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Uttar Pradesh: Brawl breaks out between two factions of Congress workers during Bharat Jodo Yatra, video goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Brawl breaks out between two factions of Congress workers during Bharat Jodo Yatra, video goes viral

On Monday, December 12, two factions of Congress workers came face to face in Uttar Pradesh. The brawl took place when the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra was passing through Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi district’s Bharwari block. The workers reportedly engaged in fist fights and attacked each other with sticks and lathis in the presence of senior Congress leaders. Videos of the fight have since gone viral on social media.

The Kaushambi police, meanwhile, have taken to Twitter to confirm the incident. The police said that the brawl started between the leaders of the two rival factions over who gets to accompany the chief guest when the Bharat Jodo Yatra was on its way from Rohi village in Manjhanpur.

As the argument heated up, the members from the two camps began hitting one another with sticks and lathis. A team was dispatched to the scene as soon as the Kaushambi police station received the information about the brawl. The two Congress workers were arrested and the mob was dispersed.

Speaking about the incident, a senior party leader said, two opposite factions of party leaders and workers clashed over the issue of poor attendance and accompanying chief guest during the yatra and accused each other for it”.

He added, “Initially, the leaders exchanged heated arguments over the issue in full public view and they along with their supporters attacked and assaulted each-others with sticks”.

He further justified by saying that senior party leader Ajay Rai was far away from the spot when the altercation between party members broke out.

Interestingly, a similar scene was witnessed in Assam when Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra passed through the state’s Dhubri town in the month of September this year.

On September 26, a furious fight over who will be in charge of leading the march at the district level broke out between two factions after state party members had assembled to settle on the strategy for the Assam leg of the Bharat Jodo march. When words fell short, the leaders turned on one another and got into a fight.

Then too, a video showing chaotic scenes in the meeting room at Rajiv Bhawan where leaders clashed against each other went viral leaving the party leadership in embarrassment.

IAF jets scrambled multiple times in the past few weeks, Chinese drones had moved aggressively towards Indian positions on LAC

ANI
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IAF jets scrambled multiple times in the past few weeks, Chinese drones had moved aggressively towards Indian positions on LAC

Before the recent clash between India and China in the Yangtse area near Tawang, Chinese drones had moved very aggressively towards the Indian positions on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh forcing the Indian Air Force to scramble its fighter aircrafts deployed in the region.

The Chinese military has been behaving aggressively over issues in the Yangtse in the vicinity of the Holydip and Parikrama area on the LAC where the Chinese side has been opposing Indian positions. “In the last few weeks, there have been two to three occasions where our fighter jets had to be scrambled to tackle the Chinese drones moving towards our positions on the LAC. The Su-30MKI jets had to be scrambled to tackle the air violation threat,” defence sources told ANI.
The Indian Air Force keeps a close watch on Chinese drone activities along the LAC in the northeast. The actions have to be taken as the drones or any aircraft can not be allowed to violate the airspace, they said.

The sources said if the drones fly parallel to the LAC, the Indian side does not have any issues with it but if the aircrafts or drones are picked up by radars flying towards Indian territory, necessary actions have to be taken to prevent any violation, they said.

The Indian Air Force has a strong presence in the northeast with squadrons of Su-30 fighter jets deployed at multiple locations including Tezpur and Chhabua in Assam.

The Rafale combat jets have also been deployed very close at Hashimara in West Bengal.

The Indian Air Force has also strengthened its air defence coverage in the area with the operationalisation of the S-400 air defence system in the Assam sector only. The system can take care of any aerial threat over almost the entire area.

The Chinese and Indian side recently agreed on multiple measures to prevent any aerial escalation after the violation of air space by Chinese in Ladakh sector earlier this year.

After the provocations by the Chinese in the area, the Indian side strongly took up the issue at military talks and it was decided that the fighter aircraft of both sides would remain much behind their perceived Line of Actual Control in the area.

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

Twitter Files 5.0: Employees cheered as Trump banned despite no violation of policies, Yoel Roth and Vijaya Gadde were the driving force

Dibakar Dutta
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Twitter Files 5.0: Employees cheered as Trump banned despite no violation of policies, Yoel Roth and Vijaya Gadde were the driving force

The fifth tranche of internal documents, also known as ‘Twitter Files 5.0’, reveals the strategies adopted by the top executives of the social media platform to legitimise the permanent suspension of US President Donald Trump.

Journalist Bari Weiss covered the story and exposed how Twitter employees went all-out to de-platform Donald Trump on January 8 last year. This was despite the fact that the content moderation team did not initially find any violation of Twitter policies.

‘Twitter Files 5.0’ also unearthed how the likes of Vijaya Gadde and Yoel Roth made decisions based on their whims and fancies. The revelations were made in a 46-tweet-long thread on Monday (December 12, US local time) morning.

As pointed out earlier by American author Michael Shellenberger in ‘Twitter Files 4.0’, the Twitter Safety team had initially decided to give US President Donald Trump, a little breather.

The employees formulated new rules, under which Trump had a remaining strike before he could be permanently ousted from the social media platform. On the morning of January 8, 2021, Donald Trump posted two tweets wherein he referred to his supporters as ‘American patriots.’

He said that the mandate given to him by his voters could not be disrespected and that he would skip the Presidential inauguration of Joe Biden. The tweets were not received well by an overwhelming majority of Twitter employees.

Demands of Twitter staffers

Since the US Capitol riots of January 6, 2021, there was a growing resentment against the former US President within the Twitter team. Many employees had openly advocated for his ouster from the social media platform.

“We have to do the right thing and ban this account,” one staffer was seen as saying. Another employee insinuated, “…Pretty obvious he’s going to try to thread the needle of incitement without violating the rules.”

Even the leftist news outlet, The Washington Post, published an open letter, directed at Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and signed by 300 employees, calling for a permanent ban on Donald Trump.

According to journalist Bari Weiss, who unearthed the fifth tranche of Twitter Files, only a handful of Twitter employees voiced their opinion against censoring Donald Trump.

On January 7 last year, a Twitter employee remarked, “Maybe because I am from China,” said one employee on January 7, “I deeply understand how censorship can destroy the public conversation.”

“But voices like that one appear to have been a distinct minority within the company. Across Slack channels, many Twitter employees were upset that Trump hadn’t been banned earlier,” Bari Weiss emphasized.

Failed conclusion of incitement of violence

While the overwhelming majority of Twitter employees wanted Donald Trump banned, they were scratching their heads over the lack of pretexts to justify censoring the elected Head of State.

The internal documents revealed that the said employees were increasingly finding it difficult to label the harmless tweets of Donald Trump as ‘inciting violence.’

One employee lamented, “It’s pretty clear he’s saying the ‘American Patriots’ are the ones who voted for him and not the terrorists (we can call them that, right?) from Wednesday.”

A senior Twitter official, Anika Navaroli, informed that after a rigorous assessment, she did not find any violation of the platform’s policies by Donald Trump.

Later, she did a complete U-turn and testified before the January 6 Committee of the US House of Representatives.

“For months I had been begging and anticipating and attempting to raise the reality that if nothing—if we made no intervention into what I saw occurring, people were going to die,” Anika Navaroli had alleged.

On the morning of January 8, 2021, the Safety Team of Twitter also concluded that Donald Trump did not violate any of the platform’s rules. “Just dropping in to say he (Trump) tweeted again, but it’s a clear no vio. It’s just to say he’s not attending the inauguration,” an employee emphasised.

However, things began to change over the following 1.5 hours and top executives such as Vijaya Gadde (former Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust at Twitter) and Yoel Roth (former Global Head of Trust & Safety) found ways to circumvent existing rules to treat Donald Trump’s tweets as an exception case.

“The biggest question is whether a tweet like the one this morning from Trump, which isn’t a rule violation on its face, is being used as coded incitement to further violence…,” Gadde had sought refuge in the use of the term ‘American patriots’ by Trump to lay the foundation of an imminent ban.

Immediately, Twitter employees who were part of the ‘scaled enforcement team’ started ‘observing’ violations of Twitter’s Glorification of Violence policy. Determined to oust the sitting US President, the Twitter team remain fixated on the use of the term ‘American patriots’ by Trump.

According to journalist Bari Weiss, many employees began to compare the former US President to Christchurch mass shooter and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Soon after, a meeting was conducted by Jack Dorsey and Vijaya Gadde with Twitter staffers and answered their questions about not banning Trump until then. Yoel Roth stepped in to add fuel to the fire and claimed that Twitter employees were now questioning the decision-making process of the top executives.

He went on to claim that they were being compared to Nazis (for allegedly not de-platforming Donald Trump) and how his family members had actually suffered during the reign of Hitler in Nazi Germany.

The ‘Twitter Files’ has exposed how Yoel Roth has justified the censorship of the infamous New York Post story about Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.

In the third tranche of Twitter’s internal communications, it came to light that the former Safety Head at Twitter had regular meetings with federal agencies. He lamented that he could not conceal his meetings with the FBI.

Yoel Roth was also seen patting himself on the back for quickly censoring Donald Trump. The top Twitter executive was also found siding with the Democrats and calling for the removal of warning labels from misleading tweets of party members.

And within just a span of the following hour, Donald Trump was banned from Twitter. It was a historic moment in modern-day censorship exercise where a private company silenced a sitting Head of a State. This left the ‘Trump-hating employees in a jubilant mood.

As early as 2018, Twitter’s Public Policy department had argued against suspending/ silencing world leaders in the interests of public discourse. By January 8, 2021, the social media platform had backtracked on its own policy.

Fearing backlash, former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal suggested the team go into a damage-control mode. “I think a few of us should brainstorm the ripple effects of Trump’s ban…centralized content moderation IMO has reached a breaking point now,” he had alarmed.

As expected, the decision of the Twitter team was criticised by prominent world leaders.

Journalist Bari Weiss pointed out, “Ultimately, the concerns about Twitter’s efforts to censor news about Hunter Biden’s laptop, blacklist disfavored views, and ban a president aren’t about the past choices of executives in a social media company.”

She further added, “They’re about the power of a handful of people at a private company to influence the public discourse and democracy.”

Twitter Files 5: Bari Weiss uses a misleading NYT report to make false claims about Modi govt’s warning to Twitter to follow Indian law

Anurag
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Twitter Files 5: Bari Weiss uses a misleading NYT report to make false claims about Modi govt’s warning to Twitter to follow Indian law

On December 12 (local time), Bari Weiss, Editor of The Free Press, published the fifth instalment of ‘Twitter Files‘ explaining how former President Donald Trump was de-platformed from Twitter. While giving examples of leaders from around the world that did not get banned from the platform even after instigating people, Weiss tried to insinuate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of them.

Bari Weiss claimed Modi Government threatened to arrest Twitter employees for “not blocking accounts critical of him”. Source: Twitter

In a tweet, she wrote, “In early February 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government threatened to arrest Twitter employees in India and to incarcerate them for up to seven years after they restored hundreds of accounts that had been critical of him. Twitter did not ban Modi.” The tweet by Weiss was not only misleading but also quoted New York Times as “proof” despite the fact that the publication has been a repeat offender sharing fake news.

February 10, 2021, New York Times published a report titled “Twitter Blocks Accounts in India as Modi Pressures Social Media”. In the sub-heading, the report said, “The platform’s problems in the country offer a stark example of the difficulty of adhering to its free-speech principles amid government worries over its influence.” This is what was shared by Weiss. No information on where this report came from, no information on the background and no information on why the Government of India suggested that Twitter employees might face arrest. Let’s take a journey back to that period to understand what had happened.

Interestingly, if we go through the previous tweets and see the examples Weiss gave to suggest Twitter was biased in banning President Trump, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed there were actual tweets listed as sources. But in the case of PM Modi and India, Weiss conveniently picked a report from NYT without giving any context. There was no direct tweet by the Government of India and PM Modi that falls in sync with the other world leaders.

The chronology of events that led to GoI vs Twitter

On January 26, which is celebrated as Republic Day, alleged farmer leaders organised a Tractor March against now-repealed farm laws. There were strict instructions about the route from the Delhi Police that the protesting farmers promised to adhere to. However, they did not follow what was decided upon and marched towards the Red Fort. Notably, Red Fort is the place where Republic Day is officially celebrated every year in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister and other leaders and VIPs.

The protesters reached Red Fort while having altercations with the security forces deployed in the capital of India and raised two alien flags. Amidst all the mess created by the protestors in Delhi, hundreds of thousands of accounts and hashtags were spreading misinformation and fake news, creating more unrest. One such tweet was related to the death of a protestor due to an accident that media houses and anti-India actors projected as shot dead by Police.

In the next few days, the Government of India, via the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), issued a series of notices to Twitter under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act to block several accounts and remove tweets that were spreading fake news and anti-India propaganda. The notices asked the social media giant to block 1,178 accounts from Pakistan peddling Khalistani secessionism during the protests. This was an addition to the government’s earlier notice asking them to ban 257 anti-India social media accounts for making hate speech.

The misuse of the social media platform for spreading anti-India propaganda, provocative content and misinformation irked the Union government. The government believes that the said Twitter accounts have the potential to cause a threat to public order. However, as per Twitter’s blog from February 10, 2021, the social media company blocked only a handful of the accounts immediately adhering to the notices but later restored many of those saying some of them were “newsworthy”. Twitter further said it would not be taking action against any media, journalists, activists, or politicians despite the government’s notice.

The Government of India got into action and informed the company that it had to follow the Law of the land. The main concern at that time was the fake news and misinformation being spread at a large scale by so-called prominent accounts. There was no attempt to suppress anyone’s freedom of speech, but it has to be understood that no freedom is absolute. In no way the Government of India could have allowed the social media platform to become the base for spreading fake news.

The GoI sent multiple notices to the social media platform, but the company failed to adhere to the Law, claiming they have to follow “their own rules to ensure freedom of expression and speech”. On February 11, sources from the GoI suggested that Twitter employees in India might face arrest if they do not comply with the laws of the land. The government warned the tech giant that its patience was wearing out over the company’s refusal to follow the rules under Section 69A of the IT Act.

However, the US-based micro-blogging giant has repeatedly flouted the rules and failed to take action against the anti-India accounts that incited violence. Citing free speech, Twitter had categorised some of these accounts as ‘activists’, journalists’, and ‘media’ and had absolved its act of crime.

Brazening it out, Twitter had said that the orders issued by the government were not inconsistent with Indian laws. Challenging the Indian government, Twitter refused to take down anti-India accounts and added that other accounts suspended would only apply to India.

Twitter fails to comply even after a stern warning

Following Twitter’s refusal to comply, the Indian government took a strong view and started on the newly developed Indian app ‘Koo’. It was reported that senior executives of Twitter met with the officials of the Indian government to discuss the issue and said they were unwilling to take action against any of those anti-Indian accounts.

During a meeting with Twitter executives Monique Meche and Jim Baker, Union IT secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney made it clear that using the controversial hashtag was neither journalistic freedom nor freedom of expression. He also expressed his displeasure over Twitter’s differential treatment in handling the problems on Capitol Hill and Red Fort.

After a long tussle between the social media giant and GoI, the social media platform finally, on June 27, 2022, blocked, banned and withheld accounts as per the notices sent by the Indian Government. However, within a week of the action against the said accounts, Twitter approached Karnataka High Court against the GoI’s orders. The matter is sub-judice in the court.

It has to be noted that Indian Law allows companies like Twitter to approach courts if they do not agree with the Government’s orders. As per September 25, 2022, reports, the Centre categorically told the Karnataka High Court that the accounts were spreading Khalistani and anti-India propaganda. The counsel for GoI said, “Examples of such content include anti-India, or seditious or any religious contents that have potential to incite violence and contents that affect communal harmony in the country, e.g. SFJ or Khalistan related content.”

The Centre added, “The petitioner Twitter claims to have complied with the directions and filed the case. But Twitter has unblocked multiple user accounts that were earlier blocked on government directions under Section 69A (AtheistRepublic, sushant_says, SikhPA, cjwerleman, standwkashmir).” Account of pro-Khalistani Amaan Bali and tweet(s) of Rana Ayyub were also withheld.

In its argument, the Centre said, “It is pertinent to note that out of the 39 accounts that are challenged in this case, one of the accounts is (Account Name @savukku). On 16.03.2021, Respondent No.1 issued a blocking direction under Section 69 A against the account @savukku for “national security” related reasons. The petitioner did not comply with this direction till June 2022″.

Furthermore, “Only on the diligent follow up of the Respondent No 2 (designated officer at the Ministry of Electronics and IT – MEITY) and upon the issuance of show cause notice dated 27.06.2022 the petitioner for reasons best known to it suddenly complied with all the blocking directions and then has challenged blocking directions for a specific set of 39 URLs.”

As per Indian Law, if Twitter or any other platform does not comply with the notices issued by the government and the Law of the land, it stands a chance of losing its intermediary status. In such cases, any content published on these platforms will become the platforms’ liability.

Conclusion:

Contrary to what Bari Weiss, an ex-NYT journalist herself, claims in her Twitter Files tweet, the Modi government did not threaten to jail Twitter staffers for ‘criticising PM Modi’, the Modi government had asked Twitter to follow the existing laws of India or be ready to be held liable for the content they share on their platform.

Congress leader detained over his ‘kill Modi to save constitution’ remarks

ANI
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Congress leader detained over his ‘kill Modi to save constitution’ remarks

Congress leader and former minister Raja Pateria was on Tuesday detained by Panna Police from his residence, in connection with his alleged “kill Modi” remarks. 

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered on Monday afternoon at Pawai police station in Panna district against the Congress leader and former state minister for making remarks against the prime minister. Pateria has been booked under sections 451, 504, 505 (1)(b), 505 (1)(C), 506, 153-B (1)(C) of the IPC. He was detained from his residence in Hatta of Damoh district early this morning. 

State Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Monday ordered filing a FIR against the Congress leader. 

On Sunday, Pateria the former Madhya Pradesh minister, purportedly made the controversial remarks at a meeting of Mandalam Sector presidents organized by the District Congress Committee at Powai Rest House. 

In the video that went viral, Pateria could be heard saying that “PM Modi will “end elections, divide people on the basis of religion and Dalits face the biggest threat under his regime”. “You should be ready to carry out ‘Modi ki hatya’ if you want to save the Constitution…hatya (kill) in the sense of defeating him,” Pateria is heard saying. 

Agitated over his statement, the BJP leaders demanded Pateria’s immediate arrest and also sought the strictest probe into the matter. 

In the letter to DGP, the BJP leaders said: “A video in the matter has gone viral over social media and electronic media where a senior leader of Congress was seen appealing to kill the Prime Minister in an open address in a village of Panna. Such an appeal to kill the Prime Minister shows that there is a serious challenge to national security, and a conspiracy to spread anarchy and cause a riot in Madhya Pradesh.” 

“This seems to be an attempt to hatch a conspiracy to kill PM Modi and encourage Naxalism in the state,” the letter read further. 
Pateria in a clarification video said, “I am a follower of Gandhi ji and Gandhi’s followers can not talk about murder. The video has been misinterpreted.” 

“I meant to say that it is necessary to defeat him to save this country’s Constitution, to protect minorities, Dalits, and tribal and to remove unemployment. My intention about the murder has been misrepresented,” Pateria added.

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

Golden Globe Award 2023: S S Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’ bags two nominations

OpIndia Staff
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Golden Globe Award 2023: S S Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’ bags two nominations

Indian blockbuster movie ‘RRR’ continues its impressive run on foreign frontiers as it earned two nominations at the prestigious Golden Globe Award 2023.

S S Rajamouli’s period action film “RRR” was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the best picture non-English language category. The second nomination has been for the RRR song “Naatu Naatu” in the Best Original Song – Motion Picture category.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) shared the announcement on Monday evening on the official Twitter page of the Golden Globe Awards.

“RRR” is competing with All Quiet on the Western Front, Argentina, 1985, Close and Decision to Leave in the best picture non-English language category. In the Best Original Song category, RRR’s “Naatu Naatu” is up against “Carolina” from Where the Crawdads Sing, “Ciao Papa” from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick and “Lift Me” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

RRR’s relentless march started ever since it hit the theatres, becoming one of the highest-grossing movies in the country’s movie industry. More recently, its ascension could be credited to its extraordinary success in the West, thanks to the gripping plot and intriguing screenplay. Several notable Hollywood actors and moviemakers have heaped praises on the film, adding to the legendary rise of the movie. 

The film has racked up several international awards, including Rajamouli’s Best Director award from the New York Film Critics Circle. The film also won the Saturn award in the Best International Film category. The National Board of Review awarded RRR as one of its ten best films of the year. It also earned the second position in the Best Picture category at the Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards 2022.

Set in the 1920s, RRR is an epic drama action film that revolves around two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem(Rama Rao), their fictional friendship and their fight against the British Raj. The plot explores the unrecorded period in their lives when both revolutionaries chose to join hands to take on the might of the tyrannical British rule. 

Ghar Wapsi in Mandsaur: Afsar Mansoori quits Islam, embraces Hinduism by chanting Vedic mantras, takes Panchgavya bath

OpIndia Staff
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Ghar Wapsi in Mandsaur: Afsar Mansoori quits Islam, embraces Hinduism by chanting Vedic mantras, takes Panchgavya bath

In a Ghar Wapsi event from Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur, a man named Afsar Mansoori quit Islam and embraced Hinduism after chanting Vedic mantras and taking a Panchgavya bath. After his reversion, Mansoori gave himself a new name- Krishna Sanatani after the Vedic rituals at a temple.

According to the reports, one Chaitanya Rajput, who embraced the Hindu religion around seven months ago, shared the information in the public domain. Chaitanya said that this is the seventh incidence of Ghar wapsi from Mandsaur. The newly converted Hindu Krishna Sanatani, who was dressed in saffron during the rituals is a resident of Kachnara, Madhya Pradesh but currently resides in the Kayaampura area of the state.

Chaitanya said that despite being a Muslim, Mansoori had full faith in the Hindu religion. He used to go to the temple every day and used to worship the Hindu deities according to the Hindu rituals. Reports mention that Mansoori happened to contact Rajput after he embraced the Hindu religion around seven months ago.

He expressed his long-standing desire that he wanted to become a Hindu but there was no one who could guide him through the process. “He also completed the legal procedure along with the Vedic rituals to become a Hindu”, Rajput said. After the Ghar wapsi on November 12, Mansoori took a Panchgavya bath and sought Chaitanya’s blessings considering him a Guru. Chaitanya shared the event on Facebook and said that Mansoori’s return was the will of God.

Talking to OpIndia, Chaitanya Rajput said that the officer had an affinity for Hinduism since childhood. “He used to keep fast, used to go to the temple. Angered by this, his father had thrown him out of the house. Later he started living with a Hindu. To earn a living, he started driving a bus. During this, he married a girl from the Valmiki community. After marriage, he wanted to convert to Hinduism. But he could not find any suitable medium,” Rajput said adding that Mansoori contacted him and he got him back to Hinduism following the Vedic rituals.

Temples have played a huge role in development of civilisation and their traditional functioning should be paramount: Madras HC

OpIndia Staff
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Temples have played a huge role in development of civilisation and their traditional functioning should be paramount: Madras HC

The Madras High Court in Madurai has stated that temples should be preserved with the primary focus being on how they have traditionally operated. The court said that they have played a significant part in the development of society and civilisation.

Authoring the judgment, Justice R Mahadevan on behalf of Justice Sathya Narayana Prasad and himself stated that the existence of temples is intertwined with the coexistence of various activities performed inside them. The judgment noted that activities such as hymn recitals, dance, drama, and debates take place inside temples and that the decline of one activity will have an impact on the other and ultimately the temples.

According to Justice R Mahadevan, Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to freely profess, practise, and propagate their religion. However, this right to free expression and exercise may be constrained inside temple grounds.

He emphasised that while the temple officials are in charge of ensuring the safety and security of the pilgrims in addition to keeping the decorum and holiness of the temple, the Agamas set the guidelines for the procedures to be observed.

The court, however, took note of the Joint Commissioner’s argument that the Arulmighu Subramania Swami Temple is undergoing significant development work. They noted that, in order to prevent any inconvenience to the devotees, the Joint Commissioner had refused to allow anyone to stay inside the temple during this year’s Kanda Shasti festival at Tiruchendur, Tuticorin District. Instead, temporary structures with minimal amenities had been set up outside the temple.

The court opined that the decision of the Joint Commissioner taken this year was justified as it had been done in order to avoid any inconvenience to the devotees.

It is customary for worshippers to fast, sing “kanda shasti kavasam”, and engage in religious rituals in the temple without leaving during the six-day Kanda Shasti festival, which takes place on the sixth day of the Tamil month of Aippasi in October and November. During this time, the devotees are normally permitted to stay in the outer ‘praharam’ of the temple. This has been the practice in the temple for quite a long time.

Did you know: Instigators of anti-Hindu violence in Leicester had worked alongside Zakir Naik to build an Islamic centre in Norway

Dibakar Dutta
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Did you know: Instigators of anti-Hindu violence in Leicester had worked alongside Zakir Naik to build an Islamic centre in Norway

Zakir Naik, the radical Islamic preacher currently on the run from the Indian law enforcement authorities, had earlier joined hands with those who instigated violence in Leicester in England’s Midlands area.

In July last year, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported that Naik was seen alongside other Islamic preachers in a grand collage, fundraising for the construction of a grand mosque and Dawah (proselytism) centre in Oslo in Norway.

The Indian fugitive was spotted alongside UK-based Islamists, Ali Dawah and Mohammed Hijab, who reportedly instigated the recent spate of violence in Leicester. They were seen exhorting Muslims to contribute to the establishment of the Islamic centre by promising them a ‘house’ in Jannah (paradise).

Screengrab of the collage by Save Iman, image via MEMRI

According to MEMRI, the fundraising campaign is led by an Oslo-based organisation named “Islam Net”, headed by one Fahad Qureshi.

In July 2020, the Indian fugitive was seen campaigning for the construction of the Islamic centre. “Islam.Net is a Norwegian Dawah organization that requires your help and support to establish a masjid and a Dawah centre in Norway to spread the message of Islam,” Zakir Naik was heard as saying.

He further claimed, “Your small act of charity will yield immeasurable reward for you in life to come.”

Zakir Naik has been avoiding Indian authorities ever since his name started cropping up in terror-related cases. In 2016, terrorists involved in the Dhaka blast case admitted that they were influenced by the preacher’s speeches.

In 2019, Zakir was banned from giving speeches in Malaysia after he made racist comments against Hindus and Chinese Malaysians. He was interrogated for hours in connection to the same.

Zakir Naik is wanted in India in cases involving money laundering. The government of India had taken his channel, Peace TV, off the air for peddling hate propaganda.

Leicester violence: Mohammed Hijab incited Muslims to attack Hindus,  Ali Dawah peddled RSS conspiracy theory

On September 19 this year, Islamist ‘scholar’, Mohammed Hijab, was seen mocking Hinduism and inciting Muslims to attack the Hindus. In a video that surfaced on social media, he was seen interacting with mask-clad Muslim men and encouraging them to teach the local Hindu population ‘a lesson’.

“When I was on social media, I saw these people (Hindus) getting brave. How come today it is like pin-drop silence?” the British Egyptian ‘scholar’ was heard as saying. He claimed that no Hindus were in sight after realising that Muslim mobs were coming at them in hordes.

“Cause they (Hindus) fear us when they are near us”, responded an Islamist from the crowd. Pumped by the support of the like-minded people in the crowd, Hijab said, “Deep down, they know we got the truth. If you want respect, then, learn to respect.”

“If they (Hindus) believe in reincarnation, what a humiliation of them to be reincarnated into some pathetic, weak, cowardly people like that,” the Islamist went on an anti-Hindu tirade.

“Hindutva (Hindus), you are trying to act like gangsters…Don’t ever come out like that again (referring to the protests by Hindus in Leicester). Do you understand? Are they going to come out again?” he continued his threats.

Amidst the war cry of Allah hu Akbar, Mohammed Hijab cautioned that he and his supporters would be there if Hindus ‘dared’ to protest against the violence, committed by his co-religionists.

In an Instagram post, Hijab was seen leading a frenzied mob of Islamists, with their faces covered in masks. “Muslim patrol in Leicester,” he wrote in his post.

On September 23, Islamist scholar Ali Dawah tried to mainstream the conspiracy theory that RSS workers came in droves to stoke communal tensions in the area.

This was despite the fact that the owner of the tour company, Angel Tours, denied all the allegations, and said that his buses did not go to Leicester for the past 2 months.

He clarified that the buses of his company always stop in front of the temple as it is a major landmark and people are well-acquainted with the place. The owner, Yatin Bhimani, said that his buses are parked there only for convenience, and his coach company has no link with the temple.

Based on the fake news that RSS workers were bussed to Leicester with the help of a Hindu temple, Islamists called for a mass mobilisation outside the Shree Sanatan Hindu Mandir in London from 12 pm onwards on September 25.

The disinformation peddled by Islamists was legitimised by leftist news media outlets. Opindia has been the frontrunner in debunking disinformation about the Leicester violence.

‘Accept Christ, engage in ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ like rally’: Christian Evangelical gathering in Maharashtra’s Baramati; Hindus insulted

Siddhi Somani
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‘Accept Christ, engage in ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ like rally’: Christian Evangelical gathering in Maharashtra’s Baramati; Hindus insulted

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfil the law of Christ.” This is what they tell the poor, make them believe in, help them with money and basic facilities and then lure them to be the ‘child of God’! And the poor, very innocently thinking of the support given to them at that very moment of their need, consider the advice and change the way they pray. In one such event that took place in the Baramati (NCP-ruled) city of Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, Pastor Sunil Jadhav and Prophet Dr Anish Vijagat could be seen indulging in evangelical activities by alluring the poor, needy people of the city, to shun their respective faiths and come under the tutelage of Christianity.

In the three-day ‘Prophetical Meeting’ organized by Pastor Jadhav, who himself is a resident of the Vasant Nagar area of Baramati, people were asked to embrace Christianity and then engage in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ kind of rally.

Pastor Jadhav addressing the event

“Believe in Christianity. Believe in the existence of Jesus. Praise the Lord. If you change now then only you’ll be able to change several people across the country. You never know we might engage in a Bharat Jodo type of Yatra and make people staying across the country believe in Christianity. Praise the Lord,” he said.

The evangelical event was organized at the city’s Mission High School which is looked after by the Conference of Churches of Christ in Western India. The event, which was scheduled to begin at 6 pm on December 8, kick-started at around 7 pm after 30-35 people showed up on the ground on which huge arrangements were made anticipating a crowd of 300 people to show up. The pastor initially looked at the minimal crowd and asked them to pray from the stage and praise the Lord as he waited for 300 seats to fill up.

Sister Mercy insulted Hindus as she praised Christianity

The saga began when Sister Mercy took over the stage to sing praises of the Lord. She, adopting a ‘unique’ accent at first, said that all those people who were present at the event were personally selected by the Lord and that those who were invited but failed to attend had not arrived by the Lord’s will. While several poor Hindu women (wearing Sarees, Bindi, and Sindoor) could be seen at the event, Sister Mercy looked at the sky and issued orders to the Lord to make ‘new’ attendees feel his presence. The video of the incident was shot by OpIndia.

She further sang praises to the Lord while demeaning the Hindu sages and poor people from the stage. In one of her so-called praises for the Lord, Sister Mercy happened to insult Hindus. “Yeshu ka Darbaar re hume pyara lagat hai, Tere Darbar me kaun kaun aye, Pandit, Murakh, Gavar re hume pyara lagat hai,” the so-called praise read. And the ‘praises’ continued for the next hour until the Chief Guest of the event, ‘Prophet’ Dr Anish Vijagat, arrived at the spot.

‘Murti puja has no value, what will that stone understand,’ converted Christian woman was alluring Hindu women

Meanwhile, some of the first-time Hindu attendees at the event could be seen being allured by the already-converted Christian women. The latter tried to make the poor Hindus believe in Jesus and quit the Hindu religion for the ‘betterment’ of their family. “God is invisible. We should feel him. And not worship the stones (murtis) as Hindus do. What is that stone going to understand? We, humans, are encircled with sins. To make our future generations free from sins, we must worship Jesus,” the woman prattled on as she tried to persuade the attendees to join Christianity.

Christian woman telling Hindu women that ‘Murti puja’ is of no value

The Hindu women who seemed bewildered by whatever was happening were then sent ‘calm vibes’ by the pastor from the stage who held his hand high at the sky first to gather the so-called religious vibes and then resorted to continuously shaking his hands towards the Hindu women. As the series of events continued, ‘Prophet’ Dr Anish Vijagat, the Chief Guest of the Prophetical meeting entered the ground. In his tight blue suit and accompanied by 3-4 of his obsequious followers, Vijagat stated that he was not just a ‘Prophet’ but a Bishop and that more than 300 evangelists were working under him in his Pune-based NGO named Glorious Evangelical Prophetic Ministries.

He also claimed that he was an ‘International Human Rights Officer’ and an ‘Anti-Corruption Officer’ before he glorified the religion and delved into evangelical activities in front of audiences consisting of Hindus. However, according to his social media page, he is a member of two Non-Governmental Organizations named the Human Rights Council of India and Anti Corruption and Media Investigation.

Car of ‘Prophet’ Dr Anish Vijagat portraying him as Chairman of the International Human Rights Council

He attempted to gaslight attendees saying that “the organizers had to face several legal problems and oppositions for executing this prophetical meeting however this had to happen as it was God’s will”. As he said this, Sister Mercy along with one of her companions, circulated the red baskets seeking donations from the attendees.

Sister Mercy collecting donations from attendees

‘Pastor Sunil Jadhav is self-proclaimed, he runs his own Church at his house’

One of the local Christians who agreed to provide information on the condition of anonymity for security reasons said that Pastor Sunil Jadhav is a self-proclaimed pastor and that he has built his own Church on the terrace of his home. “He was earlier a member of the old Church but then he decided to set up his own Church on the terrace of his home. Now there are a certain number of people who follow him and go to his Church,” Joel (name changed) said.

Maharashtra Evangelical
“This is God’s will that we come together in Christianity,” the Posters of the event read

Joel, who is a born Christian, meanwhile, also said that these kinds of events are organized by the authorities to pull non-Christian people into the Christian faith. “This is like mass advertising. They invite people and show them that all their problems would be solved after accepting Christianity but they don’t force anyone. They just do what they have to do to attract people to Christianity. Sometimes people feel the difference. But then these people imbibe on their minds that the Lord has come to their help. Then they ask them to attend the Church on Sundays and then they are given Baptism,” Joel said.

Further, Joel said that some things in Christianity are wrong. “Like Conversion is wrong. You ask people to come and join forcefully. How can it be correct? If you have a good reason which can influence others to join in without any force, that is okay. But promoting religion, and getting people baptized is so wrong. Many times authorities at the Church bombard people saying that we are the true people of God and others are sinners but during COVID I realized that now what? Why couldn’t the so-called mediators between humans and God save the world?” Joel said.

She also added that pastors and bishops exploit religion and fears among people by promoting their religion and pocketing that money to better their own personal lives. “This is sad,” Joel said. “There are some school-like institutions that make Pastors and similar other ranks at the Church. But then there are some people who are self-proclaimed pastors and bishops who defame the entire community. Pastor Sunil Jadhav has his own Church. Maybe he is a self-proclaimed pastor. There are many.”

Posters of the event were put up across the city

The gathering for the third day got cancelled after OpIndia contacted the Sangh administration over the rampant conversion bid underway

The event was scheduled to be organized for three days ahead of Christmas—one day at the Mission High School which is looked after by the old Church—and two days at a renowned public community hall named ‘Jyeshth Nagrik Sangh’. The administrator of the Sangh, M W Joshi, while talking to OpIndia, stated that they (Christians) had taken the hall for the event saying that they wanted to organize a prayer meeting and that they had no place for it.

On asking about the conversion attempts and false claims made by the pastor on the poster, Joshi said that those people just wanted a place to pray together. “No, no there is no conversion happening there. They said that they would just pray and sing praises of the Lord,” he added. According to the hoardings displayed in several places in the city, the Prophetical meeting was organized to ‘cure’ sick people and solve all social, and financial problems of the poor. “This is God’s will that we come together in Christianity,” the posters put up across the city read. However, it seemed that the Sangh official had no idea about the evangelical motives of the organizers. On the third day of the event, after OpIndia communicated with Joshi, the gathering was cancelled and the locks could be seen placed on the gates of the venue, the Jyeshth Nagrik Sangh.

Maharashtra Evangelical
Locks placed on the gates of Jyeshtha Nagrik Sangh on the morning of 10th December

‘Prophet’ Dr Anish Vijagat, who led the gathering for two days, is the owner and founder of a Pune-based NGO named ‘Glorious Evangelical Prophetic Ministries’, which is engaged in attracting more people to Christianity. The introduction written on the social media page of the NGO reads, “Glorious evangelical prophetic ministries are working for increasing the kingdom of God with New soul.” He also is a member of two other NGOs named the Human Rights Council of India and Anti Corruption and Media Investigation.

Maharashtra Evangelical
Screenshot of the Facebook page of Glorious Evangelical Prophetic Ministries owned by Prophet Vijagat

Some of his videos posted on the YouTube channel of his NGO Glorious Evangelical Prophetic Ministries showed the ‘Prophet’ anointing the attendees with religious oil. In the event that happened in the city on December 8 and 9, he could be seen asking people to get anointed so that they could sanctify others.

Anti conversion law in Maharashtra is a must, says local RSS Member

Criticizing the practice of religious conversion and the recent event that was executed in the city, one of the local RSS member Mukund Kulkarni said that these kinds of events should not be organized in the first place. “This is all sham. They (Christians) lure the poor and needy people and offer them money or basic facilities. They also make sure that the poor people from other religions like Hinduism hate Hindu religious Gods and Goddesses and start believing in Christianity. Jesus or Christianity is not bad, in fact, no religion. But luring people, giving them fake claims, and forcing them to convert is wrong,” he said.

Advocating for the implementation of anti-conversion law in Maharashtra, he added that legal provisions are necessary so that action against such illegal gatherings can be taken. “These things should stop. I also appeal to Hindus to not fall prey to such evangelical attempts and believe in our deity for our better lives,” he said.

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