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United Nations will become ‘irrelevant’ without reforms: EAM S Jaishankar reiterates India’s demand to expand UNSC

OpIndia Staff
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United Nations will become ‘irrelevant’ without reforms: EAM S Jaishankar reiterates India’s demand to expand UNSC

India has been advocating for reforms in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for a while now. Amid this, on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar underlined India’s stance and said that reforms are a hard nut to crack,  but hard nuts can be cracked. EAM Jaishankar was speaking in an interview at the Lowy Institute in Australia.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six main bodies of the UN, consisting of 15 members. Out of these, five are permanent which include China, Russia, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom and the other 10 rotate every two years. India’s non-permanent status commenced in the year 2020 and will terminate by this December.

The reforms being discussed would increase the number of permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. However, there has been little progress in terms of growth due to the enormous authority wielded by the permanent members, who may reject reform measures.

“When I look back and think, well, this one is too difficult, I won’t be doing too much in my life. Life has been a set of challenges particularly for a country like India. I would not let the difficulties of the challenge discourage me. I’d put it the other way around”, Jaishankar said.

The External Affairs Minister also emphasized that the UN Security Council has not adequately assisted certain nations in dealing with their challenges. “There are whole continents today which actually feel that the Security Council processes do not take into account their interests”, he added.

He also said that a few African countries and Latin American countries feel that the UN is doing nothing for them, and it is posing damage to the reputation of the United Nations. “If you go to a UN General Assembly and talk to countries in Africa and Latin America, and the small island states, quite apart from Asia, you feel very very strongly that this is not their UN and I think this is damaging to the UN”.

Jaishankar also said that India endured a terrible two and a half years with China, involving the first violence on their borderline after 40 years. “We had a two-and-a-half very difficult years in our relationship with China, which has included the first bloodshed we’ve had on the border after 40 years and where we actually lost 20 soldiers”, he said adding that the country kept communication line open with Beijing as neighbors have to deal with each other.

“My endeavor has been to keep the communication lines going. I called up my counterpart Wang Yi and urged him to ensure that there are no escalatory moves or complicated moves on the Chinese side. Diplomacy is about communication. It’s not just in relationship with China, even in relationship to (other countries)… If diplomats do not communicate with each other, then what kind of diplomacy will they do?”, he maintained.

To note, on September 24, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made a push for United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform after recognizing the weaknesses of the current multilateral institutions in dealing with global challenges. He also had hosted a meeting of two separate groupings, G-4 and L-69 in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and had discussed how global challenges have brought to the forefront the ‘urgency of reforming the United Nations and updating its main decision-making bodies’.

According to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, India and Brazil are the top candidates for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Reports mention that aside from these two, Japan and Germany are also vying for a permanent seat. However, according to Jaishankar, India enjoys the backing of various countries since it advocates for the greater and global good.

‘Drunk Sudama offering alcohol to Krishna’: Students of Maulana Azad Medical College mock Krishna and Sudama, apologise after uproar

OpIndia Staff
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‘Drunk Sudama offering alcohol to Krishna’: Students of Maulana Azad Medical College mock Krishna and Sudama, apologise after uproar

On October 9, a video of students of Maulana Azad Medical College went viral on social media platforms in which they mocked Sudama and Bhagwan Krishna by portraying Sudama as a drunkard. In the 44-second video shared by Author Anshul Pandey, the ‘Are Dwarpalon Kanhaiya Ko Kehdo’ song is playing in the background.

One of the girls performing on the stage portrayed herself in Krishna’s form. A male actor comes from the right of the screen portraying Sudama in a drunkard state. He fumbles and sits on the stage and then throws currency notes in the air. Then, the actor stands up and walks towards the centre of the stage while portraying it as if he is drinking alcohol directly from the bottle.

Towards the end, he goes towards the actor playing Krishna and offers her a drink from his bottle. The crowd cheers.

Speaking to OpIndia, Pandey said, “I was disgusted when I saw the video. I wanted everyone to see what was happening in the name of ‘art’. After the video went viral, I got a DM on Twitter with the said “apology” letter that I shared on my timeline. I want to ask them if they think we Hindus will sit back just after the apology. I believe because we do not take strict action against such activities, they feel it is okay to mock Sanatan Dharma.”

When asked if he felt the apology was enough, he said, “I did not see the apology from the students. If you see, it is just a sort of notification from the Residential Doctors Association at the medical college that they allegedly took some action against the student. I am not convinced that just banning them from performing in the future is enough to put an end to this “culture” of mocking Hindus. To be honest, the act of the students comes under Section 295A. I hope they understand that they have hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community.” 

OpIndia reached out to sources in the college to understand the situation. A resident doctor who was aware of the situation told OpIndia on the condition of anonymity that this was the first time that the Residents Doctors Association and Azad Medicos Association organised the four-day annual fest Synapse. “When the seniors noticed that the act could hurt the sentiments of a community, they called the members of Mahaul Makers, the group that performed the satirical act, and asked them to give a written apology,” said our source.

OpIndia has asked for a copy of the written apology from the students, and we will add it when and if we receive it.

He further said, “Many of the doctors here are devotees of Bhagwan Krishna. We understand that they might have argued, but the apology was rendered without any condition. We only want to put an end to this controversy as it will unnecessarily harm the name of the institute. I can assure you that the students involved in the act will not be allowed to perform in the future, and the group Mahaul Makers has been disbanding as well.”

The press release by the Resident Doctors Association

The Resident Doctors Association of the Maulana Azad Medical College issued a Press Release on the matter. They said, “We wish to clarify that the said incident happened on the evening of September 27 2022, during a satirical comedy event as part of the annual college fest. The college festival- Synapse was a 4-day event organised by the Residents Doctors Association and Azad Medicos Association as a joint venture. Given the competitive nature of the event, the script for the same was undisclosed. And was against the rules and regulations of the organising committee.”

They added, “Whereas the act depicted in the video was demeaning and unethical, the cultural society performing it (called Mahaul Makers) was unconditionally banned and disqualified from any future activities on the campus, the very next day, i.e. September 28. A written apology was also requisitioned and furnished.”

Emphasising the role of the college and hospital in the Covid pandemic, they said, “MAMC and Lok Nayak Hospital have a national record of treating the maximum number of COVID patients in the recent pandemic, leading from the front since the pandemic began.” Furthermore, the association said the college believes in ‘secularism’. They said, “Since the 62 years that this college has served the country with excellence in medical care, SECULARISM has been at the core of many values that it imparts.”

Mahaul Makers have a history of performing exactly the same script

During our research about the group Mahaul Makers, we found out that their Instagram page had been deleted. Furthermore, we found videos from past performances, and one specific video from 2018 caught our attention. In the video, the members of Mahaul Makers performed exactly the same script. Now the question arises, why was no action taken against them at that time and if the current reaction come only after the uproar?

Interestingly, one of the copies went missing from social media after we mentioned it while talking to our source. It now shows that the video is private. This was the first result when we searched Mahaul Makers on YouTube.

A 2018 video was made private. In this video, the group had used the same script. However, the video was available on the college’s fest page as well which has been embedded above. Source: YouTube

The video now shows that it is private. OpIndia has a copy of the video from 2018.

Meta vs The Wire – Not even the liberal cabal trusts the propaganda website, speculations, concerns and more

Anurag
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Meta vs The Wire – Not even the liberal cabal trusts the propaganda website, speculations, concerns and more

Ever since propaganda outlet The Wire claimed to have an expose on the “relationship” between India’s ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Facebook’s parent company Meta, social media is buzzing with comments from both sides. Apart from the to-and-fro comments from the companies’ representatives, a lot of journalists, technology experts, and above all the so-called liberal cabal has expressed their concerns over the genuineness of The Wire’s story.

Questions about the language of the email

First of all, let’s discuss the retweets done by Andy Stone, the Communication Head at Meta. The most interesting retweet that we noticed during the whole fiasco was from former Amnesty India head and propagandist activist Aakar Patel, who is known for his anti-BJP stand. In replying to Jahnavi Sen, Aakar Patel looked down upon the language of the email that The Wire claimed was sent by Andy and said how the language and punctuation in the mail was unusual and ‘sounded desi’.

Tweet by Aakar Patel raising question over the language of the screenshot of the email that The Wire claimed Andy Stone sent. Source: Twitter

The typical colonial hangover suggested that emails were forged by an Indian because only they would use such language, thereby insinuating that the Americans have better grip over English.

Earlier, OpIndia reported that Meta’s Chief Information Security Officer Guy Rosen had dismissed the claims made by The Wire in a series of Tweets. Following rebuttals by two senior executives at Meta, more speculations were raised against the report.

In all that it is worth, there are a lot of speculations over the style of language claimed to have been used by Andy in the email. The native English speakers are brazened out over the language and have “confidently” said that Andy could not have written the email. Daniel Nazer, Senior IP & Product Counsel at Mozilla, while replying to Systems & Network Security Engineering Alec Muffett, who pointed out “bad English”, said, “It’s really sad to see them fall, and double down, for such an obvious fake. We need strong independent media willing to stand up to populist governments and big companies, but this ain’t it.”

While Nazer wants to have a ‘strong independent media’, he looked unconvinced with The Wire’s story.

The curious case of the ‘like button’ in the email

In one of the screenshots shared by The Wire in its reports, they claimed that Andy lashed out at his team for the “leak” and asked for putting Jahnavi and The Wire’s founder Siddharth on the watchlist. Apart from the easily notable “spelling errors” in the name of The Wire’s founder and weird sentence formation, there is one aspect of the screenshot that caught the eye of the experts.

Hetal Rach, while replying to a tweet by Medianama founder Nikhil Pahwa, pointed out that the alignment of the like button was off in the screenshot. He also raised speculations over what a like button was doing anyway in emails! Rach said, “IMO, someone’s playing with wire folks. Names as hyperlinks (which likely happens via auto-complete, but why??) and then a typo in the name? Alignment of the like (like on email??) button is also wrong.”

Maybe it was a Facebook thing, but who knows… The alignment is indeed off, and Pahwa also agreed to that. He said, “You’re right. The alignment of the like button is off. Curioser and curioser.”

When we detached the like button and straightened the screenshot, the like button got even more displaced. Things just do not add up here from any point of view.

Original image (above), realigned image (below)

OpIndia tried to check if what happens to Like button if we detach it and straighten the screenshot. As one can see, the ‘like’ button on top right corner of the screenshot is strangely aligned. It is likely that the confirmation bias that The Wire had did not allow them to see such glaring discrepancies.

What can be expected from Meta?

One of the easiest ways to debunk the screenshots at least is by publishing at least one screenshot of the emails Andy sends from his official email ID. Of course, the content can be hidden, but the curiosity over the ‘like button’ in the email will at least have some rest.

The story is expected to develop further as TMC leader Derek O’Brien has jumped into the controversy and announced he would raise the issue during the winter session. Not to forget, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are expected to have Assembly elections in November and December this year.

In a way, the winter session is again going to be all about shouting and raising slogans and not letting the house do its job, just like it happened in the case of Rafale and “Tek Fog”. This makes one wonder if The Wire conjured up Meta hoax to create a background for ‘BJP controls Big Tech’ for Congress and others to play around with when BJP sweeps the upcoming polls.

Punjab and Haryana High Court quashes FIR against BJP leader Tajinder Bagga in a case of alleged provocative statement against Kejriwal

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab and Haryana High Court quashes FIR against BJP leader Tajinder Bagga in a case of alleged provocative statement against Kejriwal

On Wednesday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the FIR against Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Bagga in a case of alleged provocative statements against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. 

Notably, an FIR was lodged against the National Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing, Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, after he criticized Kejriwal for his insensitive comments on the film The Kashmir Files which is a retelling of the Kashmir Genocide of Hindus.  

Apart from Tajinder Bagga, FIR against former AAP leader and poet, Kumar Vishwas has also been quashed. Vishwas was booked for his remarks against Arvind Kejriwal.

Reacting to the development, Tajinder Bagga tweeted, “Satyamev Jayate, Big slap on @/ArvindKejriwal’s face. Punjab High Court quashed FIR against me and @/DrKumarVishwas ji.”

In another tweet, Tajinder Bagga wrote that Arvind Kejriwal today has lost in court and will also lose Delhi. “Kejriwal lost in Court, Now he will lose Delhi. @/ArvindKejriwal ji apni sarkar ki ulti ginti shuru kar dijiye,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Kumar Vishwas also took a jibe at Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and advised him to protect the self-respect of Punjab from ‘dwarf eyes’. 

On April 2nd this year, Tajinder Bagga had revealed how the Punjab Police had arrived at his residence in Delhi to arrest him without intimating about any FIR. The Punjab police had allegedly not informed the local police about the same. After the arrest, Bagga was brought back to Delhi after the Haryana and Delhi police intervened.

Previously, Punjab Police had filed an FIR against Bagga for his criticism of Arvind Kejriwal after the Delhi CM mocked ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie during the Delhi assembly’s budget session, calling it a ‘jhoothi’ film. The film depicts the plight of Kashmiri Hindus during the genocide that occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

Tajinder Bagga’s statement was played by India TV during coverage of the protest outside CM Kejriwal’s house on March 30. “The way the biggest genocide in India’s history after independence was mocked in Delhi Assembly, and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal claimed the story of Kashmiri Pandit’s genocide on which the film [The Kashmir Files] was based was a lie, I feel the 100 crore Hindus will never forgive him,” Bagga said in the statement.

“In 2007, Sonia Gandhi said Bhagwan Ram does not exist,” he continued, “and today that party’s existence is in doubt.” As a result, I’d like to assure Arvind Kejriwal that the Hindus of this country will tell him where he stands. He must apologise for what he said. If he does not apologise, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha workers would not let him live (Wo jab take maafi nahi manngenge hum unhe chayn se jeene nahi denge). We would continue our protests till he apologizes.”

Notably, what Tajinder Bagga said was a commonly used phrase, and there was no threat to his life, but the gist of it was lost in repetition and translation.

Terror accused Altaf Ahmed Shah, son-in-law of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani dies of cancer at Delhi AIIMS

OpIndia Staff
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Terror accused Altaf Ahmed Shah, son-in-law of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani dies of cancer at Delhi AIIMS

On Tuesday, jailed terrorist Altaf Ahmad Shah, son-in-law of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. Shah was diagnosed with renal cancer that spread to other parts of his body leading to his death on October 11.

The incident was confirmed by Shah’s daughter named Ruwa who said that her father had died of cancer in Delhi’s AIIMS hospital. “Abu breathed his last at AIIMS, New Delhi. As a prisoner,” she tweeted. According to the reports, Shah was the son-in-law of separatist leader Geelani who was the former Hurriyat chief. Shah was arrested in the year 2017 and was in Tihar jail since then in a terror funding case.

Shah, Mehrajuddin Kalwal, and Peer Saifullah were produced before Delhi’s Patiala Court in the year 2017 in the terror funding case which also involved terrorist Hafiz Saeed. The NIA also questioned Geelani’s sons in the matter and eventually filed a case alleging separatists of collaborating with terrorist organizations.

The NIA had launched searches at many locations around the union territory (a state at the time) other than Haryana and the national capital, seizing electronic gadgets and valuables worth crores of rupees. The complaint was filed for illegally soliciting, receiving, and collecting funds for separatist and terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. It also included spreading havoc in the Valley by throwing stones at security officers, torching schools, destroying public property, and declaring war against India.

According to Shah’s daughter Ruwa, Shah, a resident of Soura in Srinagar was diagnosed with renal cancer and was not keeping well for the past six months. He was taken to Deendayal hospital Janakpuri, then to Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital, and was later shifted to AIIMS where he breathed his last.

TMC’s Derek O’Brien steps in to give legitimacy to The Wire’s Meta joke that turned out to be a hoax

Nirwa Mehta
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TMC’s Derek O’Brien steps in to give legitimacy to The Wire’s Meta joke that turned out to be a hoax

After it was concluded beyond doubt that propaganda website The Wire quite likely fell for a haox, if they have not perpetrated it themselves, involving Facebook’s parent company Meta and BJP’s IT Cell head Amit Malviya, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien has now stepped in to give legitimacy to this. Taking to Twitter, O’Brien said that he would raise this issue in the Parliament.

The ‘good fight’ O’Brien wants to take up has been categorically denied by Meta executives as fake and fabricated documents. In an article published on October 10, 2022, titled ‘If BJP’s Amit Malviya Reports Your Post, Instagram Will Take It Down – No Questions Asked’, leftist propaganda website ‘The Wire’ alleged that BJP’s Amit Malviya is an all-powerful individual who can get any social media post on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram removed. The article was based on some random troll account calling itself ‘political satire’ account with less than 5,000 followers claiming Malviya personally targeted his posts and ‘curbed his reach’.

On one hand, The Wire wanted everyone to believe Malviya is some super-villain-ish individual with all the power on the internet and on other hand, it wanted us to believe he would personally go after obscure accounts on Instagram with hardly any clout when there are way more political influencer accounts who have way more nuisance value.

Meta says The Wire story based on fabricated documents

After the report was published Meta has categorically come out and denied the writeup published by The Wire and said that the documents they used for building up the narrative were fabricated. Meta’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Guy Rosen, issued a statement calling out the hoax and concluded it by saying that he hopes The Wire was a victim in the hoax and not a perpetrator.

Even before Facebook’s denial came out towards the evening India time on Tuesday, many Twitter users, a lot of whom know a thing or two about technology had cast aspersions on The Wire’s report which appeared ridiculous from the word go. In fact, a lot of Modi critics and haters too did not buy The Wire’s writeup as it was clearly way too exaggerated and appeared ridiculously hilarious. Amusingly, it is the Left-Liberal cabal that has a history of deplatforming critics while championing the ’cause’ of free speech. Remember how former US President Donald Trump was deplatformed from all social media platforms? Social media platforms such as Twitter has quite clearly mentioned that their employees are left-leaning and it does show in the way it operates too.

Derek O’Brien goes after hoax instead of sorting his own backyard

But Derek O’Brien here would like to take this hoax as some sort of gospel and raise ‘the issue’ in the Parliament in winter session. The Wire hoax was so unbelievable that even Rahul Gandhi didn’t share its screenshot to attack Modi government, like he usually does. To put things in perspective, Islamists are running riots in O’Brien’s backyard, attacking Durga Puja pandals and opposing the celebration of Hindu festivals. But no, O’Brien would rather exaggerate a hoax in Parliament than get the law and order in his own home state in order.

O’Brien was also mocked at by netizens for the same.

While some even gave him advice to choose his battles wisely.

This, obviously, is not the first time O’Brien has chosen to raise inconsequential issues in Parliament in what appears to be his way of making up for lack of credibility otherwise. Back in 2018, O’Brien had threatened to name Twitter users in Parliament whom he found ‘offensive’ and those who ‘irritate him’.

As seen above, Derek decided to accuse a twitter user of lying about Omar Abdullah’s statement and as a result threatened that he would be mentioned in the Parliament. It was indeed shocking to note that a senior MP wanted to use Parliament’s precious time to discuss social media disagreements and call out private citizens, who would be in no position to defend themselves from his attacks.

Even before this, in 2017, based on a writeup by Swati Chaturvedi, abusive troll masquerading as a journalist with The Wire like sources, O’Brien made childish accusations against some Twitter users, including against OpIndia co-founder Rahul Raj, accusing them of issuing criminal threats to other people while being followed by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. This is akin to an MP quoting a pamphlet printed by ISIS to claim that Barack Obama was a terrorist. What next? An MP quoting a WhatsApp forward to make a point? It was a clear case of intimidation.

But it seems O’Brien would still continue to put his bets on trash published by dubious platforms with questionable credibility and create noise in the Parliament so that the cries of people back home in West Bengal are stifled.

Imagine being so petty.

Mohammad Zubair caught stealing from Hanuman Mandir in Bareilly, had identified himself as ‘Rohit’

OpIndia Staff
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Mohammad Zubair caught stealing from Hanuman Mandir in Bareilly, had identified himself as ‘Rohit’

A Muslim youth was on Tuesday caught stealing inside Bada Bagh Hanuman Mandir in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. The accused was caught stealing money from the donation box. When caught he initially told his name as Rohit, however, when locals beat him and asked for his phone number, Rohit Turned out to be Mohammad Zubair.

An amount of Rs 1692 was also recovered from Zubair. The video of the incident is going viral on social media.

After getting information about the incident, members of Hindu Jagran Manch also reached the spot. The accused was taken to the police station and after questioning he admitted that his name is Mohammad Zubair Khan and he is a resident of Sirolli police station. Hindu Jagran Manch has expressed apprehension that the motive of Zubair might have been something serious and alleged that the accused was doing a recce of the temple for the last few days.

Reportedly, the accused Zubair was raising religious slogans and was making derogatory remarks about Hindu deities. According to a Dainik Bhaskar report, the accused threatened to blow up the temple with a bomb.

Mohammad Zubair has been arrested on a complaint of the temple priest Kuldeep Mishra. 

According to SP City Rahul Bhati, a youth was caught stealing today at the Bada Bagh Hanuman temple in Premnagar. After that, he initially claimed his name as Rohit, and when questioned, he revealed his real name as Mohammad Zubair. He was arrested immediately. The SP stated that a case has been registered against him under sections 380, 506, 511, and 295A of the IPC.

OpIndia Exclusive: Secretary of Durga pandal committee sheds light on the deliberate plan by Islamists to stir anti-Hindu violence

OpIndia Staff
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OpIndia Exclusive: Secretary of Durga pandal committee sheds light on the deliberate plan by Islamists to stir anti-Hindu violence

Days after Islamists ran riot in the Mominpore locality of Kolkata, Opindia reached out to the organisers of the Durga Puja pandal that was targeted by the attackers.

In a telephone conversation, Mishri Lal Dhanuk informed us about the events leading up to the attack. Dhanuk is the Secretary of the Harijan Durgosave Committee. He said that an Islamic flag was affixed, in the middle of the road, ahead of the Eid-Milad-Un-Nabi celebrations.

“It was put up opposite the Puja pandal – something that had never happened before. The Islamic flag was placed in such a way that if any heavy vehicle passed through that road, then, it would either dislodge the flag or tear it,” he emphasised.

Secretary of Durga Pandal Committee narrates the ordeal

Mishri Lal Dhanuk remarked, “We did not have any issue with the flag. We thought they wanted to celebrate the festival in that way.” He informed that the local Hindus had gone to Dashami ghat for Visarjan of the Durga idol on Friday (October 7) and returned home late in the night.

“At about 2:30 am on Saturday (October 8), there was chaos over the ‘uprooting’ of an Islamic flag. Mobs came in droves, damaged vehicles, and electric light posts. About 42 bikes and 4 taxis were damaged during the orgy of violence,” he said.

“All of us in the neighbourhood were up on our feet. Islamists were about to enter the Puja pandal but their plan was thwarted by the arrival of the police. The mob was successful in destroying the Hindu houses in the neighbourhood”, Dhanuk added.

On being asked about the aftermath of the attack, he said, “We are still in shock. We have not been able to process the shock. Our neighbourhood has suffered a lot of damage. You can only assess the magnitude of destruction if you see it through your own eyes.”

“Police were deployed after the first attack on Saturday. Again on Sunday (October 9), there was another attack in the evening. The carnage went on for 2 days. There was bombing and arson,” Dhanuk added,

Mishri Lal Dhanuk speaks about Lakshmi Puja visarjan, police protection and compensation

Opindia also asked about the Lakshmi Puja and whether the worship of the deity was affected by the Islamist attack. “Puja was somehow conducted under police supervision. We were worried about the immersion of the idol, “Dhanuk pointed out.

He said that the local police granted them a special pass and arranged for a car for the immersion of the idol of Goddess Lakshmi, amidst the imposition of Section 144. On being asked about government compensation, the Secretary of the Harijan Durgosave Committee said that no such assurance has been made by the government so far.

“IPS Crime officer Murlidharan however said that he will request the government for partial compensation to those whose vehicles, and houses were damaged in the carnage. He has asked us to submit names and details of the bikes, and cars that were damaged,” Dhanuk remarked.

“The Puja is conducted by the employees (cleaning staff serving in Wards 65-80) of Kolkata Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) since 1945. We do not seek outside contributions and are funded by Dhanuk, and Mallik communities,” he concluded.

The decision to not remove the Lakshmi Puja pandal irked Islamists

Opindia has earlier learnt how the Hindus were targeted by Islamists for refusing to dismantle the Durga Puja pandals, ahead of the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad.

A Kolkata-based journalist, who was privy to the incident, informed, “Mominpore is a Muslim-dominated area. There are small pockets where Hindus live.” He stated that a Durga Puja pandal, organised by the Harijan Durgosave committee, was the primary target of the Islamists.

“Muslims in the area have been pressuring them to remove the pandal and stop the conduct of Lakshmi Puja,” he informed. “In West Bengal, wherever Durga Puja is celebrated, it is mandatory to worship Goddess Lakshmi at the same site,” the journalist added.

While the Hindu Dalits were being coerced into submission since the time of Durga Puja, they refused to relent. In their defence, the Harijan Durgosave Committee informed that the Durga pandal could only be removed after the conduct of Lakshmi Puja.

This however did not sit well with the local Muslims, who came in droves to vandalise the pandal, pelt stones and damage vehicles on Sunday (October 9).

“They coerced the Ekbalpur police station to register a case against Hindus, who are associated with the Puja committee. They also carried out targeted attacks on Hindu homes and looted shops belonging to the Hindu community,” the Kolkata-based journalist added.

PM Modi inaugurates the first phase of Shri Mahakaleshwar temple corridor in Ujjain

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi inaugurates the first phase of Shri Mahakaleshwar temple corridor in Ujjain

On Tuesday, October 11, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Mahakaleshwar Temple corridor development project in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, which has been constructed on the basis of “Shiv Leela” (108 murals and 93 statues illustrating stories relating to Lord Shiva).

The event started with PM Modi performing puja at Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple in Madhya Pradesh. Speaking on the occasion later, PM Modi said, “Phase I of the project will help in enriching the experience of pilgrims visiting the temple by providing them with world-class modern amenities.” PM Modi was accompanied by Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

After Varanasi’s Vishwanath temple and Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath shrine, Mahakal temple is the third ‘jyotirlinga’ temple to undergo extensive renovations under the Modi government. The Rs 800-crore Mahakal corridor is four times the size of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, which was inaugurated late last year by the Prime Minister.

Mahakal Maharaj Mandir Parisar Vistar Yojna is a plan for the expansion, beautification, and decongestion of the Mahakaleshwar temple and its adjoining area in the Ujjain district. The redevelopment project is being carried out in two phases. While the first phase of the Mahakal Temple expansion project has been completed as per the schedule and was inaugurated by the Prime Minister today, reports suggest that the entire project would be complete by June 2023.

In fact in January this year, the Madhya Pradesh government vouched for the development of Ujjain’s Mahakal Temple ahead of the Mahashivratri festival on March 1. “The Teerth in Ujjain will be developed in such a way that there will be a feeling of grandeur and divinity. Necessary works will be completed soon to increase the beauty of the city”, MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had tweeted.

The Mahakaleshwar Corridor’s first phase has been completed at a cost of Rs 350 crore while the total cost of the project is around 850 crores. Notably, the state budget of the Mahakal Temple Expansion Project is Rs 421 crores with the rest coming from the centre government. The management will further contribute Rs 21 crore to the project.

According to the plan, the 2.82-hectare Mahakaleshwar temple grounds will be expanded to 47 hectares and developed by the Ujjain district administration over two phases. Rudrasagar Lake, which covers 17 hectares, will be a part of this. The initiative is anticipated to boost city foot traffic from the existing 1.50 crore to about 3 crores annually.

First phases of the Mahakaleshwar Temple expansion project

A visiting plaza with two entrances, or Dwaars, known as the Nandi Dwaar and the Pinaki Dwaar, is one of the features of the first phase of the Vistar Yojna. Up to 20,000 pilgrims can congregate in the tourist plaza at once. Additionally, a plan for traffic flow has been created with consideration for how visitors enter the city and get to the temple.

Vehicle travel into the extended temple area has been restricted, and decentralised parking has been made available at a number of entry points. At the entry plaza, amenities like ticketing kiosks have been installed.

The plaza and the Mahakal temple are connected by a 900-meter pedestrian corridor that is adorned with 108 paintings and 93 statues that tell the tales of Lord Shiva, including the Shiv Vivah, Tripurasur Vadh, Shiv Puran, and Shiv Tandav Swaroop. Along this pedestrian strip, there are 128 convenience stores, restaurants, shops, florists, and other businesses.

On October 9, Sunday, Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje tweeted a video showing the aerial view of ‘Mahakal Lok.’ He wrote that its “design is inspired by Shiv Leela”.

What would be included in the second phase of redevelopment

The eastern and northern fronts of the temple would be expanded during the second phase. Various portions of the city of Ujjain, including Maharajwada, Mahal Gate, Hari Phatak Bridge, Ramghat façade, and Begam Bagh Road, will also be developed.

The complex of the Mahakal temple will be connected to buildings in Maharajwada, and a historical Dharamshala and Kumbh museum will also be constructed.

The second phase is being developed with funding from Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) under the City Investments to Innovate Integrate and Sustainable (CITIIS) programme.

Once the renovation is completed, the temple will have an almost eight-fold increase in space.

Significance of Ujjain’s Mahakal temple for Hindus

Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga is a Hindu temple devoted to Shiva and one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, or shrines believed to be Shiva’s most sacred abodes. It is situated in the ancient city of Ujjain in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The temple is located on the banks of the sacred river Kshipra, which was originally built by Lord Brahma in accordance with Hindu mythology.

The idol of Mahakaleshwar faces south which is why it is also known as ‘dakshinamukhi.’ This is a unique characteristic found only in Mahakaleshwar among the 12 Jyotirlingas as the rest all face east. The temple is regarded as one of India’s 18 Maha Shakti Peeths.

According to the chronicles, the presiding god, Shiva in the lingam form is thought to be Swayambhu, which is self-manifested or in other words, deriving Shakti (power) from within itself, and distinct from any other jyotirlingas in the nation which were ritually established and invested with mantra-shakti.

It is believed that there was once a king named Chandrasena who ruled Ujjain and was a Shiva devotee. God manifested himself in Mahakal form and destroyed his adversaries. Shiva agreed to live in the city and become its deity at the request of his devotees.

Interestingly, Ujjain’s Mahakaleshwar temple finds a mention in several ancient Indian poetic texts. In fact, Kalidasa described the Mahakal temple in the early part of the Meghadutam (Purva Megha), which was written in the fourth century.

History has it that in the 13th century, during an invasion of Ujjain, Shams-ud-din Iltutmish demolished the temple complex. Shams-ud-din Iltutmish was one of the slaves turned son-in-law of Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who had first attacked the Kashi Vishwanath in the 12th century under Mohammad of Ghori’s orders.

In 1734 CE, Ranoji Shinde, a Maratha general, built the present five-storeyed temple structure. Prior to independence, the temple was managed by the Dev Sthan Trust. Following independence, Ujjain’s municipal corporation assumed control. The temple’s administration is currently in the hands of the Ujjain district collectorate office.

‘Temples are places of exploitation’: AAP Gujarat President Gopal Italia’s hate-filled video from 2018 goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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‘Temples are places of exploitation’: AAP Gujarat President Gopal Italia’s hate-filled video from 2018 goes viral

On October 11, an old hate-filled video from 2018 of Aam Aadmi Party’s Gujarat State President Gopal Italia went viral on social media platforms in which he said that temples are places of exploitation and women should not dance during Kathavachan (preaching sessions that happen at temples and during religious events).

In the video, Gopal Italia was holding a book titled “Mahila Arakshan Avam Bhartiya Samaj”, authored by Harimohan Dhavan and Arun Kumar. The book was launched in 2011. It has no ratings on either Amazon or Goodreads and has only one rating on Flipkart.

In the video, Italia said, “I want to request to your mothers and sisters. Oh, my mothers, sisters and daughters, you will not get anything by going to temples or Kathavachan. These are the places of exploitation. If you want your rights, if you want to rule this country, if you want similar rights, then instead of dancing during Kathavachan, my mothers and sisters, read this book.”

Gopal Italia calls PM Modi ‘neech’

This is not the first time a hate-filled video of Gopal Italia has gone viral on social media. Recently, an undated video of Italia where he called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a ‘Neech’ went viral on social media.

In this video, Gopal Italia said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a ‘neech’ person. I can’t confirm, but I want to ask you, is there any former Prime Minister of the country who has made so many gimmicks while going to cast a vote? This ‘neech’ type of person is doing road shows here. And he is showing how I am making this country C. You better understand the meaning of C. He talks about digital India and rushes to Gujarat from Delhi to cast a vote. This is how he is making country C. So, this ‘neech’ type of person is giving a message to the country about how he is making this country C.”

Earlier in September this year, a video of Italia went viral where he was addressing a rally. In a speech in Gujarati in Dwarka, Italia said, “Now to relieve everyone from Bhagwan Shri Krishna and these demons of BJP, Arvind Kejriwal has come as Arjun…” While this appears like a slip of the tongue, neither Italia nor Arvind Kejriwal has apologised for comparing Shri Krishna to demons.

Again in the same month, he was booked for using derogatory remarks against Gujarat BJP chief CR Patil and Minister Harsh Sanghavi during a rally that was conducted ahead of the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022.

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