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Modi 2024: Why not just the TINA factor

Nirwa Mehta
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Modi 2024: Why not just the TINA factor

It may feel like time has come to a standstill because, really, we just had the 2019 elections a few months back only’ but time is deceptive. Two years of a pandemic may feel like we are stuck, but things have moved ahead.

5.4 million households in India got toilets built between 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 under the Swachha Bharat Mission (Grameen). Despite constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, 6 crore rural households in India got tap water connections. Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 14 crores of free LPG cylinders were given during the pandemic to the poor.

In a series of tweets in July 2021 Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that highway construction had seen a sharp rise during the pandemic period. He had said that in 2020-21, the highway construction pace reached 36.5 km/day. This was the highest-ever construction speed for national highways.

Some record-breaking work was done in infrastructure development across India while the country struggled to cope with the virus. Speaking of virus, the Central government led by Prime Minister Modi gave free ration to 80 crore people of India. Total population of India is pegged to be around 135 crore.

Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, the Centre announced the first relief package for the poor on March 26, 2020, just days into the first ever lockdown, when we stared at uncertainty. The idea was to make sure the poor of India, who were likely to be worst affected, do not have to struggle for food. Free foodgrains for 80 crore people, cooking gas for 8 crore families, and direct cash transfer to over 40 crore farmers, women, the elderly, the poor, and the needy were provided by the Centre during the pandemic. For two years, the Central government provided ration, making sure the most vulnerable section of the society is taken care of.

Not just that, on war footing the vaccines were manufactured and administered including homegrown vaccine, Covaxin. In just about 8 months, over a 100 crore doses were administered. This, despite the opposition leaders creating vaccine hesitancy and playing politics with our lives for their own gains. It was the diplomatic relations created and nurtured over past years that when the oxygen crisis hit India in April 2021, other countries came together to help us out by sending oxygen cylinders and other requirements. We were in this together.

What has Modi done for Hindus?

One of the many grievances people have with PM Modi is what has he done specifically for Hindus. Well, Hindus are unabashedly wearing their religious identity on their sleeves. The farce of ‘secularism’ we have grown up with is being torn down and more people are waking up to realisation that secularism has to be two-way street. That the ‘liberals’ and Islamists are calling ‘Jai Shri Ram’ a terror slogan and that is not okay. People are realising and saying it aloud that baying for someone’s blood and justifying beheading just because someone said something about your divine figures is not acceptable in a civilised society.

Politics is more than just winning elections. The leaders need to create an environment where civilisational issues can be discussed and corrected. A country is not run just by the elected leaders. There are bureaucrats, government officers who continue to serve whichever politician is in power. So it may appear like he has ‘not done anything’ for Hindus, but he has definitely been a catalyst, setting things in motion for a lot of issues.

That a film like Kashmir Files is made 32 years after genocide of Kashmiri Hindus and for the first time a majority of Indians were made to realise how bloody our recent past has been. Things that were brushed under the carpet are being discussed. It may not be a lot, but it is a beginning. There are discussions, debates and conversations. History that has been systematically rewritten over the years with tacit support of ruling dispensation is being corrected, but it won’t happen overnight and we must not lose hope. After all, there are a lot of disputed structures across India that need to be reclaimed.

Not just ‘TINA’

‘There is no alternative’ – ‘TINA factor’ is often peddled as the only reason Modi has won two rounds of general elections and if things go as they look, is set to win even the third time around. Except, that is not true. Before he became the Prime Minister, he has won Gujarat state assembly elections thrice – consecutively. It would not be wrong to say that he has won every election he has contested since 2001. That is a long time for anyone to stay in power ‘just because there’s no other alternative’.

And it is not that over these years other leaders have not portrayed themselves as PM candidate. Nitish Kumar wanted to be PM himself and even now harbours the dreams which has has made no effort to hide in recent times. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, too, has these dreams. As does Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Back in 2014, when seasoned protestor Yogendra Yadav, a former Sonia Gandhi aide, was a close aide to Kejriwal, the latter quit as chief minister of Delhi in just 49 days to contest elections against Narendra Modi from Varanasi. Kejriwal, of course, lost the election, but the hope is still alive. He has been trying to portray himself as a national leader.

And speaking of Yogendra Yadav, he has now attached himself to the Gandhis again. Rahul Gandhi has roped him and other ‘activists’ as part of his ‘Bharat Jodo’ container yatra, which appears to have been highly inspired from ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s ‘container yatra’. Rahul Gandhi, too, has been having hopes of becoming the Prime Minister of India one day – after all, his father, grandmother and great grandfather have been one.

Except for Rahul Gandhi, others have been chief ministers of their states, just like Modi was before he became the Prime Minister. Rahul Gandhi has been four time MP – more number of times than Modi has been.

These are all ‘alternatives’. You may not vote for them but there are people who have. So just because you don’t think they’re worthy to be PM, doesn’t mean others don’t think so – ask those who voted for them all these years.

Delhi ACB arrests AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in connection with Waqf Board corruption case

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi ACB arrests AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in connection with Waqf Board corruption case

The Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch on Friday arrested AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in connection with the Delhi Waqf Board corruption case after recovering incriminating material and evidence against him during the raids conducted earlier today.

On Friday, Anti-Corruption Branch raided multiple locations, including the home of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan. During the raid by the ACB, an unlicensed Beretta pistol was recovered from Hamid Ali Khan, the alleged close aide of Khan. During the raids, officials also recovered Rs 12 lakh.

The raids on Khan are related to an unauthorized appointment to the Waqf Board. At 12 p.m. today, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah from Okhla was summoned for interrogation. The case against Amanatullah Khan was filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act 2020.

The Delhi ACB on Thursday issued a summons to Aam Aadmi Party leader Amanatullah Khan for questioning in a two-year-old case involving the Waqf Board.

Amanatullah Khan is the chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board. He tweeted about the notice and claimed that he is being summoned as he got the new office of the Waqf Board built. ACB is probing purported irregularities in the recruitment of the Delhi Waqf Board.

“I was summoned to the #ACB office for questioning and then transferred to the Delhi Police to harass my family members from behind. @LtGovDelhi Sir, remember that the truth never is harmed. I have complete faith in this country’s constitution and judiciary,” Khan tweeted.

On Sunday, 12 September, the personal assistant of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested with live cartridges at Patna’s Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport. The passenger has been identified as Noman Ahmed, a resident of Abul Fazal Enclave, Shaheen Bagh, Delhi.

India assumes Presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation for 2023: Putin and other world leaders extend wishes

OpIndia Staff
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India assumes Presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation for 2023: Putin and other world leaders extend wishes

In a significant development, India has assumed the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) from Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is the current chair of SCO 2022 whereas India will be the next chair of the SCO.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit which was being held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan has ended today (Friday).

The two-day summit was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping along with other leaders from a total of fifteen heads of state and the heads of ten international organizations. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his good wishes to India for hosting the 23rd edition of the summit next year. Apart from Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping also congratulated India on assuming the presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) for 2023. “We will support India for its presidency next year,” Jinping stated on Friday at SCO Summit in Uzbekistan. Notably, India will take over the rotating annual chairmanship of the SCO, which is now held by Uzbekistan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also conveyed a congratulatory message to India for assuming the presidency.

This is the first in-person SCO Summit since the Covid epidemic. The most recent SCO Heads of State Summit took place in Bishkek in June 2019.

The SCO currently has eight member countries (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), four observer states interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia), and six “Dialogue Partners” (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey).

PM Modi addresses Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit

Speaking at the SCO meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated his desire to convert India into a manufacturing hub. He emphasised SCO’s valuable role in the post-COVID period, notably in advancing economic recovery and improving supply chains. PM Modi emphasised India’s focus on people-centric growth, which also prioritises technology.

At the SCO Summit PM Modi also discussed India’s efforts to increase the popularity of millets and said that SCO can play a big role in marking 2023 as the International Year of Millets.

The second day of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit began with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others, in attendance.

This is the first time the two world leaders, Xi Jinping and PM Modi, have met since the countries were locked in a standoff following the June 2020 Galwan Valley faceoff. Several rounds of high-level talks have taken place since then, and New Delhi and Beijing recently concluded disengagement at a critical site in Ladakh.

The summit, meanwhile, deliberated on regional security challenges, boosting trade and energy supplies among other issues. PM Modi, on the sidelines of the summit, held bilateral meetings with Putin, and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev among other leaders.

Notably, the Shanghai Five, formed in 1996, had become the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2001 with the inclusion of Uzbekistan. With the addition of India and Pakistan in 2017 and the decision to admit Tehran as a full member in 2021, the SCO grew to become one of the world’s largest multilateral organisations, accounting for over 30% of the global GDP and 40% of the world’s population.

Delhi court acquits Yogendra Singh and Suraj in a Delhi Riots FIR filed by Shamshad, says case not proved beyond reasonable doubt

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi court acquits Yogendra Singh and Suraj in a Delhi Riots FIR filed by Shamshad, says case not proved beyond reasonable doubt

On Wednesday, a Delhi Court acquitted two defendants named Yogendra Singh and Suraj in connection with the northeast Delhi riots in 2020. The court was hearing a case involving a First Information Report (FIR) filed by a person named Shamshad at the Jyoti Nagar Police Station in Delhi on February 29, 2020. The FIR stated that on February 25, 2020, thousands of rioters robbed, trashed, and torched property in the Ashok Nagar neighbourhood.

According to the reports, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Amitabh Rawat of the Karkardooma Court in Delhi observed that the prosecution has not been able to prove its case against both accused people beyond a reasonable doubt.

“Hence, both the accused persons namely Yogendra Singh and Suraj, are acquitted of all the offenses punishable under Section 147 (rioting), 427 (causing property damage), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house), and 149 (unlawful assembly) of IPC”, the Court ordered.

The accused Yogendra and Suraj were charged under Indian Penal Code Sections 147, 148, 149, 427, and 436. (IPC). According to the prosecution, among the rioters were accused Yogender Singh and Suraj, who burnt down the complainant’s residence. The prosecution relied on the testimony of purported eyewitness policeman Pramod and public witness Shamshad, who recognized two of the defendants and led to their arrest.

The Court on Wednesday also noted Shamshad’s statement in which he said, “on February 25, 2020, hundreds of rioters came to Ashok Nagar Masjid and they started arsoning the shops including mine. When I saw the rioters, he ran away. I could not identify anyone and I ran away to save my life”.

The court responded by stating that the witness, Shamshad, had unequivocally deposed that rioters began arsoning houses/shops, including his, on February 25, 2020, and that upon witnessing them, he rushed away and was unable to identify any rioters. However, in his statement recorded under Section 161 CrPC, he indicated that he had recognized both of the defendants.

The court further observed that the testimonies of Shamshad and Pramod did not inspire it to find the accused people, Yogendra Singh and Suraj, guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

“On the cumulative reading of the entire testimonies of all the witnesses, the presence of accused persons in the unlawful assembly on the time and place of incident and their participation in the act of rioting, mischief, and burning of the house of complainant Shamshad is not established at all”, the Court quoted.

Furthermore, the Court noted that SI Yashvir Singh’s testimony concerning Section 188 (violation of an order issued by a public servant) of IPC is insufficient because the appearance of the accused persons is not established and no charges were framed, and even the testimony has not come from the concerned authority who allegedly gave the written permission under Section 195 Cr.P.C.

Delhi ACB recovers an unlicensed weapon, Rs 12 lakh after raids at AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan’s house and other locations

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi ACB recovers an unlicensed weapon, Rs 12 lakh after raids at AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan’s house and other locations

On Friday, Anti-Corruption Branch raided multiple locations, including the home of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan. During the raid by the ACB, an unlicensed Beretta pistol was recovered from Hamid Ali Khan, the alleged close aide of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan. During the raids, officials also recovered Rs 12 lakh.

The raids on Amanatullah Khan is related to an unauthorized appointment to the Waqf Board. At 12 p.m. today, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah from Okhla was summoned for interrogation. The case against Amanatullah Khan was filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act 2020.

The Delhi ACB on Thursday issued a summons to Aam Aadmi Party leader Amanatullah Khan for questioning in a two-year-old case involving the Waqf Board.

Amanatullah Khan is the chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board. He tweeted about the notice and claimed that he is being summoned as he got the new office of the Waqf Board built. ACB is probing purported irregularities in the recruitment of the Delhi Waqf Board.

“I was summoned to the #ACB office for questioning and then transferred to the Delhi Police to harass my family members from behind. @LtGovDelhi Sir, remember that the truth never is harmed. I have complete faith in this country’s constitution and judiciary,” Amanatullah Khan tweeted.

On Sunday, 12 September, the personal assistant of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested with live cartridges at Patna’s Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport. The passenger has been identified as Noman Ahmed, a resident of Abul Fazal Enclave, Shaheen Bagh, Delhi.

Noman Ahmed had arrived at the airport to catch a Spice Jet flight to Delhi. When officials from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) inspected his hand luggage, they recovered a 7.65 mm live cartridge. The CISF was unable to locate a weapon license with Noman to explain the live cartridge. Following the discovery, he was turned over to Patna Airport Police.

During the police probe, Noman disclosed that he is the personal assistant to Delhi MLA Amanatullah Khan. He had landed in Patna with a bag of Amanatullah Khan’s Personal Security Officer.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh terms the opening of locks of Babri structure a mistake, party had earlier questioned the existence of Lord Ram

OpIndia Staff
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Congress leader Jairam Ramesh terms the opening of locks of Babri structure a mistake, party had earlier questioned the existence of Lord Ram

On Thursday (September 15), veteran Congress leader Jairam Ramesh courted controversy after he dubbed the opening of Babri Masjid, which eventually paved the path for the Ram Janmabhoomi struggle, a mistake.

In an interview with ex-AAP leader Ashutosh, Ramesh reminisced about the historical blunders of the Congress party. “We have made several mistakes. It is untrue that we did not commit any mistakes. Take the Shah Bano case for example or the opening of the locks of the Babri Masjid in 1986,” he said.

The Congress leader further added, “I do not want to delve into the history but all these events are recorded in history. And today we are paying the price for it.” It must be mentioned that the Rajiv-Gandhi government ordered the opening of Babri Masjid in February 1986, which has remained locked since 1949.

The Congress government took the drastic step in order to placate the Hindu community, who were miffed at the blatant Muslim appeasement policy of the party. The opening of the Babri Masjid, followed by a concerted campaign by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the BJP, culminated in the Ramjanmabhoomi movement.

The movement mobilised lakhs of Hindus into realising the dream of a magnificent Ram Mandir at the site where Lord Ram was born. For Congress to call the opening of the Babri masjid, ‘a mistake’, is to deride the sentiments of the Hindu community that braved the tyranny of Mughal emperor Babur.

However, the grand old party is not new to mocking Hindu beliefs. On several occasions, seasoned party leaders have questioned the existence of Hindu deities and insulted the religious sentiments of the Hindu community.

Congress denied the existence of Lord Ram, opposed Ram Mandir

In 2007, an affidavit filed by the Congress-led government read, “Valmiki Ramayana and Ramcharitmanas admittedly form an important part of ancient Indian literature, but these cannot be said to be historical records to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters and occurrences of events depicted therein.”

The affidavit was filed to register the UPA government’s opposition to the demand to scrap the Sethusamudram project as it would damage the Ram Setu.

Screengrab of the news report from 2007

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal fought the Ram Janmabhoomi case for the Sunni Waqf Board opposing the building of a magnificent Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. He also employed dilatory tactics and asked the apex court to delay the decision in the Ram Janmabhoomi case till the 2019 elections. 

Another eminent Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had earlier claimed that no ‘good Hindu’ would want a Ram Mandir at the Babri site. Tharoor urged that one should instead have the Ram Mandir in one’s heart. In August 2020, Congress leader Kumar Ketkar denied the historical existence of Shri Ram and suggested that the Hindu God is a creation of literature.

“Ram exists because of Ramayan. However, a conclusion is yet to be reached on whether Ram is the creation of history or literature. Valmiki wrote a great epic and its impact was felt both in India and abroad. But, I don’t know if He existed in history,“ he had remarked.

On being questioned about his bizarre stance on the existence of Lord Ram, Kumar Ketkar tried to justify his comments in light of the baseless claims made earlier by then Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli.  “There is no historical evidence (of the existence of Shri Ram) and that is why Nepal’s PM claimed that Ayodhya is located in Nepal”, Ketkar concluded.

Watch: How Shazia Ilmi stood up to Aatish Taseer-led liberal bullies chanting anti-India slogans at JLF New York

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: How Shazia Ilmi stood up to Aatish Taseer-led liberal bullies chanting anti-India slogans at JLF New York

At least three ‘liberal’ panellists had withdrawn from Jaipur Literature Festival in New York earlier this week because BJP leader Shazia Ilmi was invited as a panellist. Despite the protests by Islamists masquerading as left-liberals, Shazia Ilmi participated in the scheduled program on September 14, and also delivered a speech at the conclusion of the three-day event.

While those who had withdrawn from the event were Americans, including authors Marie Brenner and Amy Waldman, the campaign against the BJP leader was led by British-American author Aatish Taseer, who is son of Indian journalist Tavleen Singh and Pakistani politician Salman Taseer. While Aatish Taheer always has been an Islamist, his hatred for the Modi government skyrocketed after the central govt cancelled his OIC card as his father was a Pakistani.

While Shazia Ilmi’s scheduled event titled Intersections: Searching Equity with Dalit activist Guru Prakash Paswan Prashant Jha on September 14 went smoothly, she was heckled later while delivering an address in the evening. She had to face anti-India protests where leftist activists were chanting slogans and holding placards with anti-India messages.

Sharing a video from the event, Shazia Ilmi said, “the chorus of the protesters grew louder as they flashed placards against India! And against this very telling backdrop of hate, I spoke of the necessity to bury hatred within and without.” Standing her ground strongly, she added, “I will not allow ‘borrowed hate and mortgaged rage’ to come between my truth and theirs”.

She also informed that the organisers of the festival stood up to the bullying by anti-India journalists from New York Times who had pulled out from the festival due to her presence. Calling Aatish Taseer the Instigator-in-chief, she said that his whining along with vitriol from Suketu Mehta and Kiran Desai “did nothing to dampen the swag!”

Shazia added, “Freedom of Speech is not a one way street, fellows!”

Days before Shazia was scheduled to participate in the festival, Aatish Taseer had launched a campaign against her, trying to get her cancelled from the event. He had accused the organisers of Jaipur Literature Festival in New York of duping people into believing that they were attending a festival with “respectable, intellectual people with bodies of work behind them”.

He had tweeted on September 13, “wrong to impose a hateful ideology like Hindutva by stealth on unsuspecting members of the New York intelligentsia.”

Acknowledging that he was leading the anti-Shazia protests in New York, Aatish had said that he had mobilised South Asian activists and writers to explain to other participants that “these are full-on right-wing ideologues, including card-holding members of the BJP”.

He said, “These people who are appearing from the New York side who are liberals would never be caught dead with these [BJP] people. So it’s a really, really insidious and sly thing that the JLF leaders have done.”

Aatish Taseer was retweeting campaigns against Shazia at the festival, tweeting to join them on September 14th to tell “Narendra Modi (and his quislings) to go f**k themselves”.

Shazia Ilmi and Aatish Taseer also had an war of words on Twitter, where Taseer alleged that Ilmi was invited due to pressure of BJP, and she had no place in the event as she is not an author. Abusing her, he said, “You’re a shameless quisling, and a traitor to every aspect of your background. Go back to your fascist masters.”

But Shazia shot back saying she was invited to the festival earlier also, and non-authors are regularly invited. “Our truths are not the same. You’re speaking as privileged man and I speak as a Muslim woman living in India,” she added.

Rape and murder in Lakhimpur Kheri: Family allows bodies to be cremated after district administration agrees to fast track case, demand for death sentence

OpIndia Staff
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Rape and murder in Lakhimpur Kheri: Family allows bodies to be cremated after district administration agrees to fast track case, demand for death sentence

In Uttar Pradesh’s Nighasan village in Lakhimpur Kheri, there was a ruckus following the rape and murder of two Dalit young sisters. The Lakhimpur district administration persuaded the family of the victims to allow the remains to be cremated on Thursday after 24 hours of the incident since the families of the victims had refused to conduct the final rites of the girls.

The relatives of the victims consented for the bodies to be cremated after the Lakhimpur district administration made five promises to the families. The administration pledged to provide the family with monetary compensation of Rs 16 lakhs.

In its second promise, the administration stated that the money designated under the Rani Laxmibai plan would be paid promptly upon the completion of the prosecution’s inquiry. Aside from that, the block will shortly begin the process of constructing a house for the victim’s family through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Promises made by the administration to the victim’s family (Credit: Aaj Tak)

In the fourth promise, the administration stated that an application for a job and other financial help will be forwarded to the government soon. At the same time, the government stated that the case will be tried in a fast-track court in order to get the accused the death penalty.

Previously, the family of the deceased girls had made their demands clear by refusing to conduct the funeral rituals. The family had put three conditions for performing the final rites. The family requested that the government pay them one crore rupees in compensation, the siblings of the victims should be granted government employment based on their credentials, and all of the accused should be sentenced to death.

The arrest of 6 accused including Junaid, Sohail and Arif

Six individuals were arrested on Thursday by the Uttar Pradesh Police, namely Junaid, Sohail, Arif, Hafiz, Karimuddin, and Chhotu (Gautam), for the horrific rape and murder of the Dalit girls in the Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh. According to the investigating police officer, the accused Junaid attempted to flee during his capture and was shot in the leg.

The crime took place on Wednesday when two suspects by the identities of Sohail and Junaid brought two Dalit girls, aged 15 and 17, to a sugarcane field and raped them. The girls were later murdered and hanged on a tree with their dupattas by the rapists and their associates.

Ahmedabad court sentences Jignesh Mevani and 18 others to six months in prison in 2016 roadblock protest case

OpIndia Staff
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Ahmedabad court sentences Jignesh Mevani and 18 others to six months in prison in 2016 roadblock protest case

A metropolitan court in Ahmedabad on Friday sentenced independent MLA and the working state president of Gujarat Congress Jignesh Mevani to six months in prison in connection with the 2016 roadblock protest case. Besides Mevani, the court also convicted 18 others involved in the case after an FIR was filed against them for protesting to name a building in Gujarat University’s law department after Dr B R Ambedkar.

Mevani and others were pronounced guilty of charges that included rioting, and unlawful assembly among others. The additional chief judicial magistrate P N Goswami sentenced them to six months in jail and a fine of Rs 700 each. The judgment came after it stayed the order for a month allowing the convicts the time to challenge the verdict.

Mevani, an independent MLA from Vadgam who was appointed as the working state president of the Gujarat Congress, reacted to the judgment by saying, “Gujarat government released all rapists from jail, garlanded them and said that their conduct was very good. C R Patil, the Gujarat BJP president, has nearly 108 cases against him but in none of the cases, he had been convicted. But, this is the second case against the agitators who have been sentenced to six months in jail for carrying out a rally demanding a building to be named after Baba Saheb Ambedkar. We welcome the judgement.”

In 2016, a complaint was filed with the Gujarat University police station in Ahmedabad against Mevani and 19 others linked to Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch for carrying out a protest demanding the under-construction building of the law department be named after Ambedkar. Mevani and others had blocked the road and when the police tried to clear it, they started undressing themselves to oppose them. The police have booked them for rioting, and unlawful assembly among other charges.

Earlier in May, Mevani and nine others were sentenced to three months in jail by Mehsana court in connection with a case registered in 2017 for organising a rally without permission. The court granted him conditional bail, prohibiting him from travelling outside Gujarat without its permission.

In April this year, Assam Police arrested Jignesh Mevani for posting objectionable tweets. His tweets were later withheld by Twitter due to a request by authorities.

Mevani was booked under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), section 153(A) (promoting enmity between two communities), 295(A), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and sections of the IT Act.

Surat: Restaurant owner Sarfaraz Mohammad Khan arrested for serving beef to customers, butcher who supplied cow meat is now absconding

OpIndia Staff
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Surat: Restaurant owner Sarfaraz Mohammad Khan arrested for serving beef to customers, butcher who supplied cow meat is now absconding

On Sunday, September 11, Sarfaraz Mohammad Wazir Khan, a restaurant owner in Gujarat’s Surat was arrested for serving beef to customers in his hotel. When Hindu organizations learned of the restaurant owner’s activities, they immediately notified the authorities, as per a report in India Today.

The police raided the restaurant based on the information and discovered 60 kg of beef stored in the refrigerator. A case was filed against the restaurant owner at Surat’s Lalgate police station, and he was arrested. Meanwhile, Ansar, the butcher who delivered him with beef, has been declared absconding. 

Three people from Hindu organizations in Surat received information that beef was being served in a non-vegetarian restaurant in the Hodibangla region. They investigated the matter and, after establishing the accuracy of the information, they reported it to the Lalgate police station. 

On September 11, police raided the restaurant and found 60 kg of meat stashed in six bags in the refrigerator. Following that, the police summoned a veterinarian to the scene and sent the sample to the Forensic Scientific Laboratory for analysis. In the FSL report it was found that out of 60 kg of meat, 20 kg was cow meat and 40 kg of buffalo meat, as reported by OneIndia.

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