A 23-year-old youth in the Koilamari Balijan area in the Lakhimpur district of Assam, Biki Bishal, was found dead hanging by a tree on September 12. According to reports, the boy was lynched to death and later hung by a tree by a Christian mob for loving and trying to marry a Christian girl without converting to Christianity.
As per local reports, Bishal was dragged out of his house, allegedly by Christian cadres from four churches in the area and lynched to death.
Legal Rights Observatory, a human rights body, took cognisance of the matter and asked police and local authorities to take action in the matter.
Biki Bishal and the Christian girl in question were reportedly in love with each other and wanted to marry. The girl had also moved in with Biki in his house.
However, this did not sit well with the cadres of local churches who swarmed outside Bilshal’s house and threatened him with dire consequences. The mob took the girl away and gave the boy the option of either converting to Christianity or breaking up with the girl.
When Bishal turned down their offer of converting to Christianity, the enraged mob allegedly vandalised his house before hacking him to death. His body was later found hanging from a tree.
Reportedly, the police have lodged an FIR and started an investigation in the case.
The lynching of Biki Bishal comes days after a Tribal girl from Jharkhand’s Dumka district was found hanging from a tree. A 14-year-old tribal girl was raped and hanged from a tree by a certain Arman Ansari, sending shockwaves across the country.
This is not the first gruesome murder to come to light from Dumka recently. Late last month, a teenage girl was burnt alive while sleeping in her home by Shahrukh Hussain and his friend for ignoring his advances. As per reports, DUmka is becoming a hub of such cases thanks to indoctrination by banned Jihadi organisations from Bangladesh.
A video of the rapper named EPR Iyer is making rounds on social media where he has raised the issue of Hindu tailor Kanhaiya Lal’s death and the death threats (sar tan se Juda) over the alleged blasphemy of Prophet Mohammad. The video is being shared widely by netizens with praises for the rapper.
EPR performed the rap during MTV India’s Hustle 2.0, a rap battle program. Titled ‘Religious Extremism,’ EPR talked about Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor by profession who was killed by people who entered his store on the pretext of getting clothes stitched. He mentioned the names Riyaz and Gaus Mohammed, the killers of Kanhaiya Lal, who have connections with Al Sufa, a terrorist group.
He also mentioned that Police did not follow up on the threats received by him properly; otherwise, Kanhaiya Lal’s death could have been prevented. Furthermore, the rap talked about how the ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ (beheading) threat was given to Kanhaiya Lal, and his killers stabbed him 26 times.
The video that is being shared on social media networks contains only the part where Kanhaiya Lal was discussed. Notably, EPR Iyer has a long history of performing rap songs that are either borderline or aggressively against nationalists, BJP, RSS, right-wing Hindus, and Prime Minister Modi. Even the recent rap, whose part is being widely shared on social media, balanced the act of discussing Kanhaiya Lal with “religious extremism” from other religions.
From the allegation that a Dalit man was killed for carrying a moustache to or the murder of a Dalit man allegedly for eating with the upper caste or interfaith marriage, he mentioned almost everything. He mentioned that violence has happened against all communities, including Sikhs, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Tribals, and Buddhists, and questioned if it is ever going to stop.
There are some interesting aspects about a few claims made in the rap. It is obvious that it was impossible for EPR to mention particular cases that he had mentioned, but the case where he claimed a Dalit man was killed for carrying a moustache is most likely the case of murder of one Jitendrapal Meghwal from village Barwa, Rajasthan. There were rumours on social media following his murder that he was killed for his stylish moustache. However, Rajasthan Police categorically denied the claims and said he was killed because of personal animosity.
Another case that he mentioned where a Dalit man was allegedly killed for eating with upper caste men could be of one Ramesh Ram from Champawat, who was found dead in December 2021 after he attended a marriage. Though his family claimed he was murdered for eating in front of upper-caste men, the Police had said the reasons were unclear and could be revealed only after investigation. No further information on the case is available.
As EPR said, someone was killed by the family members of a girl for interfaith marriage, he could have been referring to the murder of Hindu man Nagaraju who was stabbed to death by his wife Sultana’s brothers. EPR conveniently decided not to mention the religion of the deceased and those who killed him.
Considering this, several netizens warned fellow Twitter users to be cautious before making anyone a hero for speaking up for Kanhaiya Lal.
Please listen full song and lyrics then say something…???? He is a Leftist, he raised slogans through his song against CAA , NRC, Farmers law…https://t.co/EYxqhvajbI
A Leftist West Bengal ‘Rapper’ sings three sentences about #KanhaiyaLal and every RW promoting him without listening to rest of the song and all his Lal Salaam songs.
RW again falling for another wolf in sheep clothing. How many times will we fall for these traps? Stop it ?
Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer, aka EPR Iyer (Emcee Poet Rapper), is an Indian rapper from Kolkata. The 33-year-old rapper was born in Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, India. Soon after he finished his primary education, his family shifted to Kolkata. He graduated with a broadcast journalism degree from the NSHM Institute of Media and Communication in Kolkata.
EPR developed an interest in rapping during his college days in 2010. He formed a band named ‘!Banned’, which was later disbanded, and he formed another band ‘Underground Authority’ and still performs with it.
EPR has a long history of left-leaning raps. In an interview with Telegraph India, he said if he had not been brought up in Kolkata, he would not have been ‘political’. He said, “I don’t think I would be this political if I grew up somewhere else.” OpIndia scrolled through some of his raps. He released a solo album named ‘Protest poetry’ in 2020 that had 17 tracks based on “social issues”.
‘Chawkidar Chor’ jibe on PM Modi
In track 6 titled ‘Abki Baar Kaun’, EPR used ‘Chowkidar Chor’ jibe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a derogatory slogan that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has extensively used and later apologised in court for the same. He targeted BJP for “using” Abhinandan in political posters and claimed the government was not serious about inflation. He used phrase ‘Abki Bar Kaun Abki bar Kaun, Apna Chor Apna Chowkidar Kaun?’ throughout the rap targeting PM Modi. Though towards the end he targeted all leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Amit Shah, Mamata Banerjee and others, the prime target in the rap were either PM Modi or BJP.
Praised Gauri Lankesh
In one of his raps titled ‘Ekla Cholo Re’, he profusely praised left-leaning journalist Gauri Lankesh. while doing that, he claimed Gauri Lankesh was killed using the same weapon another activist Kalburgi was killed. However, it was rumoured that the same weapon was used but the SIT had denied the same.
Accused the government of delayed vaccination, farmer deaths and more
In yet another rap song titled ‘Reggae Hindustan’ EPR blamed government for the delayed vaccination of Covid-19. The rap was released in June 2021. Notably, by that time India had already administered 2.96 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and in the next few months, India had achieved its target of vaccinating all eligible individuals. The propaganda that India was behind the target was busted by the government several times but the likes of EPR kept on using it for personal gains.
EPR also alleged the government was ‘not feeding the poor’ and spending money on statues. Interestingly, he might be away from the news reports as the government of India had ensured free ration to 80 crore Indians throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. He also alleged ‘Andolanjivis’, Greta, Riana and others were targeted for raising their voices but in reality, they were part of a larger conspiracy to defame India on the international platform. Their propaganda was busted when Greta Thunberg accidentally released the toolkit they had been using during farmer protests.
The anti-CAA-NRC rap
The rap titled ‘We Inna Hindustan’ was released weeks after the violent clash between Delhi Police and anti-CAA protesters in Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia where Delhi Police had to use lathi charge to disperse the crowd that was pelting stones at them. EPR mentioned CAA and NRC in such a way that they looked linked which is not true. The NRC draft has not been even released by the government two years after the said protests. He also mentioned the suspension of alleged comedian Kunal Kamra from the flying list after he hackled Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami in a flight but the rap was in favour of Kamra.
On Tuesday, the Meerut Special Task Force arrested a notorious impersonator named Najakat Ali from the western part of Uttar Pradesh, seven years after he had absconded from police custody. The accused had given money to the police constables seven years ago who helped him to flee from custody. The Meerut STF arrested the accused on Tuesday from the city Goal Market area.
According to the reports, the accused was interrogated after he was arrested on September 13. He confessed during police interrogation that he had bribed the police constables with the help of his criminal friend Sakir to flee from custody seven years ago. After that, he posed himself as Surendra Sharma and traveled to many cities including Agra, Varanasi, Unnao, Bareilly, and Delhi with his girlfriend. He settled in Delhi in the year 2020 for a few months and began running a hotel business.
Further, during these seven years, he also purchased a luxurious flat at Anubhav Apartment in Rohini, Delhi, in the name of his wife, Nasreen. While Police kept on looking for him for these many years, he confessed to having stayed as a Hindu priest in the temple of Prayagraj as well.
Police had declared Rs 50000 reward for information leading to his arrest
Brijesh Kumar Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police of STF Meerut said that on September 26, 2015, Najakat Ali alias Pappu Tantrik was brought to the Court for an appearance in the case of murder. “He escaped from police protection seven years ago. He confessed that he used to pay money to the police constables then. Whatever amount they asked for was provided to them. We had declared Rs 50000 reward for anyone who would provide us with information about him. On September 13 this yeat he had gone to the Goal Market area to meet his brother. The Police arrested him from there”, ASP Brajesh Kumar Singh added.
Singh also added that the accused had obtained his bachelor’s degree from Chaudhary Charan Singh University in the year 1998-99. “After his education he went on to do many businesses like that of a vegetable vendor, property dealer, etc. He also has worked for a Azad News TV channel in the past. Later from 2007 to 2012, he acted as the councilor of Mohalla Rashidnagar. That was the first time he had gone to jail”, Singh said.
Accused duped innocent people of crores of rupees
The ASP also stated that he was a thug and has deceptively looted several on the pretext of providing them spiritual advices. Reports mention that after Najakat Ali was released on bail, he posed himself as a tantrik and began looting innocent people. He also earned crores of rupees from the people on the pretext of doubling their initial investments. The incident came to light in the year 2007 when a person named Ramkumar lodged an FIR against the notorious tantrik. The complainant mentioned that the accused had looted him for Rs 50000.
Later many similar cases emerged reflecting the notorious intentions of the accused. He had looted a person in Hisar, Haryana for Rs 4 lakhs. Also in the year 2008, Sepoy Irfan had registered a complaint against Najakat Ali for obstructing some government work. In the year 2013, a case of cheating of 5 lakhs was registered against the accused in Rajasthan. In the year 2013, Najakat Ali was arrested after a complaint of murder of a person named Bilal was filed against him. Singh said that the accused met Sakir who was a rape accused inside the jail.
Najakat Ali concealed identity, traveled to many cities after he escaped from the police custody
According to the reports, Najakat Ali managed to get Sakir out on bail. On 26 September 2015, when Najakat Ali was brought to court, he bribed the police constables with the help of Sakir and fled from the spot. Sakir later took him to the house of Rajendra Prasad, a resident of Phool Bagh Colony. Sakir later also helped him flee to Agra and many other cities including Varanasi, Unnao, Bareilly, Delhi, and Hisar, where the accused survived with a concealed identity.
During the COVID times, the accused was stuck in the state of West Bengal. He with the help of his girlfriend also filed a fake FIR against the family members of Bilal whom he had murdered in the year 2013. Najakat during the interrogation further confirmed that he arrived in Delhi in 2020 and posed himself as Sanjay Sharma. He purchased a luxurious flat for his wife and also bought two expensive cars. However, the hotel business which he had started in Delhi was in the name of Surendra Sharma.
He said that he used to meet his wife every 15 days and used to call her from different contact numbers. The Police during the arrest of the accused recovered Rs 750 from him. UP STF, Meerut SOG, Surveillance team had been searching for Najakat for seven years. The Police also had declared a reward of Rs 50000 to anyone who would provide them with information about the accused. The accused has been arrested an the Police are looking toward fulfilling the legal proceedings in the case.
On September 14, netizens shared photographs of Aam Aadmi Party MLA and Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan with a Khalistani leader identified as Harjit Singh Bajwa from Canada.
The MLA of @AamAadmiParty and Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan recently visited Canada and met pro Khalistani leaders.@ArvindKejriwal‘s true intentions are very very dangerous which he is trying to fulfill now after forming gvt in Punjab. pic.twitter.com/oppKKgP8Ar
In the posts shared on social media platforms, it has been alleged that Sandhwan met Bajwa during a fundraiser dinner organized in Canada. Bajwa is also President of a Gurudwara in Montreal, and the said dinner was allegedly organised by him.
OpIndia looked into Bajwa’s activities. We noticed that Bajwa is a known Khalistani leader in Canada. He uses his position to propagate Khalistani ideology and incites Sikhs into demanding a separate nation, Khalistan.
A video of Bajwa from August 15, 2022, also went viral on social media, where he was seen raising ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ slogans in front of the Indian Consulate. The crowd present there also burnt the Indian National flag in his presence.
AAP Govt in Punjab is hand-in-glove with Khalistan separatists?
Punjab Speaker @Sandhwan was present in Fund Raising Dinner hosted By Pro Khalistan leader Bajwa Who had organized 15th Aug Anti India rally in Canada and burnt national flag. pic.twitter.com/Ey5oqcAyot
In another video shared by Gurudwara Guru Nanak Darbar, LaSalle, on June 4, 2020, Bajwa talked about former Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh’s remarks about Khalistan. In his address, Bajwa extended his support for designated Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of Sikhs For Justice and said no one could stop Referendum 2020 from happening in India.
Harjit Singh regularly shares posts related to Khalistan on his social media accounts. On September 6, he shared a video on Referendum 2020 to urge people to vote in favour of Khalistan on September 18 in Brampton, Canada.
On September 9, he shared a video of OMNI Punjab where he could be seen with Khalistan supporters demanding a separate nation. The ‘protest’ took place outside Indian Consulate in Ontario, Canada.
In the past as well, Bajwa has openly shared videos and posts supporting the Khalistan movement. OpIndia could not verify if and when Sandhwan met Bajwa.
AAP accused of courting pro-Khalistani elements
It is noteworthy to mention this is not the first time that AAP has been accused of aligning with pro-Khalistan elements. In the run-up to the Punjab elections, former AAP member Kumar Vishwas had levelled explosive allegations against AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, whom he accused of hobnobbing with Khalistanis and seeking their support in elections.
Speaking about the deep-rooted separatism in Kejriwal’s mind, Vishwas had said, “He even made dangerous statements in front of me that everyone knows in Punjab. One day when I asked him about referendum 2020 that was being funded by ISI and other elements across the world, he told me not to worry and said, “Either I will become Chief Minister of the state or I will become first Prime Minister of an independent nation (Khalistan).”
Gul Panag had made similar allegations
In 2018, similar allegations were made by actress Gul Panag 2018. Referring to Khalistani supporters in Punjab as K Gang, she had said, “Poorly calculated flirtation that was. One I warned against. Repeatedly. It’s because they didn’t ‘get’ or ‘understand’ Punjab. I thought the K gang had electoral weightage. All of us from Punjab knew better. But alas!”
Anti-India outfit SFJ claimed Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP used Khalistani votes and funds to win Punjab
Earlier this year, following AAP’s victory in Punjab elections, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the chief of the anti-India outfit SFJ, alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP had used Khalistan votes and funds to win Punjab.
Khalistani terrorist Pannun had further added that it is an open secret that AAP has been heavily funded and supported by pro-Khalistan Sikhs from the USA, Canada, the UK, the EU and Australia.
A day after the Punjab government announced that German luxury car maker BMW has decided to set up an automobile part manufacturing plant in the state, the company has denied taking any such decision. In a press release issued today, BMW said, “BMW Group India has no plans for setting up additional manufacturing operations in Punjab.”
The company said that “BMW Group is firmly committed to its Indian operations with its manufacturing plant in Chennai, a parts warehouse in Pune, a training centre in Gurgaon NCR and a well-developed dealer network across major metropolitans of the country,” and it has no plans to make additional investment for a new plant in Punjab.
The company also said in its press release, “Along with cars and motorcycles, BMW Group’s activities in India comprise of financial services for its premium clientele. BMW India and BMW India Financial Services are 100% subsidiaries of the BMW Group and are headquartered in Gurgaon (National Capital Region).”
BMW statement denying agreeing to set up a new plant in Punjab
BMW’s denial comes after the Punjab government had claimed in a statement that during his ongoing Germany visit, CM Bhagwant Mann has secured an investment from BMW as the company has agreed to set up its auto part manufacturing unit in the state. It was claimed that a decision for this investment was taken during Mann’s visit to BMW headquarters in Munich today.
The Punjab govt claimed that after Mann ‘showcased the Punjab government’s exemplary work to promote industry in the state’, BMW group agreed to set up its auto component unit in state. The statement added that it will be the second plant of BMW in India, after the existing one in Chennai.
The efforts of CM @BhagwantMann to rope in major investments from Germany bore fruit as leading auto giant @BMW agreed to set up its auto part manufacturing unit in state. CM showcased Punjab govt’s exemplary work to promote industry after which BMW agreed to set up unit in state pic.twitter.com/dzDVneQdRD
CM Bhagwant Mann had said that the BMW unit will give a major boost to the industrial growth of Punjab and create jobs. The CM also invited BMW to collaborate with the state in the e-mobility sector.
A Mazaar between Chaubepur and Shivrajpur in Kanpur was bulldozed by the Kanpur police and administration on Wednesday as part of the widening of GT Road from Aligarh to Kanpur. The Mazaar was blocking the widening of the highway and therefore it needed to be demolished.
The construction of the six-lane highway connecting Aligarh and Kanpur is progressing quickly. The NHAI plans to finish the work by October 2023. The Mazaar at Mariani village, located between Chaubepur and Shivrajpur, was becoming an impediment to construction. The administration had been attempting to remove it for two months, but the residents of the village were protesting.
On Wednesday, the patron of the religious place was called under the leadership of Bilhaur SDM Alka Lamba. After this, the Mazaar was removed peacefully. During this a heavy police force was present. The SDM said that law and order have not deteriorated in any way regarding the removal of the Mazaar.
UP के कानपुर में मजार पर चला बुलडोजर, NH-91 के निर्माण के बीच में आ रही थी मजार. pic.twitter.com/IppENMzQQP
A commotion erupted two months ago during the NHAI’s effort to demolish the Mazaar. The work on widening GT Road was then halted. According to locals, the Mazaar was constructed over a fifty-year period. This time, the administration had everything planned in advance by having a meeting. ASP Outer Vijendra Dwivedi and SDM Alka Lamba met with the patron and devised a plan to demolish the Mazaar.
A joint operation by the Indian Coast Guard and Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad caught a Pakistani fish trawler carrying 40 kgs of drugs worth Rs 200 crores off the Gujarat coast on Wednesday.
Six Pakistani nationals present on the trawler were also arrested, an ATS official said.
“The joint team of the Coast Guard and ATS intercepted the fishing boat carrying heroin near Jakhau harbour in Kutch district,” the official said.
The drugs were reportedly meant to be transported to Punjab after being offloaded on the Gujarat coast. Acting on a specific tip-off, the joint team of ATS and Coast Guard intercepted the boat that left Pakistan and caught six Pakistani nationals with 40 kg of heroin. The Coast Guard team is expected to reach the Jakhau coast later in the day.
The Punjab connection to drug seizures off the Gujarat coast
As per reports, the contraband caught is linked to jails in Amritsar, Ferozepur, and Faridkot in Punjab. The drugs seized today were reportedly ordered by a Nigerian national named Chief lodged in Amritsar Jail and Meraj Rahmani imprisoned in Kapurthala Jail.
पंजाब की जेलों से चल रहा है ड्रग्स का बड़ा कारोबार,गुजरात ATS का दावा।#ATS ने जो ड्रग्स पकड़ी उसके तार अमृतसर,कपूरथला,फिरोजपुर,फरीदकोट जेल से जुड़े है।
आज पकड़ी 200 Cr की 40 KG ड्रग्स अमृतसर जेल में कैद चीफ नामके नाइजीरियन और कपूरथला जेल में कैद मेराज रहमानी ने मंगवाई.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that ATS has unearthed Punjab links to the drugs seized off the Gujarat coast. While Arvind Kejriwal had asked that drugs transported from Gujarat to Punjab need to be investigated, he did not mention that the orders were placed from inside jails in Punjab.
Earlier in July this year, officials caught 75 kg of drugs worth Rs 375 crores, ordered by one Bagga Khan imprisoned in Faridkot jail.
Similarly, last year, Coast Guard caught 146 kg of drugs worth Rs 730 crores ordered by a person named Bhola shooter lodged in Ferozepur jail.
In Beirut, the capital of Beirut, a woman entered a bank with a gun, took people hostage and threatened to set the bank on fire, demanding to withdraw money from her own account in the bank. The woman, identified as Sali Hafiz, entered a branch of BLOM Bank in Beirut carrying a handgun along with several other depositors and stormed into the manager’s chamber.
The depositors demanded to withdraw money from their own accounts beyond set limits. Due to the acute financial crisis that Lebanon is facing, the banks in the country have imposed strict limits on withdrawals since 2019. This decision has locked a large portion of the funds of citizens in the banks.
Sally Hafiz stormed into her local bank with a gun in Beirut, along with other activists, to demand the sum of approximately 20k of her own money, held by the bank, to help with her sister's Cancer treatment. #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/mQ15FcDbjM
Sali Hafiz said that she needed the money to fund her sister’s cancer treatment. The woman was accompanied by depositors who are members of a group Depositors’ Outcry, formed to demand the withdrawal of their own money trapped in banks. Some other members of the group stayed outside the bank and staged a protest by chanting slogans.
According to eyewitnesses, those who entered the BLOM bank branch doused petrol everywhere, took out a lighter and threatened to light it. Sally Hafiz brandished her gun and threatened to shoot the manager if she is not given her money. She also went live on her Facebook account, showing the live video of the incident.
In the video, she said, “I am Sali Hafiz, I came today… to take the deposits of my sister who is dying in the hospital.” She added, “I did not come to kill anyone or to start a fire… I came to claim my rights.”
The Depositors’ Outcry activists also locked the entrance of the bank, and demanded their money from their accounts in the bank. Eventually, Sali Hafiz came out of the bank carrying a plastic bag full of cash, amounting to $13,000.
WATCH: With the assistance of the Depositors Outcry organization, an armed female depositor entered Beirut's BLOM Bank, held employees at gunpoint, and fled with approximately $13,000 in cash.
The woman and her companions escaped from the bank through a smashed window at the back before security forces arrived. The heist lasted for around an hour.
When the security forces arrived, they arrested several activists who were protesting outside the bank.
Several videos of the incident at the bank have appeared on social media, showing the woman standing on the top of a table and brandishing her gun. Other videos show panic among other people present in the bank branch.
BREAKING: In Beirut, an armed woman threatens to set herself and hostages on fire at a bank. pic.twitter.com/qLzW4BOwFw
Posting an update on the incident later on Facebook, she wrote, “The entire state is under my house and I’m at the airport. See you in Istanbul, ciao”, indicating that she is heated to Istanbul with the money.
Screenshot of Sali Hafiz’s Fcaebook post
Earlier in the day, she had posted an image of her sister promising treatment of her cancer. She had written, “I promise you I will get you to travel and you will be treated. You will come back and raise your daughter”.
Screenshot of Sali Hafiz’s Fcaebook post
Sali Hafiz immediately became a hero among people in Lebanon, who are desperate to access their funds locked by the banks.
This is not the first time someone robbed a bank to get money from own bank account in Lebanon. A similar incident had happened last month in Beirut where an armed man had held staff at a bank hostage for several hours to withdraw money from his frozen bank account. The man named Bassam Al-Sheikh Hussein had surrendered after the bank agreed to give him $30,000 out of his trapped savings amounting to over $200,000.
Hussein had also poured petrol in the Federal Bank branch at Hamra in Beirut and had pointed a shotgun at bank employees.
Since September 2019, the banks in Lebanon have imposed limits on the withdrawal of money by depositors. In most banks in the country, a maximum of $1000 a month can be withdrawn from bank accounts, triggering massive outrage among people. Some banks have set even lower limits. Arguments and even fistfights between depositors and bank employees have become common due to this.
US Dollar is regularly used in Lebanon along with the Lebanese pound, and a severe slowdown in foreign currency injections has hampered the foreign exchange reserve badly.
On September 14, popular satire website The Fauxy sent a legal notice to Boom Live and its journalist Mohammed Kudrati against the alleged false and malicious article published to ‘defame and malign’ its image. In its legal notice, The Fauxy alleged that an article published by Boom Live labelled them as ‘fake news, whereas The Fauxy categorically mentions that it is a satire website.
@the_fauxy sends legal notice to @boomlive_in, Journalist Mohammed Kudrati @MKudrati against alleged false and malicious article published to defame and malign the image of The Fauxy. It states, Boom Live published an article labelling a satire article as fake news.@shashank_ssj
Supreme Court Advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha sent the notice on behalf of The Fauxy. In the notice accessed by OpIndia, it was mentioned that despite the fact that The Fauxy explicitly mentions everywhere that it is a satire website, Boom Live decided to “fact-check” a satire piece written on former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and claimed that The Fauxy spreads fake news in the guise of satire.
Excerpt from the notice.
The notice further pointed out that the recipients of the notice, that is, journalist Kudrati, is well aware of what satire is. The notice read, “In fact, you Noticees are very well aware of the difference between real and satire news and that you Noticee No. 3, In fact, has been retweeting the tweets from parody account yourself which shows that the act done by you against my client is a hit-job in order to gain some views for Noticee no. 1 while trying to destroy the reputation of my client with malafide intention.”
Furthermore, when @being_humor, the Twitter user who founded The Fauxy, called out Boom Live and Kudrati over the misleading report on the website, Kudrati protected his account on the social media platform. Speaking to OpIndia, @being_humor confirmed that no one had replied to his tweets when he called out Kudrati and Boom Live for the alleged hit job, thus, they decided to send a legal notice.
@Being_humor said, “The Fauxy was started as a satire website, and since day one, we have placed a disclaimer on our website and social media accounts that categorically define the website content as satire. Despite all the effort to ensure the readers do not confuse the content with ‘real news,’ certain fact-checking websites fact-check our articles with the malicious intent to defame us. It has been long since they are trying to discredit us for the work we do.”
The Fauxy clearly advice its readers not to “confuse the articles of The Fauxy as genuine and true”. Source: TheFauxy.com
He added, “There are some social media users that pick our content without authorization and make it their own. When these fact-checking websites fact-check such posts and find our satire-based articles as the source, they defame The Fauxy.” Being_Humor said, “Ironically, many of these fact-checking websites have founders who used to run satirical accounts themselves and currently are on bail for spreading fake news.”
The case of Boom Live and The Fauxy
On September 7, it was reported that Boom Live, which claims to be India’s first ever independent organization to ‘fight misinformation,’ accused a satire website named ‘the Fauxy’ of sharing false information. The ‘fact-check’ article written by Boom Live reporter Mohammed Kudrati also targeted several social media handles for sharing the satirical article and trolling former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan for his previous remarks over the recession.
It all started on September 2, when the satirical content writing website named ‘The Fauxy’ published an article titled, “India will be cornered if it doesn’t get hit by the recession like rest of the world: Raghuram Rajan.” The article poked former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan, who had been predicting an economic doom for India for years.
The Fauxy based its witty content on McKinsey CEO Bob Sternfels’ interview on September 2, in which he had said, “It is India‘s century, not India’s decade.” Sternfels, in his interview, also praised India for its economic growth and said that the country would be the world’s future expertise manufacturing unit with 20% of the global working population by 2047. The Fauxy humorously created Rajan’s response to this and indicated that the former RBI Governor would still be predicting India to be hit by a recession.
Though The Fauxy mentions everywhere that it is a satire website, Boom Live, which claims to fight misinformation, ‘fact-checked‘ a satire website and alleged that it was spreading misinformation. To dig the ‘truth’ out of humor, the channel also contacted Rajan, who is currently a professor of finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. The former RBI governor obviously refused to have made any such comments published on the satirical website.
Also, the Boom Live on September 6 targeted several right-wing social media users for sharing the article written by Fauxy. “Several right-wing social media users have taken The Fauxy’s article at face value and have further spread the misleading claim,” Boom Live quoted while it fact-checked a satirical website.
Boom Live failed to understand the satire and called out the Fauxy for spreading ‘misinformation.’ The so-called fact-checker also cited social media posts, not realizing that they had been mocking Raghuram Rajan for his perennial recession predictions.
Days after the Yogi Adityanath-led government initiated the survey of unrecognized madrasas in the state, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, led by several Islamic clerics criticised the government for “not taking the Islamic community into confidence” first.
Maulana Madani, the president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Tuesday said that the state government should have taken the Islamist community into confidence before deciding to conduct the survey of the unrecognized madrasas of the state.
“We don’t have a problem with the state surveying the unrecognized madrasas. They just want to know what facilities, what kind of education is being provided to our children. But the state should have the Muslim community in confidence”, he stated. According to the reports, Maulana Madani also questioned why was the state government only surveying unrecognized madrasas and not other unrecognized educational institutions.
Maulana Madani also added that Muslim people were also concerned as a few divisive forces were deliberately targeting the community. The Uttar Pradesh government had on September 1 announced that it would survey unrecognized madrasas of the state to ascertain information such as details of teachers and students, curriculum, and its affiliation with any non-government organization.
Minister of State for Minority Affairs Danish Azad Ansari had said that the survey would be conducted as per the requirements of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) which wants to check on basic facilities being provided to students in madrasas. The minister had stated further that the survey would help gather other details also such as the name of the madrasa and the institution operating it, whether it is being run in a private or a rented building, and information regarding basic facilities of drinking water, furniture, electricity supply, and toilet, etc.
Earlier, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had extended support to the state government over its decision to survey the unrecognized madrasas which are running without government help. Maulana Madani had also called a meeting to discuss the strategies to ascertain unlicensed madrasas in the state.
Big message to ‘secular lobby’: Jamiat-Ulema-Hind holds meeting, back Yogi government’s decision to survey illegal UP #Madrassas and curriculum.@Sabyasachi_13 and Siddhartha Talya with more on the survey controversy. pic.twitter.com/QcMtbJkgEK
However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) questioned the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to conduct the survey of unrecognized madrasas in the state. It had said that the government was deliberately targeting minority institutions. “Madrasas are being targeted in Uttar Pradesh and Assam. This is being done even though minority institutions are protected under the law. If the issue is that of restricting religious education and promoting secular education instead, then why isn’t the government taking the same action against gurukuls”, Qasim Rasool Ilyas, an executive member of the AIMPLB, was quoted as saying.
To note, Maulana Sajid Rashidi, the President of the All India Imam Association also cornered the UP government for surveying the unrecognized Madarsas. On September 14, he appealed to the Madarsa authorities to welcome the state surveying authorities with slippers, and shoes and bash them with the 2009 law related to madrasas.
#BreakingNow: मदरसों के सर्वे पर मौलाना साजिद रशीदी का बयान, ‘सर्वे करने आएं तो चप्पल से करो स्वागत’
Meanwhile, Former UP minister Mohsin Raza took cognizance of Maulana’s blatant statement and said that his words were to instigate Islamist students and madrasa authorities. “The government wants to do good to the madrasas through surveys, but when such statements are issued the government is forced to take a tough stand”, Raza said adding that strict action would be taken against Maulana Rashidi for his instigating remarks.
The Uttar Pradesh government began the survey of unrecognized madrasas in the state on September 10. The survey is being conducted by the District Minority Welfare Officers and their teams across the state. However, officers of the Education Department and Minority Welfare Department are also supposed to be present during the survey. According to the reports, the survey team is scheduled to complete the inspection by October 5 and submit its report to the government by October 25.
