Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested former sub-divisional officer (SDO) Jairam Deshpande from Mumbai in connection to the alleged Dapoli resort case.
Earlier on Saturday, a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court in Mumbai sent Sadanand Kadam, a close aide of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and former Maharashtra minister Anil Parab to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till March 15 in connection with the alleged Dapoli Sai Resort scam.
ED had sought 14 days of custody of Kadam who was produced before the court on Saturday. ED told the court it issued three summons to Kadam since he did not appear before the agency.
ED said it took Kadam to its office and started recording his statement. The agency told the court that he was giving evasive replies.
The agency said in 2017 Anil Parab wanted to buy land hence he contacted Sadanand Kadam. Kadam allegedly helped Parab to buy the land and the deal was finalized at Rs 1.80 crore. Parab transferred Rs 1 crore through banking and Rs 80 lakh unaccounted cash through Vibhas Sathe.
“When we questioned Vibhas Sathe, he confirmed it. But when we questioned Sadanand, he denied such transactions. In May 2017, the transaction took place but the land was registered in 2019. They did not want to show that the land is with Anil Parab,” ED told the court.
In February this year, Kadam challenged the Income Tax department after it had provisionally attached Sai Resort under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act (PBPTA) in December 2022.
Anil Parab has a resort in Dapoli which is allegedly illegal and Parab is accused of corruption in building the resort.
In 2022, the ED also called Parab in the alleged money laundering case in the Dapoli resort case. It was alleged that the rules of the Union Environment Ministry have been ignored to build the resort, due to which the Environment Ministry declared it illegal and also complained about this in the Dapoli court.
Based on the same complaint, ED filed Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and started an investigation into the matter.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
The Digital Forensics, Research and Analytics Center (DFRAC) has uncovered a conspiracy by the Muslim Brotherhood to paint a bad picture of India under the guise of defending the honour of Prophet Muhammad.
The Muslim Brotherhood is an international Sunni Islamist organisation founded in Egypt in 1928 by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna. In the DFRAC report, Dilshad Noor said that the organisation also runs a smear campaign against the Hindus who work in the Gulf countries.
The organisation claims to raise the issue of respect for Prophet Muhammed and Islamophobia on the international platform. In recent years, the members of this organisation have started targeting India.
In its investigation, DFRAC found three key figures involved in these activities. These persons are Dr Ali Al- Qaradaghi, Dr Sheikh Mohammed Al-Sagheer, and Muhammad Al-Hasan bin Al-Diddu Al-Shanqiti. DFRAC said these three are in the top positions in the group to run smear campaigns against India in the guise of protecting the image of Prophet Muhammad. All three of them are associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Al-Sagheer openly supported Al Qaeda terrorist Abdul Rehman, who was accused of assisting in the World Trade Centre bombing of 1993 that killed six people and injured 1042 people. He also launched a campaign against France. He was one of the key figures behind running the #Expulsion_of_Hindu_Labour campaign on social media.
As per DFRAC’s report, Al-Qaradaghi was also responsible for running anti-India campaigns online. He not only holds a lot of hate for India but regularly paints Hindus in a bad light. Al-Sagheer mainly targets Hindus. He runs campaigns against the relations between India and Muslim countries. Al-Shanqiti has appealed to Muslims worldwide to boycott India. He also demanded the removal of Hindus from Gulf countries.
Notably, in the first part of the report released in August 2022, DFRAC reported that India became the target of the propaganda by the Muslim Brotherhood after disinformation about former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma was propagated by the propaganda fact checker Mohammed Zubair of Alt News. DFRAC mentioned in its report that following the disinformation, anti-India campaigns ran in Arab and Gulf countries.
Muslim Brotherhood ran multiple campaigns to smear India’s image. For example, the official handle of the Support Prophet Muhammed campaign claimed that Hindus killed Afghan civilian Sufi Maulana Khwaja Syed Zarib Chishti in Nashik. In reality, he was murdered over a property dispute.
In another tweet, the handle claimed a Muslim woman was deliberately run over in India. The accident occurred after a person learning to drive a car accidentally hit a pedestrian.
The report also noted that anti-India campaigns ran across Muslim nations to boycott Indian products and deport Indian envoys after the Nupur Sharma incident.
On Monday, March 13, four persons, including two members of the Hindu Munnani outfit, were arrested for allegedly assaulting migrant workers in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore city, police officials said.
The arrests came after an alleged assault on migrant workers near the Mahaliamman Temple in Coimbatore on Sunday night. Police reports indicate that two of the suspects who were taken into custody were found to be intoxicated at the time of the incident. They have since been remanded to judicial custody.
Tamil Nadu | 4 people incl two youths from Hindu Munnani arrested for allegedly assaulting migrant workers on 12th March. All accused were in an inebriated condition at the time of the incident. Case registered against all four at PS Variety Hall Road: Coimbatore Police… https://t.co/61yONvUf0vpic.twitter.com/fvm1OtuWdl
Coimbatore Police Commissioner V Balakrishnan held a press conference yesterday in which he stated that four people, including two members of the ‘Hindu Munnani’ group, had been taken into custody for purportedly attacking migrant workers on March 12. According to Balakrishnan, all of the suspects were intoxicated during the incident, and a case has been registered against them at PS Variety Hall Road.
How ecosystem tried to disprove violence against migrant workers and project normalcy in Tamil Nadu
The arrests over an alleged attack against migrant workers took place in the wake of a concerted attempt by the Left ecosystem to discredit reports of attacks against migrant workers and project that everything was hunky-dory in Tamil Nadu, with no targeted attacks against people who had migrated from other parts of the country.
Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of a leftist propaganda outlet Alt News and who is also infamous for instigating Sar Tan Se Juda violence across the country and dog whistling against Nupur Sharma, was among those who claimed attacks on migrant workers in Tamil Nadu were misleading and misreported.
IMPORTANT THREAD! There are a several scaremongering tweets & videos viral with a false claim that Hindi speaking migrant workers from Bihar are being attacked in Tamil Nadu. Many news Channels misreported with similar misleading claims. @NitishKumar@bihar_police@tnpoliceoffl
Zubair also published an elaborate thread to project everything was normal in Tamil Nadu and there were no attacks against migrant workers from Bihar.
Several News Channels and Social media handles have made it look it people of Bihar are living in War Zone Tamilnadu, Sharing a few video bites of Migrant Workers from Bihar staying and working on Krishnagiri District, Tamil Nadu. CC : @bihar_police@tnpoliceoffl@krishnagirismcpic.twitter.com/OysakhsY9F
P Wilson, a Rajya Sabha member from Tamil Nadu, declared that all the “rumours” of attack against migrant workers in the state were an attempt to “disrupt the peace & harmony of TN, which is a paradise for people of all languages & religions”.
Vile rumours are being spread on social media that north Indian & Hindi speaking brethren are being attacked in Tamil Nadu. These false rumours are spread solely with an intention to disrupt the peace & harmony of TN, which is a paradise for people of all language & religion 1/2 https://t.co/a03TqHp1GH
Several others pitched in, claiming that Tamil Nadu was always a “safe haven” and action should be taken against those who are asserting that migrants are facing attacks in the state.
Severe action needs to be taken on people spreading such dis-information @tnpoliceoffl
Please make some arrests from the media houses as well. Why they want to portray Tamil Nadu in a bad light? TN has been and always be a safe heaven for everyone.
Nikhil Waghle, a YouTuber, also endorsed the claims that everything is normal in Tamil Nadu and that the reports of attacks against migrant workers are fake and misleading.
Dilip Mandal, a columnist with The Print, praised Mohammed Zubair, whom he credited for debunking the “fake” claims of attacks against Bihari migrants in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin accused the BJP of spreading false information about the assault on migrant workers during an address on March 9. Stalin went on to declare that there have been no such instances in Tamil Nadu and that delegates from Bihar who had recently visited the state returned completely satisfied with their experiences.
Media reports and allegedly fake videos of attacks against Bihari migrant workers in Tamil Nadu stir a political furore
However, there were allegedly two fake videos in circulation on social media with claims that migrant workers in Tamil Nadu were discriminated against and subjected to violence on account of belonging to other states. The police filed an FIR against individuals for sharing the videos on social media.
While the reports of alleged attacks on Bihari migrants in Tamil Nadu had stirred a massive political furore, with FIRs being lodged against those who reported on the videos and claims made by the alleged victims, DMK’s poll strategist Prashant Kishor released a video stating that the attacks were real and should not be ignored by the Tamil Nadu government. He said that Tamil Nadu police and the ruling leaders of Bihar have disapproved of the incident calling it fake, but the attacks need to be looked into.
It is pertinent to note that a report by the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar that was published on March 2, 2023, had earlier claimed that as many as 15 people have lost their lives in “Talibani” style attacks being carried out against the Hindi-speaking migrant labourers in the state. However, the Hindi newspaper has retracted that report and now, in its updated version, presented testimonies of the migrant labourers who have said that they are fleeing Tamil Nadu because of the violence that has been unleashed on Hindi-speaking migrant labourers in the state because of their linguistic identity.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed that a bunch of petitions filed for recognition of same-sex marriages be referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench of the court. Hearing on this issue will begin on April 18.
The Government had earlier insisted that it is for the Parliament to decide on this issue because the ramifications of the outcome will impact society greatly and will chart the course of ‘how our society develops henceforth’.
A bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, and justices PS Narsimha and JB Pardiwala invoked the Apex court’s powers under article 145(3) to directly refer the matter to a five-judge Constitutional Bench citing that the petitions filed for recognition of marriage between people of the same sex raise important constitutional questions. The petitioners were represented by a battery of lawyers that included Senior Advocates AM Singhvi, NK Kaul, and Menaka Guruswamy.
What is the argument of the petitioners?
In the historical Navtej Johar case, the SC had decriminalized sex between persons of the same gender. The argument now is that a legal recognition of same-sex marriage is actually a corollary of the earlier judgment of SC. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for some of the petitioners, said it is about “the right to love that the SC explained in its judgment decriminalizing same-sex relations is the right that makes us human”. He further said that “the consequential issues which follow from the decriminalization of Section 377 is that “the right to marry cannot be withheld from a class of persons solely on the basis of their sex, sexual orientation or gender identity”.
Senior Advocate NK Kaul who was appearing for some petitioners stated that the Special Marriage Act speaks about marriage between any two persons. He further said that in the Navtej Singh Johar verdict, the SC “categorically said that the right to life includes dignity and choice of family, marriage, procreation, and sexual orientation and it inheres in every individual including the LGBTQ community”.
He further said “If we holistically look at all these judgments, the rights that your lordships have recognized of same-sex couples and the community, are far beyond a narrow pedantic interpretation sought to be given to the Special Marriages Act by saying that in one paragraph, male and female are used”
Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan argued that the petitions directly involve Articles 19(a) and 21 of the Constitution. He added “The right to choose a partner and have the status of marriage is actually a right of expression, right to dignity and self-respect which are traceable to Article 21. These rights will have to be recognized and statutes suitably tailored to give them this recognition because these have other implications like inheritance, family pension, etc,”
Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for the petitioners, said “the legislative intent of the Hindu Marriage Act requires that same-sex marriage be recognized because Section 5 of the Act speaks of marriage between two Hindus”. She went on to say that “when Ambedkar presented this, the objections he received on inter-caste marriage, widow remarriage etc. were similar to what the Solicitor General is saying now”.
What is the Government’s argument?
The Solicitor General while representing the Centre said that this issue involves intricacies that must be debated in the Parliament. He said, “When the question of granting recognition, legal sanction to a relationship is concerned, that is essentially a function of the legislature, and for more than one reason”.
He went on to add that “Parliament will have to debate and take a call whether in view of the societal ethos and several other factors which go into the lawmaking, whether we would like this institution to be recognized”. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also brought to the Court’s attention the fact that provisions that exist in various laws dealing with marriage specifically relate to only biological men and women and that the laws would become otiose if same-sex marriage is legalized.
It is to be noted that the government is not opposed to a consensual relationship between people of the same gender which is now decriminalised after the verdict in the Navtej Johar case. The Government wants a detailed debate about the issue in the Parliament which it believes to be the right forum to debate issues involving society and its development.
It must be added further that the government recognizes the right of two people of the same gender to have consensual sex, but it does not recognize their marriage alliance. There is a difference between the non-recognition of something and considering it unlawful.
The government doesn’t consider same-sex marriages as a violation of any law or a crime, but there are no provisions in the statute book that recognize the marriage alliance between two persons of the same gender. The government is of the view that the matter in question has deep societal issues embedded into it and therefore it must not be hastened through a judicial bypass of the Parliament.
The Parliament is the forum that represents the voice of the people of India, any decision that involves how the society wants to move forward must be decided by the people through their representatives in Parliament. The Judiciary is not a representative institution. Judged are selected not elected. These are some finer issues that call for debate and discussion.
Queer Hindu Alliance, an organization that advocates for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community expressed its disappointment at the decision of the government to oppose the petition for legal recognition of same-sex marriages.
The SC while hearing the arguments of both sides said “Having due regard to the broader context of the petitions, and the interrelationship between the statutory regime and constitutional rights, we are of the considered view that it will be appropriate if the issues raised are resolved by a Constitution Bench of five judges of this court having due regard to the provisions of Article 145(3) of the Constitution.
The Court is of the view that the SC should be the forum to resolve this issue, the government is opposed to this as clearly visible in the arguments of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
As pointed out by the SG, the Special Marriages Act mentions the age of males and females as 21 and 18 respectively, this presupposes that a marriage alliance can take place only between a man and a woman. So the Special Marriage Act will require an amendment too.
With India’s decision to not send its men’s cricket team for the Asia Cup 2023, Pakistan has stated that if India does not reconsider its stance, Pakistan will also boycott the 2023 World Cup to be held in India. Notably, on February 4 this year, India categorically told Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Najam Sethi that Indian Cricket Team cannot travel to Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023 which is scheduled to take place in Pakistan.
In a press conference on Monday (March 13), Najam Sethi stated that while India’s stance on not sending its team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup has not changed, the PCB is also firm that if India does not come to Pakistan for the continental event, the PCB will have to consider not playing the World Cup in India.
“I have kept my options open because when all teams are coming to Pakistan and have no issues with security. Then why is India worried about security? In the same way, we can also have security concerns over sending our team to India for the World Cup and I will be bringing this to the table at the coming meetings,” he said.
“We have complex issues on hand but for me when I go to the ACC and ICC meetings I have kept all options open for us and we have to take a clear position now,” Sethi said at a press conference, adding that he will raise these issues in the next Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and ICC meetings.
Najam Sethi added that the Pakstan government will be taking the final call on whether his team will travel to India for this year’s World Cup or not.
Controversy over the hosting right of the 2023 Asia Cup previously held by Pakistan
The Asia Cup 2023 was slated to be held in Pakistan, and there were uncertainties over whether the Indian cricket team would travel there to participate. Asian Cricket Council President and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, in October last year, clarified that India will not be visiting its neighboring country for the Asia Cup. Instead, Jay Shah indicated that the Asia Cup 2023 will most likely take place at a neutral location.
“We will have Asia Cup 2023 at a neutral venue. It is the government which decides over the permission of the team visiting Pakistan so we won’t comment on that but for the 2023 Asia Cup, it’s decided that the tournament will be held at some neutral venue,” Jay Shah told reporters after the 91st Annual General Meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that was held on October 18th, 2022, in Mumbai.
“The venue for the 2025 Championship trophy is still to be decided, we will comment on that when it is decided. We are getting good earnings from our Media rights. Our motive is domestic players should get more benefits as our earnings are increasing,” he added.
In December 2022, ACC chairman Jay Shah released the itinerary of the continental body and the venue of the Asia Cup wasn’t mentioned.
This led to PCB chief Najam Sethi accusing Shah of takinga “unilateral decision”, an allegation that ACC officially refuted stating that repeated emails to PCB seeking recommendations on the itinerary went unanswered.
PCB chief Najam Sethi recently threatened BCCI that Pakistan will pull out of the 2023 World Cup if Asia Cup is played at a neutral venue. PCB had asked for an emergency meeting to discuss Asia Cup hosting rights.
To put an end to the tussle, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) held an emergency meeting to discuss Asia Cup hosting rights in Bahrain on February 4, 2023, where Shah reiterated that there is no chance of the Asia Cup being held in Pakistan in September. BCCI has said that India can’t participate in the Asia Cup in Pakistan as the government of India has not permitted the Indian team to travel to Pakistan. Instead, UAE and Sri Lanka are two potential alternatives. A final decision on the venue will be taken in March.
Notably, India’s cricket team has not played any match in Pakistan since 2008. Pakistani team visited India for the last time for T20 World Cup 2016 that was held in India.
On Monday, several media reports claimed that Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath Temple would be charging special fees for the ‘sparsh darshan’ of Lord Vishwanath in Uttar Pradesh. The reports which went viral further claimed that the devotees will have to pay Rs 500 or Rs 1000 fee for special ‘sparsh darshan’ of Lord Vishwanath.
Zee Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand said in its report, “Heavy amount will have to be paid for sparsh darshan in Kashi Vishwanath temple.”
Screenshot of the Zee news report
Similarly, Dainik Jagran’s report claimed, “There will be a fee for Lord Shiva’s Sparsh darshan in Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Trust Council gives the green signal.”
Screenshot of Dainik Bhasker report
‘Bharat Samachar’ on its Twitter account stated that the temple is charging Rs 500- Rs 1000 for special darshan. It also said that the devotees would get entry into the sanctum sanctorum only after paying the fee.
Screenshot of tweet by Bharat samachar
‘UP Tak’ has also said on Twitter, “You may soon have to pay a fee for having a sparsh darshan of Kashi Vishwanath Baba. The temple administration may charge Rs 500- Rs 1000 from the devotees. This proposal has also been approved by the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust Council.”
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council member and Samajwadi Party leader Ashutosh Sinha also tweeted about the event. He alleged, “The BJP government first distanced the general public from the Aarti by imposing ‘Aarti fee’ in the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Now, by imposing a ‘Sparsh fee’, it is keeping the poor and the underprivileged away from darshan. We will continue to expose this BJP conspiracy.”
Screenshot of tweet by Ashutosh Sinha
However, all such claims and rumors are fake and baseless.
The temple trust has not taken any such decision and as stated by Varanasi Commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma, the devotees are not expected to pay any such amount for special darshan.
While fact-checking this viral claim, OpIndia found a statement by Varanasi Commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma who termed the claims as fake. “There was a meeting of the trust. Similar claims continued to appear for a couple of days. It was clarified in the meeting also that no such decision has been taken. The messages being circulated on social media are all old claims,” he said.
श्री काशी विश्वनाथ के स्पर्श दर्शन को नहीं लगेगा कोई शुल्क- कमिश्ननर
He also added, “Different temples in India have different systems. A comparative study was done. It was discussed in meetings that this type of fee is charged in other temples. But, it has not yet been decided to impose any fee in the temple of Varanasi and if such a decision is taken in the future, the devotees will be informed. At present, no fee is being charged for Sparsh Darshan in the temple.”
Sohil Harun Sayyed, a gym trainer in Udhana, Surat, was thrashed by a group of people after he harassed a Hindu woman in a local gym. The Police were also called by the locals, who then arrested the accused based on the complaint filed by the family members of the woman.
The incident is said to have happened on March 10. A Hindu female who was visiting the gym provided Sohil with her phone number for registration purposes. However, he made repeated calls and sent her obscene texts. Later, the woman blocked his contact but the accused continued to harass her through other social media platforms. He continued to message her on Instagram and harassed her even more.
सोहेल जिम का ट्रेनर है, जिम में आने वाली हिंदू महिलाओं बच्चियों का नंबर लेकर उनका शारीरिक शोषण कर रहा था, कल हिंदुओं ने पुलिस बुलाकर सोहेल का माला पहनाकर अभिनंदन किया ? pic.twitter.com/bNI03Ukq4b
According to the reports, the trainer was then held by several people including the woman’s family members, and was beaten by them for harassing her. The locals also called the Police station after which he was arrested. The accused was arrested based on the molestation complaint filed by the family members of the woman.
The accused was beaten with sticks, the video of which has gone viral on social media.
सूरत : जिम ट्रेनर की धुनाई.
जिम आती लड़की को छेड़ने का था मामला.
कुछ लोग जिम के बाहर आये ट्रेनर को बाहर बुलाया गया और धुनाई कर दी.
लड़की ने जिम ट्रेनर के ख़िलाफ़ दर्ज कराया मामला.जिम ट्रेनर की गिरफ़्तारी.
Reports also mention that the woman initially informed her family members about the harassment. She said that the gym trainer was repeatedly messaging her after which her father approached the gym trainer and warned him. However, as Sohil Harun Sayyed continued to harass the woman on Instagram, the locals, including family members of the woman, gathered and trashed the accused. Later the police were called and the accused was arrested.
In the midst of the ongoing Ambaji Temple prasad controversy, VHP leader Ashok Raval challenged Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi on Sunday (March 12) to replace Sukhdi, the traditional prasad served at the Mahudi Jain Temple, a revered pilgrimage site for Jains, with any other food item. Notably, Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi is a Jain, which is why Ashok Raval extended the challenge to him.
The response came after the state minister urged the Hindu outfit to refrain from protesting against the Shaktipeeth Ambaji Temple administration’s decision to replace the traditional prasad offering of mohanthal at the sacred Ambaji temple in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district with ‘chikki.’
According to a report by Divya Bhaskar, members of the Hindu organisation met on Sunday, March 12, to deliberate their next course of action in response to the decision to change the prasad from mohanthal to chikki at the Ambaji temple. Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi was also present at the meeting, where he urged VHP members to end their protest against the move.
In response to Sanghvi’s plea, VHP Gujarat General Minister Ashok Raval chastised the state government for failing to provide clarity on the prasad controversy. Raval asserted that the VHP would continue to protest unless the decision to replace the traditional prasad offering of Mohanthal to chikki at the Ambaji temple is revoked.
“The Home Minister has requested that the agitation be halted, but the VHP has made it clear that it does not trust the government or any of its ministers,” said the irked Ashok Raval, challenging Harsh Sanghvi, who is a Jain, to try and first replace Sukhdi, the customary prasad offered at the Mahudi Jain Temple (a Jain pilgrimage site).
Banaskantha administration to penalise people protesting in front of Govt offices
Meanwhile, amid the ongoing agitation launched by Hindu organisations against the decision to replace the prasad at Gujarat’s Ambaji temple, the Collector of Banaskantha issued a notice stating that no protests or dharnas will be permitted in front of any government building in the district.
— VTV Gujarati News and Beyond (@VtvGujarati) March 13, 2023
DJs have also been prohibited by the Collector. He has stated that those who violate the instructions will face penalties under IPC sections 188 and 135. This notice will be in effect from March 10, 2023, to March 24, 2023. Reportedly, a copy of the notification has also been placed on Ambaji temple’s gate number 7.
What is the controversy over Ambaji Temple prasad in Gujarat
The controversy over Ambaji Temple’s prasad has been going on for over a week. The row started after the temple on March 4, announced that Mohanthal, a traditional sweet Prasad, would be replaced with Chikki. Mohathan is a traditional sweet of besan (gram flour), sugar, ghee and milk. It is a traditional Gujarati sweet and has served as a prasad at many temples, including Ambaji temple, for many decades. Chikki is a brittle sweet made with jaggery and nuts, usually peanuts or sesame seeds.
The temple administration justified its decision by contending that the shelf life of Mohanthan was only 8 to 10 days. Meanwhile, ‘chikki’ comes with a longer shelf life and could be consumed for months. Moreover, it could also be bought online by devotees living far away and can easily be transported to states and countries, which is why, the authorities said, that a decision was taken to replace the Mohanthal with Chikki in prasad.
On March 11, Gujarat Health Minister Rishikesh Patel supported the Shaktipeeth Ambaji Temple administration in changing the prasad from Mohanthal to Chikki.
Hindu organisations and devotees oppose the decision
The announcement, however, met stiff resistance from devotees and Hindu organisations alike, who believe that the prasad of mohanthal, which has been served at the temple for decades, has traditional and sentimental value for the devotees. Posters have reportedly appeared in many locations urging that ‘Mohanthal’ be reintroduced as Ambaji ‘prasad,’ even though ‘Chikki’ can be an additional item.
Meanwhile, following the decision, Hindu Hitrakshak Samiti held a meeting and requested the temple administration to revoke the decision. The Hindu organisation gave 48 hours to the temple administration to act. However, after the 48-hour timeline, the Hindu organisation met again and postponed the protests in view of the Hindu festival Holi.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) also supported the demand to resume Mohanthal Prasad at the temple. VHP Gujarat General Minister Ashok Raval said in a statement that he met the government officials, and they assured the Trust would sort the matter out. He expressed his displeasure over the statement issued by the Health Minister.
Over 200 kgs of Mohanthal distributed to mark the protest by devotees every day
Instead of protesting against the decision, a group of devotees distributed 200 kg of Mohanthal Prasad daily. In an OpIndia Gujarati exclusive report, it was stated that the devotees chose the unique way of protest by distributing Mohanthal.
અંબાજીમાં માઈ ભક્તો દ્વારા પ્રસાદમાં મોહનથાળ બંધ કરીને ચીક્કી આપવાના નિર્ણયનો અનોખો વિરોધ.
સ્થાનિક ભક્તોએ હિંદુઓ પાસેથી દાન-દક્ષિણા મેળવી દર્શને આવનાર ભક્તોને માતાજીને ચડાવેલો મોહનથાળ આપવાનું શરૂ કર્યું.
A Twitter user PariPinkBerry tweeted about it saying, “Unique protest by Maa devotees in Ambaji against the decision to stop Mohanthal in Prasad and give Chikki. The local devotees received donations from Hindus and started offering Mohanthal to the devotees who came for darshan. 200 KG of Mohanthal is made and distributed every day for the last three days.”
Ashok Raval denies having made any such challenge
However, hours after the media reports emerged, Ashok Raval issued a statement wherein he said that he made no such statement. He said that all Indic faiths are under the Sanatan Dharma umbrella and he respects all faiths and made no such comments on Jain faith.
Note: Article has been updated with Ashok Raval’s statement.
On March 6, a Sessions Court in Delhi ordered to frame charges against Salman, Sonu Saifi, Mohd. Arif, Anish Qureshi, Sirajuddin, Mohd. Furkan, Mohd. Irshad, and Mohd. Mustaqueem for various offences, including the murder of Rahul Solanki and the vandalisation of the shop of a Hindu owner during the anti-Hindu Delhi riots of 2020.
As per the prosecution, a Hindu man named Rahul Solanki was killed as the mob shot him, and a shop of Hindu owner Sanjeev Kaushik was vandalised and set ablaze. Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala passed the order to frame charges against the accused.
The orders by the court noted, “I find that Salman, Sonu Saifi, Mohd. Arif, Anish Qureshi, Sirajuddin, Mohd. Furkan, Mohd. Irshad, and Mohd. Mustaqueem is liable to be tried for offences punishable under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 153 A (punishment for promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.)”.
Court ordered to charge accused for killing Rahul Solanki. Source: eCourts
The court ordered to frame charges under other sections as well, including Sections 380 (theft in dwelling house), 427 (mischief causing damage of Rs 50 or upwards), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy a house, etc.) 450 (house-trespass in order to commit an offence punishable with imprisonment for life), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of the offence committed in prosecution of common object) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The three accused, Salman, Sonu Saifi and Mohd. Mustaqueem were also charged under provisions of the Arms Act. The judge added, “The person who remained a member of this mob remained voluntarily part of it, despite seeing the actions of this mob, which included mindless firing, pelting of stones, throwing petrol bombs at the group of Hindus and therefore, it cannot be assumed that firing at Rahul Solanki was solitary action of one individual, which had no connection with the common object of the aforesaid mob.”
Refusing to give any benefit of the doubt to the accused, the court said that just because the other members of the mob could not be identified, the accused were not accompanied to benefit. In the present case, the court noted that all the accused indulged in targeting Hindus. The court said, “All accused indulged in targeting Hindus, and their such acts were apparently prejudicial to the harmony between communities of Muslims and Hindus, and they did disturb the public tranquillity through their actions.” Furthermore, evidence showed that Salman and Mustaqueem fired gunshots, and police recovered one pistol each from Sonu Saifi and Mustaqueem.
All were targeting Hindus, said court. Source: eCourts
The court also rejected the argument for discharge of the accused as there was an alleged delay in sending bullets to the forensic science laboratory, the unavailability of the video of the post-mortem, the absence of a conclusive report from FSL for Mustaqueem’s pistol and the absence of test identification parade of accused except Mustaqueem.
The judge added, “I have considered all these contentions, but I do not find the discharge of any accused being made out on the basis of these contentions, in view of the evidence of identification of all the accused persons as part of the riotous mob.”
Notably, all the accused were discharged from Sections 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
The murder of Rahul Solanki
Eight persons were booked for the murder of Rahul Solanki, who was killed during the anti-Hindu Delhi riots of 2020. Seven of them were arrested based on the CCTV footage, witness statements, and call records. Mustaqueem was the last person to be arrested by Delhi Police in September 2020 for the alleged murder of Rahul Solanki, who was killed in Shiv Vihar adjoining the Rajdhani school.
The charge sheet stated that Solanki was murdered near his house in the Dayal Pur area around 5 pm on February 24 during the communal riots that took place near Shiv Vihar.
Rahul Solanki, a resident of Shiv Vihar, was pursuing his LLB from a private college in Ghaziabad. He had stepped out from his residence to buy milk when rioters in Shiv Vihar shot him in the right shoulder near his neck. He was shot dead when he was standing near Pal dairy street adjoining Rajdhani school.
One of the accused, Salman, had confessed to the police that he knew Rahul very well as Rahul’s brother Rohit used to play cricket with his group. Salman had said to the police that he had joined the violent Muslim mob and unleashed terror on the streets of Delhi “to save Islam”.
The killing of Ramesh Solanki had occurred close to Anil Sweets, where the Muslim mobs had killed and burnt down another Hindu youth Dilbar Singh Negi on February 24.
Later, it was reported that Mustaqeem admitted to killing Solanki. Police said, “Initially, he had denied his involvement in the murder, but later, when confronted with evidence, he confessed to having opened fire at Solanki.”
One cow smuggler accused Imran, son of Islamuddin, was shot at and injured in a police encounter in Meerut. As per reports, three people accompanying him were caught with a live cow. Weapons used to slaughter the cow and a four-wheeler was also taken into custody from the accused. Police is now looking for the person to whom they used to supply the slaughtered cow meat.
Police, working on a tip off, apprehended a suspect who was passing through a forest with a cow. Police force reached the spot and on seeing the cops, the accused started firing. In retaliatory firing, Imran was injured. Other accused Irfan alias Khalifa, Sajid Qureshi, Savej Qureshi, Wasim and Anis managed to escape. In subsequent police combing, Irfan, Sajid and Savaj were arrested. Wasim and Anis are still absconding. Police has recovered one live cow, one pickup car, one Santro car, one country pistol with bullets and weapon for slaughter.
As per police, all accused as professional and have been to jail many times in the past. Despite that they continue to slaughter cows. During interrogation they revealed they used to supply meat to one Parvez, who would then supply it to other parts.
In another incidnet, Moradabad’s Nizam, an accused in cow slaughter and carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 on his head, was injured in a police encounter. He was absconding and police had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 on him.
The police had been on a lookout for him and on Sunday an encounter took place between Nizam and police. He was coming on a bike and the police stopped him. After he was gheraoed by the police, he got off his bike and fired at police before escaping. In retaliatory firing by the police, he got shot on his leg and he fell down. Police official Sanjeet was also injured in the firing incident. Both were taken to nearby hospital for treatment.
As per reports, there are over half a dozen cases of cow slaughter registered against Nizam, son of Shaitabi. He has also been to the jail many times.
