As the Congress government in Karnataka is gearing to introduce a ‘fake news’ law in the state, the state Congress committee has already started targeting social media posts that it considers “derogatory” and “disrespectful”.
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), has reportedly filed an FIR against the BJP Karnataka unit at High Grounds Police Station in Bengaluru for making a post about emergency on X. The FIR was made on the complaint of S Manohar, General Secretary, KPCC, which reportedly alleged that contents of the video as “disrespectful” and aimed at creating inciting hatred among different religious and communal groups.
A 38-second AI-generated video was posted from the BJP Karnataka handle on 26th June equating former PM Indira Gandhi with German dictator Adolf Hitler commemorating the dark period of emergency on its 50th anniversary. The video described the emergency period through visuals showing press freedom being curbed, people being beaten for speaking against the government and put behind the bars.
In the video, Indira Gandhi is shown with Hitler’s well-known moustache.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara justified the FIR saying that it was filed after receiving complaints against the post that tried to “malign the leader who served the country for many years”.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar defended the declaration of emergency by Indira Gandhi saying that after emergency, she came back to power after receiving people’s mandate. “I think it’s a problem with the BJP, they should know that after then emergency was declared, the entire country has given a mandate to Indira Gandhi. She ruled the country in 1980. The Janata Dal or any other party, could not maintain and they could not bring back their government. So the Congress Party under the leadership of Indira Gandhi came back to power. And she ruled, she sacrificed her life for the sake of this country,” Shivakumar said.
Karnataka government to introduce law against “fake news”
The Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka has proposed a bill named the Karnataka Misinformation and Fake News (Prohibition) Bill, 2025, which aims to put behind the bars anyone found spreading what the state government categorises as false or inaccurate information on social media. The bill will empower the state government to start criminal proceedings against any person, found to be sharing what the government considers as false information. It confers sweeping powers on the state government to take action against not just people residing in Karnataka but also those living outside the state.
25th June marked 50 years of emergency, a dark period in the history of Indian democracy, which was imposed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to remain in power. A resolution was passed by the Union Cabinet on the day to pay tribute to the exemplary courage of the countless individuals whose right to freedom was taken away and who continued a valiant resistance to the Emergency’s excesses despite the hardships they faced.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently informed a special NIA court that they have uncovered a hitlist of over 950 individuals at the locations linked to members of the banned Islamic organisation Popular Front of India (PFI). The revelation was made during the bail hearing of PFI terrorists from Palakkad.
While the hitlist has emerged, it has to be noted that on 21st May this year, the Supreme Court of India granted bail to PFI terrorists in the case of the murder of a Hindu leader. The apex court, during the hearing, stated, “Only one person has been killed. How many people do you want to put behind the bars?” Despite the Attorney General of India’s (ASG) Raja Thakare’s objection and argument that PFI had a hitlist and it was not about one murder but a larger conspiracy, bail was granted to Yahya Thangal and Abdul Rauf in the murder case of RSS leader Sreenivasan.
The remarks made by the bench during the hearing raise serious concerns over the judiciary’s treatment of violent Islamist conspiracies. The case was heard by two-Judge bench comprising Justice Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.
ASG flagged Yahya Thangal’s role in selecting Hindu murder targets
ASG Thakare argued that Thangal was not merely a protestor, as claimed by the defence. He was a key figure in a retaliatory murder conspiracy. He cited an approver’s statement that after the murder of PFI member Subair, seven teams were formed to pick a Hindu to be murdered in revenge. Thangal and Rauf were part of the team that selected RSS worker Sreenivasan as the target for revenge when they gathered at the hospital where Subair’s body was kept. Notably, Thangal was earlier accused of making communal remarks against judges of the Kerala High Court.
Court undermines conspiracy laws, ignores established legal precedent
Despite the submissions by the ASG, Justice Oka questioned the implications of Thangal and others in the murder. He stated, “These people are sitting somewhere else… how can they be made responsible?” He further remarked, “Only one man is killed. Murder is only of one man.”
The line of reasoning runs contrary to the very definition of criminal conspiracy under Indian law. A conspiracy need not involve physical execution of the act; participation in planning or facilitation is enough. It is established that conspiracy is proved largely through circumstantial evidence. Yet, the apex court ignored the basic legal principle and granted bail, arguing that no direct communication to the hit team had been shown in the approver’s statement.
Notably, Section 61 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), or, earlier, Section 120A of the Indian Penal Code, clearly lays down the legal definition for criminal conspiracy. It states that when two or more persons agree with a common object to do an illegal act or to do a legal act by illegal means, such an agreement constitutes a criminal conspiracy.
It is crucial to note that the law clarifies that an overt act in pursuance of such agreement is only needed when the agreement is not to commit an offence. This means that in cases where the objective of the conspiracy is to commit an offence, as in the targeted killing of Hindu RSS leader Sreenivasan, no further act is required for the offence of conspiracy to be established. Hence, the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the approver’s statement for lacking direct communication to the hit team is not only legally flawed but also contrary to well-established jurisprudence.
The Supreme Court has from time to time given rulings supporting the fact that it is hard to establish direct evidence to prove conspiracy. For example, in Kehar Singh vs State (Delhi) in 1988, and in Major EG Barsay vs State of Bombay in 1961, the court ruled that mere agreement, even without overt act, is sufficient to constitute conspiracy.
In Rajiv Kumar vs State of Uttar Pradesh in 2017, the court categorically said that “It is extremely difficult to adduce direct evidence to prove conspiracy.” The court further added, “Existence of conspiracy and its objective can be inferred from the surrounding circumstances and the conduct of the accused.”
Despite the legal precedent, the court decided to grant bail.
Ideology of murderers is not punishable, says judge
What is even more alarming is the court’s approach towards the ideological motivation of the accused. In the case of Abdul Sathar, who has over 70 criminal cases against him, including for violent protests, the bench argued that “people cannot be kept in jail for ideology.” Justice Oka said, “For ideology, you can’t keep somebody in jail. That is the trend we find. It is because they have adopted a particular ideology.”
This statement raises serious questions. The “ideology” here is not an abstract political or religious leaning. It is the same one found in PFI’s infamous “India 2047” document that openly laid out a blueprint for an Islamist takeover of India. To grant bail under the pretext that ideology cannot be punished is to legitimise a manifesto of radical Islamic supremacy.
Downplaying murder of a Hindu leader, legitimising a banned outfit’s plans
It is especially chilling that while PFI is now known to have maintained a hitlist of nearly a thousand targets, including judges, the judiciary has shown leniency to its top operatives. The court did not treat the murder of Sreenivasan as part of a larger jihadist agency but trivialised the killing and repeatedly stressed that “only one person” was killed. Such remarks come dangerously close to dismissing the gravity of the act.
As the deep-rooted conspiracies of the banned Islamist outfit PFI are being unearthed by the NIA, and investigative agencies are putting their lives at risk, the attitude of the judiciary sets a worrying precedent.
Conclusion
As investigators piece together the extent of PFI’s network and its mission of religiously motivated violence, it is critical that courts recognise the layered, conspiratorial nature of such cases. Granting bail on the flawed ground that only one person was killed, or that ideology cannot be punished, sends a dangerous message to the country and weakens the rule of law.
Kishoriganj Manmohanpur Primary School in West Bengal has finally stopped the practice of distributing mid-day meals separately to students based on their religious communities. The decades-old custom was discontinued on Wednesday after the district administration ordered a probe into reports that different meals were being cooked and served separately to Hindu and Muslim students for years.
The investigation was initiated promptly after the district administration became aware of the issue. “We sent an inquiry team to the school. Action will be taken based on the report,” said Ayesha Rani, District Magistrate of Purba Bardhaman.
The school’s headmaster, Tapan Ghosh, held a two-hour-long meeting to address the matter. The meeting was attended by teachers, villagers, panchayat members, and representatives of both the district administration and the police. The purpose was to discuss the issue in detail in the presence of all stakeholders.
“The students study together, sit in the same classroom, but the food is cooked and served separately. This has been the practice for years. I joined the school a year ago and tried to intervene, but failed. Today, I called a meeting of parents and local panchayat members, to resolve the issue” said Ghosh.
Since 2000, the school maintained separate kitchens and utensils for preparing meals for Hindus and Muslims, and also engaged two different cooks. Food was served separately based on the students’ religion. “This practice has now been discontinued. From now on, meals will be prepared and served together to all students, regardless of their community. A Self-Help Group (SHG) will also be formed soon to manage mid-day meal cooking in the school,” said an official.
The SHG will include local village women who will cook the meals following all prescribed norms. “All guidelines will be followed,” confirmed Mahbil Hussain Mondol, Deputy Pradhan of the Gram Panchayat. Although the administration has expressed commitment to preventing religious divisions in schools, it is evident that a lack of cooperation from some parents is hindering the process. Despite the administration’s firm stance, several parents have shown reluctance, and religious division continues to be a challenge in the school. According to school authorities, the segregated arrangements have been in place since 2000, shortly after the Mid-Day Meal Scheme was introduced.
Located in Purbasthali I Block, nearly 150 km from Kolkata, Kishoriganj Manmohanpur Primary School currently has 72 students—29 Muslims and 43 Hindus. Although meals were prepared using a single gas connection, they were served in separate classrooms based on religion.
The Mid-Day Meal Scheme was launched in India on August 15, 1995, under the leadership of then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. The key objective was to improve both the nutritional status and educational outcomes of school-going children, particularly those from economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Other aims of the scheme include increasing enrollment and retention rates and promoting social equality by encouraging children from diverse castes, religions, and communities to share meals together.
In 2021, the scheme was renamed PM POSHAN (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman) to further streamline its implementation and impact. Despite ongoing challenges, it remains one of the world’s largest school meal programs, playing a vital role in addressing child hunger, enhancing learning outcomes, and bridging social divides across the country.
‘You can wake someone asleep, but you can’t wake someone pretending to be asleep’. Driven by sheer frustration over losing not only the assembly election in Maharashtra last year but also its ‘EVM-VVPAT hacking’ issue, the Congress party has for months been crying hoarse over imaginary voting irregularities.
Congress prince Rahul Gandhi and other leaders have been deliberately questioning the validity of around 76 lakh votes reportedly cast after the 6 pm deadline, to allege that the Election Commission of India favoured the Bhartiya Janata Party-led alliance in the Maharashtra assembly elections.
After the Election Commission invited Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for talks over his allegations regarding the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Congress party on Thursday responded through a letter.
The Congress party has urged the Election Commission to share a digital, machine-readable copy of the Maharashtra voter list and polling day video footage from both Maharashtra and Haryana within a week, saying they will meet the EC and present their analysis once the data is received.
In the letter, the Congress party wrote, “We request you to provide us with a machine-readable, digital copy of the Maharashtra voter lists and video footage of the polling day of Maharashtra and Haryana within a week from the date of this letter. This has been a long-standing request that should be easy for the EC to comply with. The Congress party leadership will be happy to meet with the EC soon after we have received these. In that meeting, we will even present our analysis findings to you.”
Congress writes to the Election Commission in response to ECI's letter to LoP Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, offering to meet and discuss the issues about the Maharashtra 2024 Vidhan Sabha election that he and the Congress party raised.
It must be recalled that the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition had won 235 out of 288 seats in the last assembly elections in Maharashtra, giving a major setback to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the coalition of Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena (UBT).
Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had earlier called upon the Election Commission to publish consolidated, digital, machinereadable voter rolls for the most recent elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas of all states, including Maharashtra, saying that “telling the truth” will protect the poll panel’s credibility.
Unsurprisingly, Rahul Gandhi cited a dubious report published by leftist propaganda outlet Newslaundry and claimed that the voter list grew by eight per cent in just five months in Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s constituency, labelling it as “vote theft”.
“In Maharashtra CM’s constituency, the voter list grew by 8 per cent in just 5 months. Some booths saw a 20-50 per cent surge. BLOs reported unknown individuals casting votes. Media uncovered thousands of voters with no verified address,” Gandhi claimed on X.
In Maharashtra CM’s own constituency, the voter list grew by 8% in just 5 months.
Some booths saw a 20-50% surge.
BLOs reported unknown individuals casting votes.
Media uncovered thousands of voters with no verified address.
“And the EC? Silent – or complicit. These aren’t isolated glitches. This is vote theft. The cover-up is the confession. “That’s why we demand the immediate release of machine-readable digital voter rolls and CCTV footage,” Gandhi added.
Additional 76 lakh votes, voter theft, ECI compromised? Congress party peddling conspiracy theories based on the Newslaundry report, serving propaganda packaged as facts
The Newslaundry article cited by Rahul Gandhi in his X post claimed that CM Devendra Fadnavis’s seat, Nagpur West, added 29,219 new voters. The report claimed that about 162 voters were added every day, marking an 8.25 per cent increase.
Newslaundry also claimed that of 378 booths, 263 saw a “jump of over 4 percent in the electorate – in 26 booths more than 20 per cent and in four booths over 40 percent.”
Newslaundry report cited by Rahul Gandhi in his recent X post attacking the ECI
In response to Rahul Gandhi’s allegations based on the Newslaundry report, CM Devendra Fadnavis put out a detailed rebuttal. CM Fadnavis said that there are more than 25 constituencies in Maharashtra where more than 8% voters have increased between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, and Congress has won in many places.
“Rahul Gandhi, I agree that your pain of the crushing defeat in Maharashtra is increasing day by day. But for how long will you keep shooting arrows in the air? By the way, for your information, there are more than 25 constituencies in Maharashtra where more than 8% voters have increased between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and Congress has won in many places. In the West Nagpur constituency adjoining my South-West constituency, 7% voters (27,065) increased and Congress candidate Vikas Thackeray won the election there.
“In North Nagpur, 7% (29,348) voters increased, and Congress’s Nitin Raut won. In Pune district, in Vadgaon Sheri, 10% (50,911) voters increased and Sharad Pawar faction’s Bapusaheb Pathare won. In Malad West, 11% (38,625) voters increased and your Congress party’s Aslam Sheikh won. In Mumbra, 9% (46,041) voters increased, and Sharad Pawar faction’s Jitendra Awhad won,” Fadnavis added.
“Even if not with the allies, but it would have been better if he had talked to his old colleagues like Aslam Sheikh, Vikas Thackeray, Nitin Raut of his own party, once before this tweet. At least the lack of communication in Congress would not have been displayed so badly…” he continued.
झूठ बोले कौवा काटे काले कौवे से डरियो…
राहुल गांधी, माना की महाराष्ट्र की करारी हार की आपकी पीड़ा दिन प्रतिदिन बढ़ती जा रही है. लेकिन कब तक हवा में तीर चलाते रहोगे? वैसे आप की जानकारी के लिए, महाराष्ट्र में ऐसे 25 से अधिक चुनाव क्षेत्र है जहाँ 8% से अधिक मतदाता लोकसभा और… https://t.co/YtpuKNeUNE
Lie louder, make unreasonable demands, cry hoarse when get called out: Congress’s coping mechanism or ground laying for renewed ‘Democracy khatre mein hai’ campaign?
Notably, Rahul Gandhi had earlier also raised questions over the transparency and integrity of the Election Commission and claimed that the ECI is ‘destroying evidence’, including 45-day CCTV footage. “Voter list? Will not provide machine-readable format. CCTV footage? It was hidden by changing the law. Photo-video of the election? Now, not in 1 year, we will destroy it in 45 days only. The one from whom the answer was needed is destroying the evidence. It is clear – the match is fixed. And a fixed election is poison for democracy,” Gandhi wrote on X.
Gandhi demanded that the CCTV footage be made public, even as making webcasting footage of polling stations public would have violated the privacy and security concerns of voters. The ECI had slammed the Congress party and said that while such demands appeared to champion voter interest and democratic integrity, they were actually intended to achieve the “opposite objective”.
For the sake of lending credence to his conspiracy theory, Rahul Gandhi has been trying to compel the ECI to share the footage, which could allow easy identification of voters and non-voters, exposing them to potential pressure, discrimination, or intimidation by anti-social elements.
In this regard, the ECI officials said that if a political party received fewer votes at a specific booth, it could use CCTV footage to identify who voted and who didn’t, which could put the voters in danger.
The ECI had also clarified that they retained CCTV footage, which is used solely as an internal administrative tool, for 45 days in accordance with the legal window for filing an election petition. The ECI contended that since no election can be disputed beyond this time period, retaining the video would allow non-contestants to exploit it to disseminate disinformation and other nefarious agendas. They further stated that the footage is saved and made available to the appropriate court upon request if an election petition is filed within 45 days.
Congress scion claimed 7,000 fake voters registered from one building in Shirdi, caught lying again
Not only this, in February this year, Rahul Gandhi also claimed in parliament that 7,000 voters had been registered from “one building” in the Shirdi constituency, in a period of five months after the Lok Sabha polls last year. Gandhi insinuated that fake voters were added from this common address. However, it turned out that contrary to the claim made by Rahul Gandhi, the number was close to 3,000, that too not from one single building in Shirdi.
These were mostly students residing in hostels in the Loni town under the Shirdi seat. In their forms, the college they are enrolled in is the registered address, and hence the common address across students.
Elaborating on the common address among the 3,000 registered voters, Ahilyanagar District Collector Siddharam Salimath told IE, “When we first received the complaint from a political party, we informed the Election Commission (EC) about the reality. The increase of voters from the centre in question was about 3,000 voters. There are educational institutions in the Loni area, and the new voters are students from hostels of one of those institutions.”
He added, “If a person is above 18 years of age, he or she can choose where to vote from with the necessary documents. Since the students are residing in hostels, the college admission papers are taken as residence proof.”
The officer had also stated that a thorough cross-check was done to see if any voter registered twice; however, no such discrepancy was found. Thus, Rahul Gandhi’s another claim turned out to be misleading.
Rahul Gandhi lied about 65 lakh additional votes in the Maharashtra elections during his US visit
Even during his two-day visit to the United States in April 2025, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the electoral process was manipulated to favour the Bhartiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti Alliance in the Maharashtra elections. The Congress scion alleged that something is “very wrong with the system.”
Citing the example of the Maharashtra elections, Rahul Gandhi claimed that there was an addition of 65 lakh voters to the voter turnout in two hours, which was impossible.
“It is very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised, and it is very clear that there is something wrong with the system. I have said this multiple times…More people voted in the Maharashtra Assembly elections than there are adults in Maharashtra. The Election Commission gave us a voting figure for 5:30 PM, and between 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM, 65 lakh voters voted. This is physically impossible. For a voter to vote, it takes approximately 3 minutes, and if you do the Math, it would mean that there were lines of voters till 2 AM, but this did not happen…When we asked them for the videography, they not only refused but they also changed the law so that now we are not allowed to ask for the videography…” Gandhi said.
The Indian Express platformed Rahul Gandhi to peddle lies about Maharashtra and Lok Sabha elections
In June 2025, Gandhi wrote a misleading opinion piece in The Indian Express, wherein he desperately tried to dub the party’s loss in the 2024 Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha election as the result of ‘industrial-scale rigging.’ From questioning appointment process of Election Commissioners, making misleading claims of inflated voter registration, lying about increased voter turnout to mindlessly conflating Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha results, Rahul Gandhi blamed everything under the sun for his party’s nonchalant performance in the Maharashtra elections and the Lok Sabha elections perhaps as a coping mechanism or to lay ground for a wider political campaign that would allow him to play victim of the ‘system’ while also dodging accountability for his party’s political incompetence. OpIndia published a detailed and fact-based rebuttal to Rahul Gandhi’s lies.
ECI debunked Congress’s lies about inflated voter turnout in Maharashtra elections
After the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) wrote a detailed letter to the Congress party debunking their lies pointwise. Regarding Congress’s allegation of inflated voter turnout, the apex poll body explained how an increased voter turnout in the final hours of voting is a normal phenomenon. The ECI pointed out how it is impossible to change the actual voter turnout, as the statutory Form 17C, which contains the details of voter turnout, is provided to the authorised agents of candidates at the polling booth at the time of closing of the poll. The ECI also refuted Congress’s allegation that the number of voters was arbitrarily added and removed from the electoral rolls.
Back in November 2024, Congress used the dubious report published by leftist propaganda outlet The Wire, and now the party is using a similar, zero-per-cent-fact-hundred-per-cent-propaganda report by another leftist outlet, Newslaundry.
As reported earlier, TheWire had claimed that 5,04,313 additional votes were cast during the Maharashtra state elections. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Maharashtra had debunked these lies. He stated that TheWire report had included 5,38,225 postal ballots in the votes counted, which was not part of the votes polled data released by the CEO Maharashtra. It highlighted that 6,40,88,195 votes were cast in all 288 Assembly seats through EVMs, which has been “mischievously” displayed as the overall number of votes cast.
The fact that Rahul Gandhi fails to substantiate his allegations and that his lies have been repeatedly debunked by the Election Commission after each election does not make a difference to Gandhi. That is because his motive is not to bring about transparency or accountability but to save his face and shift the blame to an external source after his party’s repeated election defeats. Gandhi and his party have repeated their same old, done-to-death excuses for losing elections so many times that they have become the standard, go-to excuses for any political party that loses an election in the country.
Congress claimed irregularities in the Maharashtra electoral roll, ECI debunked the lies
In April this year, the election commission refuted the accusations of irregularities in Maharashtra’s electoral roll published in January this year. Hardly any first or second appeals were made under Section 24 of the Representation of People Act, or correction of any entries in Electoral Rolls (Section 22) or Inclusion (Section 23) during the recent Special Summary Revision published on January 6-7, 2025. The ECI said that only 89 appeals for changes with the district election office and only one with the chief electoral office were filed against 9.7 crore registered voters. The ECI asserted that this negligible number contradicts the claims made by opposition parties in parliament’s winter session.
Bombay High Court adds to Congress embarrassment, dismisses petition challenging 2024 Maharashtra elections
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea seeking to annul the November 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election results over alleged voting irregularities.
The petition, filed by Mumbai resident Chetan Chandrakant Ahire and argued by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar, questioned the validity of around 76 lakh votes reportedly cast after the 6 pm deadline. It alleged a lack of transparency and claimed a suspicious surge in late voting, raising doubts about the electoral process.
The bench of Justices GS Kulkarni and Arif Doctor, however, found no merit in the arguments, noting that similar voting trends in past elections, including the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, were never challenged. The court stated that unless there was clear evidence linking post-6 pm votes to any candidate’s victory, the allegations were baseless.
While dismissing the petition, the court refrained from imposing costs despite noting the significant time lost. The Election Commission’s counsel had also questioned the petitioner’s locus standi and the absence of victorious candidates in the case, arguments the court agreed with.
“We have no manner of doubt that this writ petition needs to be summarily rejected. It is accordingly rejected. The hearing of this petition has practically taken the whole day, leaving aside our urgent cause list, and for such reason, the petition would certainly warrant dismissal with costs; however, we refrain from doing so,” the court said.
It was indeed a waste of judicial time, since the ECI had on multiple occasions refuted these allegations, asserting the transparency of the process, with over 1 lakh booth-level officers, 288 returning officers, over 1 lakh booth-level agents, including 28,421 from the Congress party itself, overseeing the elections. Despite this, Congress and its undeclared Prime Minister aspirant persist in demanding digital voter rolls, CCTV footage and whatnot, painting the routine electoral practices as some sort of sinister anomalies just because his party failed to secure victory.
Why is Congress pretending to be asleep? Why is the party clinging to a narrative devoid of facts but loaded only with conspiracy theories?
Although EVM hacking and VVPAT tempering allegations brought nothing but criticism and embarassment for the Congress party, the question arises why the grand old party is clinging to an even more sinister narrative around voter turnout, inflated voter numbers, and whatnot to directly attack the ECI. Well, the answer lies in desperation and deflection. Having suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Mahayuti alliance, Congress is unwilling to introspect on electoral failures such as a lack of appealing leadership, a weak campaign, or failure to come up with better counters to the BJP-led alliance’s poll agenda. Instead of introspecting, Congress has resorted to masking its own shortcomings by casting aspersions on the ECI’s integrity and mindlessly alleging systemic manipulation.
Even as Congress’s claims of EVM hacking and VVPAT tempering were largely dismissed by the voters and even the courts as baseless, Congress pivoted to the ‘additional voters’ conspiracy theory. However, the recent remarks by the Bombay High Court on the petition that essentially put forth the same claims made by the Congress party regarding the Maharashtra poll results suggest that Congress’s strategy is backfiring spectacularly. The voters notice that the Congress party accepts the results of the elections conducted by the same ECI when it secures victory; however, it comes up with myriad conspiracy theories in the face of defeat. The voter notices how Congress projects its rare victories as ‘triumph’ of democracy by fighting the BJP-controlled ‘system’ while its defeat as ‘hum haare nahin hume haraya gaya hai’ [we didn’t lose, we were made to lose].
Congress’s disgraceful persistence in furthering debunked claims inadvertently goes in favour of its opponents, as the party is alienating voters who see through the party’s rhetoric as sour grapes. By doubling down on demands for voter lists and CCTV footage, Congress is playing a Gobbelsian trick of repeating a lie until it becomes truth. Congress is clinging to the apocryphal narrative that the party and its media allies have concocted since their strategy is not to seek answers but only to keep repeating the same lies in the form of questions to keep the flame of ‘JanNayak fighting the system’ burning. As long as the questions appear to remain unanswered, Congress will be able to dodge accountability for its own failures while also presenting itself as a ‘victim’ of a ‘system’ hijacked by its nemesis, the BJP.
If the party had any real intention of seeking factual answers, Congress would have sent its representative to the ECI office when the poll body invited the party to have its questions answered and before that they would have done some introspection as to why are they being rejected by the voters. Instead, Congress comes up with long and repetitive letters to push a false narrative that somehow they are keen to find the ‘truth’, but the ECI is avoiding them since they are hand in glove with the BJP. However, this charade is more harm than benefit to the Congress party, as no one but its own supportive ecosystem is buying its lies.
A Durga Mandir in Bangladesh capital Dhaka was demolishedv by the administration 2 days after a large mob threatened to bring it down. As per reports, the Khilkhet Sarbajanin Durga Mandir was demolished based on an order issued by Bangladesh Railway’s Dhaka Division Deputy Commissioner and Divisional Estate Officer Md. Nasir Uddin Mahmud on Wednesday.
The Durga Mandir was demolished on Thursday morning, surrounded by Hindu men and women breaking down in tears. A huge army and police bulldozer arrived at the Mandir premises from Purbachal Army Camp in Dhaka to carry out the order. Hindu devotees sat in front of the temple and tried to stop the demolition party, but army personnel removed them from the spot, and then the bulldozers proceeded to bring down the structure.
The demolition of the Sri Sri Durga Temple, including its idol, in Khilkshet is truly a heartbreaking incident.
There are many knowledgeable people in the country regarding laws and regulations, but the question remains couldn't the idol have been relocated elsewhere?
As a last resort, Hindus had requested to allow the Rath Yatra to take place tomorrow and postpone the demolition after that, but this was rejected. The idols in the temple, puja materials and other items in the temple were destroyed in the operation. The idols of Goddess Kali and Lord Shiva were crushed brutally under the bulldozer, shattered into pieces.
For more than half a century, annual Durga Puja is being held at the Khilkhet Sarbajanin Durga Mandir in Dhaka. In the temple premises, there is an idol of Goddess Kali also, regularly worshiped. The temple built with corrugated iron sheets was in a dilapidated condition, and was a makeshift temple built on Railway land, but was an important place of worship for minority Hindus in the Islamic nation.
On the night of June 24, a Muslim mob attacked the temple, attempted to vandalise it, and gave a deadline of 12 hours to vacate it. They also abused the devotees foul language and even threatened to kill them.
The makeshift Shri Shri Durga Mandir at Khilkhet Dhaka today has been vandalised by the local administration without any notice. #Khilkhet#খিলক্ষেতমন্দির#SaveHinduTemples Railway donated this land to Hindus many years ago, but now seems like they've reverted their actions pic.twitter.com/XlJvKnaAgF
They gave an ultimatum to the Hindu devotees to remove the temple by 12 pm on Tuesday (24th June), and vowed to demolish the temple if their diktat is not implemented. After that, the local Hindu leaders approached the Khilket police.
However, instead of protecting the temple, it was demolished suddenly in the name of eviction, just two days after the mob violence. The Railway Department of the Bangladesh Government led by Mohammad Yunus has said that under the powers conferred by Sections 5(1) and 5(2) of Ordinance No. 24 of 1970, a program to evict illegal establishments and squatters from Bangladesh Railway land in the Philkhet Bazar area from Kuril Bishwa Road intersection has been implemented to evict illegal encroachers from railway land.
The temple along with the Fetish was demolished in Khilkhet #Bangladesh. #Hindu communities had requested that at least the Rath Yatra be allowed to take place tomorrow. But the government did not seem to care about the emotions and requests of the followers of #Sanatan religion. pic.twitter.com/xMjWCchAK4
— Bangladesh Agniveer ?? (@BDAgniveer) June 26, 2025
As per the administration, the temple was located on encroached govt land. But the Hindus say that the temple was there for a long time with the knowledge of the administration, and it was never deemed to be illegal.
The demolition just before the Jagannath Yatra has created outrage among the Hindus in Bangladesh. While govt says it was eviction from encroached land, Hindus believe it just a part of ongoing atrocities against minorities in the country. Questions are also being raise while the idol could not be relocated instead of destroying it.
According to some locals, the land was actually donated for the temple by the Railways.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi may find herself in a legal storm as the Prime Ministers Museum and Library (PMML) Society is considering legal action to retrieve private papers of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that were taken away in 2008. The discussions at the 47th Annual General Meeting of the PMML Society were held on 23rd June, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Reports suggest that there was a consensus among the members that the issue must now be pursued through legal channels.
Sources within the PMML Trust have confirmed to OpIndia that a case of theft is indeed being considered. The documents in question were donated and are legally the property of the institution. The alleged removal of the papers by Sonia Gandhi took place during the UPA era and is now under sharp scrutiny.
Letters packed in 51 cartons taken away in 2008 during UPA rule
The controversy revolves around a large cache of documents from Nehru’s private collection. It includes letters exchanged with historical figures including Edwina Mountbatten, Albert Einstein, Jayaprakash Narayan, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Babu Jagjivan Ram and Aruna Asaf Ali. These papers were housed at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), which is now known as PMML, between 1971 and 2008.
In 2008, the papers were reportedly packed in 51 boxes and taken by Sonia Gandhi. These included material that was originally donated to NMML by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and later by Sonia Gandhi herself, who acted as the family heir.
PMML sent several official letters and appeals this year to Sonia Gandhi’s office, including those from Gujarat-based historian and PMML Society member Professor Rizwan Kadri. However, the Congress leader did not respond. Kadri had written twice, first to Sonia Gandhi in September 2024, and then to Rahul Gandhi in December, urging the Gandhi family to return the original papers or at least provide photocopies and digital scans of the same. However, neither Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi responded to the requests.
PM Modi chairs crucial AGM; ministers and society members back retrieval
The 47th AGM was held at Teen Murti Bhavan. It was attended by senior Union Ministers including Rajnath Singh, who serves as Vice-President of the PMML Society, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw. Other notable members included BJP leader Smriti Irani, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, and former Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani, who now serves as PMML’s Director.
Reports suggest that the meeting revisited the issue discussed earlier in the February 2024 AGM, that of Sonia Gandhi having “reclaimed” a significant portion of papers donated by the Nehru-Gandhi family. The board reached a consensus that these papers are a national treasure and must be preserved by the institution.
Following legal advice received after the previous AGM, a formal communication had been sent earlier this year to Sonia Gandhi’s office. For the first time, it was officially put on record that the papers had been taken away and a request was made for their return. However, no reply came from Gandhi’s office. Members of the PMML Society now seek to “course correct” what they described as an “administrative lapse” from the pre-2014 era.
Trust asserts that donated papers cannot be reclaimed
The Trust is considering its legal position on the principle that once a donation is made, ownership cannot be reversed. Hence, the papers remain the rightful property of the museum. Discussions have also been held on related concerns of ownership, custodianship, copyright, and the scholarly use of these collections.
According to the PMML Society, it is essential to ensure that letters such as those between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten are accounted for. There are demands among members for a forensic audit of the material that was taken to assess if any vital documents are missing.
New-look council backs action, PM suggests museum mapping and Emergency archive
The PMML executive council was reconstituted in January 2025. Notable new members including Smriti Irani, former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar, retired Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and artist Vasudev Kamath were added to the council. Nripendra Mishra was given another five-year term as chairperson.
In the Monday meeting, apart from the Nehru papers issue, PM Modi proposed creating a “museum map” of India and a comprehensive national database of museums across the country. He also suggested compiling all legal cases and documentation related to the Emergency period to mark its 50th anniversary.
BJP dubs letters ‘historical documents’, Parliament had taken note too
In December 2024, BJP MP Sambit Patra reacted to the matter of papers linked to Nehru and stated that these are not just family correspondences. He asserted that those documents are valuable in national interest. He insisted that the public had a right to know what they contain. The issue was also raised in Parliament last year, signalling its potential to escalate further if legal proceedings are initiated against Sonia Gandhi.
If the PMML Trust goes ahead with formal legal steps, it could trigger a high-profile legal and political battle between the PM Modi-led NDA government and the Congress party.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have begun the data extraction process of the Black Box and the Cockpit Voice recorder (CVR) of AI-171, which had crashed in Ahmedabad, killing 241 passengers.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the memory module was successfully accessed and its data downloaded at the AAIB Lab. The analysis of CVR and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) data is underway.
These efforts aim to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences.
Status Report on recovery and examination of data from Black Boxes –Air India Flight AI-171
The Crash Protection Module (CPM) from the front black box was safely retrieved on June 24, and on 25 June, the memory module was successfully accessed and its data downloaded at the AAIB… pic.twitter.com/JQ4Q85sYVg
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is the designated authority for such investigations, as India is a signatory to the ICAO Chicago Convention (1944) and investigates aircraft accidents per ICAO Annexe 13
Following the unfortunate accident involving Air India Flight AI-171, the AAIB promptly initiated an investigation and constituted a multidisciplinary team on June 13, in line with prescribed norms.
The team, constituted as per international protocol, is led by the DG AAIB and includes an aviation medicine specialist, an ATC officer, and representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) which is the government investigative agency from the state of manufacture and design, (USA), as required for such investigations.
Both the Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR) were recovered–one from a rooftop of the building at the crash site on June 13, and the other from the debris on June 16, 2025. Standard Operating Procedures were issued for their secure handling, storage, and transportation. The devices were kept under 24/7 police protection and CCTV surveillance in Ahmedabad.
Subsequently, the black boxes were brought from Ahmedabad to Delhi by IAF aircraft with full security on June 24. The front black box arrived AAIB Lab, Delhi with the DG, AAIB at 22 p.m. on June 24.
The rear black box was brought by a second AAIB team and reached AAIB Lab, Delhi at 3:15 p.m. on June 24.
On the evening of June 24, the team led by DG AAIB, with technical members from AAIB and NTSB, began the data extraction process. The Crash Protection Module (CPM) from the front black box was safely retrieved. On June 25, the memory module was successfully accessed and its data downloaded at the AAIB Lab.
The analysis of CVR and FDR data is underway, and all actions have been taken in full compliance with domestic laws and international obligations in a time-bound manner.
The first batch of pilgrims from India has reached Tibet as the holy Kailash Mansarovar Yatra resumed after a gap of 5 years. The yatra was suspended in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent Galwan Valley standoff between Indian and Chinese soldiers, which strained the relations between India and China. Starting on 30th June, the yatra marks a significant step towards improving people-to-people ties as the two countries work towards normalising their relations.
As per the information provided by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the pilgrims will undertake the journey in two sets of batches between June and August. Five batches of 50 devotees each will travel through Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand via Lipulekh Pass and another ten batches of 50 devotees each will undertake the holy trek through Sikkim, crossing over at Nathu La Pass. The applications for the yatra were accepted through an online process and the selections were made in a fair, computer-generated, random, gender-balanced selection process. The application and selection process has been made entirely computerised since 2015.
Yatra resumed as India, China try to normalise ties
The development comes after PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS Summit held between October 22 to 24, 2024, in Kazan, Russia. In the efforts to normalises ties, both the countries agreed to resume patrolling and disengage troops along the Indo-China border (Line of Actual Control) in eastern Ladakh.
Recently, on 23rd June, while attending the 20th Meeting of the SCO Security Council Secretaries in China, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. During the meeting the countries reviewed recent developments in their bilateral relations and underscored the need to promote their overall development.
The arduous journey to Mount Kailash
The Kailash Mansarovar yatra is a holy pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in Tibet. The yatra is an arduous journey of over 20 days involving high altitudes, difficult terrain and a challenging environment requiring physical and mental strength. A key part of the yatra is Parikrama, called Kora. It involves circumambulation around the base of Mount Kailash, which is a challenging trek of about 52 kilometres and takes up to 2-3 days.
Image via X
The Kailash Mansarovar yatra is undertaken through two main routes- via Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand and via Nathu La Pass, which opened in 2015. Lipulekh Pass route is shorter but it is known for its longer and challenging trek of around 200 km. The Nathu La Pass route is a longer but more motorable route, requiring minimal trekking of around 35 km.
Both the routes lead to Lake Mansarovar, where pilgrims perform circumambulation, puja and meditation as per their religious beliefs.
Image via thekailashmansarovar.com
As it is an international tour, the Ministry of External Affairs makes the arrangements. Medical check-ups of all the pilgrims are conducted before the journey to make sure that they are fit for the pilgrimage involving significant trekking. They are also required to sign an indemnity bond stating that they are undertaking the journey on their own risk.
The pillgrims further need to provide an undertaking for evacuation by helicopter in case of emergency, and sign an consent form for cremation in China in case of death there.
For the pilgrims travelling through the Lipulekh Pass, the journey usually begins at Delhi including stopovers in Uttarakhand, including Tanakpur, Dharchula, Gunji (acclimatisation camp), Nabhidang, before reaching the entry point in Taklakot (Tibet Autonomous Region). Their return journey to Delhi will have stopovers at Bundi, Alomra, and Chaukori. This is a 22 day journey in total, that includes walking over the Lipulekh Pass.
Image via kailash-yatra.org
The journey via the Nathu La Pass begins at Gangtok in Sikkim from where the pilgrims will proceed to Lake Mansarovar. Acclimatisation camps have been set up by the Sikkim administration at 18thMile, 16th Mile and Hangu Lake having accommodation, healthcare and other necessary services for the pilgrims undertaking the yatra this year.
After walking to a Chinese side after crossing the border, buses take the pilgrims in the Chinese to the Manasarovar, from where Kailash Parikramas are started. Before the parikrama is started, liasion officials check the health of the pilgrims, and not allow those deemed not fit for the trek.
The Kailash Parikrama starts at Yam Dwar, from where the walk begins, with ponies and porters. Pilgrims need to carry food items and cook themselves at designated places along the route, where basic amenities including stoves are provided. Important places along this route are Shiv Sthal near Dolma Pass and Gauri Kund.
After completing the Kailash Parikrama taking three days, the Manasarovar Parikrama begins, part of which is done on buses.
The local administration in Uttarakhand as well as Sikkim has geared up after the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar yatra. The yatra not only provides a unmatched spiritual experience to the pilgrims but it also enriches the local economy of region falling on the route of the yatra. The preparartions for the yatra are being overseen by the Indian Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Sashastra Seema Bal and Border Roads Organisation in coordination with the local administration.
The information guide for the yatra provides important information about the tour. It advises people having to motion sickness to carry proper medication, and details parts of the trekk which are difficult. The guide says that crossing the Dolma pass remains a test of faith and determination, as blizzards are known to strike without warning. It further states that people should not climb down to Gauri KUnd, instead ask porters to collect water to fill their cans in exchange of small tips.
Yatris are not allowed to take dip in the Holy Manasarovar Lake. However, Chinese authorities provide mug and bucket to take water from the Lake and take bath at the designated place.
The yatra is reverred across religions
Pilgrims undertaking the Kailash Mansarovar yatra come from different religions, including, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. This is because Mount Kailash has immense spiritual significance across religions. Apart, from people visiting the mountain for spiritual reasons, Mount Kailash is also popular among adventure tourists and trekkers due to the challemge and the thrill the journey offers.
Hinduism
In Hinduism, Mount Kailash is the abode of Lord Shiva and his consort Devi Parvati. Shiva, is one of the three primary deities, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh (Shiva), representing the cyclical nature of existence. Brahma represents the enery of creation, Vishnu represents the energy of maintenance and Mahesh, i.e. Shiva represents the energy of destruction. The sacred mountain is considered as the centre of the world and a pathway to salvation. Hindus perform clockwise Parikrama around Mount Kailash.
Buddhism
Mount Kailash is known as Kang Rinpoche (Precious Jewel of Snow) in Buddhis. It is associated with deity Demchok (Vajrabhairava) and tanric yoga. Buddhists consider the mountain as the spiritual axis of the universe and the centre of the mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum”, which is considered a symbol of wisdom and compassion. Buddhists perfrom anti-clockwise Parikrama around Mount Kailash.
Jainism
Jains refer to Mount Kailash as Mount Ashtapada. They belive that the founder of Jainism and the first Jain Tirthankara, Rishabhadeva, attained liberation at Mount Kailash. Jains perorm clockwise Parikrama around the mountain.
Sikhism
Sikhs consider Mount Kailash as a sacred site. They believe that Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikh religion, visited the mountain and meditated there.
Bon
Mount Kailash has huge spiritual siginificance in the Bon religion, the native religion of Tibet. Bonpos, the followers of Bon religion, associate the mountain with sky goddess Sipaimen. They perform clockwise Parikrama around the mountain.
At the roof of the world, where the Himalayan air is crisp and the Monpa people roam free, lies a centuries‑old secret: Mon Shugu, a handmade paper crafted not from trees, but from the bark of the Daphne papyracea shrub. What was once a sacred tradition on the brink of extinction has witnessed a renaissance—thanks to a unique blend of cultural pride, community leadership, and support by the Arunachal Pradesh government.
A journey through time and bark
For over a millennium, Monpa monks and artisans in Tawang have been harvesting the inner bark of the Shugu Sheng shrub locally called the “paper plant”. The bark is dried, boiled in an ash solution, beaten into pulp, then streaked across bamboo sieves and dried under the sun. The result is a parchment-like sheet that’s naturally chemical‑free, incredibly strong, and resistant to decay perfect for religious manuscripts and calligraphy.
When the Mon Shougu art nearly vanished
As machine made paper invaded markets across India, Bhutan, Tibet, and beyond, Mon Shugu lost its dominance. Ancient family techniques persisted in only handfuls of Mukto village households. By the 1990s, only a few artisans continued, and their efforts were often overshadowed by cheaper, mass-produced alternatives.
Even when international NGOs and Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) attempted to set up a small paper unit in Mukto in the early 2000s, a lack of coordination and poor access to remote villages led to its collapse.
Inaugurated Monpa Handmade Paper Unit in Tawang, a major step to revive 1000 yrs old heritage local art.The cultural & religious values of Monpa handmade paper in Buddhist belt, add to its huge global potential.A historic feat for the entire North East.@PMOIndia@nitin_gadkaripic.twitter.com/RjZl1nQKZE
Enter Maling Gombu, a Tawang-based lawyer and social activist, whose impassioned appeal led KVIC to resurrect the craft. On December 25, 2020, KVIC backed by Arunachal Pradesh’s government and technical staff from the Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute in Jaipur, revived the project at a refurbished government facility in Tawang.
Despite rocky roads, heavy machinery, and weather setbacks, the unit sprang to life. Within six months, artisans were rolling out 500–600 high-quality sheets a day, each researcher-trained artisan earning ₹400 per sheet.
More than paper: Culture, Community, Conservation
This endeavor isn’t just about paper, it’s about staying true to your roots. Mon Shugu is a conduit of identity for the Monpa, interwoven with monastic rituals, traditional art, and environmental stewardship. The bark-harvesting cycle from March to December respects the plant’s reproductive phase, ensuring natural regeneration and ecological balance.
Economically, the unit has created a reliable livelihood link. Artisans, especially women, now work together, train youth, and strengthen their social fabric. The local Traditional Paper & Handicraft Marketing Society is exploring digital platforms, e-commerce, and tourism tie‑ins to expand reach beyond prayer wheels and local monasteries.
From “local to global”
The ancient paper has found a niche market with calligraphers in Japan, monks in Bhutan and Tibet, and eco-conscious artists worldwide. Pema Khandu, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, shared a stirring video highlighting how this craft is “eco‑friendly, durable…and a testament to our cultural heritage”.
The Monpa community of Arunachal has long preserved the ancient art of making Mon Shugu—handmade paper crafted from the bark of Daphne papyracea. This eco-friendly, durable paper was once used for sacred texts and prayer flags in monasteries.
— Pema Khandu པདྨ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་། (@PemaKhanduBJP) June 25, 2025
The road ahead: Challenges & aspirations
1. Supply chain logistics: The bark lies scattered in high-altitude hills. Harvesting remains time-consuming; 4–5 shrubs yield only one or two sheets.
2. Limited digital access: Though e-market awareness is rising, poor courier links in far away villages inflate costs.
3. Youth engagement: Migration to cities threatens continuity. Yet, young champions like Nima Tsering (24) are returning to preserve the legacy.
Why Mon Shugu is worth saving?
1. Cultural sovereignty: It’s a living heritage intimately tied to Monpa beliefs and identity.
2. Eco-responsibility: Unlike wood-based paper, Mon Shugu relies on bark and eschews chemicals.
3. Economic promise: It fosters local production, women’s empowerment, and export potential under the “Local to Global” banner .
4. Education & Tourism: Workshops, storytelling, and showcasing the craft can draw curious global travelers and scholars to Tawang.
A call to action
As we navigate a world in search of sustainable traditions, Mon Shugu offers a blueprint. Support from rural credit, e-commerce logistics, eco‑tourism, and cultural preservation schemes can help scale the operation. KVIC eyes expansion across tribal-dominated zones with “plastic‑mixed paper” lines, tackling waste pollution while deepening the craft’s legacy.
An ongoing saga of resilience
What began as a local ritual has blossomed into a revival movement. Climate-conscious, driven by female artisans, and culturally anchored, Mon Shugu is now not just paper, but poetry etched in bark and belief. As grinders beat the pulp into paper, the hearts of the Monpa beat for their past and promised future.
And so, with each handcrafted sheet of Mon Shugu, a community turns over a new page safeguarding its heritage, earning its future, and reminding the world that true sustainability grows where roots run deep.
An alarming incident in Ashok Nagar of Delhi has caused a stir throughout the area. Neha, a 19-year-old, was pushed from the roof of a five-storey building by a 30-year-old man. The accused, Taufiq-ur-Rehman, entered the premises dressed in a burqa. It is reported that he had been pursuing her.
The police stated that the incident occurred at about 8:30 am on 23rd June (Monday), when the girl went to the rooftop to turn on the water pump after informing her mother. Neha plummeted approximately 50 feet onto the bricks in an unoccupied plot.
She was rushed to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in east Delhi, however, succumbed to her injuries. She had just begun working for an oil business in Mandoli and her father, Surender Kumar, had also found a new job at a factory. The family had been looking forward to a more promising future until the disaster befell them. “All we want is justice for my daughter,” expressed the grieving father outside the hospital mortuary.
“I was downstairs doing my chores when I heard a commotion. I rushed up to find Taufiq attacking my daughter. He pushed her off the rooftop and she fell to her death. I tried to save her but he shoved me,” he disclosed. The hurting father mentioned that he hurried to protect his screaming daughter as the shocking scene transpired on the rooftop but Taufiq grabbed him and threw him to the ground.
He added, “After that attack, I couldn’t get up. My arm was hurting badly. I couldn’t even move to protect Neha.” Taufiq turned to her and shoved her over the rooftop as her father was hurt and couldn’t help. Everything happened right in front of his eyes. He sounded the alarm, but the offender had already left. “Some neighbours tried to catch him, but he was fast and slipped past the lanes before anyone could stop him,” he recounted the horrific incident.
Neha, who had finished Class XII, wanted to help her family, who unveiled that she and Taufiq had been friends for a few years. The latter even claimed that he had no sister. “She used to consider him a brother and had even tied a rakhi on his wrist. Over the years, Taufiq had also grown close to the family,” highlighted a relative.
The family eventually found out that he had a sister and Neha’s harassment commenced after she stopped speaking to him following the revelation. Her mother noted, “He would call her office repeatedly and had been warned to stop contacting her.” The family pointed out that Taufiq had begun to pressure Neha into marrying him.
He reportedly threatened her just a week before killing her, declaring, “Main tujhe kahin ka nahi chhodunga (I’ll completely ruin you).” She told her mother about the same. According to the mother, she woke up early and decided to wash her clothes outside on the terrace. She requested that her mother turn on the water pump.
“Then I heard screams, people shouting ‘catch him, catch him’ and I saw Taufiq fleeing. He was dressed in black. We had warned him to maintain a pure brother-sister relationship with Neha, but he didn’t listen,” she pointed out.
Neha’s older sister remarked, “We regarded him as a member of our family. We tied rakhi on him. We never imagined in our wildest dreams that he would act in this manner.” Her aunt called for the death penalty for the murderer and stated that had they been aware of his intentions, ther would have protected their daughter.
The event has resulted in unrest in Ashok Nagar. The Ashok Vihar market was entirely shut down on 24th June. Satendra Sharma, the general secretary of the Agrasen Market Association, voiced, “We convened a meeting on Monday evening and collectively agreed to keep the market closed on Tuesday to express our solidarity with the family. The association also resolved that shopkeepers will cease to hire any Muslim workers.” Members from various right-wing organizations also assembled outside the victim’s residence to support the family.
The Delhi Police apprehended fugitive Taufiq in the Tanda region of Rampur district in Uttar Pradesh. Multiple police units executed raids in both Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, successfully capturing him. His identity and location were determined through the analysis of CCTV footage and additional evidence.
According to the authorities, Taufiq is from Hapur in Uttar Pradesh and worked as a daily wage labourer in the local market of Ashok Nagar. He had a long-standing relationship with the victim’s family and celebrated festivals like Rakshabandhan with them. Neha and her two sisters used to Rakhi on him. Nevertheless, in the last three months, Taufiq had begun to follow Neha. He would exert pressure on her and threaten her if she refused his demands. The family stated that they never imagined he would take such a drastic measure.
