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Israel: President Herzog asks Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to halt judicial reforms after violent protests hit the country

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Israel: President Herzog asks Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to halt judicial reforms after violent protests hit the country

Israel President Isaac Herzog on Monday morning called on members of the governing coalition to immediately halt its planned overhaul of the country’s judiciary, after the country witnessed a night of major protests, reported Jerusalem Post.

“For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I am calling on you to stop legislation immediately. I turn to all the party leaders in the Knesset, coalition and opposition as one, put the citizens of the nation above all else and behave responsibly and bravely without further delay,” Herzog said. 

Major protests continued in the city of Tel Aviv throughout Sunday night after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant who in a speech on Saturday night expressed his opposition to the legislation.

Netanyahu met with coalition party leaders on Monday morning in order to decide whether or not to push forwards with the controversial bill to remake the Judicial Appointments Committee, which was passed in the Knesset Constitution Committee this morning and is now ready to be brought to the Knesset plenum for its second and third reading, reported Jerusalem Post.

National Security Minister and Otmza Yehudit leader MK Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened today to quit the government if the judicial reform legislation freezes, according to reports by KAN and Channel 12 News.

Ben-Gvir was heard shouting from within the meeting that the government should not back down. If Ben-Gvir leaves the government and quits the coalition, the coalition will no longer have a majority and the government will likely fall.

Meanwhile, widespread strikes were announced in Israel to protest judicial reform. The country’s Ben-Gurion Airport has banned flights leaving the airport until further notice and Workers’ Union too have announced a strike, reported Jerusalem Post.

The announcement of grounded flights was made by Israel’s Airport Authority Committee Chairman Pinhas Idan.As for incoming flights, only flights that are already in the sky will be allowed to land.

Passengers continued the check-in process after the announcement without knowing if their flights would actually depart. The flight board in the airport showed flights later on the day still intending on leaving but they won’t necessarily leave, reported Jerusalem Post.

A member of the Workers’ Union said that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stops the judicial reform legislation, flights will return to functioning properly. The strikes are also being held in universities, hospitals and other sectors.

Netanyahu is believed to still be holed up in his office, having reportedly spent the past several hours in various “security and legal” consultations with key ministers and advisers, notably including Justice Minister Yariv Levin.

He can probably hear the calls for him to resign, perhaps even the youngsters’ singing derisively that he’s “messing with the wrong generation,” reported The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu’s government was sworn in at the end of December. By January 4, the great judicial reform was announced by Justice Minister Yariv Levin. The opposition, everyone understood, would rail and rage; old elites watching their displacement would not go quietly into the night. But in the end, the frustration of three decades of judicial overreach now hardened into a grim determination, would see the coalition through, reported The Times of Israel.

The Knesset (Parliament of Israel) recently proposed a series of judicial reforms. Israelis believe that the new changes will curb the power of the country’s judicial system to question lawmakers. 

The reforms empower the Knesset to make judicial appointments at will. Citizens believe that the new changes are limiting the power of the Israeli Judicial System. Thousands are protesting against the reforms in the country.

Under the current system, the Supreme Court (SC) of Israel has the power to strike down legislation if they are in violation of the basic laws of the country

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

‘Islamic flag will be hoisted in Delhi, every madarsa will become armed camp’: Bangladeshi Maulana’s video goes viral, ‘Allahu Akbar’ echoes after declaration of ‘Jihad’

OpIndia Staff
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‘Islamic flag will be hoisted in Delhi, every madarsa will become armed camp’: Bangladeshi Maulana’s video goes viral, ‘Allahu Akbar’ echoes after declaration of ‘Jihad’

India and Bangladesh have commercial and cultural ties, but Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh are not deterred from spreading hatred. A controversial statement of a fundamentalist Bangladeshi Maulana is going viral on social media. Maulana’s name is Enayatullah Abbasi. He can be heard spewing venom against India in the undated video.

Abbasi is threatening that Bangladeshi Muslims will hoist the flag of Islam in Delhi. If someone comes to occupy Bangladesh, every madrassa will be armed and converted into a camp. Every Muslim will stand with Bangladesh army for Jihad.

The Twitter handle of ‘Voice of Bangladeshi Hindus’ shared this video on March 23, 2023. The tweet containing the video reads, “Enayatullah Abbasi is a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, known for his venomous statements against Hindus in Bangladesh. He has threatened to raise the flag of Islam in India and asked the Bangladesh army to prepare for Jihad against India.

The video of the Maulana from Bangladesh was shared by a Twitter handle named ‘Pakistan Untold’ on Sunday (March 26, 2023). In this, he threatens the Hindus of India saying, “Myanmar is of no importance to us. The Muslims of Bangladesh have so much power that they will unfurl the flag of Islam in Delhi as well. Inshallah, it will happen in future.” After this, the crowd listening to him raised slogans of ‘The enemies of Islam are Kafirs’ and ‘Be careful, be careful’ and ‘Allah Hu Akbar’.

Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh are not a new thing. Many such cases have come to the fore. On July 15, 2022 (Friday), after Friday prayers, Hindu homes, temples and shops were vandalized by an extremist Islamic mob in Lohagara, Narail. The attack was carried out on the pretext of a Facebook post that an 18-year-old boy was accused of writing.

Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed reaches Prayagraj alive, escorted by UP police, from Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad

OpIndia Staff
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Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed reaches Prayagraj alive, escorted by UP police, from Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad

Gangster Atiq Ahmed’s convoy has safely reached Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. The mafia-turned-politician and former Samajwadi Party MP was taken out of Sabarmati jail in Gujarat on Sunday (March 26) and transported to Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj amid tight security arrangements. The police convoy, shifting Atiq from Sabarmati to Prayagraj was being followed by the media, Atiq’s sister and lawyers.

According to media reports, Atiq has finally entered the Prayagraj border alive, where he will be lodged at Naini jail.

Ahmed has been accused in more than 100 criminal cases, with the most recent being the murder of Umesh Pal, who was a key witness in the killing of BSP MLA Raju Pal. Ahmed will be produced in Prayagraj’s MP MLA court at 11 am on March 28.

Notably, a team of the Uttar Pradesh police reached the Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad city on Sunday (March 26) morning to take Atiq Ahmed to Prayajrag where he will be produced before a court tomorrow (March 28) when it passes an order in a kidnapping case in which he is an accused.

After completing the necessary paperwork, the police team and Ahmed left the premises under tight security around 6 p.m.

On its way to UP’s Prayagraj from Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, Atiq Ahmed’s convoy, escorted by the Uttar Pradesh police entered MP’s Jhansi on Monday morning after it crossed Rajasthan’s Kota hanging bridge late last night. It reportedly halted in Jhansi for 20 minutes before continuing its onward journey to Prayagraj.

Earlier today, it made a brief halt at the Shivpuri District, where it narrowly escaped overturning as it hit a cow while it passed through the Shivpuri area in UP. The convoy was en route to Prayagraj from Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad when the incident took place.

The cow was reportedly killed on the spot following the accident.

According to reports, the convoy driving gangster Atiq Ahmed to Prayagraj was passing through the Kharai checkpoint in Shivpuri when a cow suddenly came in front of Atiq Ahmed’s vehicle and collided with it. The collision was so intense that the cow died on the spot, just as the van was going to flip over. Following that, the entire convoy was paused for a short period of time before proceeding to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.

Incidentally, only moments before the incident, when the convoy had stopped for a loo break, Atiq Ahmed had confidently stated that he was not scared when questioned about his Vikas Dubey-style ‘encounter’ jokes and memes circulating on the internet.

Atiq Ahmed’s remark contradicted what he had indicated prior to the 1200 km journey in a police van on Sunday (March 26). Ahmed had, in fact, expressed concern about being killed by the UP police team in an encounter. “Hatya, hatya (murder, murder)…Mujhe inka programme maloom hai…Hatya karna chahte hain (I know their programme…They want to murder me),” he was heard saying.

Meanwhile, Atiq Ahmed’s brother Ashraf has also been taken from Bareilly jail to Prayagraj jail. Ashraf was also transferred in connection with the kidnapping case in which Atiq is a co-accused.

The jail authorities have, meanwhile, beefed up the security at the Naini jail in Prayagraj, where Ahmed will be held. Aside from preparing an isolated barrack, CCTV cameras have been installed, and procedures for round-the-clock surveillance have been made. Body cameras have also been provided to jail guards.

Sanskrit and Lithuanian words adorn the school wall in Delhi, read details

OpIndia Staff
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Sanskrit and Lithuanian words adorn the school wall in Delhi, read details

The Lithuanian Embassy in India has recently undertaken a unique initiative to promote cultural exchange between the two countries. The embassy has painted the walls of a school in New Delhi with common words in Sanskrit and Lithuanian. This initiative has been widely appreciated on social media, with many people praising the embassy’s efforts to foster cultural understanding.

The wall, which was previously plain and unadorned, now features colourful murals with words such as Deva, Din, Veer, Swapna, Loka, Rasa, and Madhu written in both Sanskrit and Lithuanian. The embassy collaborated with school authorities to create the murals, which has been widely appreciated for its beauty and message of cross-cultural understanding.

While talking to the media, the Ambassador of Lithuania to India Diana Mickeviciene, said “Lithuanian has been officially recognised as the closest living sister language of Sanskrit and we are very keen to research this particular connection at the academic level”. She further said that this was a sign of friendship between the two countries.

Painted by renowned Lithuanian artist Linas Kaziulionis, the walls of the school now have words like Deva, Din, Veer, Swapna, Loka, Rasa, and Madhu and their Lithuanian equivalents. The words in Lithuanian and Sanskrit sound very similar.

The project was undertaken with the aim of fostering better relations between the two countries and promoting a deeper understanding of each other’s cultures. It is also a way of highlighting the similarities between Sanskrit and Lithuanian, as both languages have their roots in the ancient Indo-European language family.

It serves as a reminder that cultural exchange and cooperation can go a long way in promoting greater understanding and harmony between countries and communities. It is hoped that more such initiatives will be undertaken in the future to promote cross-cultural dialogue and understanding, and to build stronger and more meaningful relationships between countries.

Amritpal Singh’s ‘fan’ offers a Rs 1 crore reward for the whereabouts of the pro-Khalistan leader

OpIndia Staff
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Amritpal Singh’s ‘fan’ offers a Rs 1 crore reward for the whereabouts of the pro-Khalistan leader

On March 26, Sarabjeet Singh, pro-Khalistani and a fan of separatist leader Amritpal Singh, published a video on all his social media platforms offering a bounty of Rs 1 crore to anyone who could tell him the whereabouts of the “missing” Waris Punjab De chief.

In the video, Sarabjeet said, “I will personally give Rs 1 crore to anyone who is working in Punjab Government, Punjab Administration, Punjab Police, Indian administration or someone else, who gives me information about the whereabouts of Bhai Amritpal Singh with proof. The Sikh community is still alive. If anyone can provide information [with proof], we are ready to weigh him in gold. You have to provide information with proof. I am sharing all of my IDs. I assure you that the identity of that person will remain secret. The secret will die with me, and I promise I will not reveal the name even to my shadow. I request everyone, if someone can inform me about his whereabouts with proof, please get in touch with me.”

Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN) shared screenshots of the Sikh Press Association (SikhPA), a pro-Khalistan media house whose social media handles were blocked in India. In these posts, they accused Punjab Police of extra judicial killings. It read, “The offer comes a week since news of Bhai Amritpal Singh’s arrest (corroborated by eyewitnesses and video evidence) went viral, only for Indian authorities to claim he was a fugitive. Punjab Police have a history of murdering Sikh figures after arrest, leaving them “missing”.”

Sarabjeet appears to be a social media influencer from Sirsa (Haryana) and a supporter of Amritpal Singh. He has been publishing pro-Khalistan videos for a long time. 

Crackdown on Amritpal Singh

On March 18, Punjab Police and central agencies launched a massive crackdown on pro-Khalistan separatist leader Amritpal Singh. So far, over 110 associates of Singh have been arrested. However, he is still on the run. Internet was suspended on March 18 for one day in Punjab during the crackdown on Amritpal Singh and his aides, but the suspension was extended for two more days. Police have alleged that Singh was in contact with ISI and received funds from Pakistan. Furthermore, it has been reported that Singh was creating a private army in the guise of an anti-drug drive and de-addiction centre. Following the crackdown, official Indian Government establishments in London and San Francisco were attacked by Khalistanis.

Tamil actor Suriya, who opposed Hindi and NEP, shifts to Mumbai for children’s education, netizens call out hypocrisy

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil actor Suriya, who opposed Hindi and NEP, shifts to Mumbai for children’s education, netizens call out hypocrisy

Tamil actor Suriya Sivakumar, who had courted controversies in the past over his stance against Hindi, has relocated to Mumbai from Chennai.

As per reports, the actor’s wife Jyotika is working on a Hindi web series and his children (Diya and Dev) are attending school in the city. Suriya has therefore bought a new house for his family in Mumbai, at a whopping Rs 70 crores.

The actor had also criticised the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and the Centre’s National Education Policy (NEP) draft in the past. After it came to light that Suriya made a conscious decision to shift to BJP-ruled Maharashtra, netizens were quick to call out his hypocrisy.

Orthodontist Swathi Bellam wrote, “Suriya sir was at the forefront of anti #HindiImposition and NEET in Tamilnadu and claimed uneducated BJP govt can’t impose their National Education policy on world’s most educated state Tamilnadu.”

“Now he shifted his family to Mumbai for better education of his children and bought a 70 crore bungalow in a state where the students don’t study Tamil and no one opposes Hindi. I am sure Ambani school has Tamil medium studies for his children and will they say #HinditeriyaduPoda in Mumbai.”

Another Twitter user pointed out, “Actor Suriya moved along with his wife and also enrolled his children in a school in Mumbai. Ok, this is his personal life and none can question (it). Hope he has enrolled his children in a school which has two languages (Eng & தமிழ்) policy and is against #NEP,#NEET etc.”

“Interesting. Hope they found a school that teaches Tamil and follows a two-language policy in Mumbai,” tweeted one Vaijayanthi.

“Suriya & Jyothika shift their base from Chennai to Mumbai. This is because Mumbai’s Dharavi offers the best curriculum in Tamil in the world, they didn’t want their kids to miss out on the best education. Stop criticising them as if they felt Chennai’s education was mediocre,” one Arun Vishwanathan wrote in a sarcastic tweet.

Views of Suriya on NEP, Hindi and NEET

In July 2019, Suriya was at the forefront of criticising the National Education Policy (NEP). He had claimed that the Centre’s decision would leave students from rural areas in a disadvantaged situation.

He also cried foul over the three-language policy (English, Hindi and regional language), which is part of the academic curriculum. “From three years, three languages are being imposed on students and government school students are most affected by this,” he had said.

“I find it difficult to teach even my kids the third language, who will teach the government school students then? If we are going to be silent about this policy, it will be imposed on us,” he had claimed.

Interestingly, actor Kamal Hassan came out in support of Suriya over the ‘Hindi imposition’ row. A year later in September 2020, Suriya Sivakumar compared the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) to ‘Manu Dharma’ tests.’ and mobilised the public against the pan-India exam.

“It becomes a life-long punishment for the parents who suffer after losing their children to an unfair system of tests…Let us vocalise our opposition against NEET, which sets fire to the medical dreams of students from normal families” he had said.

“Modern Dronacharyas are asking for a Class 6 student to prove his mettle by passing a test. For those who pass this, there are more fierce weapons awaiting, like the NEET,” Suriya had claimed.

‘Lifelong fan’ sends Netflix legal notice, wants episode of Big Bang Theory removed where Madhuri Dixit was ‘insulted’: What was said in the episode

OpIndia Staff
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‘Lifelong fan’ sends Netflix legal notice, wants episode of Big Bang Theory removed where Madhuri Dixit was ‘insulted’: What was said in the episode

Author and political analyst Mithun Vijay Kumar sent a legal notice to the OTT platform Netflix, demanding that an episode of the famous Big Bang Theory be removed. He has alleged that in that episode, Bollywood entertainer Madhuri Dixit was ‘insulted’.

The notice states that such content can have a “negative impact on society”, particularly in “perpetuating harmful stereotypes against women”. He further states that the content “promotes sexism” and “misogyny” which is not acceptable in any form.

Big Bang Theory is an American sit-com (situational comedy). The show originally centered on five characters living in Pasadena, California: Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), both physicists at Caltech, who share an apartment; Penny (Kaley Cuoco), a waitress and aspiring actress who lives across the hall; and Leonard and Sheldon’s similarly geeky and socially awkward friends and coworkers, aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar).[4][5] Over time, supporting characters were promoted to starring roles, including neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik), microbiologist Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch), and comic book store owner Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman).

The episode that author Mithun Vijay Kumar wants to be removed is episode 1 of season 2. In the episode, in one of the scenes, Raj and Sheldon are sitting on the couch at Raj’s apartment and watching television. Sheldon asks Raj if it was Aishwarya Rai on screen.

When Raj answers in the affirmative, Sheldon, the know it all, comments saying that Aishwarya Rai is a “poor man’s Madhuri Dixit”.

An offended Raj, an Indian origin Astrophysicist in the series, gets rather offended and says that Aishwarya Rai is a goddess and compared to her, Madhuri Dixit is a “leprous pr*stit*te”.

Taking to Twitter, the author posted that he is a lifelong fan of Madhuri Dixit.

“Recently, I came across an episode of the show Big Bang Theory on Netflix where Kunal Nayyar’s character uses an offensive and derogatory term to refer to the legendary Bollywood actress @MadhuriDixit. As a fan of Madhuri Dixit since childhood, I was deeply disturbed by the dialogue. I found it highly derogatory and offensive towards Indian culture and women. So I asked my lawyer to send a legal notice to Netflix, requesting that they remove the episode from their platform. It’s important to hold media companies accountable for the content they distribute, and I hope that @NetflixIndia will take this matter seriously”, he tweeted.

Alt News’ Zubair, Scroll and other Islamists and leftists lie that UP police stopped Muslims from offering Namaz during Ramzan in Moradabad, get fact-checked

OpIndia Staff
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Alt News’ Zubair, Scroll and other Islamists and leftists lie that UP police stopped Muslims from offering Namaz during Ramzan in Moradabad, get fact-checked

On March 25, several Islamists and their apologists, including Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, Ashok Swain, and their friendly leftist media outlets such as Scroll and India Today’s The Lallantop, resorted to spreading lies that the Moradabad police, in connivance with members of the Hindu outfit Bajrang Dal, prevented Muslims from praying in a privately owned Moradabad warehouse during Ramzan.

The Moradabad police, however, took to Twitter to fact-check the lies propagated by the assorted bunch of Islamists and the leftist liberals, by confirming that the group of Muslims was indeed allowed to carry out the prayers on Saturday, that too in the presence of police.

In a statement, the Moradabad Police said that they received a complaint about the prayer meeting from residents of the city’s Lajpat Nagar area, which has a “Hindu majority/mixed population”. The meeting was allowed to be held on Saturday in the presence of police, but Muslims of the area have been asked to offer prayers in their homes or religious places, the statement said.

Zakir Hussain, who had organised the prayer meeting in his warehouse, has submitted a written statement to the police station agreeing not to hold any more similar congregations, the police added.

The Moradabad police responded after several Twitter users shared two videos online to propagate their lies. In the first video, Rohan Saxena, state president of the Bajrang Dal, was heard saying that he and fellow members of Bajrang dal had lodged a complaint with the Moradabad police against one Zakir Hussain who assembled 20-30 people for a prayer meeting in his warehouse in Moradabad. In the second video, UP police officials were seen standing outside Zakir Hussain’s purported godown.

Several Islamists and the assorted bunch of liberals used both these videos extensively to push their fake propaganda against the UP police, to which the latter promptly responded.

Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was amongst the first to propagate the vile campaign against the Moradabad police. He retweeted several posts by like-minded ‘liberals’ like The Wire journalist Kaushik Raj and some Islamists to cast aspersions on UP police.

Zubair didn’t stop at this. He took to Twitter to further attack the UP police after it posted its response on the issue. “Here comes a statement by @moradabadpolice on Tareveeh offered in a godown. During Ramzan, Most Mosques are full, People usually prefer reading Tareveeh at Function halls/Houses/Godowns during Ramzan. This has been the practice. What’s wrong? Why give in to pressure by RW orgs?”

Meer Faisal, a columnist with The Wire, shared the first video and wrote, “In Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, members of the Bajrang Dal have stopped offering Taraweeh prayers at home and complained about it to the police. After this, SSP requested to stop offering Taraweeh namaz in his own house.  #Islamophobia #Hindutva”

Repeating the falsehood, AIMIM’s Muzaffarpur’s social media in-charge Mehndi Hasan tweeted in Hindi, “Taraweeh prayers were being offered at Zakir Hussain’s iron godown in Moradabad’s Lajpat Nagar, on the complaint of a Bajrang Dal worker, the police stopped the prayers, neighbors and family members used to offer prayers at Zakir Hussain’s godown. But @Uppolice has objection to offering namaz, shame.”

In the same instance, Millat Times also shared the second video wherein some UP police officials were seen outside Zakir Hussain’s warehouse and tweeted in Hindi, “In Moradabad’s Lajpat Nagar, an iron store owner made arrangements to perform Taraweeh prayers in his warehouse, but the locals protested to the police that the warehouse was being converted into a religious site, after which the police reached the spot and stopped them from offering Taraweeh prayers.

No sooner did the website post the video, a Twitter user going by the handle @shuja_2006, used the video to push false propaganda to portray Muslims as victims. “Indian #Muslim now even can not offer prayer at home during the holy month #Ramadhan Taraweeh prayers were being offered at Zakir Hussain’s iron godown in Moradabad’s Lajpat Nagar, on the complaint of a Bajrang Dal worker, the police stopped the prayers, neighbors and family members used to offer prayers at Zakir Hussain’s godown. But Up police has an objection to offering namaz at home,” the tweet read.

Ashok Swain, the habitual fake news peddlers and leftist propagandist, shared the video and wrote, “Muslims in Moradabad, UP, India, were offering namaz inside their house and the Hindu supremacists with the police stopped the namaz. Where will Muslims pray in India if they can’t do that inside their houses?”

Congress leader Mir Ilyas also chimed in by propagating the same lie that the ‘Hindu supremacists in connivance with the Uttar Pradesh police stopped Muslims from offering namaz inside their house.’

RJD MLA Mohammad Anzar Nayeemi also joined the bandwagon. “@Uppolice don’t act against the principles and philosophies of the Constitution. Your action in Moradabad will have a far reaching effect. Stop this indiscriminate humiliation of muslims. Take action against the miscreants, don’t side with them. @moradabadpolice#Namaz#Taraweeh,” he wrote.

Another troll who goes by the name Anjali Mody also shared the videos posted by ‘journalist’ @WasimAkramTyagi to spread similar propaganda. “Man in the video identifies as a member of the Bajrang Dal, youth wing of the #VHP, a #Modi-BJP-RSS linked org, branches in the UK&US. Aided by Moradabad police, he has stopped #Ramzan prayers being said inside the privately owned warehouse of a Muslim resident. #India@g20org,” she tweeted.

Leftist-friendly media houses like India Today’s The Lallantop and Scroll also joined in to claim that the Moradabad police acted against the Muslims and stopped them from offering Namaz at their house, based on complaints filed by the Hindu organisation.

Vernacular media houses like Dainik Bhaskar also made similar assertions that the UP police in connivance with the Bajrang Dal members stopped Muslims from offering prayers.

The Moradabad police, nevertheless, responded to almost every such vile tweet to clarify that the prayer meeting was, indeed, allowed to be held on Saturday in the presence of police. Muslims of the area have, however, been asked to refrain from holding such public prayer meets and to offer prayers in their homes or designated religious places in the future.

Frustrated Congressis target Smriti Irani again with sexual innuendos, the Amethi loss of now disqualified MP Rahul Gandhi still hurts

Nirwa Mehta
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Frustrated Congressis target Smriti Irani again with sexual innuendos, the Amethi loss of now disqualified MP Rahul Gandhi still hurts

The frustration of Congress at Rahul Gandhi trying to put up a brave face amid all losing battles would have been amusing if it were not so problematic. Congress leader Srinivas BV while speaking at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to protest against Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in defamation case tried to take a dig on Union Minister Smriti Irani.

Srinivas, while trying to attack the BJP on inflation, mocked Irani, who had defeated Rahul Gandhi at the family bastion of Amethi in 2019 and said how prior to 2014, she would talk about things being expensive. However, now, the ‘mehengai daayan (reference to the song from the film Peepli Live) ko darling bana ke bedroom mein bitha diya hai‘ (you have made the inflation your darling and kept her in your bedroom).

For all the women empowerment and feminism pontification by Rahul Gandhi and his, this casual sexism is quite jarring. But not surprising. Especially because it is thrown at Smriti Irani.

You see, Smriti Irani is the one who gave Rahul Gandhi a run for his money. During the run up to 2019 general elections, Congress realised that there is a possibility Rahul Gandhi may not win the family bastion of Amethi, a seat he himself had won for three straight terms. Which is why he contested from two seats – Amethi and Wayanad. Irani had contested Amethi in 2014 and lost but over next five years she built up her support base and in a true David vs Goliath style dethroned the Prince who is made to believe he is the rightful heir to the Prime Ministership of India. After all, his father, grandmother and great grandfather, have all held the seat.

Bitter over the loss, Congress leaders have time and again subjected Smriti to sexual slurs. In 2015, Congress leader Nilamani Sen Deka the former Assam state Agriculture minister said at a public meeting in Nalbari that many people refer to Smriti Irani as the second wife of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2019, Congress leader had shared an image of Irani with Hukumdev Narayan saying that Smriti is bowing in obeisance in front of a “Rape Guru” while Rahul Gandhi is asked to apologise for his rape remarks. Indrani Mishra had insinuated that Smriti is paying respect to rape accused Swami Chinmayanand, while it was actually veteran MP Hukumdev Narayan Yadav.

Another Congress leader Shashank Bhargava, during a rally in 2020, made another such comment filled with sexual innuendos against Irani. “The hike in fuel prices must be rolled back. In the past, Smriti Irani would roam around with a lot of bangles in her hand. She is close to the Prime Minister and can give her bangles and a lot many other things. I will request her to gift the Prime Minister her bangles and whatever else he wants and ask him to roll back the price hike,” he had said.

Recently in December 2022, Gandhi family loyalist Ajay Rai said that the Amethi MP comes to her constituency only to show ‘latke and jhatke’. During a press interaction, Congress leader Rai said, “Most of the factories in Amethi are on the verge of closure. Half of the factories in Jagdishpur Industrial Area are lying shut. Smriti Irani comes, shows ‘latka-jhatka’, and leaves.”

How to show a woman her ‘place’? Make sexually coloured remarks and insinuate that she has reached the position of power by ‘compromising’ on her ethics and not because of hard work. After all, she has dared to defeat their beloved leader Rahul Gandhi.

They say politics is a dirty place. After all, it is a man’s world there. Naturally, it is harder for a woman to not only carve a place for herself but defeat really powerful politicians, like fourth generation politicians, whose father, grandmother and great grandfather have been the Prime Ministers of India. The one for whom seat of Prime Minister was a given privilege, and would’ve been unchallenged had fate not taken a turn a few years back.

In 2014 general elections, Smriti Irani took on Rahul Gandhi, the then 2 time MP from Amethi, a constituency that has sent many members of his family to the Lok Sabha. Rahul Gandhi won the elections but Irani gave him a tough fight. Rahul Gandhi got 4,08,651 votes with 46.71% vote share while Irani clocked in 3,00,748 votes with 34.38% vote share. The previous term, in 2009, Rahul Gandhi had got 4,64,195 votes with 71.78% vote share. So, while Irani may have lost, she gave a tough fight to the crown prince.

For next five years, Irani worked hard and when she again took on Rahul Gandhi in Amethi that year, she had increased not only the vote count but also vote share. Irani got 4,68,514 votes with 49.71% vote share against Rahul Gandhi’s 4,13,394 votes with 43.84%. Rahul Gandhi’s vote share had gone down. Smriti Irani had won. But more importantly, she had won after defeating Rahul Gandhi. Something Congressis are still salty about.

And hence, they resort to such vile sexual abuse. The abuses we see are just the ones which make it to social media or mainstream media or where politicians are stupid enough to say it aloud on public platforms. I am pretty sure Smriti Irani, like many of us women out there, faces death and rape threats. If someone like me, who is hardly a speck in Indian political universe, is regularly faced with abuses, quite certain for Irani it is far more.

After all, she had challenged the one who was conditioned he will never be.

AAP Gujarat chief says the party is ready to challenge BJP for the 2024 LS elections, had earlier lost deposits on 128 seats in assembly polls

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AAP Gujarat chief says the party is ready to challenge BJP for the 2024 LS elections, had earlier lost deposits on 128 seats in assembly polls

The Aam Aadmi Party, which dreamed of forming the government in the 2022 Assembly elections, but managed to win a paltry 5 seats, has challenged the BJP over the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. AAP Gujarat President, Isudan Gadhvi, who lost the assembly poll, has claimed that his party will field candidates in all Lok Sabha constituencies in the state for the 2024 general elections.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has started holding meetings in Gujarat as part of its preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. As part of this, a similar meeting was held in Dediapada under the leadership of Gujarat State President Isudan Gadhvi. The agenda of the closed-door meeting with local MLAs and workers was ‘How to capture Bharuch seat in the Lok Sabha elections’.

A public rally was also held after the meeting. Gadhvi was accompanied by MLA Chaitar Vasava, State Vice President Prof. Arjun Rathwa, Dr Praful Vasava, Jetpur Assembly President Radhika Rathwa, Dr Dayaram Vasava, Rajendra Vasava and many other leaders.

Aam Aadmi Party state president Isudan Gadhvi said, “The BJP MP or MLA in Bharuch has no strength to speak on the issue of tribals, and the party has kept its 156 MLAs and three others as peons. They are not allowed to raise any questions in the assembly. We will field Aam Aadmi Party candidates in 26 seats.”

In the same public meeting, the newly elected Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Dediapada, Chaitar Vasava, expressed his readiness to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Bharuch seat.

Mla Chaitar Vasava said, “I am only waiting for the party’s approval. If it tells me to contest, I will defeat Mansukh Vasava or whoever else comes before me. But if I get a ticket, I will go back to seven assembly constituencies of Bharuch Lok Sabha and contest with the consent of the people.”

Isudan, who talks about defeating the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, may not remember the results of the Gujarat assembly elections, which took place less than a year ago.

AAP lost deposits on 128 seats during the Gujarat 2022 assembly polls

In December 2022, the AAP had a tough time fulfilling its tall promises and claims made in the run-up to the assembly polls. The Aam Aadmi Party won five seats in the Gujarat Assembly elections and secured 13 per cent of the votes. At the same time, out of the 181 candidates of the Aam Aadmi Party, 128 lost their deposits. On just one seat, Dediapada, AAP had more than 50 per cent vote share.

The atmosphere created by the Aam Aadmi Party by holding rallies across Gujarat, and the tall claims made to establish power, proved to be hollow. But once again AAP state president Isudan Gadhvi has started making similar claims before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Most notably, Gadhvi, who was the chief ministerial face of the Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat, himself lost the assembly elections.

Only time will tell what the outcome of the election will be, but till now one thing has become clear: Gujarat and Gujaratis have not shown any special interest in the Aam Aadmi Party and its claims.

Ahead of Gujarat 2022 assembly elections, AAP had claimed that they are winning the polls

In a media interaction ahead of the 2022 assembly elections, the then AAP’s chief ministerial candidate, Isudan Gadhvi, had said that his party was going to win the polls in Gujarat and show the BJP the way out.

When a reporter had asked Gadhvi to name seats where the AAP would comfortably win the elections, the AAP state chief said he was confident of the party winning Ambaliya, Somnath, Mangadh, Dwarka, Jamnagar Rural, Rajkot Rural, Morbi, and Mandvi in Kutch. However, AAP could not win any of these seats in the elections.

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