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Agra: Burqa-clad teachers, students gang up against Principal of a College, torture her for being a Hindu, video of her crying goes viral

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On Thursday, the principal of Smt Joy Harris Girls Inter College, Agra complained of being harassed and mentally tortured for being a Hindu. The victim woman has been identified as Mamata Dixit who stated that several Muslim teachers at the college had formed a group against her and were deliberately targeting her for being a Hindu by religion.

The incident came to light on September 29 when a video when viral in which the woman could be seen crying and complaining about college politics. She said that the Muslim teachers had ganged up against her and were also influencing the Muslim girls to protest against her. She said that there were a total of 9 teachers led by their group leader Rehana Khatun.

According to reports, the Muslim teachers are harassing Mamata Dixit to eliminate her from the college management board. Dixit is the principal of the college and Khatun is instigating the teachers and around 200 Muslim girls to protest against her for her religion. “Mamata Dixit kursi chhodo (Mamata Dixit resign from the chair)”, the Muslim students yell demanding a Muslim principal at the college.

Dixit stated in the video that Khatun herself wanted to become the principal of the college and so was targeting her. “I am being harassed. 9 Islamist teachers have ganged up against me and they are threatening me to leave the chair. I am having suicidal thoughts and can’t take this anymore. I am even scared to travel in the city. They can do anything to me and my family”, Dixit said.

The incident is said to have happened on September 15 but came to the fore when the video of the woman principal crying went viral over social media. According to Dixit, some Hindu teachers are also supporting Muslim women to lead protests against her. “Most of these teachers are residents of Sarai Khwaja. They are instigating the Muslim girls from the college against me and are also gathering Muslim boys outside the school”, she said reiterating that the situation at the college was becoming scary.

In the video, Dixit could also be seen appealing to the students to wear college uniforms instead of burqas and hijabs. She talks about continuing her fight to ban the hijab and burqa inside the college premises. Reportedly, the management committee is said to have taken note of the video and issued notices to the Muslim teachers. Students have also been instructed to attend college in uniforms only.

One of the Managing Committee Members named Lal Bahadur confirmed that a meeting was held where both the parties were heard. “There is no dispute now. Orders have been given to run the school with discipline. Any kind of indiscipline will not be accepted in the school. Everyone has to ensure compliance with the school rules”, he was quoted.

Meanwhile, Joint Director RP Sharma said that no such case had come to the fore. “If the principal is being harassed for belonging to the Hindu religion, strict action will be taken against the accused teachers. The case will be considered and a committee will be formed to look into the matter”, Sharma assured.

Leicester police want to wait for Hindu women to be attacked with acid before taking the threats by Islamists seriously: Here is what happened

The Leicester violence against Hindus by Islamists has exposed an open wound in the UK society – the absolute apathy of the police when dealing with Islamists. One recalls how in Telford and Rotherham, the police looked away from Pakistani Muslim Grooming Gangs for decades because they did not want to be labelled racist. As a result, thousands of girls were sexually abused and exploited. In Leicester, the inability of the UK to act against Islamists has come to the fore again.

The violence started with Muslim mobs running rampage against Hindu homes and Islamists spreading fake news on social media, fanning the violence and hate further. OpIndia has covered the violence and the Islamist hate spread in detail and the reports can be read here.

On 29th September 2022, a Twitter handle, @ErayCr, took to Twitter to publish a thread on what some Hindu families from Leicester had told him about the violence, the threats and the fear that they were living in after Islamist mobs had heaped violence against the Hindu community. The handle said that over the past few days, he had been in touch with Hindu families from Leicester and they told him that during peak violence, the police had asked the Hindu families not to display Diwali decorations outside their homes.

He further said that almost all Hindu families had received threats of “acid attacks” on their women, while some Hindu families had temporarily left Leicester.

One of the Hindus this individual spoke to indicated that certain statements by Temple representatives were made under duress because the Muslim mob had gone to the extent of threatening Hindus with acid attacks. They also said that there is nothing the local community can do since the police were also mute spectators when a Hindu temple was being vandalised. Further, the Hindu family claimed that Muslims were lurking around Navratri celebrations with corrosive substances in pouches as if marking Hindu girls.

“I spoke to 3 families from Leicester, one family being our relatives, and other two being totally unrelated. And few people in Harrow, Kenton & Wembley areas of London. All of them have left Leicester for time being, as they don’t want to spend Diwali in such situation”, he tweeted.

For any police force worth their salt, the claim that several Hindu families have Leicester surfacing over and over again by several individuals with ears on the ground should raise alarms. In this thread, what is also concerning is the fact that Hindu families have allegedly got acid attack threats that have left them scared for their lives. A responsible police force, therefore, would reach out to the individual making these claims and try to contact the families who seem to have received these threats. The Leicester police, however, had other plans.

Responding to the thread by the Twitter user, who spoke about the plight of Hindu families in Leicester, the police said that they had no report of any acid attack in Leicester against Hindus.

“Hello. We must challenge some of the points in your thread. We have no evidence or incidents of acid attacks on anybody. We would urge anyone with any concerns or information to report this to us here so we can act on it swiftly: https://leics.police.uk/police-forces/leicestershire-police/areas/leicestershire-force-content/about-us/about-us/east-leicester-disorder-tell-us-about-your-concerns/… or by calling 101″, the Leicester police tweeted.

While the Twitter user was talking about threats issued to the Hindu women by Islamists, Leicester police dismissed the concerns by saying they had no evidence of any acid attacks against Hindus. Essentially, the Leicester police, instead of reaching out to the individual and getting details of the Hindu families who are being threatened with acid attacks, the Leicester police essentially said that they would not act or even take the threats seriously because they had no information that an attack had actually taken place.

When there is an imminent threat of violence, the police are supposed to investigate and make sure that the crime does not take place. The police are certainly not meant to wait for an attack to happen before jumping into action.

Further, the Leicester police claimed that it had encouraged Hindus to celebrate their festivals as normal, however, it is pertinent to note that this advisory by the Police was issued only later. What the Twitter user said was entirely different, claiming that the police had asked Hindus not to display religious symbols when the violence was at its peak. This concern was not addressed by the police at all and their response seems like a play of words, more than anything else.

Displaying further insensitivity, the Leicester police said that they could not act against the temple desecration because they were in another area taking care of a different mob.

The insensitive response by Leicester police comes as no surprise since UK has a systemic problem of ignoring crimes by the Muslim community.

On July 12 2022, an independent inquiry into Telford sexual exploitation case revealed how authorities looked away in the matter where over 1,000 children were groomed by Muslim gangs just because of racial unease. The report found that the key agencies investigating the matter dismissed child exploitation as “child prostitution.” They blamed the children for the situation and not the perpetrators.

The independent chair that investigated the case submitted the report on July 12, in which they concluded that the investigating agencies were nervous about the race of the accused and did not investigate the case properly. They added that the youth workers and teachers were discouraged from reporting the offences and exploitation of children. The steps taken by the authorities to ignore the matter resulted in the exploitation of the children for years.

Authorities were nervous because of the race of the accused

In its report, the independent chair found that there was evidence provided by the survivors that pointed toward the inaction of the West Merica Police. It was mentioned that the Police did not take proper action in several cases to avoid being labeled as racist or because Asian men were involved in the case. Pursuing such cases would potentially attract headlines that would have been deemed negative for the Police department.

The chair reported that during the 1990s and early 2000s, the Police officials were more nervous about pursuing such cases because of the race of the accused, especially in parts of Wellington. It is pertinent to note that while western reports often brand these perpetrators as “Asian men”, the men who groomed thousands of white girls in the UK have more often than not been Muslim men, mostly belonging to Pakistan and other Islamic nations. 

In 2020 as well, a detective in the United Kingdom claimed that the grooming gang was allowed to run amok and assault young girls in south Manchester because police officers were ordered to “find other ethnicities” to investigate.

According to a report authorised by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to investigate the historic failings of police and social workers, a paedophile network of about 100 Muslim assaulters is accused of exploiting 57 young girls in south Manchester in the 2000s. The report stated that the gang primarily consisted of “Asian men” (basically, Muslim men), who hooked their victims on drugs, primed, and sexually abused them. One girl, aged 15, died after being injected with heroin by a 50-year-old man. The report, which was published after a two-year enquiry, stated that vulnerable girls in care were groomed and abused in “plain sight”.

The report was a scathing indictment of the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) which is believed to have been biased in tackling grooming gangs comprised of predominantly Muslim men. Stating that “fears over race relations” ran high, it stated that the GMP and city council shelved an investigation because officers were wary of “many sensitive community issues” around enforcing the law in south Manchester in 2002 and 2003.

With several such stories of how different police forces across the UK look away from crimes of the Muslim community, the Leicester police’s response to Hindus being under attack seems to be par for the course.

The anti-Hindu attacks in the United Kingdom

In the past couple of months, the anti-Hindu attacks in the United Kingdom, especially in Leicester and Birmingham, increased by several folds. What appeared to be a reaction to the defeat Pakistan faced in the T20 Asia Cup match against India, it was later found that Islamists were just using the match as an excuse to attack the Hindus as they did not stop even after Pakistan defeated India in the same series a week later.

The attacks intensified to the extent that Hindu families left Leicester, and some of them reportedly have not returned so far. The houses, businesses and properties of Hindus were vandalised. Contrary to what was happening, mainstream media and Islamists tried to cover up the anti-Hindu attacks and blamed Hindus for the clashes.

In Birmingham, they used an event where Sadhvi Ritambhara was scheduled to appear as an excuse to attack a Hindu temple. The event was postponed owing to Sadhvi’s health. However, the Islamists did not back off and attacked the temple. It was evident that they were well aware of the fact that not only that particular event but the whole tour was postponed, but they moved ahead and called to circle the temple to intimidate Hindus. More such so-called “peaceful protests” at Hindu temples and establishments in the UK have been planned by the Islamists in the coming days.

Was one Maulana Ataullah Qasmi burnt alive by Bajrang Dal worker in Shahdol as claimed by propaganda website and AIMIM’s Owaisi? Here’s the truth

On Thursday (September 29), a New Delhi-based ‘independent news site’ courted controversy after falsely attributing the murder of an exorcist, accused of sexually harassing a woman, to Bajrang Dal. The deceased was identified as one Maulana Ataullah Qasmi.

In a tweet, ‘The Jamia Times’ wrote, “Maulana Ataullah Qasmi, a resident of Jharkhand, was burnt by a Bajrang Dal worker, and the body was thrown in the forest.” The archived version of the tweet can be accessed here.

Screengrab of the tweet by the Jamia Times

Prominent Muslim leaders then further amplified the disinformation to build a case against the Hindu rights organisation.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who has been miffed by the ban of Islamist outfit PFI, called for a ban on Bajrang Dal based on the fake news. “Will the Modi government ban this group?” he asked.

Congress MLA from Assam, Abdul Khaleque, dared the Indian Prime Minister to ban Bajrang Dal for supposedly spreading terror. He questioned, “Whether our PM Modiji has (the) guts to ban this organisation which is spreading terror ?”

Muslim activist from Bangladesh, where Hindus are regularly persecuted, Zahir Shamsery, also joined the collective effort by Islamists to mainstream the disinformation. “Draw the attention of (the) international community. Jharkhand (India) resident Maulana Ataullah Qasmi Sahib was burnt by the Bajrang Dal RSS and dumped in the forest,” he tweeted.

What is the Truth?

As per a report in Dainik Bhaskar, the deceased man Maulana Ataullah Qasmi (aged between 36-40 years) was a resident of the Palamu district of Jharkhand. He used to work as an exorcist in the Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh.

Qasmi was missing since September 21 and was last seen riding on the bike of his acquaintance towards Padmania village in Shahdol district. A missing report was thus filed by his family on the following day.

On Monday (September 26), his half-burnt body was recovered by Singhpur police from the same village. The cops swung into action and arrested a man named Shivshankar Yadav in connection with the case.

Screengrab of the news report by Dainik Bhaskar

The 28-year-old confessed to his crime and revealed the motive behind killing Maulana Ataullah Qasmi. Dainik Bhaskar reported that the accused man took a woman to the exorcist in the hopes of curing her of ailments.

Having won the trust of Yadav, Qasmi exploited the opportunity to sexually harass the woman. Angered by his act, the accused killed the exorcist and doused his body with the petrol from his bike.

After setting Qasmi’s body on fire, Yadav disposed of the bike in the Nawalpur Son river. There are no reports which suggest that Shivshankar Yadav, a driver by occupation, was associated with Bajrang Dal.

However, this did not stop Islamists from giving communal colour to the murder of Maulana Ataullah Qasmi, accused of sexually harassing a woman. Following backlash on social media, ‘The Jamia Times’ conceded that it did not have any evidence to back the claim of Yadav’s association with the Bajrang Dal.

“Update: DSP Shahdol Raghvendra Dwivedi has not confirmed that the accused is associated with Bajrang Dal. He said that the deceased used to come to the house of the accused earlier in connection with exorcism.”

However, the disinformation was widely shared by Islamists and the New Delhi-based ‘independent news site’ did not bother to delete the piece of fake news (which is now being weaponised to call for a ban on Bajrang Dal).

Indore and Ahmedabad: Muslim youths arrested for making videos of Hindu girls after they entered the pandal pretending to be Hindu

Several cases of Muslim youths entering Navratri Garba Pandals by hiding their identity and pretending to be Hindu have come to the fore. Locals in Ahmedabad and Indore reportedly beat up the accused Muslim youths after they were caught filming and photographing Hindu girls.

On Wednesday, 7 Muslim youths were arrested by the police from the Garba pandal of Pandharinath in Indore. They were reportedly making videos of Hindu girls. At the same time, Muslim youths who entered the Garba pandal in the Sindhu Bhavan area in Ahmedabad were thrashed by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists. The video of the same is going viral on social media. 

In the case of Indore Garba Pandal, the Bajrang workers asked for the names of suspected Muslim youths and to show their IDs. Initially, the Muslim youths took Hindu names and did not even show ID, however, after further questioning once their real names were known, they were handed over to the police. A case was filed under the prohibitory sections against Muslim youths. On Wednesday, all of them were brought before the court. All the accused were released on bail.

In an exclusive conversation with OpIndia, Bajrang Dal Ahmedabad east area co-ordinator Hiren Rabari said, “Every time we inform everyone in advance that no non-Hindu should enter this Hindu festival. We had also issued a warning for this year. We visited some of the pandals on Tuesday (September 27, 2022). 

“We were standing in front of the entrance spreading awareness among Hindus about ‘love jihad,’ every youth was entering the pandal by applying tilak, everyone’s identity card was checked to ensure that no non-Hindu enters by lying, while some Muslim youths had entered the pandal by disguising their identity,” he added.

Hiren Rabari also informed OpIndia that during the inspection of a pandal at SP Ring road, two suspected youths were given a warning and expelled from the pandal.

Bajrang Dal activists are keeping a vigil eye on Garba Pandals to prevent miscreants from entering and disturbing communal harmony. The Bajrang Dal asserts that Muslim men don’t take part in Garba with devotion to Hindu deities. They go to Garba pandals with the malicious intent of luring Hindu girls.

Uttar Pradesh: Staff member arrested for shooting obscene videos of girl taking a bath in a hostel in Kanpur

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In Kanpur, a youth was arrested for secretly shooting obscene videos of a girl living in a girls’ hostel in the Tulsi Nagar area of Rawatpur. When this incident came to light, other students of the hostel reached the police station and staged a protest. They have alleged that the accused used to visit the hostel on a daily basis and possibly the accused might have made such videos of other girls as well. The incident took place on 29th September 2022.

When the victim was taking a bath, the staff member working in the hostel started shooting a video by placing his mobile phone between a broken part of the door. The victim girl screamed when she saw the mobile phone. Listening to her screams, other girls in the hostel immediately reached the spot and caught the culprit.

The accused was arrested based on the complaint filed by the girls in the Rawatpur police station. His mobile phone is also seized by the police and it is being checked by cyber experts.

According to the girls, this staff member named Rishi used to visit the hostel daily and he was shooting the video by placing the mobile phone in the broken lower part of the door. The hostel is located in the Tulsi Nagar area and it is owned by a senior police officer. Around 60 girl students preparing for various competitive examinations live in the hostel. Accused Rishi, a resident of Sarvoday Nagar, is working in this hostel for the last seven years.

Earlier, in a similar incident, a video from the Chandigarh university was leaked this month. Allegedly 60 girl students were shot via mobile camera while they were bathing. Four people have been arrested so far in that case.

First made in India Light Combat Helicopter handed over to Indian Army by HAL, to be formally inducted on October 3

The Indian Army inducted the indigenously designed and developed Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Thursday, 29th September 2022. The first Light Combat Helicopter was handed over to the Army Aviation Corms by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

The Additional Director General of the Public Information (ADG PI – Indian Army) shared the information in a tweet, which said, “Indigenously designed & developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) has been inducted into Indian Army. The first LCH was formally handed over by HAL to Director General, Army Aviation Cops. Highly maneuverable and agile LCH will significantly enhance combat capability.”

On March 30, 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) authorized the purchase of 15 Limited Series Production Light Combat Helicopters at a price of Rs. 3,887 crores. Out of these 15 choppers, the Indian Air Force will receive ten, and five will be inducted into the Indian Army.

The LCH is a multi-role combat helicopter designed and manufactured by HAL, which is made in HAL’s helicopter division in Bengaluru. The helicopter can carry rockets, air-to-air and anti-tank missiles, and bombs.

The helicopter has the necessary agility, manoeuvrability, range extension, high elevation efficiency, and 24/7/365 all-weather fighting potential to carry out tasks like combat search and rescue (CSAR), destruction of enemy air defence (DEAD), counter-insurgency (CI), functions against slow-moving aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs), high altitude bunker busting, counter-insurgency operations in the jungle and urban environments, and support to ground forces.

The production of LCH by HAL will give the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative more momentum and encourage the indigenization of defence production and the nation’s defence industry as part of the ongoing effort to achieve self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector and reduce imports.

The Indian Air Force will formally induct the indigenous LCH on 3rd October 2022 at the Jodhpur Air Force base in Rajasthan in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari.

India inks major defence deal with Armenia, to export indigenous Pinaka rocket launchers and other weapons amid conflict with Azerbaijan

Amidst clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, India is set to export missiles, rockets, and ammunition to Armenia. Among other things, India will also export the indigenous Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers to Armenia to aid the nation against Azerbaijan. It will be the first export of the Pinaka rocket launchers.

According to reports, India has signed a $250 million (over Rs 2000 crore) deal to export anti-tank rockets and other ammunition to Armenia, apart from the rocket launchers. India will be supplying the weapons in the coming months via a government-to-government channel.

It is worth noting that India has been striving to boost its defence exports through policy changes like ‘Make In India’ and active government assistance in securing international orders. The Modi government has set a target to sell defence systems worth Rs 35,000 crore overseas by 2025.

Pinaka rocket launchers that are already in service of the Indian army and will be exported to Armenia were designed by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). In December 2021, India DRDO conducted a series of successful test-firing of the Pinaka rocket system at Pokharan field firing ranges. Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launching system (MBRL) can fire a salvo of 12 HE rockets in 44 seconds. 

The rocket launchers are mounted on Tata trucks. Each Pinaka battery has six launchers, 12 rockets, and the DIGICORA MET radar. Each of the launchers can fire in separate directions, as they have their own computers allowing them to function independently. All the launchers can be fired at once, or only some of them can be fired, as per requirement.

DRDO has partnered with Yantra India Limited (formerly Ordnance Factory Board), and private companies Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division and Larsen and Toubro for manufacturing the Pinaka rocket launchers.

The development comes days after External Affairs minister S Jaishankar had a meeting with Armenian foreign minister Arara Mirzoyan during the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. During the meeting on 24th September, ‘Minister Mirzoyan presented to his colleague the consequences of the large-scale aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against the sovereign territory of Armenia,’ a statement issued by MEA had said.

While India is taking the side of Armenia in the ongoing conflict, Azerbaijan is supported by its traditional allies like Turkey and Israel. Armenia is generally supported by Russia but due to Russia’s preoccupation in Ukraine, they are getting only limited assistance. In such a scenario, the defence deal with India can prove crucial for Armenia.

This is not the first time that India is exporting weapons to Armenia. India secured a $43 million contract in 2020 to export four Swathi radars to Armenia. These radars can track incoming artillery shells and locate enemy gun positions to assist in counter-attacks.

Furthermore, defence exports have increased exponentially. In 2020–21, India will export equipment for $90 million, up from $23 million in 2014–15.

In order to provide the Philippines navy with access to the BrahMos cruise missile, India and the Philippines agreed to a $375 million deal in January of this year. Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India’s DRDO collaborated to develop the BrahMos missile.

Bihar: IAS officer Harjot Kaur Bhamra expresses regret over her controversial remarks, cites patriarchal society as the reason behind her argument

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Bihar IAS officer Harjot Kaur Bhamra expressed her regret over the controversial remarks she made on Tuesday 27th September 2022. Harjot, who is the managing director of the Bihar Women Development Corporation, gave a shocking response to a school girl who asked if they can be provided affordable sanitary pads. In response, Harjot Kaur Bhamra said that today you are asking for free sanitary pads, tomorrow you may ask for free condoms for family planning.

The incident took place during a workshop called “Sashakt Beti, Samriddh Bihar” (Empowered Daughters, Prosperous Bihar), which was part of a program called “Towards Enhancing the Value of Girls”.

In a three-page explanation letter issued over this incident, Harjot Kaur Bhamra said, “The purpose of this workshop was to empower the girls so that they can march ahead independently in their lives without having to take any support from the government, the family, or the society. The participants informed us about the lacunas pertaining in various schools and the education department is taking an action on the same. A part of a few things I said in the course of this discussion was presented as an offensive statement by the media through many news items.”

She added, “The sole purpose of this workshop was to promote the girls to lead their lives independently breaking all the shackles of dependence and to imbibe confidence in them. If the things I said in the program are listened to as a whole, it will be clear that I was intending to inspire the girls to become self-reliant.”

In an attempt to justify her remarks, she said, “In a patriarchal society girls are taught to be dependent on someone else for their needs for the whole life. With discriminatory treatment in raising boys and girls, girls are taught to consider themselves helpless and weak. They are fed with the stuff like they are not safe outside their homes. Because of this, girls entangle themselves in these mental shackles and fail to opt for the path of development even when the facilities are available.”

Concluding her explanation, Harjot Kaur Bhamra said, “I express regret if my words hurt any girl’s sentiments. I didn’t intend to humiliate anyone or hurt anyone’s sentiments; in fact, I intended to inspire them to be independent.”

During the discussions in the program, when a girl asked Harjot Kaur Bhamra if the government can provide them with free sanitary pads, the IAS officer replied, “Do these demands have any end? A Sanitary pad worth Rs 20-30 can be given. Tomorrow, jeans can also be given. And why shouldn’t we give you attractive footwear? And finally, when it comes to family planning, the government should give you free condoms, isn’t it? Why do you have a habit of getting everything for free? Why do you need to take it from the government? Make yourself prosperous enough and leave these things for those who can’t avail it.”

The girl participating in the discussion further said, “The government comes to us asking for votes then it should be providing these things to the younger girls who cannot earn as we do.” Replying to this, the officer said, “So you don’t vote then. It is your government. This is the height of stupidity. Don’t cast vote. Ban Jao Pakistan. Do you understand the importance of a vote? Do you vote in exchange for money or facilities?”

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was also asked about the officer’s remarks. He said, “I’ve immediately called a meeting. We’re helping to empower women. I’m monitoring each & everything. Action will be taken.”

The senior official’s remark sparked widespread outrage on social media. Bihar BJP secretary Amrita Rathod slammed the IAS officer over the “Ban Jao Pakistan” remark while sharing a video of the incident. Amrita Rathod took to Twitter and wrote, “Meet an IAS officer of the Nitish-Tejashwi government who wants a student to go to Pakistan for having asked for sanitary napkins.”

Harjot Kaur Bhamra earlier issued a statement in which she stated, “I am well-known for being one of the most outspoken advocates for women’s rights and empowerment. Some wicked elements, against whom WCDC has taken rigorous action for omissions and commission of wrongdoing, have now resorted to such low-level tactics to slander my character, having lost at every forum.”

Now, Harjot Kaur Bhamra has come up with a detailed three-page explanation letter justifying her remarks and has expressed regrets for those who are hurt by her statement.

Times Now responds to ED charge sheet revelations in TRP scam, shares 2017 ‘clean chit’: What happened

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On September 29, media house Times Now responded to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) charge sheet revelations in the TRP scam. In its response, the media house shared a ‘clean chit’ given by BARC in 2017. In the tweet shared by Times Now, they said, “Nothing admitted by BARC. BARC’s clean chit letter to TIMES NOW. Take a look.”

In the letter dated December 26, 2017, BARC said that a show cause notice was issued on November 21, 2017, for breach by Bennett Coleman & Company Limited (BCCL is the parent company of Times Now) of the End User License Agreement that was signed between BCCL and Broadcast Audience Research Council (“BARC”).

The letter mentioned that based on the explanation provided by Times Now in the replies to the show cause notice regarding the abnormal increase in viewership raw data of the channel, BARC decided not to initiate any action against the channel. It added, “However, kindly note that in the event any further abnormal increase is observed in the viewership in the raw data of the Channel, we may proceed to initiate appropriate proceedings in terms of the EULA.”

In further discussion with the channel’s MD and CEO MK Anand, Times Now’s Editorial Director and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Shivshankar, they talked about the possible reason behind the “unusual spike”. Anand said during that period, they were doing some promotions, and because of that, there was a spike in the viewership. The panel of the Times Now team further claimed that BARC’s then-management tried to blackmail Times Now using forged data and “made-up video”.

In its statement, Times Now said, “As far as the spike shown in ratings on certain days in certain markets is concerned, we have already clarified the reasons for the same in our meetings. Most of the purported abnormalities can be explained by the use of Landing pages (LP) in such markets, and considering that LPs are the major marketing boost, they cannot really be referred to be abnormal in the real sense.”

They further added, “About the videos, we have clarified that we neither have any knowledge nor any involvement in any such unscrupulous activity. In fact, this clearly points to the involvement of some malicious party/ entity who is trying to spoil our reputation. In the past, we have been the victim of reduced channel share and, thinking that on-ground panel tampering by certain players may be the reason for the same, have shared our concerns with your agency where the ratings have shown abnormality/unprecedented spikes from time to time.”

Anand further questions where in ED report Times Now was implicated. He said, “Just because the channel’s name has been taken in the report for reference to certain vigilance committee show cause notice does not mean that investigation led to anything.

Rahul Ravishankar claimed they had “strong reasons to believe that this is a motivated & malicious act of certain organizations to tarnish the image of our channel TIMES NOW”.

What the ED charge sheet said about Times Now and TRP manipulation

OpIndia checked the charge sheet submitted by the ED in the matter. The PMLA investigation into the forensic report that was made on the instruction of BARC has revealed some troubling details. ED in its conclusions about the forensic report, that had apparently implicated Republic TV, says, “From the above discussion and table, it becomes apparent that the allegations made in the report are superficial and based on the analysis of limited aspects. Various other aspects such as the response of the Key Management Persons, video recording regarding allurement to three Households & show cause to Times Now, software developed by BARC to counter the TRP due to Landing Page, Vigilance Complaints, impact from surveying companies such as M/s Chrome were not taken into account while preparing the report”.

The charge sheet says there are two video recordings of two households that point towards the fact that Times Now had paid them to watch their channel. “A Show Cause was also issued to Times Now in this regard. This indicates certain irregularities vis a vis Times Now, which needs to be properly investigated”, it said.

“From the plain reading of these showcase notices and replies therein, it is apparent that there were three video clips of panel households wherein the panel households were supposedly indicating malpractices in viewing Times Now. There was further raw data analysis which showed an abnormal increasing average time spend watching Times Now vis-a-vis other English News Channels. The time period of this alleged maleficence on part of Times Now coincides with the period taken in the BARC audit report. In this regard, it may also be added here that viewership of English News Channel is very limited and even few compromised Households can increase TRP manifolds”, it says.

Further, the charge sheet says, “Further, BARC has also reported that they had received several complaints regarding certain Households that they are being paid money for watching Times Now channel and it is learnt that BARC vigilance team recorded videos of these Households stating that they are being paid for watching Times Now Channel. Further, BARC was requested to provide the said video through mails, however, the same has not been provided yet. Further investigation in this regard is under progress”.

Interestingly, the charge sheet alludes to the statement issued to ED by Dharamveer Mahecha (Retired Lt. Col.), Head-Vigilance and Investigations of BARC. On being asked about the investigation, he said that there were vigilance inputs regarding Times Now manipulating TRPs and thus, an investigation was carried out. The field investigation confirmed that Times Now had paid certain households to watch their channel.

The charge sheet then says, “On 28.11.2017, representatives from the channel visited BARC office, where they were shown the Times Now data Analysis (raw data) reflecting a spike in the viewership in week 15 to week 16 and week 25-26, 2017 while indexing the channel to other English News Channels, Week 34 to 39, 2017 in Mumbai, week 31 to 39, 2017 in Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh, week 30 to 40, 2017 in UP/Uttarakhand. The channel representatives were also shown videos of three-panel homes, where the household alleged that certain individuals approached them and asked them to watch Times Now. He further stated that Shri Romil Ramgarhia, then COO of BARC was aware of the above vigilance proceedings on Times Now”.

the charge sheet says that in November 2017, Times Network sent their second response to these charges after being shown the videos of their manipulation. In December, they sent another response saying that they were not involved in the manipulation of TRP. Interestingly, there is no further information available on this. It is clear that BARC had evidence of TRP manipulation, but no information is available as to what steps were taken by BARC after Times Now said they were not involved in manipulation, despite being faced with video and data evidence.

Interestingly, when BARC got ACPCL to conduct a forensic audit, the ACPCL ex-founder and Managing Director told ED that they were not given the information regarding the vigilance inputs regarding Times Now’s manipulation of data or the video evidence that BARC had in its possession. “On being shown the inputs/documents relied upon in vigilance proceedings conducted against Times Now during 2017 and asked whether the said inputs related to vigilance proceeding was shared with him during the forensic audit. he stated that he was not shared with any specific inputs to vigilance proceedings against Times Now for the audit period”, the charge sheet says.

It is to be noted that ED has asked BARC to produce the video evidence in its possession against Times Now, however, the same has not been furnished yet. The ED says that investigation in this matter is on, therefore proving that Times Now is now under ED investigation as far as the TRP case is concerned.

Karnataka: Headmaster Abdul Munaf suspended for making students write an essay on Prophet Muhammad

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A government school headmaster in the Gadag district has been suspended for allegedly organising an essay competition on the Prophet Muhammad secretly despite having no such directive from the Karnataka government. Additional Commissioner of Public Instruction, Sidramappa S. Biradar suspended Abdul Munaf Bijapur, headmaster of the government high school in Nagavi, Gadag taluk.

The investigation in the case came after members of the Hindu organisation Sri Rama Sene protested against the headmaster. The incident occurred in Nagavi’s Government High School. On Wednesday, the investigation was launched, and the block education officer stated that a complaint had been lodged and that he would forward a copy of the complaint to the deputy director of the state education department.

An investigation found that the headmaster had organised an essay contest after providing a book on Prophet Muhammad to 43 students in class 8 without telling other educators or the department. Headmaster Abdul Munaf purportedly gave books to kids and organised the essay competition with a cash award of Rs 5,000.

“During the preliminary inquiry, the allegations against him seemed to be true, which is why he has been suspended,” Mr. Biradar stated in the order.

“I came to know that the headmaster of the school was trying to impose Islam in the minds of students by conducting an essay writing competition and announcing Rs 5,000 prize money. The boys and girls, in the hope of winning Rs 5,000, were made to write essays. His intention was to convert students, that’s why I informed Sri Ram Sene activists. I want to know what’s the intention behind organising an essay competition on Prophet Muhammad,” Sharanappa Gowda Haplad, a parent, said.