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Bihari migrant workers share their ordeal, TN DGP calls reports of attacks fake

There have been reports in the media of hate crimes targeting Hindi-speaking migrant labourers, especially from Bihar, working in Tamil Nadu. Although the TN Police have dismissed these reports as fake, terrified labourers returning to Bihar have a different story to tell.

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.

Allegations of Bihari migrant labourers

When told that the Tamil Nadu DGP has called reports on the attack on Bihar migrant workers in Tamil Nadu fake, Arman, a labourer from the Jamui district who was returning home with 20 other labourers, told Bhaskar, “if the news is false, then why are so many people returning to Bihar from TN.”

According to Arman, migrant labourers have returned to Jamui, Nawada, and Lakhisarai districts in Bihar from TN. Biharis are fleeing TN on one pretext or the other, which is why it is becoming difficult to even get train tickets, said Arman.

Shravan Kumar, another Bihari labourer who worked in Tamil Nadu and returned home two days ago, claimed the situation in the state is exceedingly dangerous, with Bihari migrant labourers being targeted. “Locals want us to return to Bihar, accusing us of snatching their employment…they are attacking us wherever they see us, and our employers and local officials are of no help. “We were terrified,” Shravan Kumar lamented.

“The situation of Hindi-speaking labourers in Tamil Nadu is quite dismal,” Rohit Kumar, a resident of Sikandra village who returned from Tiruppur today, stated. They intend to drive away all Hindi-speaking people from the state.”

“Locals claim they don’t have jobs, therefore they’re upset and driving us away,” said Pramod Kumar of Jamui. “Hindi-speaking people are under attack. No work is being given to those people,” he too bemoaned.

Bihar CM expresses concern

Significantly, in addition to the Dainik Bhaskar article, two videos have also gone viral on social media. One video showed one man being attacked by a group of people who flee the scene immediately after the assault. Another video showed a grievously injured man being laid down on the floor while onlookers say that he needed to be rushed to the hospital. The identities of the injured men in both videos are unclear.

Sharing these videos, a Twitter user claimed that Hindi-speaking north Indian workers were being attacked in Tamil Nadu. 

Since then, this issue gained immense traction. The matter was also addressed in the Bihar assembly, with the BJP criticising the administration and requesting a debate to secure the safety and security of Biharis working in Tamil Nadu.

Soon after, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed concern over the safety of workers from his state in Tamil Nadu. Nitish Kumar said in a tweet, I have come to know from newspapers that people from Bihar working in Tamil Nadu are being attacked. I have directed the Chief Secretary and DGP to contact their respective counterparts in Tamil Nadu and ensure the safety of the workers from Bihar living there.

The Bihar CM directed the chief secretary and DGP to speak to their counterparts in the southern state and ensure the safety and security of people from Bihar working there.

DGP denies allegations of Hindi-speaking migrant labourers being attacked in Tamil Nadu

Hours after Nitish Kumar expressed his concerns, Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) Sylendra Babu issued a statement on Thursday, March 2 refuting allegations that Bihari migrant workers were being attacked in Tamil Nadu. The DGP stated that the videos circulating on social media regarding labourers from Bihar being killed were fake.

Posting a video on social media, DGP Tamil Nadu Shailendra Babu said, “Somebody in Bihar has posted a false and misleading video regarding migrant workers from Bihar being attacked in Tamil Nadu. Two videos which are circulating on social media regarding the incident are false. The facts of the videos are twisted so as to appear that migrant workers living in Tamil Nadu are being attacked.”

“These two incidents happened earlier in Tirupur and in Coimbatore. In both cases, it was not a clash between the local people and migrant workers. One was a clash between two groups of north Indian migrant workers. The other was a clash between two groups of local residents in Coimbatore.”

Update: The claims about murders and killing as well as the fingers of the Hindi-speaking migrant labourers being chopped and the labourers being locked in a room and hanged, which were reported by Dainik Bhaskar were retracted after the incident caused nationwide controversy. Since our reports were based on Dainik Bhaskar’s report and were reproduced here crediting them explicitly, we have removed those claims as well because Bhaskar doesn’t seem to be standing by it anymore.

Was Ayushman Kaul of Tek Fog fame behind the DFR Lab report that wanted to censor Hindu nationalists on Twitter

On Thursday (March 2), a new tranche of ‘Twitter Files’ was released, which revealed how the US-based Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab wanted to censor Twitter handles, allegedly associated with ‘Hindu nationalism’, and particularly with the BJP.

An analyst named Andy Carvin wrote to top Twitter executives on June 8, 2021, “Hi guys. Attached you will find… around 40k Twitter accounts that our researchers suspect are engaging in inauthentic behaviour… and Hindu nationalism more broadly.”

The DFR Lab analyst flagged over 40,000 accounts, claiming that they were paid employees/ unpaid volunteers of India’s largest party, namely, the BJP.

Opindia had found that at least 66 prominent and verified Indian Twitter handles were sent by US-funded Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab to the top executives of the social media giant for censorship. And the reason cited by the organisation was that they were connected to the BJP and the cause of Hindu Nationalism.

Interestingly, the timing of the internal communications coincides with the tenure of a controversial figure named Ayuhsman Kaul as the South Asia research analyst of DFRLab. According to his LinkedIn Profile, Ayushman Kaul was working as South Asia Research Analyst at the Digital Forensic Research Lab from April 2019 to January 2022, where he worked on “Monitoring disinformation, influence operations and hostile interference in the regional information environment. Particular focus on intersection of security, democracy and cyber space.”

Screengrab of the LinkedIn profile of Ayushman Kaul

This has left social media users speculating whether he was the one behind preparing the list of Twitter handles allegedly linked to Hindu Nationalism and the ruling BJP dispensation.

Popular Twitter user, Alok Bhat, informed, “Most likely it was based on the work done by Ayushman Kaul and released by DFR a few days prior to sending of this email.”

It must be mentioned that in May 2021 (two months before the Twitter email exchange), Kaul published a Medium blog post alleging the role of a Toronto-based PR firm in supposedly promoting narratives supporting the Modi government.

Popular Twitter handle ‘The Hawk Eye’ also questioned the role of Ayushman Kaul in creating a hit list of BJP supporters and Hindu nationalists for the Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab.

Ayushman Kaul and the malicious Tek Fog story

Ayushman Kaul is a senior analyst at Logically.ai, a dubious website that has been involved in the anti-India narrative. Based out of London, Kaul had collaborated with The Wire on many tech-related projects, including the one on Tek Fog, a dubious, non-existent app, in January 2022, along with Devesh Kumar, the man behind the fake Meta story published on Wire.

During Tek Fog reporting, Ayushman and Devesh did ‘Ask Me Anything (also called AMA)’ sessions on YouTube and Reddit to answer questions about the reports. Those AMA sessions are still available to check.

Kaul has contributed to multiple stories on The Wire such as “What the SOS Tweets Tell us About the Second Wave of COVID-19”, “Tek Fog: An App With BJP Footprints for Cyber Troops to Automate Hate, Manipulate Trends”, and “Anonymous Complainant Targeting Zubair Tweet Linked to Tek Fog App, BJYM Leader in Gujarat”.

In fact, Devesh and Kaul along with The Wire’s Naomi Barton had claimed how Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was ‘attacked’ online using Tek Fog, a super app which does not exist as evidenced later. The Wire had to withdraw all these stories.

In November 2022, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) published a report citing the ‘dubious’ Tek Fog allegation as an example of a lack of religious freedom in India. 

Ayushman Kaul, as per his LinkedIn account, now works as a Senior Analyst at Logically. He joined the company in January 2022. In May last year, OpIndia explained how Logically was involved in sponsoring an anti-India stunt event where Rahul Gandhi was one of the guest speakers. 

Punjabi actress Sonia Mann justifies killing of Hindu leader Sudhir Suri, says ‘it was a good job, he deserved to be killed’

On Thursday, Punjabi actress turned activist Sonia Mann justified the killing of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri and said that he deserved to get killed. She also showered praises on culprit Sandeep Singh who shot Suri outside Gopal Mandir on Majitha Road, one of the busiest places in the city of Amritsar, where he and some other leaders of the party were holding a protest.

In an exclusive interview with a local Punjabi news channel named Rozana Spokesman, Mann said that Singh did a very good job by killing Suri. “Sandeep ji killed Suri. He did a good job. One should not indulge in killing and violence, but killing Suri was necessary,” she said. This is when she criticized Amritpal Singh, a pro-Khalistan preacher and the current head of ‘Waris Punjab De’ saying that he did nothing to stand behind Sandeep Singh.

“Singh was influenced by your speeches and your activities. What did you (Amritpal Singh) do for him. He was hurt that his close aide Lovepreet Toofan was in jail for three days, why didn’t he raise his voice back when police held Sandeep Singh for murdering Suri?” she questioned.

She also indicated that the current pro-Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh was selfish and possessed a weakened ideology of Khalistan. She said she would nurture and further the idea of ‘Khalistan’ put forth by Ranjit Singh, the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, and not that of Amritpal Singh. “The ideas of Khalistan of both these leaders are as if two ends of one line. They can never meet. Raja Ranjit Singh aimed for an empire in which every person would be treated equally, education would be given importance there and there would be respect for all. Today what Amritpal Singh is fighting for is just power. He is a fanatic leader and has a different idea of what Khalistan should be,” she said.

According to Mann, Amritpal Singh is also confused about whether he wants to keep his life private or work for the Sikh community. She criticized Singh saying, “You say you have a private life. Fair. But then you portray yourself as a ‘Sikh’ leader? Our Sikh Guru had in the past sacrificed their respective families for religion. They didn’t have any private life. Guru Gobind Singh ji sacrificed his four Sahibzadas to protect our culture and religion. He didn’t discriminate. He said all are my Sahibzadas and I have to protect all. What is Amritpal Singh doing? Just spreading fear and fanaticism?” she pondered.

She also said that Amritpal Singh was ruining the image of Punjab by raising pro-Khalistani slogans. “The recent Ajnala protests were the outcome of fanaticism. He jammed the Police station as his close aide was in jail. Where was he when Sandeep ji was jailed,” she reiterated extending support to culprit Sandeep Singh who killed Hindu leader Sudhir Suri.

Interestingly, Sonia’s father Baldev Singh Mann was killed by Khalistanis in the year 1986, while he was on his way to his village, Chinna Bagga, in Amritsar district, to meet his one–week–old daughter (Sonia).

Sudhir Suri was shot dead in broad daylight in Amritsar, Punjab on November 4 outside the Gopal temple in Amritsar while Shiv Sena leaders (Taksali) were protesting against the temple’s authorities after some broken idols were found in the garbage outside the temple premises. His son later stated that his father had received a threatening call in the name of Amritpal Singh and that his murder was pre-planned.

“There was a threat call the night before the incident. My father received a call from the UK. The caller introduced himself as Amritpal Singh and said he was sending some men and that his ‘deal is done’… It was planned, four bullets hit him,” Manik, Sudhir’s son was quoted.

Earlier a pro-Khalistani group named Justice League India had claimed responsibility for the killing and had celebrated the murder. Also, Gopal Singh Chawla, a Pakistan-based pro-Khalistan leader intimately affiliated with the ISI had celebrated the murder. Later Sandeep Singh was arrested by the Punjab Police in connection with the murder of the Hindu leader.

Notably, on February 23, tension gripped Ajnala, Amritsar, as the supporters of pro-Khalistani self-proclaimed religious leader Amritpal Singh surrounded the Police station in massive numbers. Singh’s followers congregated in the morning to hold a demonstration at Ajnala police station concerning an FIR lodged against Amritpal and associates. They demanded the cancellation of the FIR and release of Lovepreet Toofan who was arrested by the Punjab Police based on a complaint filed by Varinder Singh, a resident of Chamkaur Sahib. The complainant accused Amritpal and his gang of abducting and attacking him when he came to Ajnala for a spiritual event.

The police later surrendered to the pro-Khalistani supporters and announced the cancellation of the FIR after the latter injured several Police officers.

FBI clubs India under ‘rogue states’ along with Russia and China, forces MIT researchers to act against them: Report

MIT researcher Yoel Fink in an interview with GBH news said that in the fall of last year, FBI agents visited the campus and in a closed-door meeting with him and other researchers asked them to stop Intellectual Property theft. The countries involved in this alleged IP theft were Russia, China and India. He said that he had never seen anything like this before in his 30 years of career in the premier engineering institution.

Yoel Fink teaches fabrics at MIT, image credits GBH News

Yoel Fink went on to say that Law Enforcement authorities should only visit the campus if there is clear evidence of crimes/theft committed inside the labs. In conjectural cases like this, the administration should be the one talking to researchers, not the FBI.

A section within the United States that align with the woke leftist ideology, considers India a rogue state and its hostility and policies (at least some of them) towards India reflect this view. The Left, with many of its NGOs, which work as an extended arm to exert their hegemony, have tried since 2014—the year Modi came to power—to convince the world that the Indian state is a totalitarian one and the voices of dissent are being suppressed here. Amnesty, Compassion International, Human Rights Watchdog etc. are some of the tools used to vilify countries that do not conform to their worldview, without paying heed to the indigenous cultural norms, traditions, and social and moral ethics.

Every year they publish skewed indices to reinforce their agenda, which entails defaming countries by judging them on parameters that are alien or immaterial to the population of the said country.

The Left, which is formidably entrenched within the US government, especially after the election of Democrat Joe Biden, with its inflated ego and neo-colonial mindset, sees nations in three ways a) Client States, b) Potential Client States and c) Rogue States. India with its growing prowess in tech, industry & research and immense human capital and its collective self-respect obviously doesn’t fit in the first two categories and consequently, relegated to the imagined rogue state.

This revelation is serious but becomes laughable especially when read with recent interviews of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who has been schooling the west and other aspiring neo-colonialists day in and day out and asserting India’s sovereignty and strength at global forums.

The global left with its provincial vision sees nations as clients or rogue states. New Delhi should tread forward with unswerving strides and remain unmoved by these labels and keep working for its self-interest (s) the way it has been doing in the last half a decade.

Uttar Pradesh: Prayagraj development authority demolishes the house of a gun store owner, Safdar Ali, and alleged aid of Atiq Ahmed

Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) in Uttar Pradesh picked up its demolition campaign again on Thursday, sending bulldozers to tear down a two-story house valued at three crores. The building that was demolished was in the Chakia area of the Dhumanganj police station and belonged to a gun store owner, Safdar Ali, who is allegedly close to mafia politician Atiq Ahmed. The gun store is in Jhonstonganj. The news came the day after the demolition of a part of the residence where the former MP’s absconding wife Shaista Parveen supposedly resided.

PDA officials said that the house was illegally constructed. They further said that Safdar Ali possessed the property and there has been litigation regarding the illegal building since 2020. Ajeet Kumar Singh, the PDA secretary, reported that the decision was taken because the authority had not approved the building’s map.

Singh stated, “The proceedings against the illegal construction were started in 2020. He was served multiple notices and was asked to vacate the house several times. He ignored these notices. Today, the house was demolished by our team.” Ali insisted to be completely oblivious to the proceedings, nevertheless.

“I had no clue,” Ali remarked when speaking to the journalists. He continued, “By 11.30 am, I was informed that the house will be torn down and that I should leave. The policemen who arrived here didn’t even provide me with a justification for the demolition.”

He also argued that the house belonged to his sons. “The house is not mine; it belongs to my boys. It’s improper that I received a notice. I should be informed of the offence I have committed after an investigation is completed,” he persisted. He added, that the action was taken in haste without any investigation.

Safdar and his family resisted leaving the building. However, the authorities cut the house’s power supply and began to sweep the vicinity.

Ali refuted accusations of supplying any weapons or bullets either to Atiq or his aides. “I have absolutely no relations of any kind with Atiq Ahmed or anyone. I believe someone has made a false complaint against me in this regard and that is why this action is being taken,” Safdar said.

PDA vice-chairman Arvind Kumar Chauhan, however, maintained that the house was constructed in violation of the norms. “The house was illegally constructed in violation of set norms and is therefore being demolished. Notice was issued to the owner of the house as per norms and all the required process has been followed,” he confirmed.

According to a senior police officer, Ali and Atiq have no known connection as of now. “We can’t say if he has any connection with Ahmed at this stage,” he proclaimed.

Umesh Pal and his gunner were killed in the Dhoomanganj area of Prayagraj on February 24. Shaista Parveen, Atiq Ahmed, and their two sons Aizan Ahmed and Aban Ahmed, are accused of the crime. Umesh Pal, according to the police, was the key witness in the 2005 murder of BSP lawmaker Raju Pal.

Khalid Azeem, alias Ashraf, Atiq’s younger brother and a former legislator, as well as two other people, are also mentioned in the FIR.

While Ashraf is incarcerated at the Bareilly Central Prison, Atiq is locked in a Gujarat jail. Shaista Parveen is currently on the run, and police raids are being carried out to find her.

Hathras, BJ Yatra, Pulwama, Pegasus and more: Rahul Gandhi’s Cambridge talk to MBA students was all about blatant lies, false claims and anti-India propaganda

Rahul Gandhi was recently made to deliver a talk to MBA students at the Cambridge Judge Business School, on the topic ‘Learning to Listen in the 21st Century”. The talk was arranged by Congress leader Sam Pitroda. During his hour-long talk, Rahul Gandhi peddled his usual nonsensical ideas and false claims, and also some blatant lies, as he does in India during his political speeches.

He started by saying that he is going to speak about the politics in India, the two divergent forces in the current world, that are China and the USA and ‘we’ can think about them.

He spoke about ‘listening’ to the public, the political discourse and different cultures. He added that different cultures listen differently. He also added that the risks of different listening at an international level are enormous.

‘Indian democracy is under attack’, claims Rahul Gandhi

Being classic Rahul Gandhi and completely missing the irony that an Opposition leader from India has come abroad to address the students of a prominent university and no one has stopped him from doing so, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the democracy in India is under attack.

“The institutional framework required in a democracy, the parliament, the judiciary, free press etc are also under constraint, ” he said.

“The idea of mobilisation, the idea of just moving around, is under constraint. We are facing an attack n the basic structure of the Indian democracy”, Rahul Gandhi dropped another massive bomb of irony.

After completing a long walk called Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kerala to Kashmir and then travelling abroad to Cambridge, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the idea of moving around and mobilisation is under constraint in India.

India is a Union of States, multiple different states like Europe, says Rahul Gandhi and lies about getting ‘jailed’

Rahul Gandhi again peddled blatant lies, claiming that he and some other MPs were locked up and put inside jail for just speaking about certain issues. This has never happened. Rahul Gandhi has never been jailed.

“Here you can see that picture. This picture was taken in front of the parliament house. That’s where a whole bunch of opposition parliamentarians were just standing there and talking about certain issues. We were just locked up and put in jail. It happened relatively violently. It has happened 3-4 times.”

Rahul Gandhi’s presentation at Cambridge Judge Business School

The picture that he showed to students at Cambridge was from the way to Hathras in 2020, where he and his sister Priyanka were stopped from going to a place that was under curfew, due to the threat of caste-related violence that was fanned by political parties (including Rahul’s Congress) over the strangulation of a girl.

Rahul Gandhi was stopped by the Police on his way to Hathras IN 2020

So, Rahul Gandhi showed a picture of him being stopped from visiting a place under curfew in UP’s Yamuna Expressway and claimed that in that picture he was “jailed” by the police for speaking with fellow members of Parliament in front of the Parliament house in Delhi.

He has also claimed that it has happened 3-4 times, and violently.

In reality, while on the way to Hathras, Rahul was stopped by the police and was detained along with the political retinue for some time. His sister was not even detained but was escorted to a guest house to wait.

‘I had Pegasus on my phone, a large number of politicians had Pegasus in their phones’

Taking his lies to the next level, Rahul Gandhi next claimed that he had the Pegasus malware in his phone. He added that a large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones. He even claimed that he was told by ‘intelligence officers’ that his calls are being recorded and he should be careful.

The fact is, no evidence of the Pegasus malware was found in a Supreme Court inquiry. Rahul Gandhi and many other politicians who claimed they were being snooped on and tried to raise a political controversy over it, never submitted their phones to the probe panel. Of the 29 phones that were submitted, only 5 were found to be infected with “some kind of malware” and none of them was confirmed to be Pegasus.

‘Cases on me are an attack on democracy’: Rahul Gandhi

Taking further his claims of an ‘attack on democracy’, Rahu Gandhi claimed he has criminal liable cases on him that should never have been criminal liable cases, conveniently forgetting that his family, which effectively ruled India for over 5 decades, is facing graft and corruption charges to the tunes of thousands of crores of rupees.

‘Started Bharat Jodo Yatra because it is very difficult to communicate with people’, says Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi, who has 22.9 million followers on Twitter alone, who addresses massive rallies of the Congress party and speaks in parliament, holds press conferences and heads a trust that owns a newspaper, claimed that due to the so-called ‘attack on democracy’ in India, it is very difficult for him to communicate with people and hence he had to undertake the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.

he even compared the BJY to Gandhi’s Dandi March, drawing equivalence with the freedom struggle against the British, painting himself as carrying the legacy of Gandhi (they are not related), of fighting against tyranny.

While travelling in container trucks modified into ultra-luxury residences on wheels, equipped with all luxury amenities, and under VIP security, he went on to describe how the yatra was about facing difficulties and challenges.

‘Militants saw me in Kashmir, but they could not harm me’

Rahul Gandhi, who walks with dozen of commandoes, party leaders and supporters surrounding him, claimed that he walked very safely in Kashmir, even through the stretch in Pulwama where a “car bomb” killed 40 soldiers, and he saw two “militants” there. He went ahead to claim that the militants saw him but could not harm him, because he was promoting the idea of non-violence and peace.

Rahul Gandhi knows very well that the CRPF soldiers were killed by Islamic Terrorists, not ‘militants’ whom he tries to portray as mere separatists. The bomber had made his intentions very clear in his video, asserting that he is about to kill ‘cow urine drinking Hindus’, as a service for Islam. However, he has chosen to peddle subtle anti-India propaganda, trying to send a message that the ‘unrest’ and violence in Kashmir are due to ‘violence’ on the part of the Indian government and ‘not listening’ to people.

There are 2 aspects of this claim, whether it is true or false. The first is, Rahul Gandhi was able to walk safely in Kashmir, and had thousands of people joining him with Tricolours in their hands, because the Modi government has made it possible. The claims of public dissatisfaction and ‘Muslim atrocity’ and persecution peddled by the opposition and international media is false.

The second aspect is, Rahul Gandhi used subtle juxtaposition. He subtly posed himself and his walk “as opposed to the vehicles carrying CRPF soldiers”, and claimed he did not face any attack from the militants because he was sending a message of ‘non-violence’ and he had come there to listen and to talk to people. This is the subtle anti-India propaganda the Congress prince is peddling on an international platform.

‘Nobody checked my IDs in America, but my IDs were checked in India’

In a bizarre anecdote, Rahul Gandhi claimed that he was very happy and surprised to learn that in the (pre-9/11) USA, nobody checked IDs in airports. He added that while his IDs were checked in his own country, in the USA he could just walk in and board a plane. He added that the idea of a ‘safe’ USA was sadly challenged by Bin Laden.

The next parts of his speech were obscure philosophies about the idea of China and how it is different from the ideas of other nations, particularly the Western nations. He also indirectly endorsed the Chinses idea of not bothering to restrict themselves by Intellectual Property Rights laws and how they see that people who ‘invent’ things do not own them.

Telangana government moves Supreme Court against governor for delay in giving assent to bills passed by the assembly

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Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao-led Telangana government has moved the Supreme Court against the state Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan for not giving assent to Bills despite clearance by the legislature.

Telangana government mentioned that 10 Bills are pending with the governor for assent since September 14, 2022. The petitioner urged the top court to declare that the inaction, omission and failure to comply with the constitutional mandate qua the assent of the bills by the Constitutional functionary the Governor as highly irregular, illegal and against the Constitutional mandate.

Telangana government also urged the top court to issue an appropriate direction, to the Governor of Telangana, to forthwith give assent to the Bills pending, namely, the Azamabad Industrial Area (Termination and Regulation of Leases) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The University of Forestry Telangana Bill, 2022, The Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, 2022, The Telangana Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Telangana State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (Amendment) Bill, 2023, The Telangana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and The Telangana Municipalities (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

In the petition, the state government said that it is constrained to move before the top court in view of a very frequent constitutional impasse created on account of the refusal of the Governor of the State of Telangana to act on several Bills passed by the State Legislature. These bills are pending since September 14, 2022, till date for the assent of the Governor.

“Article 200 is couched in mandatory language as it repeatedly uses the word “shall” thereby clearly suggesting that the Governor must act as soon as possible to either grant assent or withhold the assent and return the bill as envisaged only on the advice of the council of ministers. In a parliamentary democracy, the Governor has no discretion to differ or delay necessary assent as required on the bills presented for assent. Any refusal on the part of the Governor including any delay will defeat the parliamentary democracy and the will of the people,” the petition read.

Pointing out the role of the Governor in the matter of assent to the Bills passed by

both the houses of the state legislature of the state of Telangana, state govt said the State Legislature passed 7 Bills on September 13, 2022, and sent them to the Secretary to the Governor for the assent of the Governor on September 14 2022.

Similarly, 3 other bills were passed in February 2023 by the State Assembly and on February 12 2023 by the State Legislative Council and sent to the secretary to the Governor for assent.

“The legislature in its wisdom has decided to amend certain provisions to the existing

Statutes keeping in view the mandate of the people and the requirement to make changes to the appropriate law conforming to the present needs of the State,” the petition said.

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

After being pulled up for filing misleading reports, Kerala Govt assures HC that steps are being taken to commence sexual awareness classes in school

The Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in Kerala Wednesday (March 1) assured the High Court that steps are being taken to include age-appropriate sexual awareness programs in school curriculums from the next academic session. In response, a single bench of Justice Bechy Kurian Thomas stated that the Court will continue to monitor its implementation status.

Notably, on December 9, 2022, the HC directed the state government to form a committee to carry out the court’s directives for developing a prevention-oriented programme for sexual abuse in schools.

The panel, chaired by the director of general education, was constituted, and its two reports, dated February 17th and February 21st, 2023, referring to various actions suggested by the expert committee for programme implementation, were delivered to the court on February 22, 2023.

Nevertheless, the lawyer arguing on behalf of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA) informed the High Court that the reports were misleading because the committee so created had not even convened once by then.

The court ordered the committee members to appear in person before the court on February 27 after chastising the state government for submitting false reports.

While appearing virtually, the panel notified the HC that the committee met on February 23, 2023, and that basic actions had already been taken.

The director of general education also informed the court that additional steps are being taken to incorporate age-appropriate sexual awareness content into the curriculum as much as possible.

The court had previously expressed its concern about the alarming rise in the number of sexual offences committed on schoolchildren, noting that, in many cases, the perpetrators themselves were students, and observed that the voice of the victims of sexual abuse should not be silenced and that it is only through education that the victim can be enabled to speak out.

The court had asked the state to form an expert committee to investigate the matter in August 2022.

The court also directed the committee of experts formed by the State Government to include Advocate Parvathy Menon, the Project Co-ordinator of the Victim Rights Centre under Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KELSA) as a member of the committee.

The submissions were made in a matter which is essentially a bail application, but the Kerala High Court invoked its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to issue instructions to the state government and CBSE to raise awareness among youngsters about the repercussions of sexual offences and their ramifications.

Rahul Gandhi blatantly lies at Cambridge University, says his phone was ‘tapped’ by the government. Read how he is wrong

On Thursday, Congress’s Rahul Gandhi launched one of his usual attacks on the Modi government and said that it was undermining the democracy of India. While delivering a presentation at Cambridge University, Rahul Gandhi said that the Israeli spyware Pegasus was being used to monitor his phone.

Rahul Gandhi stated that the intelligence officers had forewarned him that his phone conversations were being taped. They also advised him to exercise caution while using his phone for communication, he said.

“I myself had Pegasus on my phone. A large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones. I have been called by intelligence officers who told me, ‘Please be careful about what you are saying on the phone because we are sort of recording the stuff’. So this is the constant pressure that we feel. Cases are registered on the Opposition. I have got a number of criminal liable cases for things that should under no circumstances be criminal liable cases. That’s what we are trying to defend,” the Congress leader said in his address,

Gandhi’s entire speech delivered at the University was shared on Twitter by Congress leader and former advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sam Pitroda. Rahul Gandhi also claimed that there were indeed restrictions on the courts, press, and Parliament in India.

“Everybody knows and it’s been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space. The institutional framework which is required for a democracy — Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around — all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy,” the Congress MP was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, BJP slammed Gandhi for his comments at the University. Recalling the Supreme Court verdict on Pegasus, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said even after the SC verdict, the “entitled dynast’ peddles lies on it. “The entitled dynast is a serial offender — his hatred for one person transcends into hatred for the country time and again…Ironically, his daadi imposed an Emergency and he preaches about democracy! What more can one say!” Shehzad said.

It is important to note here that in July 2021, a global collaborative investigative report declared that Pegasus, a powerful spyware developed by the Israeli cyber security company NSO Group, might have been used to target the mobile phones of individuals in several countries, including India.

The report leaked around 300 numbers of Indian individuals being allegedly tapped by the software. The numbers included at least two ministers in the central government, three leaders from the opposition, a constitutional authority, and several journalists, civil society leaders, and business persons.

The opposition roared and accused the government as the Israeli company stated that a powerful tool such as Pegasus is sold only to governments or government agencies, and not to individuals.’ However, the Indian government on several occasions denied the allegations made by the opposition parties. The matter then reached the Supreme Court which appointed a committee to conclude that there was no evidence that the spyware application Pegasus was used to eavesdrop on the phones under examination.

Rahul Gandhi who claimed at the University today that the software was on his phone, forgot to mention that his phone was actually never tapped and that he was on the list of ‘potential targets’ of the Pegasus “expose”, which has now been thoroughly debunked. Also, though he claimed back in the year 2021 that ‘all his phones and electronic gadgets’ were tapped by the software, he had refused to give his phone for the examination to the committee appointed by the SC, ‘fearing’ data tampering.

Bangladesh: Iqbal Hossain sentenced to 16 months in jail for placing Quran in Puja Mandap, inciting anti-Hindu violence, released for having served his term already

On Thursday (March 2), a Dhaka court sentenced one Mohammad Iqbal Hossain to 16 months imprisonment for orchestrating the anti-Hindu violence during the 2021 Durga Puja celebrations in Bangladesh by placing a copy of the Quran at the feet of Lord Hanuman.

As per a report by The Daily Star, the matter was heard by the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal Judge AM Zulfiker Hayet. He passed the verdict in the presence of the accused.

Given that Mohammed Iqbal Hossain had already served 16 months behind bars, the Judge directed the jail authorities to release him for having served his sentence in advance (in case he is not wanted in any other case).

The Background of the Case

On October 13, 2021, a 35-year-old man named Iqbal Hossain placed a copy of the Quran on the feet of the idol of Lord Hanuman at the Nanuar Dighir Par Durga Mandir in the Cumilla district of Bangladesh.

His actions triggered a series of violent attacks against the minority Hindus in the country. The Hindu community had insisted vehemently that nobody among them had kept the Islamic ‘Holy book’ at the Puja Pandal and the incident was a deliberate plan to foment trouble.

For over five days, houses and temples of the Hindu community in Bangladesh remained under attack. Videos of broken idols, demolished pandals and Moorti of Maa Durga being thrown in a pond emerged on social media platforms along with other videos of attacks on Hindus.

It came to light later that the copy of the Quran was given to Iqbal Hossain by the caretakers of a nearby mosque. The accused was arrested from Cox Bazar on October 21, 2021, by the Tongi Purba Police Station in Ghazipur and booked under the stringent Digital Security Act.

After analysing the CCTV footage, it was also found that the accused incited people to commit violence in the morning and gave hate speeches against Hindus.