On Monday, a Kerala Court convicted a man, a former madarsa instructor, to three life sentences for repeatedly sexually assaulting and impregnating his minor daughter. According to special public prosecutor (SPP) A Somasundaran, Manjeri Fast Track Special Court judge Rajesh K, convicted the accused of rape, penetrative sexual assault, and victim intimidation under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The accused was given three life sentences for committing the POCSO Act offences, and the court ordered that he be imprisoned for the remainder of his natural life, the SPP stated. The court is also said to have imposed a fine of Rs 6.6 lakh on the culprit.
The accused reportedly raped his girl for the first time in March 2021, whilst no one was at home. The 15-year-old girl was studying at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak when her father forced her into his bedroom and assaulted her.
After the victim objected, the accused threatened to kill the girl’s mother. The assault continued to take place until October 2021. The accused, a former madrasa instructor, continued to rape his daughter on several occasions when nobody would be home.
After COVID limitations were relaxed in November 2021, the child returned to school. After a few days, she complained of stomach pain and was taken to the doctor, but nothing was found wrong with her. She complained of discomfort again in January 2022 and was sent to a government hospital for a check-up, where it was revealed that she was pregnant, according to the SPP.
She shared her ordeal then about her father raping her. Following that, a case was filed against the accused, and he was arrested. A DNA test later revealed that the girl’s father was the perpetrator. The victim’s pregnancy was medically terminated.
On January 31, senior advocate (Supreme Court) and Rajya Sabha MP Mahesh Jethmalani hinted at a BBC-China-Congress nexus. In a tweet, he said, “Why is BBC so anti-India? Because it needs money desperately enough to take it from Chinese state-linked Huawei and pursue the latter’s agenda (BBC a fellow traveller, Comrade Jairam?). It’s a simple cash-for-propaganda deal. BBC is up for sale.”
Why is #BBC so anti-India? Because it needs money desperately enough to take it from Chinese state linked Huawei (see link) & pursue the latter’s agenda (BBC a fellow traveller, Comrade Jairam?)It’s a simple cash-for-propaganda deal. BBC is up for sale https://t.co/jSySg542pl
Mahesh Jethmalani was referring to a report from August 2022 that pointed out that despite the ban on Chinese company Huawei over security issues in the United States and the United Kingdom, BBC was still getting ads from it.
In August 2022, The Spectator published a report suggesting that BBC was taking money from Huawei. Notably, Huawei was sanctioned by the US in 2019 and the UK barred the company from the 5G network in 2020 citing security issues. Later, it was also revealed that Huawei had provided support to the Chinese government in creating a surveillance system targeting Uyghur Muslims. The report pointed towards the paid adverts by Huawei about ‘The new frontier of education: How can we bridge the education gap and bring bright young minds into the digital future?’ Notably, the content was not available in the UK. It was made by StoryWorks, the paid content team of BBC.
In a statement, BBC’s spokesperson said that the company was funded via advertisements outside the UK which allows them to invest in their “world-class journalism and bring it to a global audience”.
Mahesh Jethmalani hit out Congress leader for his alleged Huawei links
Earlier, Mahesh Jethmalani hit out at Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and urged him to come clean about his Huawei connections. In a tweet, Jethmalani said, “Since 2005, Jairam Ramesh has been lobbying for Chinese telecom co Huawei’s activities in India (see below excerpts from his book). Huawei has been banned in several countries as a security threat. Jairam now questions GOIs China stand. It behoves him to disclose his Huawei links.”
He also accused Jairam of sabotaging vital projects when he served as the Environment Minister in the UPA government. Jethmalani had called Ramesh a “mouthpiece of Chinese disinformation” in an earlier tweet.
Huewai’s surveillance tech for the Chinese government to target Uyghur Muslims
In 2021, IPVM, a video surveillance research group along with Washington Post and BBC reported that Chinese company Huawei had filed for a patent for its Artificial Intelligence technology capable of tracking Uyghur Muslims. Despite the reports, BBC continued to run ads of BBC on its international platform(s).
On Tuesday (January 31), the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), BJP and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) parties opposed the DMK government’s move to construct a 42-metre tall statue of former party supremo, M Karunanidhi, on Marina Beach in Chennai.
The incident took place during a public hearing, organised by Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), at the auditorium Kalaivanar Arangam. The fishermen community also opposed the decision to build ‘Kalaignar Pen Memorial’ on Marina Beach.
#WATCH |Ruckus at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai during a public meeting of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board over ‘Pen Statue’ erection plan at Marina beach
DMK & AIADMK supporters created uproar in support & against(respectively)over the statue in memory of ex-CM M Karunanidhi pic.twitter.com/iuKX7QkVp6
It must be mentioned that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is planning to construct the statue at a cost of ₹80 crores. The memorial is proposed to be built just 360 metres away from the shoreline.
Despite the best attempts by the District Collector, Amritha Jyothi, to pacify the protestors, the situation got out of hand. In a video that has now surfaced on social media, the workers belonging to the different political parties were seen shouting over each other.
As per a report by DTNext, the project falls under the ambit of the ecologically sensitive Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) but has been given a green signal by the Tamil Nadu State authorities.
While reacting strongly to the government proposal, Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) Head Seeman said, “If the ‘Pen statue’ is erected in the sea, I will break and destroy the statue. If you (DMK) want to erect the ‘Pen statue’ in memory of Karunanidhi, you can do it in your party’s head office Arivalayam.”
Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief Seeman says, “If the ‘Pen statue’ is erected in the sea, I will break and destroy the statue. If you (DMK) want to erect the ‘Pen statue’ in memory of Karunanidhi, you can do it in your party’s head office Arivalayam.” pic.twitter.com/xzGZbebSsW
Reportedly, several leaders of the fishermen community in Chennai have formed the ‘Marina Fishermen Protection Committee’ to safeguard Marina Beach and coordinate protests against the construction of the ‘Kalaignar Pen Memorial.’
On Monday, January 30, reports emerged that Pakistan is in the process of finalising Mickey Arthur as their cricket team’s ‘online coach’. While the story can not be confirmed as yet, the very idea of an online coach baffled everyone, including the chairman of selectors, Shahid Afridi.
Mickey Arthur was previously the coach of the Pakistan team from 2016 to 2019. He is currently serving as the head coach of Derbyshire county in England. With his reluctance to leave Derbyshire, and Pakistan’s keenness to appoint him as the coach, reports emerged that he may take up the position as an online coach. The report sparked off a meme fest online as cricket fans couldn’t believe a cricket board would seriously consider the idea.
Twitter user Allah Baksh tried to predict the future of the online meetings conducted by Mickey Arthur.
As Mickey Arthur is going to be appointed as Online Coach… Scenes from future..? pic.twitter.com/Y0KBgXPHzS
Another Twitter user by the name of Hussaina used a famous scene from the popular sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ to predict how this online coaching would go.
While it remains to be seen if this concept of ‘online coach’ actually comes to fruition or not, internet is definitely having a lot of fun around it.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has undergone a lot of changes recently, following the change of government, as is the norm in Pakistan. Former test cricketer Ramiz Raja has been removed as the chairman of the board and replaced by journalist Najam Sethi. The selection panel has been changed as well, and now they are searching for a new coach, or maybe just an ‘online coach’.
On Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy announced that Vizag will be the new capital of the state. “I am here to invite you to Visakhapatnam, which will be our capital. I will also be shifting to Vizag. I invite you and your colleagues to see for yourself how easy it is to do business in Andhra Pradesh,” Reddy said while speaking at the International Diplomatic Alliance Meet in New Delhi.
According to the reports, the state CM also pitched for investment in the coastal city. “We’re organizing a global summit… an investors summit on March 3-4 in Visakhapatnam and I want to take this opportunity to personally invite all of you to the summit… and request all of you to not only come but also put in a good word, a strong word, to colleagues abroad,” he said.
#WATCH | “Here I am to invite you to Visakhapatnam which will be our capital in the days to come. I will also be shifting to Visakhapatnam in the months to come”: Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at International Diplomatic Alliance meet in Delhi pic.twitter.com/wANqgXC1yP
Previously, Reddy said categorically that the future of the state lay in decentralized development, recommending Visakhapatnam as the state administration’s headquarters. As the state’s headquarters, it will also serve as the governor’s residence, while the legislature will be based in Amaravati. He stated that the high court would be relocated to Kurnool, the former capital.
Reports mention that Reddy’s decision to relocate to Visakhapatnam, approximately 500 kilometres east of Hyderabad, gives it power in converting the Eastern Seaboard urban agglomeration into a booming city. The city has the potential to grow in size and stature, surpassing the capitals of the newly formed states of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and, more recently, Telangana.
Amaravati is the present capital of Andhra Pradesh. The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government in the year 2020 repealed the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2020, and passed the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, paving the way for Amaravati to be the Legislative capital, Visakhapatnam the Executive capital, and Kurnool the Judicial capital of the Andhra Pradesh.
Later several petitions, also backed by the opposition TDP were filed challenging the government’s move at the High Court. However, the Chief Minister criticized the TDP government for choosing Amaravati as the capital as it lacked basic infrastructures, such as roads and drainage systems.
Jagan stated that his administration presented the three capitals law to promote equal and balanced development of the state while taking people’s aspirations into account. He went on to say that the opposing party was disseminating misinformation and creating legal obstacles in the process.
Recently on November 28 last year, the Supreme Court stayed in time both directions passed by High Court. The High Court had issued directions to construct and develop Amaravati’s capital city and capital region within six months’ time. The Supreme Court stated that the directions had set out unrealistic timelines.
“What kind of directions have the High Court passed? Can the High Court become a town planner and a chief engineer? The Court has no expertise in such matters, therefore we do not interfere. Without expertise…the High Court wants an entire city to come up in two months,” the SC had noted. The Bench has decided to hear the matter next on 31st January 2023.
On Monday, January 30, a case of sexual harassment of a 13-year-old minor boy by a cleric at Aisha Madarsa in the Loni area of Uttar Pradesh has come to light. According to the police, Hafiz Mamoon, a native of the Baghpat district raped the minor boy and fled when the incident came to light.
Based on a complaint filed by the boy’s father, the Loni police registered a case against Hafiz under section 377 of the IPC and sections of the POCSO Act and launched a manhunt to trace the accused.
On January 31 (Tuesday), the Ghaziabad police took to Twitter to inform that the accused had been arrested and produced in the court. Further investigation into the matter is underway.
— DCP RURAL COMMISSIONERATE GHAZIABAD (@DCPRuralGZB) January 31, 2023
According to reports, the child had managed to sneak out of the Madarsa on Monday morning. He obtained a mobile phone from a stranger outside the madarsa and called his father. The father reached Loni in the evening and lodged a complaint against Mamoon. The boy in the complaint alleged that the teacher sodomised him.
Source: Twitter handle of DCP Commisionerate Ghaziabad
Divulging details about the case, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Loni) Rajneesh Upadhyay said that the accused teacher had brought the boy to the madarsa five months ago to teach him Quran.
He added that as soon as the police received the complaint, two police teams were formed to apprehend the teacher who fled after committing the crime.
On January 30, 2023, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi completed his Bharat Jodo Yatra that started in September 2022 from Kanyakumari. The Yatra was wrapped up in Jammu and Kashmir. During the Yatra, there were several instances where the journey was more of a ‘Bharat Todo Yatra’ as many people who are known for their divisive politics joined Gandhi.
Simultaneously, the Congress leader made several comments that sparked either controversy or meme-fest. However, one thing is for sure as an event, Yatra was a quite successful PR stunt for the grand old party, especially for its Prime Minister candidate Rahul Gandhi.
In a detailed report, Dainik Bhaskar noted how leaders and workers of the Congress party worked for months to plan every leg of the Yatra in every state. Furthermore, two event companies from Mumbai were also roped in for the arrangements in Maharashtra, the report suggested.
Drawing similarities with MK Gandhi
In an interesting PR stunt, a photograph of Rahul Gandhi was made viral on social media platforms where he was seen with two women. The woman on the right was wearing glasses while the woman on the left was without glasses. The photograph has a striking similarity with a famous photograph of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi where he was walking with his granddaughter Sita and wife of his nephew Kaanu’s wife Abhaben. Factually speaking, Rahul Gandhi has no relationship with MK Gandhi.
MK Gandhi (Left) Rahul Gandhi (Right)
How much of the BJY was planned?
The reporters of Dainik Bhaskar investigated the whole event and traced the steps of the Congress leader to find out how much of the Yatra was spontaneous and how much of it was planned. The reporters met 16 people from seven states who were seen with Rahul Gandhi in photographs. They asked them three questions.
First, how they met Gandhi, Who told them about the Yatra and how well were they prepared?
Was there any security check before Gandhi arrived or it was as spontaneous as shown in the photographs?
When they think about meeting Gandhi, how much life changed?
Kerala
On September 11, 2022, Rahul Gandhi made a stop at a tea shop in Nemum’s Annakkun Church Junction. The tea shop belongs to one Stanley Thattukada. He told Dainik Bhaskar that at around 7 AM, a few people came and told him to make arrangements for a few big leaders. He said, “They came with electronic equipment and checked my shop.” He was informed ten minutes before Gandhi’s arrival that it was the Congress leader who would be drinking tea at his shop. As he did not have much time, Stanley and his wife prepared fritters and banana fingers. Gandhi stayed at his shop for 30 minutes. While leaving, he gave him Rs 2,000.
Source: Bharat Jodo Yatra official website
Interestingly, there is a hardware shop next to Stanley’s, owned by one Bernard, a Congress Booth President. He told Dainik Bhaskar that he was informed about Gandhi’s proposed visit on the same day. He was not allowed to meet Gandhi, Bernard claimed.
Trivandrum
In Neyattinkra, a 12th-class student named Daksha Dilip MD met Gandhi. Her photograph went viral on social media. Upon asking how she met Gandhi, Daksha said, “I came to know about Gandhi’s visit via the newspaper. I asked my father if I wanted to meet him. We were waiting on the roadside for him. When he was crossing, I called him. He saw me and asked the security person to let me come”. No security check took place before allowing her to meet Gandhi. She talked to him for 2-3 minutes.
Source: Bharat Jodo Yatra official website
Pallichal
In Pallichal, Gandhi met one Ratish. He told Bhaskar that around 5 PM in September, some people visited his place and told him that Rahul Gandhi wanted to use their washroom. When he allowed, the team checked the house and 15 minutes later Gandhi came. His wife told Bhaskar’s reporter that the security personnel stayed with her when she was preparing tea. They checked the ingredients as well. Gandhi stayed at their place for 30 minutes, talked to their children and left.
Ratish is a member of the Communist party. He said it was shocking for him that Gandhi visited his place. He alleged the visit might have been planned by Gandhi’s team.
Multiple teams were formed for the arrangements at the national and local level
As per District Congress Committee head Plode Ravi, BJY reached Trivandrum on September 11, 2022. The team was preparing for Gandhi’s visit for a month. There were teams formed at the district and local levels to arrange everything for the Yatra. Six main committees were formed that included Sub Committees, Transport Committee, Steering Committee, Food Committee, Accommodation Committee and Finance Committee. There were five committees at the organisational level. These were District Level Committees, Panchayat Level Committees, Assembly Level Committees, Booth Level Committees and Block Level Committees.
Ravi told Bhaskar’s journalist that the Congress workers collected funds for the arrangements. There are 2740 booths in Trivandrum. Every booth worker was handed over coupons worth Rs 50 thousand each. They went to every house seeking donations and used coupons of Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 100 to collect the donations.
He further told Bhaskar that the meetings were preplanned. He said, “In Trivandrum, he met Gandhian leader Ramachandram. Then he met handloom workers. He also went to a temple in Trichy. All these events were preplanned. Ravi’s team had arranged for everything. Congress workers were available at every point to provide the support required including for SPG for security. Only those people were allowed to meet Gandhi who was selected by the Congress leaders beforehand.”
He further told the reporter that a team of Congress members would stay 45 minutes ahead of Gandhi and make arrangements for stops. Where Gandhi would take a break, security arrangements etc were the responsibility of this team.
There were three criteria that were followed to choose the location for breaks:
The house, restaurant or tea shop should have a toilet.
There should be enough space where Gandhi could sit and talk to 2-5 people.
There should be an arrangement for tea and snacks.
Karnataka
In Karnataka’s Mysore, Gandhi stopped at a pickle factory in Nanjangud. Vishvachetan KL, the partner of the factory, told Bhaskar’s reporter that they were aware that Gandhi would pass through the factory’s location. At around 7 AM, a few security personnel came and informed them that at 8:30 AM a prominent leader would visit the factory and asked if they could arrange for snacks. At 8:15 AM, he was informed that Gandhi would be visited. Gandhi came with Randeep Surjewala and 50 others. They had tea and snacks at the factory and talked to the factory’s partner’s son Vishwaroop.
Interestingly, Varun Venugopal, owner of Platinum In Restaurant of Mysore, told Bhaskar’s reporter that when Gandhi stopped at the restaurant, no one was allowed to use the phones. Only camerapersons of the Yatra were allowed to take pictures.
The uninvited were beaten up
There were instances where those who tried to meet Gandhi without prior approval were beaten up. Yogesh Anneyay of Mysore tried to gift Gandhi an old photograph of Rajiv Gandhi. The security personnel did not allow him to meet and instead, beat him up. However, Gandhi spotted what was happening and asked the security personnel to let Yogesh pass.
यात्रा के वो लम्हे, जो थकान-दर्द सब मिटा देते हैं।
On the contrary, another student named Noufil Ahmed was allowed to meet Gandhi without any problem. He even talked to Gandhi about jobs and unemployment. He, along with a group of 70-75 youth met Gandhi and gave him their resumes.
While speaking to the Congress leaders in Karnataka, Bhaskar reporters found out that the arrangements were different in every state. For example, in Karnataka, the arrangements were made at four levels. Here too, the preparations started a month before the Yatra. Around ten meetings were held to form the structure of the arrangements. All the permissions were obtained fifteen days before Gandhi’s visit. The famous places including Sutur Math, Chamundi Hill Temple, Masjid-E-Azam etc were visited by the Congress’s team members multiple times in two months to make the arrangements.
From protests against the Central Government to visits to temples, mosques and churches, everything was pre-planned at least 15 days before the day of the events. For the Mysore visit, an application was submitted to the DM office eight days before the date of the event. In the document accessed by Bhaskar, all details of Gandhi’s visit excluding team breaks and details of temple, mosque and church visits were there.
Source: Dainik Bhaskar
Andhra Pradesh
In Aalur, Gandhi met a man named Rasool who came with his 2-year-old son. He expressed his surprise when he was allowed to meet Gandhi without any check. Interestingly, the little lad was wearing a shiny cap and the photograph went viral on social media.
D Pasha, Congress Incharge of Aalur, told Bhaskar that they were informed about Gandhi’s plan in June. His team was given the task to make all the arrangements. They had put up over 10,000 posters and five auto-rikshaws were hired to promote Yatra.
In Karnul, Congress District Committee Chief M Sudhakar Babu told Bhaskar that Yatra passed via inner roads and not via main roads and it would not have made such an impact on the main roads. Everything was planned 15 days before the day of Gandhi’s visit. All the programs were preplanned by the Congress workers, former MLA Lakshminarayan Reddy told Bhaskar. Wherever, Bhaskar’s team went, everyone, told them that all the events were preplanned and the arrangements were made by the local leaders and workers.
Maharashtra
In Maharashtra, Congress spokesperson Santosh Pandhagle told Bhaskar that they went to Kerala to study how preparations were made so that those can be replicated in the state. He said that they were informed about the Yatra five months prior. Two event management companies were also roped in for the arrangements along with workers from private firms.
Madhya Pradesh
In Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa, Gandhi stopped at Rahul Naushad’s place. He told Bhaskar that he was informed about the visit two hours prior. The chairs and snacks were brought by Gandhi’s team.
Rajasthan
In Rajasthan as well, special arrangements were made for some famous artists including Langa-Mangniyaar artists, Kalbheliya dancers etc to meet Gandhi. All the arrangements were made by local leaders.
राजस्थान की सांस्कृतिक विरासत को संजोती #BharatJodoYatra में कालबेलिया नृत्य की झलक।
From Bhaskar’s report, it is evident that several incidents where things looked spontaneous were pre-planned at the booth level. Celebrities, articles and groups that met Gandhi were all part of the plan. Only those were allowed to meet Gandhi who was cleared by Congress committees and passed security checks. The committee members in every state started preparing for the visits months before the Yatra started. The party collected funds for the Yatra using coupons.
During Bharat Jodo Yatra, mainstream media was kept at a distance but planned interviews were given to YouTubers. It was all planned by the Congress committees who will be invited to meet Gandhi and what kind of questions would be asked.
On Monday (January 30), the commander of the infamous ‘Operation Bluestar’ of 1984, Lt. General Kuldip Singh Brar, recounted how Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had to be eliminated for waging war against the Indian State.
While speaking to ANI Editor-in-Chief Smita Prakash, he narrated how there was a complete breakdown of law and order in the State of Punjab, in the months preceding the military operation at the Golden Temple.
“Feeling of Khalistan was slowly building up. Bhindranwale was fully in control of the State,” Lt. General Brar emphasised. On being asked about the resurgence of the separatist ideology, he lamented how the Khalistani movement, which he helped weed out in the 1980s, had resurfaced on a global scale.
“I feel horrible. I go to South Hall in the United Kingdom. I see Bhindrawale’s pictures everywhere…It is our diaspora who have gone abroad who are more pro-Khalistan and all that than those who are in India. Pakistan is also assisting them, besides the United Kingdom, United States and Canada,” General Brar emphasised.
While recounting Operation Blue Star, he said that the Indian Army was left with no option but to eliminate the Khalistani terrorist who took devottes as hostages at the Golden Temple.
“It was decided that there was no other way except to physically enter the Golden Temple…Machine guns were firing at us from places which we never imagined and couldn’t see. It was like a boxer going into the boxing ring with one hand tied behind his back and allowed to fight with only one hand,” he narrated.
ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash | EP-36 with 1971 War veteran, Operation Blue Star CO Lt Gen Kuldip Singh Brar premieres on Mon at 7 PM IST#KuldipSinghBrar#SmitaPrakash
“Because you do not have all the resources with you. In those 8-10 hours, we must have lost 300-400 soldiers. It was not easy. I know what nightmares I have been having after that event,” the commander of Operation Blue added.
He pointed out how General Krishnaswamy “Sundarji” Sundararajan had instructed the army to execute the operation with minimal damage. “We didn’t want to bring in heavy weapons because of the restrictions imposed by the government – minimum force, no damage to buildings, temples etc,” he said.
“No, we did not fire on the Akal takht. The orders were not to fire on the Akal Takht. But the fact is what do you do? You just allow your men to keep dying. You are to take some action,” General Brar reiterated.
#WATCH | On Op Blue Star, Lt Gen Kuldip Singh Brar,a veteran of 1971 India-Pak War says,”No one wants an op but what do you do?Indira Gandhi allowed him (Bhindranwale) to become Frankenstein. You could see what was happening.But when he reached pinnacle, finish him – too late…” pic.twitter.com/yHIxol5wMl
On being asked whether he had any sense of regret, he remained unabashed about his commitment to the nation without giving a damn about political correctness.
“What shouldn’t have happened? No one wants an operation but what do you do? Indira Gandhi allowed him (Bhindranwale) to become Frankenstein. You could see what was happening with each passing year. But when he reached the pinnacle, now finish/ destroy him. Now, it’s too late…” he highlighted.
“The Congress and the Akalis had their own political problems. (They allowed this cult of Bhindrawnwle) to continue,” he added. On being asked whether the operation could have been executed better in hindsight, Lt. General Kuldeep Singh Brar clarified, “I do not know. How am I to say that? Someone else can say that. I feel whatever we did, it was executed in the best manner that we could.”
Operation Blue Star assassination of ex-army Chief General AS Vaidya
Between the 1st and 10th of June 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had launched an operation to flush out terrorists from the Golden Temple. Operation Blue Star was the code name for the Indian military action carried out to remove Khalistan terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers from the Harminder Sahib complex in Amritsar.
Operation Blue Star, however, had far-reaching ramifications well after it was over. While the military had neutralised Bhindranwale, the Army Chief, who had coordinated the operation, was brutally assassinated by Khalistani terrorists only 2 years later.
On August 10, 1986, former army chief General A.S. Vaidya was assassinated in Pune by Sikh militants in Khalistan Commando Force. The assassins, Jinda and Sukha were sentenced to death in 1989 and executed on October 9, 1992. General Vaidya played a vital role in Operation Blue Star which eventually led to the end of the Khalistan movement in Punjab. He was army chief during the operation.
I know I am wading into a topic that has been discussed enough in recent days. The Hindenburg report on the Adani Group has stirred a lot of interest. As Jinit Jain’s article has pointed out, the CONLEFT ecosystem’s attacks on Adani and their embrace of this report to use as a stick to beat Modi has split the right too – should they defend Adani or not? Let me ignore that for now and focus on other aspects.
We must understand and acknowledge that short sellers are very much a part of the overall free market ecosystem. They are often wrong and have their own profit motives – like any other player – but that doesn’t mean they can be condemned wholesale. They play a valuable role in unearthing fraud and bubble stocks. Many, like Jim Chanos, are highly respected even when they are wrong – as they have been with Tesla for a long long time. They may yet be proved right.
There is a special breed of short sellers that are “activists” – they go around actively promoting their theories, perhaps hoping many will buy into it, dump the stock and help turn their doomsday prophecies into reality. At that point it hardly matters if the original allegations are right or wrong. Carson Block, Andrew Left are examples of such activist short sellers.
Such activist short sellers usually target the big guys. Even if they are completely wrong and motivated, one must admire their guts. There are easier ways to make money, believe me.
Adani is not the first or will be the last to be targeted by such people – they go for stocks with high PE, steep run-up in price and are led by visible and controversial people. After all, this is where they can find traction for their allegations and maximum profit potential – again this is not wrong. If posting crazily optimistic projections on Tesla (to name but one stock) while being long on the stock is kosher, so is posting doomsday on the same stock, hoping to profit on its decline. As long as there is proper disclosure, intelligent research or insights and the allegations survive the usual laws of defamation.
The shorts pay a heavy price for their positions if they are wrong or if the market doesn’t believe them, whether they are activists or not. Many lost their shirts on “meme stocks” like AMC and folded up. Of course, they also made killings, as George Soros did with the Pound sterling.
It is not just the right wing that attacks short sellers – everyone does, if it suits them. In fact, in woke liberal paradise of the USA, DOJ (which is supposedly independent) has opened a criminal investigation into short sellers and the FBI sent search warrants to many of them. Imagine Modi doing this! American politicians of various hues have harangued about the alleged damage “shorts” cause the economy while often playing the market themselves, including taking short positions!
I personally think it is more harmful to ban shorts. Yes, they ‘distort’ as the famous academic Prof Mitts report alleges. They spend huge amounts of time and money to research and uncover frauds, not to speak of personal and financial risks for uncertain rewards. If you ban them, the incentive goes. Who will be the loser? The small investor who bought into tulip-style bubbles won’t have access to such analysis.
If all this sounds like a defence of short sellers, you are right! It very much is.
Now let us turn our attention to the specific case – Adani Group and Hindenburg. Again a few points are relevant:
Just as a disclosure, I don’t personally short any stock, I own them mostly for the long term. I do not own any Adani Group stock. I also have no investments in any hedge or other funds that are short-focused.
Adani Group has been selected for the exact same reasons I mentioned earlier – its stock has run up quite a bit, deservedly or otherwise. But then the whole market is frothy not just in India, but in the USA too. And Adani is, to say the least, controversial perhaps next only to Musk.
I am not trying to defend Gautam Adani – he is perfectly capable of doing it himself. I am more concerned about Indian infrastructure which needs more such investments given the pathetic state it was left to us when dynastic loot ended in Delhi.
Having said that I have some comments on the report:
In the very first paragraph, it says the accounting frauds and other manipulations are “decades” old. In that case, the CONLEFT ecosystem may find they have scored yet another self-goal. Pidis may well be careful, your lifafas and table scrap are at risk if this starts biting the hands that feed!
India has signed special treaties that encourage routing investments through Mauritius etc. Obviously, Modi or Adani did not invent this loophole. In fact, in recent years the NDA government has with lots of effort, amended some treaties, tightened them – and in the process got attacked as anti-business.
Having overseas subsidiaries and holding companies, especially in tax-attractive domains like Singapore, UAE etc., is not wrong in of itself – many do it. Not just Indian conglomerates. The challenges this presents to Income tax and other authorities is a separate problem that needs serious discussion but not one that focuses on any one entity.
It is also common for companies that fund infra such as solar or other power plants to insist on separate legal entities and related ownership structures for each project. This is to avoid the problem from one affecting the other.
It is hilarious to see the report pointing out close family control of the Group – this is how Corporate India (or for that matter Political India) runs! So-called key person risk etc. is well known and is hardly an Adani-specific problem. You don’t need a short seller to educate us on that!
Adani is into infra–transmission, green energy, power, airports, ports etc. All of these have considerable time horizons, long gestation periods and huge capital expenditures. But that is also a blessing as it is not easy to get into. It is not a group that’s into dot-com, crypto, chain marketing etc that are scams or bubble almost at birth.
All these businesses require funding from deep-pocketed institutional investors with a long-term view. These investors don’t read sell-side or hedge fund analyst reports to do due diligence. They have access to data, information and insights that we simply don’t. And they don’t recall loans or investments at short notice. Adani is not likely their first or only infra investment. The report’s prediction (or prayer?) of “one liquidity event” creating a cascading collapse seems farfetched.
What the report doesn’t talk about is equally important – loans that are NOT from related parties. Are these fickle investors? Too much short-term loans used to fund long-term projects? No idea. Related party loans, over which the report spends a huge amount of time, are resilient to short-term mood changes even if they are routed through a complex web of entities for tax or other reasons.
Even the attack over the current ratio, an odd metric to pick for a long-term infra group, seems half-hearted – “let’s throw this and see if it sticks”. There is no mention of what the ratio was a year ago or two years ago! Has it gotten worse or better? I guess if worse it would have found mention!
A lot of the Adani group assets and entities are in advanced markets like Singapore, Australia which are regulated independent of SEBI, Modi or India.
The entire market cap of Adani Group – even before the decline is US$218 billions. To see this in perspective, BSE market cap total is well over $3 trillions.
The report itself argues that Adani controls far more of the group than he has declared – well over 75%. And it also says funds have largely avoided investing in it! If so, who exactly is the victim? Clearly, Adani has more skin in the game than most Indian lalas. In fact, many of them control their companies with far less holding and hence are not left holding the bag when things collapse.
Even if the entire Adani Group collapses, it will leave India with infrastructure assets like ports that will have value in a booming economy. Buyers can be found. It is not an arms brokerage or land-flipping outfit that dynasties and their damaads are more familiar with.
Much has been said about the “400-page” response by Adani as if that is a crime. In fact, only 50 pages are the real response – the rest are annexures mostly of public documents. Note that the Hindenburg report is quite long as well and repetitive.
I do not agree that these attacks by Hindenburg constitute an “attack on India”. This line of defence will only hurt. It will be used to gloss over all the other deficiencies in the original analysis and the points made in the response. The corrupt media ecosystem has already picked on this as if that’s the only thing in the report.
This is not market advise and I am no expert, but my gut feel is Adani Group will survive this saga.
But if the report leads to inventor education, curiosity about activist short sellers, better disclosure practices, stronger regulatory oversight and general cleansing of the system, it would have done far more good than harm.
In a horrific case of forced conversion that has come to the fore from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, an 18-year-old Dalit girl has accused one Mohammad Shahnawaz of holding her hostage for 25 days, during which he tortured her and pressurised her to convert to Islam. When she did not accede to his demands, he beat her up with a belt and wire. The accused also tried to burn her to death by sprinkling kerosene on her and setting her on fire.
The incident came to light when the victim’s family approached the Kanpur police on Tuesday, January 24, with a complaint against Shahnawaz. Subsequently, the police reached the hospital where the victim was admitted and initiated an investigation into the matter.
According to reports, the girl suffered severe burns to her face and upper body. When she was admitted, her condition was described as critical.
Giving details of the case in a video byte on January 25, ADCP, South, Ankita Sharma said that the accused was booked under sections 326 and 323 of the IPC and relevant sections of the SC/ST Act.
She added, “The 18-year-old girl had gone to Lucknow in search of a job, where she became friends with one Shahnawaz. They stayed together for a few days. However, as per the girl, following a dispute Shahnawaz thrashed her and even tried to burn her by pouring kerosene oil on her. The girl was brought to Kanpur by her family members and admitted to a private nursing home in Juhi, from where she was shifted to Ursala hospital. Two teams of police have been dispatched to Lucknow to arrest the accused. The charge of conversion will be verified only after his arrest.”
कानपुर गुजैनी थाना क्षेत्र की रहने वाली एक किशोरी जो लखनऊ में एक पार्लर में काम करती थी, जिसके साथ बीते दिनों एक युवक द्वारा मारपीट और मिट्टी का तेल डालकर जलाने एवं कानपुर पुलिस कमिश्ररेट द्वारा की गई विधिक कार्यवाही के सम्बन्ध में एडीसीपी साउथ महोदया द्वारा दी गई बाइट। @Uppolicepic.twitter.com/ENgH4qNlC2
— POLICE COMMISSIONERATE KANPUR NAGAR (@kanpurnagarpol) January 25, 2023
According to reports, the victim lived in a rented house in Ambedkar Nagar in Gujaini, Kanpur, with her elderly grandmother after the death of her parents. She was working in a parlour in Yashoda Nagar and just three months back a friend introduced her to Mohammad Shahnawaz.
In December 2022, Shahnawaz invited the victim to his house in Alambagh, Lucknow under the pretext of getting her a job. When the victim reached Alambagh, Shahnazaw held her hostage and kept threatening and pressurising her to convert to Islam.
On January 3, 2023, the girl tried to escape but Shahnawaz caught her. Infuriated by her attempt to flee, Shahnawaz reportedly beat up the victim with a belt and a wire. Shahnawaz then sprinkled kerosene on the 18-year-old girl and set her on fire.
The people in the neighbourhood rushed to Shahnawaz’s house after hearing the victim’s scream. Seeing the crowd assimilate outside his house, Shahnawaz quickly doused the fire and took the girl to the district hospital. He threatened her against informing her family about what occurred.
The victim, however, called her aunt, when Shahnawaz was asleep and shared her ordeal. She urged her to come to the hospital where the accused had admitted her.
On getting the information, the victim’s family members reached Lucknow and brought her to Kanpur where she was admitted to a private nursing home in Juhi. The girl was later shifted to Ursala hospital in the city.
The family also alerted the police about the incident. Subsequently, the police reached the hospital and initiated an inquiry by recording the victim’s statement.
