The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday, September 6, directed six family members of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to present affidavits in connection with a case involving their properties and other assets. An order in this regard was passed by a division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj, that was hearing a plea filed by Arijit Majumder, who alleged an exponential rise in the properties and assets of the CM’s family members.
Amit Banerjee, Ajit Banerjee, Sameer Banerjee, Swapan Banerjee, Ganesh Banerjee, and Kajri Banerjee are six members of Mamata Banerjee’s family who have been named as accused in the case. The court has ordered the aforementioned kins of the TMC supremo to provide affidavits by November 11. The court will hear the PIL on November 28.
In the plea, the petitioner Arijit Majumder, who is being represented by BJP leader and lawyer Tarunjyoti Tiwari, claimed that the Trinamool Congress chief’s family amassed properties worth more than Rs 20 crores, specifically after the year 2011.
“We have shown each and every document that shows a huge increase in the assets of the family members of Mamata Banerjee. We have shown that in election affidavits, they did not disclose the actual assets. We have shown properties worth more than Rs 20 crores have been acquired by them, at different times, specifically after 2011, more specifically after 2013 when the chit fund scam was busted,” said the petitioner.
He further alleged that TMC leader Kunal Ghosh stated that the “money of Saradha Chit Fund is lying with Mamata Banerjee.”
Meanwhile, the court, during the next hearing on November 28, has summoned Trinamool State General Secretary Kunal Ghosh as a witness in the case. Mamata Banerjee has not been made a party in the case. Moreover, the CBI Director and the Director of the Income Tax Department have been named as defendants in this case.
Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Mamata Banerjee accused in a money laundering case linked to the coal scam
Notably, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, a Member of Parliament from the Diamond Harbour seat, is also on ED’s radar in a case registered against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had found that the TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was the beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. However, he has denied all charges.
The case was filed under criminal sections of the (PMLA) by the ED based on the FIR filed by the CBI in November 2020. The FIR had alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to the Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the West Bengal’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas near Asansol.
The Enforcement Directorate had previously filed a complaint with a special court saying that incumbent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee of Diamond Harbor, and his family got illicit income from illegal coal mining in the state. It went on to say that it was made possible by a “deep system” of political patronage fueled by “well-oiled” machinery.
A disturbing story of religious conversion has emerged from the state of Chhattisgarh, which has been bearing the brunt of the Christian Missionaries’ conversion programme for years. According to a report by Zee News Hindi, the son of a Hindu man named Budhram deceitfully buried his father’s deceased body according to Christian customs rather than cremating it as per the Hindu rituals.
The incident occurred in the Atariya Vangram village of Khudia Police Outpost in Mungeli District, which falls within the jurisdiction of Lormi Police Station in Chattisgarh.
Budhram, a member of the indigenous Baiga tribe, was said to have two sons. His younger son reportedly committed the act after ‘outsiders’ persuaded him to convert to Christianity and bury his deceased father according to Christian rituals in exchange for money.
When the deceased’s eldest son learnt of this, he told his tribal community’s people and public representatives about the entire occurrence. Everyone was upset and began looking into who committed the sin. It was determined that this act was perpetrated by some “outsiders” who were misleading the innocent tribal people about their faith and luring them to convert by offering money.
A demand for stern action was made while submitting a complaint against all of those individuals at the Lormi Police station.
Meanwhile, when further information about this ongoing conspiracy was acquired, it was revealed that the game of conversion was being carried out by a certain institution active in the area for numerous years. The local villagers stated that about 20 years ago, people of the Oraon caste from Surguja burgled their villages and polluted their culture, disturbing the existing peace and harmony of the village. These ‘outsiders’ started persuading the indigenous Baiga tribals to convert to Christianity by luring them with money and various other resources.
The irate locals demanded strict action against these ‘outsiders’ who are duping and converting innocent tribals to their religion.
Condemning the incident, a former district panchayat member stated that he has received information regarding a major conspiracy brewing in which some individuals in the area are being pushed to convert to their religion. He demanded strict action against the perpetrators.
‘Ghar Wapsi’ of 1250 people in a tribal village in Chhattisgarh
Notably, Chhattisgarh has a long conversion history. In fact, the conspiracy that started when Christian missionaries laid their foundation during British rule in the early twentieth century continues until today. These Missionaries mostly target the tribal-dominated areas in the state.
In March 2022, OpIndia reported how as many as 1250 persons in Chhattisgarh returned to Sanatan Dharma. Arya Pratinidhi Samaj arranged the Mahayagya. BJP State Secretary Prabal Pratap Singh Judev spearheaded the charge to bring people to their roots by washing the feet of those who returned to the Sanatan Dharma with Gangajal.
On Saturday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi met controversial Catholic pastor George Ponnaiah in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, as part of his 150-day-long Bharat Jodo Yatra. In a video that has now gone viral on social media, Rahul Gandhi was seen learning about Jesus Christ from the pastor. Father George claimed that Jesus is the ‘real God’, unlike ‘Sakthi & other Hindu gods’. The rabid Hindu hater said, “He (Jesus Christ) is a real God, revealed as a human person. Not like Sakthi and all.”
Ponnaiah has a history of making inflammatory remarks that have gotten him in trouble in the past. He was even detained at Kallikudi, Madurai, in July 2021, for reportedly uttering a “communal hate speech” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, a DMK Minister, and others.
The Congress in turn accused the BJP of spreading mischief and claimed that the ruling party has become more desperate following the successful launch of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra.’ Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted over the controversy on Saturday, September 10, blaming BJP for the hateful utterances of George Ponnaiah. According to AICC General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, the BJP’s “hate factory” is spreading tweets about Rahul Gandhi that have nothing to do with the viral video.
“An atrocious tweet from the BJP hate factory is doing the rounds. It bears no relation whatsoever to what is recorded in the audio. This is typical BJP mischief that has become more desperate after the successful launch of BharatJodoYatra which is evoking such a huge response,” Ramesh tweeted.
An atrocious tweet from the BJP hate factory is doing the rounds. It bears no relation whatsoever to what is recorded in the audio. This is typical BJP mischief that has become more desperate after the successful launch of #BharatJodoYatra which is evoking such a huge response.
“People who were responsible for the killing of Mahatma Gandhi and the murders of people like Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M.M. Kalburgi, and Gauri Lankesh are raising questions! What a morbid joke! Such attempts to damage the spirit of #BharatJodoYatra will fail miserably,” he further said.
People who were responsible for the killing of Mahatma Gandhi and the murders of people like Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, MM Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh are raising questions! What a morbid joke! Such attempts to damage the spirit of #BharatJodoYatra will fail miserably!
As the video of Rahul Gandhi with the controversial Catholic priest went viral, the BJP blasted the Congress leader, accusing him of pushing an anti-Hindu agenda and dubbing his padayatra ‘Nafrat Jodo Abhiyan’ and ‘Bharat Todo Yatra.’
“Jesus Christ is the real God, not like Shakti”, controversial Tamil pastor in meeting with Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ with ‘Bharat Todo’ icons
Shehzad Poonawalla, the BJP national spokesperson, attacked Rahul Gandhi and questioned if George Ponnaiah is the Congress’ poster boy for Bharat Jodo. He stated that the Congress is holding a Bharat Jodo yatra with ‘Bharat Todo’ icons.
George Ponnaiah who met Rahul Gandhi says “Jesus is the only God unlike Shakti (& other Gods) “
This man was arrested for his Hindu hatred earlier – he also said “I wear shoes because impurities of Bharat Mata should not contaminate us.”
“It’s Rahul Gandhi’s Nafrat Jodo Abhiyan, and today they’ve made someone like George Ponnaiah the poster boy of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, who has challenged, threatened Hindus, and spoken terrible things about Bharat Mata. The Congress has a long history of being anti-Hindu.”
Pastor George Ponnaiah had earlier said that he wears shoes in order to protect himself from getting contaminated by the ‘impurities’ of Bharat Mata.
Pastor George Ponnaiah was arrested in July 2021 for his Hinduphobic speech in a meeting on July 18, 2021, at Arumanai, Tamil Nadu.
On Saturday, 10th September 2022, members of Hindu organizations staged demonstrations in the morning at the community health centre (CHC) in Kabrai in the Mahoba area of the Kanpur district in Uttar Pradesh. The protests were staged because tiles with pictures of Hindu deities were installed on the staircase of the community health centre.
The police have booked a medical superintendent, a doctor, and three other unknown accused in this case based on the complaint filed by the members of the Hind organization.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) district general secretary Mayank Tiwari lives in the Gandhi Nagar Mohalla in Kabrai. He gave a complaint to the local police station and said in his complaint that Dr Mahesh Singh, posted at the community health centre, has deliberately hurt religious sentiments by installing tiles with pictures of Hindu deities near the stairs.
According to a report by Jagran, Mayank Tiwari also alleged that Dr Mahesh Singh and staff members posted at the CHC drink alcohol and urinate near the stairs. When one Dharmendra Prajapati complained to the medical superintendent, Dr Gaurav Singh, about this issue, the staff members threatened to kill him.
On the complaint of Mayank Tiwari, the police have registered a case against the accused medical officer Dr Gaurav Singh, Dr Mahesh Singh, and three unidentified people under sections related to insulting religion, and threatening. CMO Dr DK Garg said that Dr Gaurav Singh has been removed from the post of medical superintendent, Dr Mahesh Singh has been transferred and the matter is being investigated.
Several recent reports have shown that demography is changing rapidly along India’s border with Nepal. The number of mosques and madarsas is constantly increasing. From August 20 to 27, 2022, an OpIndia team visited several areas in Nepal bordering India to observe the ground situation. What follows here is thefifth episode of the series of reports documenting the facts noticed by the OpIndia team.
While travelling along the Indo-Nepal border, the OpIndia team continued hearing the Tharu tribe’s name from villagers every now and then. We learnt that the Tharu tribe, who are followers of Hinduism, is indigenous to both the Terai region of southern Nepal and northern India.
We were told that the Tharu tribe has, to date, kept its old culture and traditions intact in their original form. To put all of this to the test, we travelled to Mohkampur, a Tharu tribe village on the Jarwa border of Nepal, which had a total population of roughly 3500 people.
Mohkampur is located in the Jarwa police station jurisdiction of the Balrampur district, around 15 kilometres from the main market of Tulsipur. After this village, the forest area begins, and after some distance, the Nepalese border appears.
While we were heading towards the village, at its entrance, we came across a signboard that read, ‘Late Shri Kanhaiyalal Smriti Dwar’. A paved road led us to the village. As we entered we saw some local villagers sitting in the chaupal (a common area in the village where villagers congregate to discuss their issues) in front of Khem Singh Rana’s house in this village and chatting. We too stopped by and started conversing with them.
‘Our ancestors fought for Maharana Pratap’
While conversing with us, Khem Singh, one of the villagers, described themselves to be the descendants of Rajput warrior king Maharana Pratap. Khem Singh proudly that his ancestors fought against the Mughals along with Rana Pratap to save the country and religion.
Khem Singh recalled how their ancestors took refuge in hilly and inaccessible areas to save their religion from the Mughals after their king Maharana Pratap died. Khemu also confirmed that a significant number of people of the Thari community are now residing on the Nepal border.
Muslim population has increased manifold in the border areas
Khem Singh stated that he had lived in the border village of Mohkampur since birth. According to him, the population of Muslims on the Nepal border has increased significantly over time.
Rajesh, the Kotedar of the same hamlet and of the Tharu tribe, told us that Muslims entered India through Nepal and settled after purchasing land, etc. The Mazars, according to Rajesh, are old, but the madarsas are newly built.
Devsharan of the same village and community also stated that the Muslim population has grown in recent years so has the emergence of mosques and Mazars in the border areas.
Manoj from the adjoining hamlet agreed with the media’s claims of a rising Muslim population on the Nepal-India border.
3 mosques and 1 madrasa in the gram sabha, Tharu community village head named Shakeela
Concerned about the growing hegemony of Muslims in the area, locals speaking at the Chaupal claimed that, despite the area being primarily dominated by people of the Tharu community, the village head there was a Muslim named Shakeela. They further informed how the candidate who had stood second, also belongs to the Muslim community.
The villagers present there further described the Tandwa and Shekhdih villages in the vicinity are Muslim-dominated areas. Locals further indicated that there were previously incidences of theft reported on roads and residences in the region, but that since the Yogi government arrived, the crime has stopped. Khem Singh claimed that incidents of love jihad are also reported from time to time.
We were told that there were almost 2000 Muslims living in the entire gram panchayat of Mohkampur, an originally Tharu tribal village. Besides, we also learned that there are as many as three mosques and one madarsa in the vicinity. The mosque, however, was not visible in the Tharu-dominated neighbourhood. People were spotted worshipping Lord Shiva in this area.
Women are safe under the Yogi government
Khem Singh compared the village’s law and order situation under previous regimes to that under Yogi Adityanath. He claimed that the village’s women were previously unsafe. The villagers had to protect their daughters and sisters on their own before Yogi Adityanath’s regime, but that is no longer the case. Other locals there attested to what Khem Singh said. They, too, agreed that no one would dare to look at the girls in their homes anymore.
Mokhampur villagers
Speaking on the issue of security and development, Rajesh, Devsharan, and Khem Chand stated in unison that the Tharu tribe has been heard at the governance and administration levels since the Yogi government came to power. Khem Chand asserted that they are currently not discriminated against and receive full benefits from all government programmes. He stated that he is now reaping the benefits of all the schemes. Everyone present agreed that their community had previously been disregarded by the previous government and left to fend for themselves during those days.
Khem Singh told us that the Tharu tribe supports their families through hard labour and farming. According to Rajesh Kumar, the number of Tharu people in government employment is quite low. However, the people present there told us that the situation in the village is gradually improving. The current generation is also completing Intermediate and Graduation and focusing on their education.
Leftist Movement and Indian Security Forces in Nepal
Everyone in Kotedar Rajesh’s chaupal concurred that during Nepal’s Left movement in the 1990s, bombs could be heard in their village. While they saw the carnage from a distance, the villagers were confident of the strength of the Indian soldiers stationed on the border. Everyone agreed to the bloodshed and commotion that took place on the other side of the border.
The locals of Mohkampur told us that during the Left-wing violence, many injured Nepalese soldiers crossed over to the Indian side to save their lives. Villagers recounted that the Indian forces not only rescued their lives from the Maoists but also provided all possible assistance by treating the injured. According to Khem Singh, the Nepalese border coal market has remained desolate since the attacks.
The Tharu tribe was highly pleased with the behaviour of the paramilitary SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal) men stationed on the border. The villagers referred to the SSB jawans as their brothers. Along with this, the locals said that the district police’s demeanour towards them had changed under the Yogi administration.
Mumtaz Ali seen selling clothes on his bike
One Mumtaz Ali was seen selling clothes on a bike in the same neighbourhood as we were reporting. Mumtaz had a lot of items stashed on his bike. He identified himself as a native of the Uttar Pradesh district of Sitapur, which is 200 kilometres away from this particular village. He stated that he had rented a room in the adjacent bazaar of Tulsipur. Mumtaz estimated the total value of the products kept on his bike to be roughly 25,000 rupees. He explained how he transported bulk products from Sitapur and sold them across the border.
Hawker Mumtaz Ali
‘Anti-national elements exploit Tharu people’s poverty,’ BJP MLA
Kailashnath Shukla, a BJP MLA from Tulsipur in Nepal’s border region, stated that anti-national elements often take advantage of the Tharu people’s poverty and poor education levels. He also stated that his BJP government is monitoring the situation.
A creeping Islamisation of Nepal and its border areas appears to be underway, with Islamists steadily establishing their foothold in distant villages, including those on the Indian border. In the first four parts of this series, OpIndia documented the demography change ongoing in Nepal, as well as the worrying surge in the number of mosques and madarsas in the Himalayan nation’s border villages. Additionally, we also spoke about the rising incidences of love jihad in Nepal, as well as its Delhi connection and smuggling and various other notorious activities that are threatening India’s border with Nepal.
A picture of Mohammed Ikram, a coaching operator from Madipur in Muzaffarpur, who is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is going viral on social media. With the suspect Mohammed Ikram, the Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA from Kanti and deputy minister in the state government Israil Mansuri is also seen in this picture. The NIA raided the coaching class of Mohammed Ikram on 8th September 2022. The photo has since then gone viral.
On Thursday, the NIA raided Ikram’s coaching centre. From there, some papers, and laptops, were seized and taken away by the team. The NIA team was conducting raids in several districts and states in connection with the Patna terror module case. A total of two places were raided in Muzaffarpur, one in Khaliknagar Gaurihar in Sakra, and the other at Madipur in Muzaffarpur.
According to a report by Dainik Bhaskar, when minister Israil Mansuri was asked about this photo, he said he did not know the accused. He further said, “Many people come, take a photograph with me and go. Ever since I became the minister, people are rushing to get a photograph. Some of them even ask me to put a hand on their shoulder. Now, whom will you identify in such a crowd?”
On the other hand, the intelligence agency has also sent a confidential report to the police headquarters regarding the raid. It has given information about the profession of the accused. According to sources, the intelligence agency has also attached the said picture in its report. However, this picture is said to be several months old. The intelligence department is also investigating the veracity of the said picture.
Majrul Islam, the main accused named in the Phulwari Sharif case, is suspected to have fled to Nepal. In this case, the NIA and Phulwari Sharif police have raided his house once before. However, specific information could not be found in the house. This time, his sister-in-law Zarina Khatoon’s bank passbook has been seized and taken away by the team.
Amid the ongoing controversy over Madarsas in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath-led government is all set to conduct a survey of the unrecognized Madarsas in the state. The survey will be conducted by the District Minority Welfare Officers and their teams across the state. However, officers of the Education Department and Minority Welfare Department will also 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. This is amid severe controversy that has erupted in the state of Uttar Pradesh. While Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav has besieged the Yogi Adityanath-led government on several occasions, on September 9, BSP supremo Mayawati also accused the BJP govt of terrorizing the Muslim society with such acts.
“The complaints of the Muslim community being exploited, neglected, and being affected by riots have been common since the time of the Congress, and now they are being oppressed and terrorized by the BJP who came to power by doing narrow politics in the name of appeasement. This is sad and condemnable”, Mayawati tweeted in Hindi.
2. इसी क्रम में अब यूपी में मदरसों पर भाजपा सरकार की टेढ़ी नजर है। मदरसा सर्वे के नाम पर कौम के चन्दे पर चलने वाले निजी मदरसों में भी हस्तक्षेप का प्रयास अनुचित जबकि सरकारी अनुदान से चलने वाले मदरसों व सरकारी स्कूलों की बदतर हालत को सुधारने पर सरकार को ध्यान केन्द्रित करना चाहिए।
“The BJP government has an evil intent on madrassas in Uttar Pradesh. The attempts to interfere in the private madrassas, which are run on donations by the community, in the name of a survey is inappropriate. They should focus on improving the condition of the government and government-aided madrassas”, she added.
The Uttar Pradesh government had on September 1 announced that it would survey unrecognized madarsas 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 madarsas.
The minister stated further that the survey would help gather other details also such as the name of the madarsa 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.
Also, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, led by several Islamic clerics had extended support to the government over its decision to survey unrecognized madarsas in the state. However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) had questioned the initiative alleging that the government was deliberately targeting the Islamic institutions.
According to the reports, there are a total of 16,461 madrassas in the state at present. 560 of the state’s total madarsas get government subsidies, but new madarsas have been excluded from the grant list for the previous six years.
On Friday, the mining mafia attacked a joint team of the police, the local Mining Department, and the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) during a raid at an illegal mining site in Haryana’s Nuh district. During the raid at an illegal mining site near Nuh, the team was attacked by unidentified individuals.
At least 14 members of a joint task team went on a raid to monitor illegal mining on a hillock near the Haryana-Rajasthan border in Bader village. Three porcelain excavator machines were found mining at the site, according to police.
“When the workers saw the police, they abandoned the earthmovers and fled towards the Rajasthan border.” When the third operator was told to halt, he allegedly turned the machine toward the police officers and attempted to run them over, but the officers managed to move out of the way. “One police officer was injured on his left arm,” according to the police complaint.
Haryana: Mining mafia again attacks police team in Nuh, FIR registered against 50 unidentified people
“FIRs have been filed against five identifiable individuals and approximately 40-50 unidentified individuals, and three porcelain machines have been seized,” said Usha Kundu, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Nuh.
Previously, on July 19, DSP Surendra Singh Bishnoi was mowed down by a truck while investigating illegal mining in Nuh, Haryana. Nine people have been detained in connection with the DSP’s death.
The primary accused in the Nuh DSP killing, Shabir alias Mittar, was caught on July 20 during an encounter with the Haryana Police. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar declared Rs 1 crore compensation to the family of Surendra Singh Bishnoi and stated that the perpetrators will not be pardoned.
He stated that stern action would be taken against the state’s mining mafia. In July, the Haryana Police launched raids against illegal mining in 24 villages and seized 236 cars without documents.
Renowned archaeologist Braj Basi Lal (commonly referred to as BB Lal) passed away at the ripe age of 101. Born in 1921, Lal went on to serve as the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India and the Director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies.
In a tweet, BJP Minister G Kishan Reddy shared his condolence to the family of the archaeologist. “In the passing of Prof BB Lal Ji, we have lost one of the brightest minds who has contributed significantly towards our archaeological excavations & endeavours and trained archaeologists for over 4 decades,” he wrote.
In the passing of Prof BB Lal Ji, we have lost one of the brightest minds who has contributed significantly towards our archeological excavations & endeavours and trained archeologists for over 4 decades.
My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family.
Lal was the director general of the Archaeological Survey of India between 1968 and 1972, and led the excavation at the Ramjanmabhoomi site in Ayodhya which proved the existence of an ancient temple at the site.
The veteran archaeologist had led a project named Archaeology of Ramayana between 1975 and 1976 to examine certain sites having references in Ramayana. There were nine members in the team out of which five archaeologists namely, Professor Lal, Dr KP Nautiyal, SK Srivastava, RK Chaturvedi and KM Asthana were from Jiwaji University.
Three members namely, Mahdava N Katii, LM Wahal and MS Mani were from the ASI and one member named Hem Raj was from the Department of Archaeology, Uttar Pradesh. According to Professor Lal, a five-site excavation project was carried out at Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringaverapur, Bharadwaj Ashram and Chitrakoot to date the sites associated with Ramayana.
He said that while excavating the area immediately south of the Babri structure, he found pillar bases. He wrote a seven-page preliminary report about the discovery of pillar bases near the Babri structure. However, following the discovery, all technical facilities were withdrawn from the area and the project was halted.
It was not resumed despite repeated requests of Professor Lal and remained suspended for 10-12 years. The final report was never submitted but his preliminary report was published by the Indian Council of Historical Research in 1989 in its volume on Historicity of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
The work of BB Lal in unearthing the remains of an ancient temple under the Babdi structure constituted a major argument in support of Ram Mandir, which eventually led the Supreme Court to rule in favour of the Mandir.
On November 9, 2021, President Ramnath Kovind felicitated Professor BB Lal with Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award. The centenarian was named among the list of awardees earlier in January that year. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan Award in the year 2000.
Kohinoor, the world’s most contentious diamond, is about to change hands. The diamond is currently placed in the Imperial State Crown, which was produced in 1937 for King George VI’s coronation and eventually passed on to Elizabeth II. The diamond, however, is scheduled to be worn by the Queen’s daughter-in-law and Prince Charles III’s wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, during the coronation of the new King.
Camilla has been named Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth states as the wife of King Charles III, and during the coronation of King Charles, the Crown of Queen Elizabeth, which now holds the Kohinoor, will be placed on her head. The crown was made in 1937 for Queen Elizabeth, wife of King George VI, and as she continued to wear it after her daughter Elizabeth II became the Queen, the crown is also known as Queen Mother’s Crown. The Crown is made of platinum and decorated with about 2,800 diamonds, the most famous of them being the Kohinoor.
However, while several Indian media reports said that Kohinoor is fitted on the Imperial State Crown, and Camilla will inherit this crown, which is completely wrong. Imperial State Crown is the crown of the Monarch, which can be a King or Queen, which means this crown will go to King Charles III. Moreover as informed above, the Kohinoor diamond is on the Queen Mother’s Crown, not the Imperial State Crown. The Imperial State Crown has another large diamond, the Cullinan II from Africa.
The Queen Mother’s Crown is currently on display along with the other British Royal Crown Jewels in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. These crown jewels are Royal property, and actually, they don’t become personal property of anyone. This means while Camilla will wear it during the coronation, it does not become her personal property.
It is also notable that Camilla has become the Queen Consort, the wife of the Monarch, and not the Queen, which means a female monarch, a key difference several Indian media reports have missed. And for that reason, Queen Elizabeth II used the Imperial Royal Crown, not the Queen Mother’s crown, because she was the Queen, the Monarch. In February this year, the Queen announced that Camilla Parker Bowles would become Queen Consort when Charles took the reins of the monarchy in England.
Therefore, in summary, the Kohinoor diamond remains fitted on the Crown of Queen Elizabeth, which is on display at the Tower of London. As Queen Consort, Camilla will wear during the coronation of the King, and perhaps in other royal ceremonies in future.
History of the Kohinoor
Golconda, India, is where the Kohinoor originated. During the Kakatiya era, it was discovered during coal mining in the Kollur mine (particularly, the Rayalaseema diamond mine signifies the ‘Land of Stones’). It began to pass from one governing dynasty to the next at that period. Originally, it was called ‘Samantik Mani,’ which means “Prince and Leader of All Diamonds.” When the Persian King Nadir Shah (King of Persia) invaded India in 1739, he called it the “Mountain of Light.” It was treasured at the time as a sign of an Empire’s power. It is well said that “he who has this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes; only God, or a woman, will know all its misfortunes.”
The story of how the British East India Company captured the ‘cursed’ Kohinoor
During the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849 AD, the British army made Raja Ranjit Singh’s son Duleep Singh surrender the Sikh empire. Following that, the British Government in Lahore entrusted the famous Kohinoor diamond to the treasury of the British East India Company.
When Duleep Singh, then 11-years-old, ‘surrendered’ the Sikh kingdom to the British, it is said he also surrendered the Kohinoor diamond. Dr. John Login was named the guardian of Duleep Singh and the Kohinoor after the Sikh dominion was surrendered to the British East India Company. Dr. Login persuaded Duleep Singh to become a Christian. Singh is widely regarded as the “King Who Gave Away Kohinoor.” However, according to Peter Bance, the truth was far from what people believed.
When Duleep Singh was 11 years old, Lord Dalhousie, the Governor General of India, took the diamond from the Sikh Empire’s treasury. When Duleep Singh met Queen Victoria in 1854, he expressed a wish to view the diamond. Lady Login argued that seeing the diamond would do him no damage, and it was brought from the British treasury on the Queen’s orders. “Duleep grasped the diamond in his hand and took it to the window,” Bance explained. When he saw the diamond gleaming in the sunlight, he raised his hand and murmured, ‘to Humble Majesty Kohinoor diamond,’ and thus the bid to donate the diamond came into being.”
