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Maharashtra: Shinde government withdraws award given to the translation of Kobad Ghandy’s book ‘Fractured Freedom’, urban Naxals outrage

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: Shinde government withdraws award given to the translation of Kobad Ghandy’s book ‘Fractured Freedom’, urban Naxals outrage

On 6th December 2022, the government of Maharashtra announced various literary awards given under the Yashvantrao Chavhan State Literary Awards. An award in the translation category was declared to a former Politburo member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), Kobad Gandhi’s book ‘Fractured Freedom’.

On Monday, 12th December 2022, the government of Maharashtra published a GR to announce that the award for the year 2021 given to the said book is being withdrawn. This award is named after 20th-century Marathi literary critic Tarktirtha Laxmanshastri Joshi.

The government has also dismissed the committee which recommended the book for this award. The government resolution said that the decision of the selection committee had been reversed for administrative reasons, and the award, which included a cash prize of Rs one lakh has been withdrawn. The committee recommending the title too has been scrapped, it added.

Maharashtra’s minister took a stand against Maoist Kobad Ghandy

While announcing the decision, Maharashtra’s minister for the Marathi language department Deepak Kesarkar said, “Everyone has freedom of thought. Nevertheless, the exaltation of Naxal thoughts is not acceptable to our government. For us, the nation comes first.” The chairman of the expert committee allegedly did not discuss or point out the matter regarding the selection of this book. Therefore, Marathi Language Minister Deepak Kesarkar has ordered an inquiry into this case.

He said, “Literature has the freedom of writing. But what is banned cannot be written. There is a different process of banning. Although there is no ban on the book ‘Fractured Freedom’, Naxalism cannot be glorified in the state. Maharashtra is the first state to crack down on Naxalism.”

Deepak Kesarkar added, “100 percent recruitment among Naxalites was coming from our tribal brothers, which has stopped now. In such a situation, society cannot forgive the literature that is written in favor of Naxalites and some people participate in the literature that is made in such a situation created by urban Naxalism, pretending that “we are doing something different from the world”. Under no circumstances can Naxalism be glorified by the state government.”

So-called progressive Marathi authors display outrage

Soon after the award was withdrawn, the ‘award wapsi’ gang in the Marathi literary circles became hyperactive and various other writers started a series of returning their awards to the state government and resigning from various posts of responsibility they held on committees related to literature.

Writer and poetess Pradnya Daya Pawar, who led the award wapsi campaign in Maharashtra in 2015, was appointed as a member of the Maharashtra Rajya Sahitya Sanskruti Mahamandal in 2021 during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. She has resigned from the post protesting the withdrawal of this award. Poet Neeraja was also named as a member of the same body. She has also resigned protesting the government’s decision.

Writer Heramb Kulkarni was a member of the committee that recommended the Marathi translation of Kobad Ghandy’s book for this award. He wrote a letter to the government and protested the decision. He wrote in his Facebook post that the government should apologize to Anagha Lele and redeclare for her the award she deserved.

Sharad Baviskar and Arun Shevate are among other Marathi writers to protest the government’s decision to withdraw the award given to Kobad Ghandy’s book’s translation. Sharad Baviskar has also returned his award to the state government. It is notable that Baviskar is a professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

Marathi writer Anand Karandikar has communicated to the state government that he is returning an award worth Rs 1 lakh to the government as he is registering his protest to the government’s decision to withdraw the award given to the translation of Kobad Ghandy’s book.

Laxmikant Deshmukh resigned from the post of president of the Language Advisory Committee. He shared the draft of his resignation letter from his Facebook profile. He too protested the decision taken by the government.

Many on social media support the ban, denounce Naxals

On the other hand, Marathi Facebook users are also extensively sharing the details about who is Kobad Ghandy and why the government should not patronize him by awarding the translation of his book with a state award. Smita Gaikwad wrote in her Facebook post, “I read this original book in English when it was published. The basic point is that the book was written by Kobad Gandhi. There’s nothing special about this book. It is Kobad’s unsuccessful attempt to show that he is not a Maoist but a Marxist. Since Kobad is a central committee and politburo member of the banned Maoist organization CPI (Maoist), I read this book with the intention would learn new things about Maoism. But it was ruined. Interestingly, angered by this book, the Maoists took out press notes against Kobad twice in a year and expelled him from the party as a traitor because, in this book, Kobad has projected himself as a Marxist rather than a Maoist.”

Noted Marathi writer, poet, and translator Prithviraj Taur backed the government’s decision. He is an associate professor at the Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded. In his detailed address that went viral on social media, he wrote, “It is a matter of great pride that a book which is against the national interest, exalting the ideas that are unacceptable to the Constitution of India, wrongfully honoured at the government level, and I welcome that the Government of Maharashtra and the Minister of Marathi Language Department have reconsidered the award announced and cancelled the decision to give the award in a timely manner, correcting the mistake made by the Award Selection Committee. As a writer-translator and reader, I sincerely congratulate the Government of Maharashtra for cancelling the award given to Kobad Gandhi’s book Fractured Freedom.”

He added, “The best literary works I read were always singing ‘man’s song’. He grew his faith in goodness and his faith in demand. These literary works did not set man up against man, did not speak the language of any bloody revolution, and did not convey the dangerous message of taking guns in hand. Writing a work of art in a language that glorifies anti-national Naxalism, and supports the bloody struggle, can tempt the reader for a moment, and wander the path of the youth by spreading the ideological illusion, but not the welfare of all human beings. We must never forget that people who speak of the gunfire in the guise of dissent are always anti-constitutional.”

Prithviraj Taur appealed to Marathi writers to avoid any literary activity that would strengthen Naxalism. He wrote, “When translating a book into Marathi, translators should think about the ideological impact of this book on the Maharashtrian people, on the unified spirit here. Translators themselves should avoid translating any book that feeds anti-national ideas, spreads religious hatred, and asserts in a way that the unity of the Union will be undermined.”

Kobad Ghandy – Affluent Parsi of Mumbai who is also an alleged ‘Urban Naxal’

It is notable that Kobad Ghandy is born in a Mumbai-based Parsi family in 1951. His family lived in luxurious areas of Mumbai like Walkeshwar. In the 1970s, Kobad Ghandy was studying at St. Xavier’s College, a prestigious college in Mumbai. Before joining Maoism he had worked as a qualified finance professional at a multi-national company for some time. He was picked as a member of the Central Committee in 1981 in the then Communist Party of India (Marxist-Lennist) People’s War. It was founded by Kondapalli Seetharamaiah.

He played a key role in the merger of the People’s War and MCCI (Maoist Communist Centre of India) that had taken place in September 2004. A new organization CPI (Maoist) was formed out of the merger. He was among the ideologues of CPI (Maoist) and is also alleged to have participated in a meeting in 2005 with the Nepalese Maoist leader Prachanda.

Ghandy was arrested in 2009

Ghandy was arrested in September 2009 from Delhi. As a Politburo member, he was charged with carrying terror attacks including an attack on a team of elite anti-Maoist commando unit Greyhounds at Gunurkayi village in Visakhapatnam in 2008. He spent a decade in jails across the country. In October 2019 he was released on bail from Surat jail. He had spent a major part of his prison term in Visakhapatnam Central Jail. When in jail, he wrote his memoirs under the title ‘Fractured Freedom’. The book was published in 2021. After this book was published, the CPI-Maoist called him a traitor.

The proscribed Left-wing outfit CPI (Maoist) expelled its politburo member and former member of the Central Committee, Kobad Ghandy, from the organization. In a statement purportedly issued by CPI (Maoist) spokesperson Abhay on November 27, 2021, Ghandy was accused of espousing the path of spiritualism, denouncing Marxism as having no good values, and abandoning the Maoist ideology. The CPI (Maoist) accused him of projecting the entire movement in poor light in the book ‘Fractured Freedom – A Prison Memoir’.

Hyderabad Police raids Congress poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu’s office, arrests 5 for derogatory comments against KCR

OpIndia Staff
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Hyderabad Police raids Congress poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu’s office, arrests 5 for derogatory comments against KCR

On Tuesday night, the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police raided the office of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) strategist Sunil Kanugolu and detained five persons for allegedly making abusive and obscene comments on social media about Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

The police also confiscated multiple mobile phones, laptop computers, and other office equipment, alleging that they were used to publish the alleged disparaging comments.

K V M Prasad, Assistant Commissioner of Police for Cyber Crimes, conducted the operation. He said that they had received five complaints about disinformation and insulting remarks being uploaded from IP addresses coming from Kanugolu’s workplace near Inorbit Mall. “They were masking IP addresses or using fake IPs to post the objectionable content but we were able to track it down to this office,” Prasad said, adding that the raid was conducted after the complaints were registered by five different individuals.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Manickam Tagore turned to Twitter on Wednesday morning at 7.20 a.m. and published the original message and photographs that triggered the searches and arrests of Congress employees in Hyderabad.

He went on to say that police took over 50 laptops, seized data, and wrongfully detained five of the Congress’ professional partners. He shared the photographs that sparked the controversy and dared KCR to arrest him. He also shared the alleged derogatory images and wrote, “For this FB post-Telangana Congress War room headed by #SunilKanugolu team at Hyderabad was raided and 50 computers taken, Data stolen, Five of our Professional partners arrested illegally without FIR. Now I am posting the same let @TelanganaCMO arrest me. #HitlerKCR.”

Congress condemns raids against Sunil Kanugolu

Congress MP KC Venugopal also moved to Twitter to condemn the police operation and arrests, claiming that the searches and seizures were intended at deactivating the INC war room, which was currently in full flow.

Another senior politician, MP Revanth Reddy, stated that the cyber police terrorizing the personnel in the Congress’ war room simply demonstrated KCR’s fear of Congress. He further said that no copy of any FIR was presented or made accessible to Congress leaders before their detention. “The action of Cyberabad police in seizing the office of #SunilKanugolu is a blatant attempt to suppress dissent,” he said further.

Meanwhile, MP Manickam Tagore had already stated on Twitter that the police personnel had not submitted a search warrant and that no notice had been issued in accordance with Section 41(A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. “Without following due process of law, KCR police have arrested our staff. No search warrant and no notice under 41A CrPC was given. Complete violation of SC judgment in DK Basu case.@KTRTRS & Commi CV Anand will be held accountable for this lawlessness,” a tweet by Manickam Tagore read.

Sunil Kanugolu is a polling strategist and political analyst who has worked with the DMK, AIADMK, and the BJP. Reports mention that he is mentoring Congress on the forthcoming state elections in Karnataka and will be in charge of all state assembly elections for the party.

He oversaw the BJP’s electoral strategy in the 2017 UP assembly elections. In 2019, he was in charge of the DMK’s Lok Sabha election strategy and the AIADMK’s electoral campaign for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections in 2021.  He was also credited for bolstering the AIADMK’s strategies and presence in the absence of former Chief Minister and party supremo Jayalalithaa.

Nine Kashmiri Hindus killed in the Valley in last 3 years, union home ministry tells Rajya Sabha

OpIndia Staff
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Nine Kashmiri Hindus killed in the Valley in last 3 years, union home ministry tells Rajya Sabha

On December 14, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed Rajya Sabha that in three years, from 2020 to 2022, nine Hindus were killed in Kashmir Valley. While replying to an unstarred question by Rajmani Patel, Minister of State for Ministry of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said in a written reply that the Government of India follows a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism. He said that since 2018, there has been a substantial decrease in the terror attacks in the valley.

According to the home ministry data, 1 Kashmiri Pandit was killed in 2020, 4 in 2021 and 4 Kashmiri Pandits have been killed this year, which included a person from the Kashmiri Rajpur community. In 2018, there were 417 terror attacks reported, which were reduced to 229 in 2021.

The MoHA was also asked about the money spent on security in the valley. The MoS said that multiple agencies work together to assure security in the valley, and the expenditure on all the agencies is not maintained centrally. The Ministry further provided the details of expenditure incurred by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Security Related Expenditure on Police of Jammu & Kashmir.

As per the records, the Ministry reimbursed Rs 2,814.095 crores in three years to the Government of Jammu & Kashmir. Rs 1,267 crores were spent in the financial year 2019-20, Rs 611 crores in the financial year 2020-21 and Rs 936.095 in the financial year 2021-22.

The Government of India is taking multiple steps to ensure security in the valley that includes including the clock nakas at strategic points, intensified CASO, surveillance of persons of interest, sharing of intelligence inputs among security agencies working in the valley and more.

In an answer to another question on internal security, the home ministry said that the Government has taken various steps to strengthen the security architecture of the country, such as strengthening the legal framework including amendments in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and National Investigation Agency (Act), 2008, strengthening of NIA by capacity building and providing adequate infrastructure and manpower, ensuring close and effective coordination mechanism between intelligence and security agencies at the Centre and State level, modernizing of police and the Central Armed Police Forces, strengthening of border security grid and coastal security etc.

The ministry said that the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) has been strengthened and re-organised to enable it to function on 24X7 basis for real time collection and sharing of intelligence amongst intelligence agencies and States. Moreover, the states have raised special forces to deal with terror incidents and Central Armed Police Forces and National Security Guards have also been stationed at different locations of the country to assist the States.

Delhi: 17-year-old girl attacked with acid by two bike-borne attackers, one arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi: 17-year-old girl attacked with acid by two bike-borne attackers, one arrested

On Wednesday, December 14, a 17-year-old girl who along with her younger sister was going to school was attacked by two bike-borne men with an acid-like substance. The incident took place in the Mohan Garden area in Dwarka, Delhi at around 7:30 am. 

The victim is currently admitted to Safdarjung Hospital and her condition is stable, the minor girl has suffered 8% burn injuries. According to Dwarka Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Harsh Vardhan, the victim has named two persons who could be behind the attack, one of whom has been arrested and is being questioned. Another person who is the main accused is still absconding, however, multiple teams have been formed to nab him.

The DCP informed that a PCR call was received at around 9 am about the incident of an acid-like substance being thrown on a girl in the Mohan Garden Police Station area by two bike-borne attackers. 

CCTV footage of the incident is doing rounds on social media. In the footage, two persons are seen throwing an acid-like substance at the victim.

The girl’s father stated that they have no idea who the attackers were. “The police are looking into the matter. My daughter is in critical condition. They threw acid in her face. Her vision is impaired. I inquired about the incident with my daughter. She does not know much. He allegedly came and threw acid at her… She was blinded and couldn’t see the attackers. “Doctors are treating her,” he said.

Reacting to the incident, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter and wrote in Hindi, “This cannot be tolerated at all. How did the criminals get so much courage? The attackers should be given the strictest punishment. The safety of every girl child in Delhi is important to us.”

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP leader and Member of Parliament, Gautam Gambhir condemned the attack saying that the person who threw acid on the school girl should be publicly executed.

“Words can’t do any justice. We have to instill fear of immeasurable pain in these animals. The boy who threw acid at a school girl in Dwarka needs to be publicly executed by authorities,” Gambhir tweeted.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has taken suo motu cognizance of the case and issued a notice to the Delhi Police. 

Delhi Commission for Women’s notice to Delhi Police. (Image via DCW Twitter)

The DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal questioned the government over neglect of demand to impose an acid ban. 

“Acid was thrown at a schoolgirl near Dwarka. Our team is reaching the hospital to help the victim. Will get justice for the daughter. The Delhi Commission for Women has been fighting for years to ban acid in the country. When will the governments wake up?” Maliwal tweeted in Hindi.

Fix the costume else it may be banned: MP minister Narottam Mishra objects to Deepika Padukone’s attire in Besharam song in Pathaan

OpIndia Staff
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Fix the costume else it may be banned: MP minister Narottam Mishra objects to Deepika Padukone’s attire in Besharam song in Pathaan

On 14th December 2022, Madhya Pradesh’s home minister Dr. Narottam Mishra expressed objection to actress Deepika Padukone’s attire in the song ‘Besharam Rang’ from the film ‘Pathaan’. The minister has advised the director to correct the attire failing to which the film may face troubles in release in Madhya Pradesh. He also called Padukone a member of the ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’, a term that refers to left liberals wishing to separate Kashmir and other parts from India.

Dr. Narottam Mishra said, “The costumes used in the song are prima facie very objectionable. It is clear that this song has been filmed with a corrupt mentality. Anyway, in the JNU case, Deepika Padukone has been a supporter of the Tukde Tukde Gang.”

Dr. Narottam Mishra added, “And that’s why I would request them to fix these scenes, fix this costume. Otherwise, whether this film should be allowed in Madhya Pradesh or not will be a question to be considered.”

The demand for a boycott of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s film ‘Pathaan‘ is already increasing. The first song of the film ‘Besharam Rang’ was released on December 12, which featured Deepika Padukone and several other female actors in bikinis and similar bold attire. The dance by the lead actress involves suggestive and erotic movements, while Shahrukh Khan appears shirtless in several scenes.

‘Besharam Rang’ means ‘shameless color’. In many scenes of the song, Deepika is shown wearing a saffron bikini, which Twitter users are objecting to. People are accusing Shah Rukh and the filmmakers of deliberately defaming saffron colour by linking the lyrics of the song ‘Besharam Rang’ to Deepika’s bikini colour.

People are giving sharp reactions on social media about the film’s new song ‘Besharam Rang’. Netizens have accused Shah Rukh Khan of deliberately defaming the saffron color.

People are also angry with the way obscenity has been shown in the film’s song. After focusing on Deepika Padukone’s ‘monokini avatar’, one can guess whether Shah Rukh Khan now wants to make his film ‘Pathan’ a hit by showing Deepika Padukone’s ‘sexy song’. The song has been penned by lyricist Kumar, while music director Vishal-Shekhar duo has composed it. Shilpa Rao and Caralissa Monterio have voiced it. Siddharth Anand has directed the film ‘Pathaan’.

Lecture by Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict at N Ram linked journalism school cancelled, Project 39A under National Law University was to organise

OpIndia Staff
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Lecture by Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict at N Ram linked journalism school cancelled, Project 39A under National Law University was to organise

The National Law University in Delhi has finally cancelled a lecture by AG Perarivalan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case who was released by the Supreme Court from jail earlier this year. Following a massive outrage against the speech by a convicted terrorist organized by the National Law University and the Asian College of Journalism, the University today released a short statement stating that the event has been cancelled.

A circular issued by the Registrar of the university on December 14 said, “Due to unforeseen circumstances the 5th Annual Lecture in Criminal Law (2022) by P39A is cancelled.”

The guest lecture was being organised by Project 39A, which is an initiative of the National Law University Delhi, and it was to be held on the 17th of December at the MS Subbulakshmi auditorium at the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai. AG Perarivalan was scheduled to deliver a lecture in Criminal Law.

Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) based in Chennai comes under the aegis of the Media Development Foundation headed by journalist Sashi Kumar. The Hindu’s N Ram is also a founding trustee of the Media Development Foundation. Project 39A of the National Law University has a chapter at ACJ and the lecture by the convicted criminal was to be held at the ACJ venue.

Earlier yesterday, the organisers had decided to conduct the lecture online following the outrage against the lecture by a convicted terrorist. In a statement, Project had said that the lecture by AG Perarivalan would be held online alleging that threats of violence and vandalism were issued to the venue partner, the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai.

“We are committed to Perarivalan’s freedom to share his experience searching for justice through 31 years of imprisonment,” the notification by 39A read. “The 5th Project Annual Lecture will be held online on December 17,” it added.

But now the National Law University has issued a circular stating that the lecture has been cancelled, without stating any reason.

However, at the time of publishing this report, the website of Project 39A still mentions that the lecture will be held online. In the webpage, the description of the speaker makes serious allegation against Indian criminal justice system, labels him an innocent, and claims that he is innocent, despite overwhelming evidence that had led to his conviction and death penalty which was later commuted to life sentence.

His death penalty was later commuted to life sentence. In May this year, he was released on the orders of the Supreme Court after he spent 30 years in jail. While his petition for release was accepted by the apex court as the state government of Tamil Nadu didn’t oppose it, the court didn’t overturn his conviction, and didn’t say that he was innocent.

Bihar: YouTuber says Tej Pratap Yadav’s IT team is harassing and threatening him, demanding Rs 2 lakhs

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: YouTuber says Tej Pratap Yadav’s IT team is harassing and threatening him, demanding Rs 2 lakhs

On Wednesday, Prakash Raj, the founder of ‘Today Bihar News’ YouTube channel filed a complaint against the IT team of Bihar’s Forest, Environment and Climate Change Minister Tej Pratap Yadav for threatening him and demanding Rs 2 lakh from him. The complaint has been registered at Pakdidayal Nagar police station in East Champaran, Bihar.

According to the reports, Raj’s YouTube channel was sent a copyright strike notice by another YouTube channel named ‘LR Vlog’ on December 7 for a video in which Minister Tej Pratap Yadav could be seen distributing blankets. Channel LR Vlog presumably belongs to Yadav. Raj said that since Yadav is a public figure, his video was used by the YouTube channel.

Raj also emailed ‘LR Vlog’ and requested to remove the copyright strike as it was affecting the functioning of the channel. In the complaint filed on December 11, Raj stated that thereafter he received a call in which the caller introduced himself as a member of Tej Pratap Yadav’s IT team. He demanded that the details regarding the request to eliminate the strike be sent to him on WhatsApp.

Prakash Raj who is a resident of Rajepur Nawada village, next day called the concerned caller and inquired whether the matter had progressed regarding the copyright strike. The caller who had introduced himself as a member of Tej Pratap Yadav’s IT team then gave his senior Rajeev Ranjan’s contact and asked Raj to talk to him. However, according to the audio calls obtained by OpIndia, Rajeev Ranjan demanded Rs 2 lakh in his YouTube channel account to Raj and promised to remove the strike in return.

Prakash Raj informed to the police, “Initially we felt that we were being cheated in the name of Minister Tej Pratap Yadav! When we talked about complaining about this to the Bihar government, we were threatened there. I am being threatened that a false case will be filed against me. Our family is in a panic right now. We are being mentally harassed by Tej Pratap Yadav’s IT team. The team is also threatening me with severe legal consequences.”

A copy of the complaint has been obtained by OpIndia. Also, screenshots of Prakash Raj’s WhatsApp chats with people claiming to be from Tej Pratap Yadav’s IT team have been obtained. It could be seen in the chats that when Prakash Raj said that his company was not in the position to pay such extensive amount, they called Raj a thief and wrote, “Ek to chori, upar se sinajori.”

The video in connection to which the copyright strike was issued was also published on the YouTube channel of ‘Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’. Also, in the audio conversations of the phone call, it could be heard that caller who said that he was speaking from Tej Pratap Yadav’s IT Cell had issued the copyright strike. The caller also demanded Raj pay Rs 2 lakh to get off the situation.

The suspect also stayed adamant saying that the money will have to be deposited by Raj in the bank account of the ‘LR Vlog’ company itself. Reportedly, the YouTube channel ‘LR Vlog’, has a description written in English which reads, “Tej Pratap Yadav, Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Assembly Constituency – Hasanpur (Bihar). Also, it mentions an email address- [email protected] to be used for business inquiries.

Screenshot of LR Vlog channel description

Interestingly, Minister Tej Pratap Yadav’s picture has been used as a display picture of the channel which was created on November 6, 2021. At present, it has 65,600 subscribers. There are many videos published on it, which have been produced by Tej Pratap Yadav himself. In several videos, he can also be heard saying, “Namaskar, you are watching LR Vlog and I am Tej Pratap Yadav.”

Prakash Raj in his recent video on the incident has demanded justice and has asked Minister Tej Pratap Yadav to take action against those demanding money from him. At present, no statement has come from Tej Pratap Yadav in this regard, the story will be updated as soon as his statement comes.

SC Advocate Vineet Jindal receives death threats from Khalistani org on Twitter, files complaint with Delhi Police

OpIndia Staff
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SC Advocate Vineet Jindal receives death threats from Khalistani org on Twitter, files complaint with Delhi Police

On December 14, Supreme Court Advocate and Social Activist Vineet Jindal received death threats on Twitter from an account allegedly backed by a Khalistani organisation. Jindal has filed a complaint with Adarsh Nagar Police Station, Delhi.

In his complaint, Jindal stated that a Twitter account, @/sooraj_sb00 sent him photographs of bombs in his Twitter DM. When he checked the profile on the social media platform, he noticed that the person behind the account was an active Khalistani supporter and was allegedly involved in anti-India activities in Canada.

Complaint filed by Vineet Jindal. Source: Vineet Jindal

Jindal added that he has been receiving continuous threats from supporters of Khalistani organisations, including Babbar Khalsa, Sikhs For Justice and also from Islamic terrorists. Furthermore, Jindal said before receiving the latest threat on Twitter, he had reported a Twitter account that allegedly belonged to designated Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, who runs the terrorist organisation Sikhs For Justice (SFJ).

Notably, SFJ is the organisation behind Referendum 2020 where Khalistani supporters are voting for a “separate Sikh Nation” called Khalistan. Jindal said that after he reported the account, it was suspended by Twitter.

SFJ has taken responsibility for several anti-India incidents, including raising Khalistani flags on government buildings, painting Khalistani slogans outside walls of temples and government offices, spreading misinformation about India and instigating Sikh Youth to join the Khalistani movement.

Jindal received ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ threats in July 2022 after filing a complaint against Ajmer Dargah’s Adil Chishty. He requested protection from the Delhi Police after receiving the threat. As per reports, he received an unidentified letter stating, “Allah ka paigham hai Vineet Jindal, tera bhi sar tan se juda karenge jald hi (It’s Allah’s message, Vineet Jindal; we’ll behead you soon).”

In December 2022, Jindal filed a complaint against anti-Brahmin and anti-Baniya slogans painted on the walls of Jawaharlal Nehru University. “I have come to the knowledge of the same from news reports and being a social activist and member of the Vaishya community filling this complaint. That slogans against Brahmin and Vaishya communities have been written on the walls of the School of International Studies-II building on the university campus,” the complaint read.

Jindal had also filed a complaint against the Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid for calling the genocide of the Hindu Community in Kashmir ‘vulgar propaganda’. In his complaint to DGP Goa, Jindal said he was filing a complaint against the filmmaker for his comments against the film The Kashmir Files that he made during the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) that was held between November 20 and November 28.

Norwegian artist Tonje Gjevjon faces criminal charges, being investigated for saying, ‘men are men, cannot be lesbians’

OpIndia Staff
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Norwegian artist Tonje Gjevjon faces criminal charges, being investigated for saying, ‘men are men, cannot be lesbians’

A woman in Norway is confronted with criminal charges and a possible three-year jail term for claiming that males cannot be lesbians. Tonje Gjevjon, a lesbian artist, was notified by police on November 17 that she was being investigated for hate speech in connection with a Facebook post she made.

In her post, Gjevjon wrote against trans-identified men who term themselves as “lesbians” and denounced trans activists who seek to jail women who disagree with gender ideology. “It’s just as impossible for men to become lesbian as it is for men to become pregnant,” Gjevjon wrote, “Men are men regardless of their sexual fetishes”

She singled out the acts of Christine Jentoft, a renowned Norwegian trans activist who claims to be a lesbian mother and took a job as a spokesman for the country’s biggest trans activist organization, Foreningen FRI.

Screenshot of Facebook post written by Gjevjon

Jentoft has been at the heart of a conflict between feminist campaigners and Norway’s hate speech statute, which was amended in 2020. The changes, which came into place last year, included the category of “gender identity or gender expression” – a move that women’s rights activists in the country warned would stifle free speech, particularly when it came to the realities of biological sex.

Gjevjon stated that she intentionally posted her Facebook message to draw attention to Norway’s hate speech statute. The legislation was changed in 2020 when the country’s parliament agreed to make hate speech against transgender individuals illegal. Gjevjon is also not the first person to face prosecution for stating the reality that males cannot be mothers or lesbians. Christina Ellingsen, a representative of Women’s Declaration International (WDI) Norway had also earlier stated that men can neither be lesbians nor mothers.

Last year, Gjevjon asked Anette Trettebergstuen, a Labour Party MP, what she proposed to protect the rights of women and girls. She also inquired whether guys might be lesbians. “I believe it is absolutely necessary to place biological sex as the basis in all contexts where sex has legal, cultural, or practical relevance, and that equating sex with gender identity has harmful, discriminatory consequences for women and girls – especially lesbians,” Gjevjon said in her question.

She added, “will the Equality Minister take action to ensure that lesbian women’s human rights are safeguarded, by making it clear that there are no lesbians with penises, that males cannot be lesbians regardless of their gender identity, and by tidying up the mess of the harmful gender policies left behind by the previous government?”

“I do not share a notion of reality in which the only two biological sexes are to be understood as sex,” Trettebergstuen said, “Gender identity is also crucial.” Reports mention that Gjevjon is being forced out of the art world because of her opinions, despite the fact that she had been a prominent part of the music and art establishment for almost 15 years.

Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ features among IMDB’s ‘Most Popular Indian Movies’ of 2022, the only Bollywood movie on the list

OpIndia Staff
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Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ features among IMDB’s ‘Most Popular Indian Movies’ of 2022, the only Bollywood movie on the list

Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ has received IMDB’s ‘Most Popular Film’ award for the year 2022. The movie has been among IMDB’s list of ’Most Popular Indian Films’ of 2022.  

Director Vivek Agnihotri took to Twitter to announce the award received by ‘The Kashmir Files’, a movie that brought to silver screen the horrifying atrocities faced by Kashmiri Pandits in the 90s and their subsequent exodus from the valley. 

Actor Anupam Kher, who played a central character in ‘The Kashmir Files’, also took to Twitter to announce that the movie has been among the Top 10 most popular Indian movies of 2022. 

IMDB, the world’s most popular and authoritative source on movies, OTT shows and series, recently released their list of top 10 Indian movies of 2022. Shockingly, ‘The Kashmir Files’ was the only Hindi movie to be in the top 10. 

Unsurprisingly, S S Rajamouli’s period action thriller ‘RRR’, which has received two nominations at the prestigious Golden Globe Award 2023, topped the IMDB list, followed by Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’. 

IMDB determines the list of the popular movies and web series by the actual page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to the website.

K.G.F: Chapter 2, Vikram, Kantara, Rocketry, Major, Sita Ramam, Ponniyin Selvan: Part One, and 777 Charlie were other movies in the top 10 list. 

The list came out weeks after controversy erupted over Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid’s tendentious and unwarranted remarks on ‘The Kashmir Files’, triggering the left ecosystem into once again attacking the movie that brought to the fore uncomfortable reality of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus.

The Kashmir Files

The film takes viewers back to 1989, when due to rising Islamic Jihad, a huge conflict erupted in Kashmir, forcing the great majority of Hindus to flee the valley. According to estimates, roughly 100,000 of the valley’s total 140,000 Kashmiri Pandit inhabitants migrated between February and March 1990. More of them fled in the years that followed until just about 3,000 families remained in the valley by 2011. 

The movie which is based on video interviews with first-generation Kashmiri Pandit victims of the Kashmir Genocide begins with the episode of the year 1990 when the then CM of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah had tendered his resignation. Abdullah had lost control back in 1984, probably after he had visited a conference in Kashmir and shared the platform with the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front’s (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik. Later Ghulam Mohammad Shah, who was supported by the Congress party had replaced his brother-in-law Farooq Abdullah and assumed the role as the state Chief Minister.

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