during Ramzan.”

“Ai somoi ta tara kunu anyay kore na karon ata holo Allah er kache oder sacrifice (During Ramzan, Muslims don’t commit ‘injustice’ as this is the time of sacrifice for Allah),” she dismissed the role of Islamists in the violence.

On Thursday (March 30), stones were pelted on a Ram Navami procession from the terraces of the buildings in the Shibpur area of Howrah. This led to a clash between the Hindu and Muslim groups, leading to violence and arson. Vehicles and shops were also torched during the attack.

Several disturbing videos of the incident went viral on social media. A large contingent of police was deployed to contain the law and order situation in the area. The cops conducted a flag march, fired tear gas shells and chased away the rioters.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier insinuated that violence occurs when Hindus take out Ram Navami processions through ‘Muslim areas.’

“I want to request those who are taking out the Ram Navami procession, please do but do it peacefully. Kindly avoid Muslim areas as Ramzan is going on. Celebrate peacefully but don’t try to create violence. Don’t get provoked,” she was heard as saying.

10 crore Sahara group investors will get back their money with interest, govt would initiate the process in the next 3-4 months: HM Amit Shah

OpIndia Staff
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10 crore Sahara group investors will get back their money with interest, govt would initiate the process in the next 3-4 months: HM Amit Shah

On Wednesday, March 30, Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured that the 10 crore individuals whose investment is stuck in the four cooperative societies run by the Sahara group will get back their money with interest. The HM’s assurance came hours after Supreme Court allowed a plea by the Centre seeking allocation of Rs 5,000 crore, out of RS 24,000 crore deposited by the Sahara group with market regulator SEBI, to repay depositors of the cooperative societies.

Speaking at an event organised by the Uttarakhand cooperative department at Rishikul ground, Shah added that the Supreme Court has issued orders to return the money of investors who had invested in Sahara group cooperative societies and that the government would initiate the process to return their investments with interest in the next three-four months.

The Ministry of Cooperation had been pursuing the matter consistently, Amit Shah assured.

With the Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of investors, Shah urged those who had invested in the four cooperative societies of the Sahara group to file claims with the national registrar of cooperative societies.

Reportedly, the central government had asked the Supreme Court in a petition that 5,000 crores from the Sahara-SEBI Refund Account be used to reimburse depositors of the Sahara Group’s four co-operative societies.

The Central Registrar’s advocate, Gaurav Agarwal, will assist in completing the payment process in 9 months.

Payment to investors would be paid in a transparent manner to legal Sahara Societies investors through their bank accounts, based on valid evidence of identification and deposit.

‘Amritpal Singh should flee to Pakistan, just like was done in 1984’: Says Khalistani Simranjit Singh Mann amidst reports of Amritpal’s surrender on Baisakhi

OpIndia Staff
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‘Amritpal Singh should flee to Pakistan, just like was done in 1984’: Says Khalistani Simranjit Singh Mann amidst reports of Amritpal’s surrender on Baisakhi

Simranjit Singh Mann, Lok Sabha MP and the head of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), has advised Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh to leave for Pakistan rather than surrender. “He shouldn’t surrender, he should cross the Ravi river and go to Pakistan,” he said in an interview with a local channel. Mann is also a well-known Khalistan supporter.

“We went to Pakistan in 1984 as well, didn’t we?” he added. According to him, if the fugitive decides to flee to Pakistan, it is ‘justified by Sikh history’ because his life is in danger and the government is ‘oppressing us.’ 

His remark is in reference to the 1984 events that eventually sparked the anti-Sikh riots. In order to eliminate Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and other Khalistani terrorists, Indira Gandhi, then-prime minister of India, gave the order for Operation Blue Star. Her Sikh bodyguards later murdered her, and the ensuing outcry over her passing gave rise to the 1984 Sikh Massacre.

There was a good chance Pakistan would have aided the Khalistani separatists and recognised the new country if it had been announced, according to Lieutenant General KS Brar, who oversaw Operation Blue Star.

His comments came amid reports that the chief of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ could give himself up before Baisakhi at the Akal Takht at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Takht Damdama Sahib in Bathinda, or the Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib in the Rupnagar region. He has been on the run since March 18 and has been frantically trying to get into Amritsar for the past 48 hours.

His family members have mysteriously vanished from their ancestral house in Jallupur Kheda. They allegedly spent the previous two days at the Golden Temple. The development occurred just one day after he made a video request to the head of ‘Akal Takh,’ the highest political institution of Sikhs, to summon a meeting of the ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ (congregation of Sikhs) on Baisakhi, which falls on April 14. He is said to have recorded the video in Uttar Pradesh and uploaded it from the United Kingdom. 

He attempted to enter Amritsar by using the vehicles of a ‘Jalandhar Dera’ (Sikh lodge) where he stayed. He arrived in the city on March 27 with the assistance of Papalpreet Singh, and they were lodging at the facility associated with ‘Takht Huzoor Sahib’ in Nanded, Maharashtra.

The pair travelled to Hoshiarpur in a Toyota Innova from there for an interview with an international channel. However, the counter-intelligence wing of the Punjab Police got the wind of their plan. They began pursuing the car which was stopped at Marnaian village, under Mehtiyana police station limits.

The duo fled in a Maruti Swift car, but the police arrested two Dera men who were accompanying Amritpal Singh in another car. The Toyota Innova that the Radical Sikh is said to have driven to Hoshiarpur had a bogus registration number, which was later discovered. Now, the police are searching for the Maruti Swift.

Recently, the Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Harpreet Singh asked Amritpal Singh to surrender before the police and cooperate with the investigation in a video. Earlier in the day, it was reported that he was keen to surrender on Baisakhi, which is considered an auspicious day for Sikhs.

Amritpal Singh, who recently attempted to approach Amritsar, is currently constrained to a 10 to 12 kilometre radius after escaping from Hoshiarpur. Police can also compel him to surrender, much earlier than Baisakhi, however, he has declared that he will not surrender.

The Sarbat Khalsa may be held at Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib (Anandpur Sahib) or Takht Sri Damdama Sahib (Bathinda) if Akal Takht considers his appeal. The Golden Temple, Takht Damdama Sahib, and Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib are three significant Sikh sanctuaries where security has been stepped up by the police.

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